'Cheap Thrills' parody poster, made by Eric Cougrand for the 2000 Angoulême Comics Festival.
Eric Cougrand was a French rock musician and album cover designer, mainly known as the drummer of the psychedelic band Smashing Burritos. In 2000, he designed an unofficial poster for the International Comic Festival of Angoulême, parodying Robert Crumb's album cover for 'Cheap Thrills' by Big Brother and the Holding Company. His version features a similar comic strip style, with several images lifted from Crumb's comic stories.
Life and career
Eric Cougrand was born in 1964 in Paris. He was the longtime drummer of the French psychedelic blues rock group The Smashing Burritos, whose sound was influenced by The Grateful Dead and The Allman Brothers Band. From 27 September 2017 on, he was active for the clothing brand Zen Pad Zone. On 4 November 2022, The Smashing Burritos performed at Café de la Terrasse in Marseillette, Carcassonne, when Cougrand suddenly collapsed on stage. He died on the spot from a heart attack at age 58. His tragic early death was reported in various music-related media, even outside France.
Graphic career
Eric Cougrand was also a prolific graphic artist, working in a psychedelic style. He livened up the album covers for Merrell Fankhauser's 'California Live' (1993), 'Early Years 1964-1967' (1994), 'Fool Moon' (1994) and 'Doctor Fankhauser' (1996), as well as 'Up and Down' (1996) by Luc Marianni's Seltae Beat. Much of his posters for these bands and his own group, The Smashing Burritos, mimicked the look of Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley's trippy posters and album covers for The Grateful Dead. Cougrand also illustrated business cards for the Parisian venue Thé-Troc.
In 2000, Cougrand designed an unofficial poster for that year's edition of the International Comic Festival of Angoulême, held between 26 and 30 January. The official poster, designed by an anonymous artist, simply announced the names of the artists who would be present at the venue. Cougrand's alternative version was far more colorful and spoofed Robert Crumb's iconic cover of Big Brother and The Holding Company's 1968 album 'Cheap Thrills'. Just like Crumb's original, Cougrand's design is done in a comic strip style. But rather than directly trace the imagery on 'Cheap Thrills', Cougrand's poster uses the same font but adds colorized and sometimes slightly altered imagery from well-known Crumb stories.
Crumb waving "hi" is lifted from 'R. Crumb Presents R. Crumb' (Zap Comix issue #7, 1969). Eggs Ackley running with an erect penis and the woman with exposed genitalia are taken from 'Eggs Ackley vs. The Vulture Demonesses' (Big Ass Comics #1, June 1969). The hippie copulating with murdered women is a scene from 'Jumpin' Jack Flash' (Thrilling Murder, 1971). The close-up of a man offering his penis references 'Joe Blow' (Zap Comix #4, 1969). Crumb being threatened with castration by a nun, whom he decapitates, is a direct copy of panels from 'The Adventures of R. Crumb Himself' (Tales From the Leather Nun, 1973). The nude Mr. Natural was swiped from 'On The Bum Again (Mr. Natural 1, 1970°'. The finger fondling a female nipple harks back to 'Don't Gag On It… Goof On It!' (Gothic Blimp Works, issue #1, March 1969). The cowboy riding a nude woman and the ejaculating man can be found in 'Cubist Be Bop Comics' (XYZ Comics, June 1972), while Crumb fellated underneath his drawing table is an image from Snatch #2 (January 1969). The line "Mais ce n'est que de l'encre et du papier" ("It's only lines on paper, folks") is an actual quote by Robert Crumb.
It's not known why Cougrand made this Crumb-themed poster, though Crumb was indeed an honorary guest during that year's Angoulême Festival. Crumb also designed the official poster, but the imagery was eventually rejected for being too explicit. Crumb's original artwork didn't go to waste, though. It was later used for the exhibition 'Qui à Peur de Robert Crumb?' It can be assumed that Cougrand felt that the replacement poster wasn't all that exciting, so he made a version of his own. Other artists who have spoofed the album cover of 'Cheap Thrills' have been Filips, Karl Kotas, Pat Moriarty, Rick Meyerowitz, Marc Palm, Herb Trimpe and W.T. Vinson.
Concert poster by Eric Cougrand for Smashing Burritos.