Art & Inspiration Creative Heavyweights

I was driving on the freeway the other morning, and the Beatles' Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight came on the radio. Listening to it, I recalled other mornings back in the 60s when the Beatles were still together as a band, and recorded prolifically; a couple of new albums a year, at least. I looked forward to new Beatles releases, knowing that each new album would contain several tunes worth listening to: Sweet or stirring melodies, tight arrangements, and lyrics that were always interesting if not always understood. What an amazing, creative band they were!

That prompted me to think of other creative individuals, who reliably and frequently introduce(d) new stuff that got my attention. There are such heavyweights in a number of fields; here's an incomplete list of the guys whose every creation has been, for me, worth watching or listening to. I'm an old fart, so more of the works that have stirred me are from the past rather than the present. I can't help that:

Artists:
Tom Fritz. Bob Freeman.

Musicians:
Randy Newman. The Beatles. The Rolling Stones. Dave Frishberg. Mose Allison. Miles Davis. Stan Getz. Harry Nilsson.

Filmmakers:
Steven Spielberg. Clint Eastwood. Terry Gilliam.

TV Producers:
Aaron Sorkin. Ken Burns.

Writers:
Tom Robbins. Tom Wolfe. Richard Brautigan. Peter Egan. Pat Ganahl.

But wait, you say, this is the HAMB. Most of this has nothing to do with hot rods and customs. Well, I'm getting to that.

There are a handful of designers, constructors and craftsmen who have always been worth watching. This list is certainly not exhaustive, and is in no particular order; the examples I've shown are not necessarily their best known works, but ones that I personally find interesting:

Doane Spencer: fundamentally a mechanic, Doane's exceptional taste and craftsmanship raised his creations to the level of art.


Boyd Coddington: Boyd's style of smooth and refined cars changed the face of our hobby profoundly.


Chip Foose: Boyd's successor, building refined and expensive art objects; Chip is expert at drawing, designing, AND the hands-on skills.


Roy Brizio: Closer to Doane than to Chip, Roy operates in a fairly limited arena -- traditional hot rod Fords, for the most part -- and his taste and mechanical skills are superb.


Barris Brothers: Say what you like, these guys basically invented the Kustom on a popular level. Yeah, the fire went out when Sam left, but their body of work is unmatched.


Valley Custom: These guys elevated sectioning to a striking customizing technique, and they were phenomenally original. Their stuff didn't look like anybody else's.


Li'l John ****era: a bit like Doane in being a mechanic first, and a superb craftsman with a very creative imagination.


Rudy Rodriguez: working in a traditional context, Rudy has been exceptionally versatile, building everything from rat rods to extraordinarily refined customs.


Mickey Thompson: Drags, Indy, Bonneville, stadium racing; the guy built every kind of race car imaginable, and his creativity a**** racers was unequalled.


Von Dutch: Kenny deserves recognition for his contributions to vehicle graphics. He may have been an obnoxious bigot, but his creativity can't be denied.


Ed Roth: What more needs to be said about Ed Roth?


Larry Watson: His wildly original paint treatments changed the definition of Kustoms for a decade, at least.


Jim Jacobs: another excellent craftsman with a very original and innovative style.


Ettore Bugatti: A mechanical genius and a perfectionist, he built more interesting cars than almost anyone; except Ferrari, maybe.


Enzo Ferrari: Great noises, ***y bodies, dominant in racing. Doesn't everyone lust for at least one Ferrari?


Bill Mitchell: Not as influential as Harley Earl, perhaps, but the GM cars of his era are a**** my favorites; and a lot of them!


Batista Pininfarina: Not the only prolific Italian coachbuilder, but one of the tastiest and the most influential.


OK, there's not a lot of love on the HAMB for Coddington, Foose, or Barris. Too bad. There was a time when each of these guys turned out amazing, innovative stuff regularly, and I would look forward to seeing the next creative act from each of them.

Certainly, my lists are not all-inclusive, and they're lopsided. Bill Mitchell's name was on ten times as many vehicles as Rudy Rodriguez', for example, but he had ten times as many people ***isting him. You may never have heard of Dave Frishberg or Richard Brautigan. You may want to add other guys to this list, and that's fine with me. I just wanted to make the point that there are a few people in the world who consistently produce great, admirable, creative work; whose every effort is something interesting. I'm sure glad that there are such people around.

 

Excellent idea for a thread. Engaging!!!

I'm going to think about this list and I'll add tomorrow. Thanks!

 

Hey Tony,

Jus' a partial list: From the kustom world, Harry Westergard, Jimmy Summers, The Clark Kaiser shop & Doug Thompson.

The world of engineering & design: "Smokey" Eurnick, Colin Chapman, Gabrial Voisin, Virgle Exner, E.T.Gregorie, Franco Scaglione, Joseph Figone.

The art world: Robert Crumb, S.Clay Wilson, Gilbert Shelton & John Chamberlain.


" The ice cream truck in his neighborhood plays Helter-Skelter "

 

Jimmy Shine?

 

What about this dude that has worked at Mattel for as long as I have been alive?

 

Ron Jeremy

 

I had Smokey Yunick on my list originally, and I have no problem with any of your other nominations.

I ***ume you mean Larry Wood? Sure, he's a creative heavyweight.

Good suggestions, all you guys (Well, Ron Jeremy is prolific and a heavyweight, but I'm not sure I'd call him creative). By all means, keep 'em coming!

 

Dagostino and Zocchi just keep them coming. Always worth looking at too.

 

nice list you got there, but since you brought out creative musical heavyweights
i'm gonna have to throw this name in... django reinhardt.

 

Who gave Doane permission to copy my 'bird?

 

I agree that those two guys are very prolific, and sometimes they hit home runs. Lee Pratt and Rick Dore should be mentioned, too. Lee particularly, since he does all the work himself.

For me, jazz musicians are at the top of the creative heap. It's hard for me to imagine making new stuff up constantly, and doing it in front of large groups of people. Intimidating!

 

Henry "Smokey" Yunick

 

Gordon Miller Buehrig (B-yur-rig) (June 18, 1904 – January 22, 1990) was a noted automobile designer.

 

Not to take anything away from them, but once you have your theory down it's not that tough.

There are only so many ways 12 notes can be put together. Just ask John Cage.

 

I have one name only BILL HINES, come on the man is how old and he is still chopping tops!

 

As for letting it all hang out mechanically, my heroes are mostly from the history of aerospace. How about Glenn Curtiss, Willy Messerschmitt, and Kelly Johnson for starters.

As for cars, I think my list would be something like Henry Ford, Virgil Exner, Smokey Yunick, members of the Ramchargers, and the Summers Brothers. Most anyone that has a brilliant concept and sees it all the way through to completion would make my list.

 

Automotive:
Bruce Crower.
Ak Miller
Zora Arkus-Duntov
Raymond Lowey
Alan Johnson
Otto Rhyssman

Art:
Maxfield Parrish
Stanley Mouse
Antonio Vargas
Rene Magritte

Music:
Jerry Garcia
John Johansen
Lightnin' Hopkins
David Grisman
Terry Allen (also should be in the Art list)
Ray Wylie Hubbard
Brian Ferry

Writers:
Hunter Thompson
Ken Kesey
another vote for Richard Brautigan
Kurt Vonnegut (Personal fave)
Mark Twain


I'll add the Firesign Theater, just don't know exactly how to define them...

 

When you are able to create 120 vehicles to compete in the Indianapolis 500, winning it 5 times, and can build stuff like this, you should be included as well. Mr. Frank Kurtis (Kurtis-Kraft)....

 

All good choices - can't think of much to add at this point, except of course, Bob Dylan, Stan Mott and Edsel Ford with Bob Gregoire's efforts.
This should be a good thread.

 

ARTISTS: Alphonse Mucha
Frank Frazetta
Norman Rockwell
Simon Bisley

ACTORS: Steve McQueen
Jim Garner
Clint Eastwood
John Wayne

If any of these guys are in a movie, tell me you're not watching it!

 

OK, I won't watch John Wayne.

 

Charles Kettering

 

Leonardo Da Vinci. He did it all.

 

This is fun. Thanks, Phil, for resurrecting this thread.

Can't believe that I missed Stan Mott, Frazetta, and Rockwell!

 

Only one from me.....................




Harry Arminius Miller



.

.

 

Ok i lied.......one more


Ferdinand Porsche




.


.

 

Paul Bragg - See Riksters thread on him.....................

CRUISER

 

Ray Dietrich, Walter Murphy, "Dutch" Darrin (before hollywood as well with Hibbard and with Fernandez overseas). I admit these are things I see more of than most but there's plenty of info to enjoy.

Music? Gershwin. Many more but I like their stuff a bunch.

 

Charlie Parker, Charlie Christian.

 

As for art Robert Williams has to get a mention.