Artist: The Kinks
Title: The Kinks Present Schoolboys In Discrace
Label: RCA Victor
Catalog: LPL1-5102
Year: 1975
Genre: rock
Cover Design: Pat Doyle
Cover photo: Mickey Finn
Grade: ***** stars
My wife and friends will tell you I have the sophistication and sense of humor of a 12 year old. I won't argue the point. Fart jokes still make me laugh. And that probably explains why I think this cover is so funny. Admittedly Mickey Finn's cover illustration is not the most sophisticated concept you've ever encountered and it probably fails by today's hypersensitive set of PC rules. Still, the cover makes me smile.
So for 2019 I managed to post 45 album cover entries - admittedly I'm not exactly burning up the internet here. Of course that was way better than 2018 where I managed to squeeze out an amazing 8 entries.
I'll try to do better in 2020 ...
As it turned out, one of my Christmas presents was a book by Michael Ochs - 1000 Record Covers. Kudos the Ochs for putting this project together. He's done way more than I'll ever accomplish in this realm.
I've already spent way too much time pawing through the book. It reflects dozens of fascinating album covers (including several that I'd previously listed). That said, the funny thing is how many of the 1000 covers aren't all that impressive.
Does anyone think Joni Mitchell's "Mingus" is a stunning cover? Admittedly Mitchell designed the cover, but so what ... Similarly, what's so special about the first James Taylor LP for Apple Records?
Clearly none of us are going to agree on what constitutes a great album cover, but those differences do makes for some interesting discussions.
Artist: Otis Redding
Title: The Otis Redding DIctionary of Soul
Label: Volt
Catalog: SD 1554
Year: 1966
Genre: soul
Cover Design: Ronnie Stoots
Cover photo: Ronnie Stoots
Grade: ***** stars
I don't think I have every heard a bad Otis Redding album and I've owned most of the catalog at one time or another. The fact this one has a cool cover is simply icing on the cake. It's just one of those covers that brings a smile to my face. Also, if you like music - any kind of music, buy a copy of this class album !!!
I never noticed Ronnie Stoots was responsible for the album design. Stoots may be better know as the lead singer for The Regents and The Mar-Keys, but he was also a talented designer. He was responsible for the original Stax logo, as well as designing numerous Stax album covers.
Artist: Eddie Harris
Title: Come On Down
Label: Atlantic
Catalog: SD 1554
Year: 1970
Genre: jazz
Cover Design: Loring Eutemey
Cover photo: Loring Eutemey
Grade: *** stars
Having just posted a Loring Eutemey cover as a favorite, why not another one?
So, I'm not a gigantic jazz fan. It's a genre I've tried to get into (just like I've tried to cultivate a taste for wine), but like wine, the results have been disappointing. Beer please ...
I guess my musical tastes are just too lowbrow to get most jazz. That said, this 1970 album us actually surprisingly funky - kind of a Stax-meets-jazz vibe on tracks like 'Don't You Know Your future's In Space' and 'Live Right Now'. And the cover is just plain strange. No idea what the concept was, but the juxtaposition of an orange on sax player Hariss' head was eye catching. Did I mention how strange it was?
Artist: Archie Bell and the Drells
Title: Tighten Up
Label: Atlantic
Catalog: SC 8181
Year: 1968
Genre: soul
Cover Design: Loring Eutemey
Cover photo: Loring Eutemey
Grade: **** stars
'Tighten Up' is one of my first musical memories ... I was nine and most certainly heard it on AFN Europe, as my family was living in what was West Germany and the time. I'm now in my early 60s and to this day the song remains one of the funkiest tunes I've ever heard.
Ironically I did not see a copy of the parent album until I was in college - I spotted it at a used record store in Blacksburg, Virginia and instantly grabbed it. As much as I love the song, the late Loring Eutemey's stylized '60s cover was just as cool. How can you not love a cover that shows a guy wearing a Nehru jacket?
Someday I'll have to do a little more research on the late Eutemey (he died in September, 2013 at the age of 88). He started out as a freelance illustrator and graphic designer, originally known for the dozens of jazz covers he designed in partnership with Atlantic Records. By the early-'60s he'd expanded his horizons to include soul and pop covers.
Artist: The Bee Gees
Title: Odessa
Label: ATCO
Catalog: SD 2-702
Year: 1969
Genre: pop
Cover Design: unknown
Cover photo: unknown
Grade: **** stars
The Bee Gees at their most over-the-top, 1969's "Odessa" is one of those albums that you'll love, or hate with a passion. Personally I'm a fan of their attempts to get deep and heavy. Add to that, it was a double album concept piece - the title track's plot line apparently having something to do with the story of a disappearing ship. Elsewhere there were all sorts of oddball detours, including a nod to Thomas Edison ("Edison")..
Anyhow, the reason this one makes the list has to do with the cover. ATCO marketing must have a fit when the Gibbs decided they wanted to package this collection in a red, pseudo-velvet cover with gold imprints. Yeah, it made for an impressive package. Reissues did away with the velvet material.
Artist: Chubby Checker
Title: For Twisters Only
Label: Parkway
Catalog: P 7002
Year: 1960
Genre: soul
Cover Design: unknown
Cover photo: unknown
Grade: ** stars
I'm not a big Chubby Checker fan and didn't even realize I owned this album until I was filing away a pile of vinyl that had been sitting under my desk for a year. Musically this set isn't anything to get excited about - just another entry in the seemingly endless caravan of early-'60s albums intended to ride on the Twist dance craze. The album cover isn't really an better until you take a close look at the map and realize the designer apparently failed out of Geography 101, Among the states missing in action - Mississippi, Louisiana, most of New England ... Maybe twisters wiped them off the map? Elsewhere state borders were simply realigned without much attention. Who knew Maryland was such a big place? Not sure, but it made me smile.
My wife and friends will tell you I have the sophistication and sense of humor of a 12 year old. I won't argue the point. Fart jokes still make me laugh. And that probably explains why I think this cover is so funny. Admittedly Mickey Finn's cover illustration is not the most sophisticated concept you've ever encountered and it probably fails by today's hypersensitive set of PC rules. Still, the cover makes me smile.
