Album art - a wonderful legacy of the vinyl record era.

[Xulonn]

What is your favorite or most memorable album cover? (If there is a story behind the album or its cover art, tell us about it.)

One of my favorite aspects of the vinyl record era was the opportunity for "album cover art" of a decent size that could be appreciated more than the same art on CD packaging - and has all but disappeared with digital music except for the jpg's found in our music file folders alongside the MP3 or FLAC files. I would often set an album's cover up near the turntable in plain view as I listened to my music. And of course, many digital music services and player apps still display album art, either from local files or online repositories.

I still have a copy of the first album I ever bought, back in 1958, the monaural George Shearing Quintet 1957 album "Latin Escapade". (Of course, Shearing couldn't have appreciated the cover art - he was blind.) It is the only vinyl I still have, and sits on a shelf to my left as I write this - but I no longer own a turntable. I do, however, have a "ripped from vinyl" copy of Latin Escapade in MP3 format. That old monaural recording was among the first real Latin jazz records, and the quintet included Belgian guitarist Toots Thiemann, who is best known for his harmonica playing. (Cal Tjader, a Latin Jazz favorite of mine, also played vibraphone with Shearing, and later went on to form his own group and record many Latin jazz albums - but he was not the vibraphone player on the Latin Escapade album.)

When I bought the album, I was a 16 y/o Chicago high school student, and my father was a conservative Presbyterian clergyman who had helped me to assemble my first audio system - a Garrard turntable (actually a "record changer"), a Bell 20 watt mono 6L6 tube amplifier, and a big bass reflex floor-standing loudspeaker with a Jensen 12" coax speaker crossed over to a Jensen "super-tweeter. I had never been in a night club, and knew about them only from TV and movies, but I had purchased the album for the music, not the cover - although I really like that photo! The cover displeased my father, who had hoped that I would buy a classical or religious music record, since I was an usher for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the time. (Ironically, although he did not like my music with it's night club album cover, my father's favorite TV show was "Gunsmoke" where Marshall Matt Dillon hung out at the "Long Branch Saloon" with the sexy owner, "Miss Kitty" who was also a "madam" with lots of "working girls" present to hustle the cowboys and take them upstairs to the available rooms.)

 

[esm]

I'm not a vinyl guy (edit: since originally writing this, I have, in fact, turned into a "vinyl guy"), but I'd be lying if the idea of displaying the album covers as art wasn't at least a little bit appealing to me.

I mean, come on:

 

[digitalfrost]

I know what you mean.

 

[frogmeat69]

My Dad had this album when I was a kid,

not sure what happened to it, but recently found a copy at a record show, so had to buy it just for the memories. Don't even own a turntable, lol.

EDIT: found it on youtube, first time I am hearing it, -

 

[frogmeat69]

Witchfinder General had some interesting album covers, along with The Scorpions, but I'll let you find them, don't want to get scolded, lol.

 

[frogmeat69]

One of my all time favorites,

 

[Fluffy]

If we want to talk about the visual aspect of music, video clips are where it's at today.

 

[DKT88]

and others (edit UK versions always better than US)

 

[Wes]

Hot Rats

Herb Alpert covers girl in whipped cream

 

[mhardy6647]

favorite or best?
well... not sure I can come up with just one.
Tonight, my knee-jerk response is:

It's irreverent, funny, moody, atmospheric, apocalyptic -- but also (I think) deadly serious commentary, all at the same time.
The fact that this cover photo's jacket encased the single best rock and roll rekkid (IMO, of course) of all time (well, at least to date) is icing on the cake.

 

[mhardy6647]

Oh, I do want to put in a plug for this one, too...

Any rekkid album with an RCA LC-1A on the cover can't be all bad, you know?

Just a phenomenal coax. Wish I could afford a pair.

 

[pavuol]

keeping the thread mood, in all decency..

 

[Burning Sounds]

My music room is decorated with some of my album covers that have special meaning - first album (Rolling Stones in mono, 1964 - I was 14), discovery of a new type of music that had a big impact on me, or simply because I like the cover....here's a few....

 

[Helicopter]

 

[Xulonn]

My music room is decorated with some of my album covers that have special meaning - first album (Rolling Stones in mono, 1964 - I was 14), discovery of a new type of music that had a big impact on me, or simply because I like the cover....here's a few....

Two of your covers bring back fond memories for me. Your post is one of several here at ASR that have triggered memories of my 50 years of music and audio experiences. And of course, my first album (George Shearing's "Latin Escapade" is the topic of the post with which I started this thread.

I saw Santana live for the first time in 1969 after they had finished recording their first album, on a weekend not long before Santana's breakout performance at Woodstock. The album was released shortly afterward Woodstock. At the time I lived in the neighboring suburb of Menlo Park, and often went to Palo Alto on weekends to listen to live music at "The Poppycock", a local a fish & chips + ice cream joint on the corner of University and High Streets, and just a couple of blocks from the Stanford University campus. This was also the neighborhood where Jerry Garcia put together what would become the Grateful Dead.

I had recently moved to the area, and one weekend some friends came down from San Francisco and the Oakland/East Bay area to join me for a Saturday Night at the Poppycock. I knew that the band was called Santana, and hoped they would be good - and not disappoint my friends. You can imagine our surprise when opened the first set with the songs from that first album. WOW! What an incredible evening that turned out to be!

The next time I saw Santana was at the free concert at Altamont Speedway in December, 1969 where my girlfriend and I were among the 300,000 attendees. I went to several more Santana performances over the years, including at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, where the opening bands were "It's a Beautiful Day", "Elvin Bishop" and "Joy of Cooking". I saw Santana again a few years later at the Paramount Amphitheater in Los Angeles, as well as at a couple of traditional Grateful Dead New Year's Eve concerts at The Cow Palace in San Francisco. My last Santana concert was at the Greek Theater in Berkeley at the back of the U.C. Berkeley campus where I also went to Pat Metheny and Elton John concerts.

I also enjoyed Herb Alpert's music, and his first bass player (1964-1968) was Pasquale (Pat) Senatore, who, according to Wikipedia, is still active in Los Angeles at age 85, as the Artistic Director for Herb Alpert's Vibrato Grill Jazz in Bel Air, CA, where he performs regularly. From 1978-1983, he owned and operated a jazz club on the beach in Malibu just before the Malibu Pier called Pasquale's. I went there once in the early days of the club to see jazz alto saxophonist Art Pepper playing with Senatore and his house band. During the first set, tenor saxophonist / flautist Joe Farrell walked in, sat at the bar, and ate a sandwich while Pepper was playing. During the break, Pepper went over to talk to him, and then Farrell went out to his car and got his tenor sax, and they jammed for the next two sets. Another wonderful and memorable evening of music in my life. (Art Pepper died in 1982 at age 56, and Joe Farrell died in 1968 at age 48.) I never bought their collaboration music, but now I think I will get the below album which was recorded in 1982.

 

[mhardy6647]

 

[scott wurcer]

 

[Burning Sounds]

Two of your covers bring back fond memories for me. Your post is one of several here at ASR that have triggered memories of my 50 years of music and audio experiences. And of course, my first album (George Shearing's "Latin Escapade" is the topic of the post with which I started this thread.

I saw Santana live for the first time in 1969 after they had finished recording their first album, on a weekend not long before Santana's breakout performance at Woodstock. The album was released shortly afterward Woodstock. At the time I lived in the neighboring suburb of Menlo Park, and often went to Palo Alto on weekends to listen to live music at "The Poppycock", a local a fish & chips + ice cream joint on the corner of University and High Streets, and just a couple of blocks from the Stanford University campus. This was also the neighborhood where Jerry Garcia put together what would become the Grateful Dead.

I had recently moved to the area, and one weekend some friends came down from San Francisco and the Oakland/East Bay area to join me for a Saturday Night at the Poppycock. I knew that the band was called Santana, and hoped they would be good - and not disappoint my friends. You can imagine our surprise when opened the first set with the songs from that first album. WOW! What an incredible evening that turned out to be!

The next time I saw Santana was at the free concert at Altamont Speedway in December, 1969 where my girlfriend and I were among the 300,000 attendees. I went to several more Santana performances over the years, including at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, where the opening bands were "It's a Beautiful Day", "Elvin Bishop" and "Joy of Cooking". I saw Santana again a few years later at the Paramount Amphitheater in Los Angeles, as well as at a couple of traditional Grateful Dead New Year's Eve concerts at The Cow Palace in San Francisco. My last Santana concert was at the Greek Theater in Berkeley at the back of the U.C. Berkeley campus where I also went to Pat Metheny and Elton John concerts.

View attachment 92350

I also enjoyed Herb Alpert's music, and his first bass player (1964-1968) was Pasquale (Pat) Senatore, who, according to Wikipedia, is still active in Los Angeles at age 85, as the Artistic Director for Herb Alpert's Vibrato Grill Jazz in Bel Air, CA, where he performs regularly. From 1978-1983, he owned and operated a jazz club on the beach in Malibu just before the Malibu Pier called Pasquale's. I went there once in the early days of the club to see jazz alto saxophonist Art Pepper playing with Senatore and his house band. During the first set, tenor saxophonist / flautist Joe Farrell walked in, sat at the bar, and ate a sandwich while Pepper was playing. During the break, Pepper went over to talk to him, and then Farrell went out to his car and got his tenor sax, and they jammed for the next two sets. Another wonderful and memorable evening of music in my life. (Art Pepper died in 1982 at age 56, and Joe Farrell died in 1968 at age 48.) I never bought their collaboration music, but now I think I will get the below album which was recorded in 1982.

View attachment 92341

Glad those covers brought back good memories - your post did the same for me - I lived in Malibu from 1974 to 1980 - I think I vaguely remember Pasquales, but I never went there. I was renting a house in the hills above PCH that belonged to Lee Loughnane. Karen Stanley, girfriend of Walter Becker kept her horse at my place. I would see Walter quite regularly. The Corral in Topanga was still going, but the Music Machine in LA became my favourite music haunt. Good times indeed, thanks for stirring the memories.

 

[pavuol]

 

[Sal1950]