Dave Lambert and a Blackwing

[From Lambert & Co.: Audition at RCA (dir. D.A. Pennebaker, 1964). Leslie Dorsey, Mary Vonnie, Dave Lambert, Sarah Boatner, David Lucas. Click either image for a larger view.]

Dave Lambert took this group into the studio for what turned out to be an unsuccessful audition. You can watch Pennebaker’s film at Vimeo (free, pixelated) or the Criterion Channel (not free, still grainy). Either way, the Blackwing pencil in Lambert’s pocket is instantly recognizable.

Here’s a 2011 interview with Mary Vonnie with some background about this vocal group came together.

I sent these screenshots to the late Sean Malone a couple of years ago and somehow remembered them today. Sean was the best friend the Eberhard Faber Blackwing (not the twenty-first-century replica) ever had. He was a dedicated researcher of pencil history, a dedicated collector of pencils and ephemera, a brilliant musician, and I’m posting these screenshots in his memory.

Related reading
All OCA Blackwing posts (Pinboard)