TRAMLINE "SOMEWHERE DOWN THE LINE"

Artist: Tramline

Album: Somewhere Down the Line
Label: A&M

Catalog: SP 4208
Year: 1968
Genre: blues-rock
Grading: VG+ cover / VG+ LP
Quantity: 1

Art Designer/Photography:  C.C.S. Advertising Associates LTD

Grade: **** star

Even though I have no idea where this photo as taken, I ride the Washington DC Metro system a lot, so this one rang a chord with me.   Decent mid-'60s English blues-rock album too boot.

SHOCKING BLUE - HAM

Artist: Shocking Blue

Album: Ham
Label: Pink Elephant

Catalog: PE 877.038-G
Year: 1972

Art Designer/Photography:  unknown 

Grade: * star

 

Seriously ?   A slab of ham for an album cover ?    Admittedly, it was a delicious looking cut of meat, but ya' would have thought they could have come up with something a little more creative.   Maybe it was meant as a pro-Vegan statement ?   Doubt it.

GASOLIN' - HERGE

Artist: Gasolin'

Album: Gasolin'
Label: CBS

Catalog: S 64685
Year: 1971

Art Designer:  Herge 

Grade: **** stars

 

Unless you happen to be a fan of TInTin, I doubt many Americans are familiar with the work of the late Belgian comic book illustrator Georges Prosper Remi (aka Herge).  I've always loved his unique style and as far as I know, this was the only album cover he ever did.

FLEETWOOD MAC'S "BARE TREES"

Artist: Fleetwood Mac

Album: Bare Trees
Label: Reprise

Catalog: MS 2080
Year: 1972

Art Designer/Photo:  John McVie 

Grade: **** stars

 

Was this a high tech concept ?   No.  Was it particularly clever ?  No.   That said, there was just something immensely appealing with respect to this John McVie cover photo.   I can remember spending hours listening to the album (particularly Danny Kriran's 'Child of Mine' and Bob Welch's 'The Ghost' and I'll readily admit the cover art was a big part of the album's appeal - for anyone unfamiliar with the band's pre-Lindsey Buckingham/Stevie Nicks catalog, "Bare Trees" is a great place to start checking the band out.

THE BYRDS - BYRDMANIAX

Artist: The Byrds

Album: Byrdmaxniax
Label: Columbia

Catalog: KC 30640
Year: 1970

Art Designer: Mary Leonard (masks), Virginia Team and John Berg
Photography: Don Jim

Grade: **** stars

 

This is simply one of the most stunning covers in my record collection (though musically it's a middling Byrds offering).  I can still remember buying the album at a local Penguin Feather record/head shop (I was strictly interested in the records).    The inner sleeves show the process for making the face casts.  Doesn't look like McGuinn and company were having much fun.  Regardless, the glossy, space age result are just too cool !

BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST - BABY IN A POT

Artist: Barclay James Harvest

Album: Baby James Harvest
Label: Harvest

Catalog: SHSP 4023
Year: 1972

Art Designer: not listed
Photography: Julian Cottrell

Grade: **** stars

 

Their last studio album for Harvest Records, this one sat buried in the inventory stacks for years and only came back to my attention when someone bought it off the BadCatRecords website.   The baby-in-a-flower-pot cover was certainly eye catching in an obnoxious can't-we-be-cute fashion, but what makes me laugh about this one is the fact Hallmark and other greeting card companies have embraced the concept, creating hundreds of similarly styled cards and making untold millions in profits.

CHICK COREA AND THE SMURFS

Artist: Chick Corea
Album: Friends
Label: Polydor

Catalog: PD-1-6061
Year: 1978
Art Designer: Chick Corea
Photography: Stanley Gainsforth
Grade: **** stars

 

C'mon, how can you not love a cover that features the Smurfs.  Corea himself came up with the cover concept.   I'm guessing that having spent a great deal of time touring Europe, he became aware of the Smurfs franchise several years before they became popular in the US.   Interestingly Corea doesn't seem to have bothered getting legal rights to use the Pierre Culliford's characters for the cover.   That my explain why Polydor subsequently created an alternate cover for European releases of the album.   Perhaps comfortable they wouldn't get sued in the States, Polydor didn't bother re-packaging the US release.







For anyone curious, here's what the alternative cover looked like.