Posted December 1, 2023 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com
Hello and Happy Holidays to all of you – this is the time of year that we’re all supposed to look back and reflect on all that’s happened over the past 12 months and use those thoughts to consider how the next 12 months might be better lived (and, perhaps, how we might all make the world a little better place for ourselves and our fellow citizens of the world). It has certainly been an interesting year for me, having had the opportunity to visit several places, meet up with old friends and correspondents and learn more about life and all its mysteries. It’s also been an interesting year in that it represented the 50th anniversary of the release of many noteworthy albums – debut records from Bruce Springsteen, Aerosmith, Queen and Lynyrd Skynyrd, concept albums such as Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, Alan Parsons’ Tubular Bells and Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and dozens of other memorable titles including several of my own faves such as Selling England By The Pound from Genesis, Bowie’s Pinups and Alladin Sane (a very busy boy that year), Frank Zappa and The Mothers’ Over-nite Sensation, Brothers & Sisters from the Allman Brothers band, The Who’s Quadrophenia, the creepy-yet-beautiful, HR Giger-illustrated Brain Salad Surgery for Emerson Lake & Palmer and Black Sabbath’s Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, which features some amazing Drew Struzan-penned illustrations in the artwork gracing it’s package. For folks of a certain age group, these are mementos of truly a banner year in both music and music packaging.
I’m hoping that you’ve all seen the annual ACHOF Gift Guide article I posted (and have since updated a bit). Perhaps you’ll find just the right thing for the music/art/music-art lovers on your gift lists – http://www.albumcoverhalloffame.wordpress.com/2023/11/17/album-cover-hall-of-fames-holiday-season-last-minute-gift-buying-guide-2023/
We’ll start this month’s summary with an overview of who has been nominated for Grammy Awards in the three packaging-related categories, follow that with our regular updates on album art/artist-related exhibitions, interviews, sales/auctions and other miscellaneous (but still very interesting) bits and, at the end, a brief update on my overseas visit and some of the feedback I received post-visit. I did also manage to add several new bios to the ACHOF site, including one on artist/designer Dave Halili, the person responsible for one of the most-controversial covers ever released – that being the one found on rapper Ice-T’s hard rock release titled Cop Killer. Corresponding with Dave also tickled my imagination a bit, leading me to start an outline for an article on Album Covers and the First Amendment (stay tuned). In the meantime, let’s get started with this month’s summary – enjoy the ride.
Award Show Update
The nominations for the 2024 Grammy Awards in the Packaging-related categories (in the “Package, Notes and Historical” field) were announced the morning of November 10th in a live-streaming event on the Grammy.com site, and the nominees were as follows:
Nominees for “Best Recording Package” include
– Caroline Rose, art director for The Art Of Forgetting by Caroline Rose;
– Hsing-Hui Cheng, art director for Cadenza 21′ by Ensemble Cadenza 21’;
– Perry Shall, art director for Electrophonic Chronic by The Arcs;
– Iam8bit, art director for Gravity Falls by Brad Breeck;
– Yu Wei, art director (Leaf Yeh) for Migration by Leaf Yeh and
– Luke Brooks & James Theseus Buck, art directors for Stumpwork by Dry Cleaning
Nominees for “Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package” are
– Jeff Mangum, Daniel Murphy & Mark Ohe, art directors for The Collected Works Of Neutral Milk Hotel by Neutral Milk Hotel;
– Jeri Heiden & John Heiden, art directors for For The Birds: The Birdsong Project (Various Artists);
– Duy Dao, art director for Gieo by Ngot;
– Bo Burnham & Daniel Calderwood, art directors for Inside: Deluxe Box Set by Bo Burnham and
– Masaki Koike, art director for Words & Music, May 1965 – Deluxe Edition by Lou Reed
and, in the “Best Album Notes” category, the nominees are
– Ashley Kahn, album notes writer for Evenings At The Village Gate: John Coltrane With Eric Dolphy (Live) by John Coltrane & Eric Dolphy;
– Scott B. Bomar, album notes writer for I Can Almost See Houston: The Complete Howdy Glenn by Howdy Glenn;
– Vik Sohonie, album notes writer for Mogadishu’s Finest: The Al Uruba Sessions by the Iftin Band;
– Jeff Place & John Troutman, album notes writers for Playing For The Man At The Door: Field Recordings From The Collection Of Mack McCormick, 1958–1971 (Various Artists) and
– Robert Gordon & Deanie Parker, album notes writers for Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos (Various Artists)
As you’ll note, these nominations include talent from all around the world and also include several people/teams who’ve been nominated and/or won in these categories in the past, so it will be very interesting to see who the members of the Recording Academy ultimately choose as the Award Winners (with the final round of voting takes place in the period between Dec. 14, 2023 to Jan. 4, 2024) when the Grammy Awards are handed out next February 4th at the ceremonies that will be held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The 2024 GRAMMYs, officially known as “the 66th GRAMMY Awards”, will air live on the CBS Television Network from 8:00-11:30 PM ET (5:00-8:30 PM PT) and will also stream on the Paramount+ service.
This year’s Grammy Awards category list was expanded to include three new GRAMMY categories, including “Best African Music Performance”, “Best Alternative Jazz Album” and “Best Pop Dance Recording”.
To see the full list of nominees, please visit https://www.grammy.com/news/2024-grammys-nominees-record-of-the-year
Congratulations once again to all of the nominees. Be sure to check back here next February to see the list of winners once they’re announced. I’ll be in contact with some of the nominees and will share anything I can glom from them at the appropriate time.
Exhibitions and Gallery Show Info (new and upcoming soon)
a) Pop art icon Shepard Fairey launched a new show at his Subliminal Projects gallery on Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles on the 18th of November (running through the end of the year – 12/30/23) that is his first show on his home turf in over five years, during which he’ll intro several new series of prints done in a variety of styles. The team at Juxtapoz met with the artist to learn more and have posted an article that provides us with those details – https://www.juxtapoz.com/news/street-art/preview-shepard-fairey-and-his-icons-come-home-to-subliminal-projects/, while folks interested in touring the show and seeing what’s new and exciting for sale can visit the gallery’s website at https://subliminalprojects.com/exhibitions/shepard-fairey-icons Of course, album art fans will be familiar with this RISD graduate’s designs for clients in the music business such as Anthrax, The Black Eyed Peas, Bad Brains, Led Zeppelin, Billy Idol, Tom Petty, Smashing Pumpkins and many others, as well as what are perhaps his two most-famous images, those being the Andre The Giant and Obama “Hope” graphics that have been seen by audiences all over the world. According to Fairey, “Icons have the power to shape culture when they become widely recognized and resonant reference points that are easily understood shorthand for a concept. This exhibition is filled with images, symbols, emblems, and portraits that I classify as iconic and make up a portion of the iconography I’ve created throughout my career.” Based on a quick scan of the works now available, I’d put pedal to the metal and get there if you’d like to own one yourself, with many works (with prices for the monochrome prints beginning at $1500 and mixed-media pieces available from $3500 – $60,000) already marked “sold” (congratulations, Mr. Fairey!)…
Brief Bits:
b) Just launched – In support of the recent release of the new Art of the Bizarre Vinyl Sleeve album art book from our chums at Easy On The Eye publishing, a new exhibition has just been launched at the Williamson Art Gallery in Birkenhead, UK – (runs thru January 27, 2024). Local coverage – https://www.birkenhead.news/funny-and-bizarre-record-cover-exhibition-opens-at-the-williamson/ and some additional coverage can be found on the PlanetRadio.co.uk site – https://planetradio.co.uk/planet-rock/news/rock-news/worst-album-covers-exhibition/
c) Better late than never new item (I try my best, folks, but sometimes I just don’t hear about things) – There’s a very impressive show of famed photographer Annie Leibovitz in Bentonville, Arkansas that launched mid-September and runs through mid-January at the Crystal Bridges Museum – https://www.juxtapoz.com/news/photography/relooking-at-a-legend-annie-leibovitz-at-work-crystal-bridges-museum-bentonville/
In 1973, at the age of 23, Ms. Leibovitz became Rolling Stone Magazine’s chief photographer, a position she’d keep for 10 years, during which time she’d be credited with nearly 150 cover shots and hundreds of images for articles on a wide range of subjects. In 1975, Mick Jagger asked her to accompany the Rolling Stones as their official photographer on their U.S. tour. While she took many memorable shots while working for the magazine, she’s probably best remembered for her photo of a nude John Lennon lying with his fully-dressed wife Yoko Ono that was taken a few hours prior to his shooting and untimely death.
Leaving Rolling Stone in 1983, the next phase of her career brought her to Vanity Fair magazine, where she produced a long string of noted cover images, including the portraits of a very pregnant Demi Moore and artist Keith Haring, who’d painted himself to resemble one of his works of art. At the same time, she produced a series of award-winning shots for advertising clients including American Express, The Gap, Givenchy, HBO/The Sopranos, Honda and The Milk Board (“Got Milk?”). Her album cover portfolio includes images for albums such as Peter Tosh – Mystic Man; Cyndi Lauper – True Colors; Bruce Springsteen – Born in the U.S.A. and Tunnel of Love; Patti Smith – Gone Again; Laurie Anderson – In Our Sleep; Tony Bennett – The Art of Excellence; Judy Collins – Portrait of an American Girl; J. Geils Band – Best of the J. Geils Band; Lucinda Williams – West and Paul Anka’s Duets, among many others.
Ongoing Exhibitions (listed in order of their end dates)
d) CONTINUED in early December – In a show which opened in London on the 6th of September are works of art created by two collaborators who are used to working together making/packaging music but, in this show, have worked together to create works of visual art. Having worked together since 1994’s My Iron Lung, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and artist/designer Stanley Donwood first met while both attended art school and found enjoyment in the prospects of collaborating, so when Yorke needed art for his band’s early recordings, it only made sense to turn to Donwood, who went on to create images that helped insert the band’s products deep into the brains of their ever-growing fan base.
Yorke found the focus on the creative part of his own brain that would go on to produce these new visual works to be as exhilarating as when he writes music. Working side by side in a small studio and painting on the same canvas, the 20+ works found in this first stage of a two-part series of exhibitions (“The Crow Flies Part One”), their combined efforts also produced the album artwork for Yorke’s 2022 album (with his band called The Smile) titled A Light for Attracting Attention.
The initial display ran for a week this past September at the Tin Man Art Gallery, with part 2 of the show slated to run for a week in early December. More details can be found at the gallery’s web site at https://www.tinmanart.com/exhibitions/17-the-crow-flies-part-one-an-exhibition-of-new-paintings-by-stanley-donwood/overview/ with additional details provided in this article on the Artnet.com site – https://news.artnet.com/art-world/in-pics-thom-yorke-stanley-donwood-the-crow-flies-2353597
You’ll recall that, in last month’s greatly-detailed “Lastly But Not Leastly” item, I had the pleasure of stumbling upon another of Donwood’s works while vacationing in Bath, UK in mid-October…
e) CONTINUING THROUGH DECEMBER 9th, 2023 – The Hip Hop Museum (formerly known as the Universal Hip Hop Museum) is bringing some great examples of its collection to a city near you between now and the end of the year. “In celebration of Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary, The Hip Hop Museum will tour the US to tell the story of the pioneers who created and cultivated a sound that sent waves around the world.” The description continues “The touring exhibit will feature early Hip-Hop artifacts, highlighting important firsts along the genre’s road from block parties to billboard charts. Each tour stop will shine a light on the cultural, social, and economic accomplishments of a community that fought for a voice and prevailed, moving the needle on what Hip Hop was and could ultimately be.”
While they’ve already visited NYC, Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles and Charlotte, NC, the show moves on to Miami, FL beginning December the 9th. More info and free ticket reservations can be found at https://uhhm.org/tour/ and an overview of the tour can be read on the Black Enterprise web site – https://www.blackenterprise.com/the-hip-hop-museum-tour/
f) CONTINUING Through December 29th, 2023 – Gallery 181 in San Francisco unveiled a new show by photographer Timothy White (Timothy White: ICONS, which opened October 6th, 2023 and runs through December 29th, 2023, with viewings are by appointment only) that takes the notion of “high art” to a completely different level. What I mean by that is that the gallery is in one of the most-iconic buildings in the Bay Area – the super-luxe LEED Platinum Certified SoMa condo building located at 181 Fremont that was designed by architect Jeffrey Heller and houses the area’s most-expensive condo unit – a penthouse here sold for over $45 million after the building opened in 2018.
As it’s being promoted on the gallery site – “Gallery 181 at 181 Fremont Residences welcomes famed celebrity portrait photographer Timothy White for a presentation of his works from 1986-2023 including images of some of the biggest names in pop culture history, including Audrey Hepburn, Robin Williams, Al Pacino, Harrison Ford, Whitney Houston, and countless others.” His album cover credits (nearly 200 of them) include shots for Billy Idol, Julian Lennon, Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, the aforementioned Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, OutKast and many others).
Gallery info – https://181fremont.com/art-program/
Timothy’s site bio can be found at – http://timothywhite.com/bio/
Here’s a nice intro on the show on the ArtDaily site – https://artdaily.cc/news/162885/Gallery-181-in-San-Francisco-debuts–ICONS—by-celebrity-photographer-Timothy-White
g) CONTINUING Through December 30, 2023 – There’s a show that debuted in June 2023 (and running through December 30th) that’s built around works done by famed illustrator Drew Struzan at the Cinéma et Miniature museum in Lyon, France – “Magnifying Pop Culture – The Art of Drew Struzan” – https://www.museeminiatureetcinema.fr/
After attending school at the prestigious Art Center College of Design in West Los Angeles, CA, a trip to an employment agency found the artist a job as a staff artist for Pacific Eye and Ear, a local design studio that had a number of music industry clients. There, he began designing album covers, enjoying the creative challenges of a 12″ square canvas, and over the next 5 years, he would create album cover artwork for a long line of musical artists, including The Beach Boys, Bee Gees, Black Sabbath, Earth Wind & Fire, Iron Butterfly, Alice Cooper and Tony Orlando & Dawn.
Striking out on his own in 1975 and becoming a master of airbrush techniques, Struzan took on commissions doing promotional posters for films and, since then, has established a reputation as “the go-to guy” for movie studios large and small. His impressive portfolio of work includes posters for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Blade Runner, Risky Business, Hook, Hellboy and the Harry Potter series, among many others.
In a note I received from the show’s curator Julien Dumont, I’ve learned that Mr. Dumont (also a noted multi-media producer) and his team at the museum created this exhibition in honor of Drew’s work, with a special emphasis on his film posters. “In the exhibition, we have a dozen originals: composition, preparatory sketches, color comps, final art, supplemented with other imagery and screen used props from our collection related to the films of the posters.”
While they don’t have any music-related key art created by Drew, they do have one unique item – an original sketch done for Michael Jackson’s 1995 History package, which would ultimately feature an image of a sculpture crafted by artist Diana Walczak (https://dianawithheart.com/), so it’ll be a treat to see Drew’s alt version of what the package might have looked like under his direction.
For a nice video intro to Drew’s career, watch Erik Sharkey’s documentary, DREW: THE MAN BEHIND THE POSTER, which is available on several streaming platforms – and check out this video I found on Instagram of the museum team prepping the space for the exhibition – https://www.instagram.com/reel/CtG2Z3VoSCA/
While he’s officially retired, you can still find his work for sale via Ben Stevens at the Galactic Gallery – https://galacticgallery.com/drew-struzan-art
h) CONTINUING Through January 28, 2024 – Noted rock photographer Jay Blakesberg – someone who has been photographing the stars of the Bay-area music scene since he brought his father’s Pentax with him to a Labor Day weekend Grateful Dead show at Giant’s Stadium in 1978 – has a new show that just opened in the San Francisco – “Retro Blakesberg” runs from August 31, 2023 thru Jan 28, 2024 at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco, CA. There’s an article on the Relix site – https://relix.com/news/detail/san-francisco-to-welcome-retroblakesberg-the-music-never-stopped-exhibition-by-renowned-photographer-jay-blakesberg/ that gives us all a nice intro, while the museum’s promo materials describe the show in the following way – “Spanning the years 1978 to 2008, the exhibition transports viewers to bygone eras when Blakesberg was capturing iconic moments exclusively on film. The exhibition features a staggering collection of over 210 photographs and associated ephemera, providing attendees with a visual and emotional feast. Through Blakesberg’s lens, music aficionados can relive and feel the energy of legendary performances by artists, including the Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell, Tracy Chapman, Neil Young, Soundgarden, Carlos Santana, and more.”
https://www.thecjm.org/exhibitions/199
i) CONTINUING Through March, 2024 – Photographer Frank Ockenfels (AKA Frank Ockenfels 3) was the son of an upstate NY ad man who was introduced to the joys of photography while in high school, moving on to NYC’s School of Visual Arts in 1978 to further hone his craft and explore the endless wonders of that city. A college friend who worked at Rolling Stone Magazine brought him in to help by taking portraits of several musicians and, after graduation, a job with Josh Greene (son of famed photographer Milton Greene) further expanded his love for the medium and lead him to where he is today, the subject of a new exhibition at the Fotografiska Museum/Gallery in New York called Introspection that’s running now until the end of March, 2024 – https://www.fotografiska.com/nyc/exhibitions/frank-ockenfels-3/
Ockenfels expanded his portfolio in the 1990s to include music video production and soon moved in to creating promo campaigns for TV and films, with credits including the hit shows Breaking Bad and Mad Men and movies including The Bear, Pirates of the Caribbean and Guardians of the Galaxy 3.
Notable album package credits include – Everclear’s So Much For The Afterglow and Icons; Billy Joel – Storm Front; Michelle Shocked – Arkansas Traveller; The Highwaymen – The Road Goes On Forever; No Doubt – The Singles: 1993 – 2002; Jackson Browne – Solo Acoustic, Vols. 1 & 2; Alanis Morrissette – Flavors of Entanglement; R.E.M. – Out Of Time; Sting – The Last Ship; Norah Jones – Little Broken Hearts; Neil Diamond – The Very Best of Neil Diamond: The Original Studio Recordings and David Bowie’s Earthling and Hours, among others. While still working as a commercial photographer, Frank leads a separate life as a fine artist and you’ll find examples of both sides of his career featured in this show.
Find out more about this artist on his web site at https://fwo3.com/
j) CONTINUING Through next September, 2024 – A comprehensive overview of hip-hop music and culture is the basis for an exhibit that recently opened at The Grammy Museum in LA and Variety.com’s Steven J. Horowitz takes us on a tour of the multi-floor extravaganza in this article – https://variety.com/2023/music/news/grammy-museum-hip-hop-america-the-mixtape-exhibit-preview-1235747771/amp/? The show – titled Hip-Hop America: The Mixtape Exhibit – will be up until next September and includes a number of unique artifacts and interactive displays.
Artist News and Interviews (inc. Brief Bits)
a) Photographer Rob Shanahan will be participating in a live interview event at the Grammy Museum in LA on December 7. In support of the release of his newest book titled VOLUME 2: Through the Lens of Music Photographer Rob Shanahan, Rob will take the stage to discuss the details and then take questions from the audience. According to the promo materials, “VOLUME 2 is a collection of his latest music photographs that will take readers backstage, onstage, in the studio, and up-close and personal, capturing the spirit of music and artist, including The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Eagles, Billy Squire, Dave Grohl, Sting, Elton, Fleetwood Mac, Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez, and Lady Gaga. With the foreword by Sheila E. and a special tribute to Charlie Watts, VOLUME 2 includes a heartfelt epilogue by Keith Richards, Seraphina Watts, and other icons”
There will be a book-signing event after the presentation, which is a free event for members of the museum, but advance tix are required to attend and can be reserved at https://www.universe.com/events/rob-shanahans-volume-2-tickets-TRM4XG
In addition to being Ringo Starr’s personal photographer (with his photos found on Ringo records such as Y Not, Ringo 2012 and Postcards From Paradise), Rob’s work can be found gracing record packages for musical acts including YES, Jeff Lynne’s ELO, The Empty Hearts and Toad The Wet Sprocket, among others. Learn more about Mr. Shanahan on his website at https://www.robshanahan.com/
b) Artist/curator and 2X ACHOF Inductee (as both an Illustrator and an Art Director) Winston Smith recently sent out notice of the opening of a new work/studio space in the North Beach area of San Francisco, CA that he calls Studio Fallout and describes as “an artist-run gallery and events space dedicated to supporting contemporary underground visual artists through an inclusive, immersive experience of art exhibitions, workshops, performances, pop-ups, events, and more.”
Smith, who is the talent behind the creation of the mind-bending album graphics for seminal punk acts including Green Day, the Dead Kennedys and Jello Biafra (among others) is credited, according to the popular (but now sadly late) underground artist Frank Kozik, for being “single-handedly responsible for an entire generation’s graphic style.” According to an email reply I just received from him, “In my loose estimate, I think I’ve designed about 70 + record covers over the years. Mostly for bands that no one’s ever heard of— but every now and then a few big outfits like Green Day, Dead Kennedys, Ben Harper, even George Carlin.” My own personal Winston Smith collection includes prints of the cover collage he did for Green Day’s Insomnia album and a more-recent add of a work painted on a 12” vinyl LP that he calls “Mona Mohawk” (see picture, below) – both make me grin from ear to ear with each viewing.
To kick things off, the space will be hosting an opening reception party on December 2nd (6PM – 10PM) – in collaboration with famed record label, Alternative Tentacles – called “The Bat Show,” which is a tribute to Winston’s legendary bat logo “and the inspired re-interpretations of his iconic design by artists throughout the decades.” Participating in the show are vendors including Destroy Art, Punk Majesty, Days of Fury, and Out of Sight Records, who’ll all be on site for the grand opening (and duration of the exhibit) offering examples of a wide array of counterculture-inspired art, clothing, and accessories.
Reserve your spots for this show – and another one day “pop-up” event that launches December 9th that they’re calling “Renegade Renaissance, Winston Smith and Rock Roll Repeat” that showcases the collaboration between Winston Smith and famed apparel brand, Rock Roll Repeat – on the Eventbrite site at – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/alternative-tentacles-bat-show-iconic-punk-logo-celebration-tickets-764187243617?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
There will also be another party to close the celebration at the same time period on Sunday, December 16th, so if you’d like to learn more and then join in on the festivities, please visit the Studio Fallout Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/studio.fallout/
c) In early November, I learned about a new product hitting the shelves in the UK that included artwork for Elton John first developed in the early 1970s by artist/art director David Larkham. The product – a special edition of the popular savory spread Marmite – features a segment of Larkham’s design for 1973’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road that’s meant to raise money for John’s cancer foundation. Elton John’s Limited Edition Marmite with GBYBR-derived label launches in the UK (at Sainsbury’s grocery stores) to raise money/awareness for his pediatric AIDS foundation – https://www.nme.com/news/music/elton-john-launches-goodbye-yellow-brick-road-marmite-to-benefit-aids-foundation-3531980 and also at https://www.stereogum.com/2241679/elton-john-announces-new-album-and-marmite/news/
After reading about this item’s release, I reached out to David to find out whether he had any role in the design of it and, happily, Mr. Larkham was kind enough to get back to me with an update. While he told me that he hadn’t been personally involved with that item, he had been working on some other EJ-related projects and, quite recently, was reunited with EJ’s songwriting partner Bernie Taupin at a stop on the lyricist’s autobiographical book-signing tour. Here’s what David shared with me, as well as some pix of his work and his Bernie T meet-up:
“Hello Mike – As to the new Marmite – no involvement from me, but I’d imagine it to be a collaboration between Marmite’s and Universal’s art departments. I have little or no participation in anything new these days. However, I have been kept busy during the last few years of EJ’s “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour – with a view to what is currently called ‘merch’ – I’ve been mostly revamping or replicating material that I originated during Elton’s ‘Classic Years’ in the Seventies.
I’m still on good terms with Elton and Bernie (Taupin), who is even now a good friend. I recently helped Bernie with memories for his ‘sort of’ autobiography (Scattershot: Life, Music, Elton and Me). I caught up with him at one of his London book signings recently, where I was gifted a freebie signed copy of his magnum opus”.
I then asked him whether he could please share any details with me regarding the EJ merch he’s been working on since, as he’s nearing the end of his touring days, it’d be interesting to be able to share any of the details of the things that David had been working on for him, to which he replied “firstly, regarding the materials for Elton’s tour and online merchandise…I’ve attached a couple of sample images, but there was quite a bit more and I’ve no idea what they were used for – T-shirts, mugs, posters – who knows? But their merch director, having trawled through many images from over the years, would contact me and request what she wanted and if the art didn’t exist anymore, then I had to replicate it, an example of which is what I had to do with Elton’s Hollywood Bowl art. The original was a Sunset Blvd billboard image created by myself and my pal Michael Ross, who was co-art director on ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ and other stuff.
For the recreation – in order to stay away from the look of very obvious computer-generated art – I had to go back to 1973 pre-digital art – and airbrush the whole of the background image of skies, palm trees and the famed Bowl ‘shell’. I then added the Ann Meisel illustration image from that era, plus all the type.
The “74 Press Kit” image was just that – a 2 colour print job (saved money on 4-colour process). That’s just a couple of samples and, as said, I’ve no idea what they did with them. I was just happy to be paid a lot more in this era than at the 1970’s rates!”
David also shared a little more info about what else he’s been up to recently – “I’ve also had some deadlines on new visuals, including album cover layouts for Adrian Gurvitz – you can look him up in Wikipedia which, as Bob Dylan said, is a small town just outside Philadelphia” and, after reading about my recent trip to Bath, England, he added a bit more – “Glad you enjoyed Bath. As a teenager, I lived in that Bristol/North Somerset area, a lovely neck of the woods. I was in Weston-super-Mare – and recently discovered through your interview with Darren Evans (‘All Things Must Pass’) that both he and I had attended Weston College of Art – though he was there much later than my mid-Sixties stint. Another David/Darren coincidence – in 1968 I did a black and white illustration of Elton for his first press-kit. In 2021, Darren added psychedelic colour to my mono drawing (almost as my brain had envisaged) – this for a previously unreleased 67/68 Elton and Bernie psychedelia type recording (again attached). Darren and I keep in touch.” He also reminded me that his ex-wife Janis was responsible for the embroidered front cover of Mr. John’s Madman Across The Water LP and that his son is a successful special effects director (based in Los Angeles) for movies and TV. The design gene pool in that family is strong, methinks.
d) In another “native son done well” article I came upon this past month, an article in The Oklahoman publication speaks proudly about the fact that “the last Beatles single” comes packaged in a sleeve featuring artwork by Oklahoma native Ed Ruscha – https://www.oklahoman.com/story/entertainment/2023/11/02/now-and-then-beatles-cover-art-ed-ruscha-okc-artist/71424593007/
Released on November the 2nd, The Beatles’ last “new” song, “Now and Then,” features an original cover image by iconic artist Ed Ruscha, who grew up in Oklahoma City. OKC Mayor David Holt heralded the all-star collaboration on social media. “History will record that the album cover for the last Beatles song was created by none other than Oklahoma City’s own favorite son — Ed Ruscha,” Holt posted.
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-final-beatles-song-feature-original-cover-art-ruscha
While certainly best-known as one of the modern art world’s most-respected image-makers, Mr. Ruscha does have several album art credits on his CV, including Paul McCartney – III and I, II & III; Van Dyke Parks – Dreaming of Paris; Nels Cline – Dirty Baby; Dwight Yoakam – The Reprise Years; Talking Heads – Popular Favorites 1976-1992: Sand In The Vaseline. His first cover was for the 1969 release by Ruscha’s friend and room-mate Mason Williams titled Music By Mason Williams.
Ruscha, who turns 86 on Dec. 16, currently has a comprehensive retrospective on view through Jan. 13 at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Interestingly, Ruscha’s first solo exhibit at MoMA is titled “ED RUSCHA / NOW THEN.” https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5582 https://www.artnews.com/list/art-news/artists/ed-ruscha-artist-who-is-why-art-important-moma-retrospective-1234685047/1234685349/
e) Photographer Lynn Goldsmith talks to Billboard Magazine’s Steve Knopper about her new book of photos of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band: Darkness On the Edge of Town, published by Taschen) and the financial toll her defense in a lawsuit with the Andy Warhol Foundation (in which she emerged victorious) has taken on her – https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/photographer-lynn-goldsmith-bruce-springsteen-book-warhol-case-1235453687/ She also shared some samples of the photos that are found in the new book on another page on the Billboard website – https://www.billboard.com/photos/bruce-springsteen-darkness-on-the-edge-of-town-book-photos-1235463132/
The limited-edition book, shipping in November, was produced in an edition of 1,978 copies. Copies #1-100 were made available bundled with a signed/numbered photo print titled Bruce, Studio Portrait, 1978 and sold out quickly. Another 100 copies (101-200) were bundled with a different limited edition photo print titled Bruce With Mic Stand, 1978 and those, too, sold out, but there are 1778 remaining copies (201-1978) that are available for pre-order now. The 364-page hardcover book – each signed and numbered by Ms. Goldsmith – is packaged in a clamshell box measuring 10.6 x 14.7 in (and weighing in at 9.07 lbs) and is priced at $750.00. Place your orders on the Taschen site via this link – https://www.taschen.com/en/limited-editions/music/60041/lynn-goldsmith-bruce-springsteen-and-the-e-street-band/
SPECIAL NOTE – If you’re interested in learning more about Lynn and her new book, the folks at the Fotografiska outpost in NYC will be hosting a special event in the first week of December (Monday, December the 4th, to be precise) that should do more than fill the bill. Ms. Goldsmith will be on hand at a book launch event there and, if you reserve a copy of the new book on the museum’s site, you’ll earn a free ticket to the event (a $40 value). Get all of the details via the link – https://www.fotografiska.com/nyc/events/book-launch-lynn-goldsmith/
Brief Bits:
f) Cal Schenkel shares details of his work on some of the fifteen album packages he created in collaboration with musician Frank Zappa – Jamie Atkins on the uDiscoverMusic.com site – https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/frank-zappa-cal-schenkel-album-covers/
g) There’s a new Henry Diltz article in the N.Y. Times about him and his new book – https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/14/arts/music/henry-diltz.html in which he declares that he will continue to work “until he drops”. Another shining example that proves that those over 80 years of age can still produce at a high level of competence (take that, Millennials!).
h) I’d invite you all to listen to this recent GOLDMINE podcast interview with the very-talented artist Ioannis about the album art he’s created for Lynyrd Skynyrd – https://www.goldminemag.com/podcast/hear-the-stories-behind-select-lynyrd-skynyrd-cover-artwork
Other notable examples of his album cover work include The Allman Brothers – Where It All Begins; Extreme – Pornograffitti; Styx – Return to Paradise and Blue Oyster Cult’s Curse of the Hidden Mirror (along with scores of others), so you know he’s got a lot to add to the conversation.
i) Musician Liz Phair teams with an artist and a set designer to come up with some pretty-unique live visuals during her shows (a music video for each song played) – https://news.artnet.com/art-world/rock-icon-liz-phair-brings-painter-natalie-frank-on-tour-to-create-her-sexy-stage-visuals-2390415
j) Photographer Neil Krug and rather-melancholy singer/songwriter Lana Del Rey have teamed up on a lot of projects throughout Ms. Del Rey’s career, including the photo shoot for her latest (March 2023) release titled Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, and the folks at Far Out Magazine recently released a video of the pair talking about that photo shoot and how her collaboration with the photographer has had an impact on her music – https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/life-changing-influence-of-photographer-neil-krug-on-lana-del-reys-music/
Items for Sale and/or at Auction
It’s not too late – Don’t forget to take a look at this year’s Holiday Gift Guide – http://www.albumcoverhalloffame.wordpress.com/2023/11/17/album-cover-hall-of-fames-holiday-season-last-minute-gift-buying-guide-2023/
a) The Who vocalist Roger Daltrey has been an ongoing supporter of the U.K.’s Teenage Cancer Trust, providing various items for fund-raising auctions and a series of wildly-successful concerts that have raised important funds for the organization’s ongoing efforts to eradicate this disease and its effects on those afflicted with it (and their families), so it is with great pleasure that I’d like to share the details with you of a new limited-edition, signed art print, titled Think Lucky, Be Lucky and featuring artwork designed and donated by Steve Mitchell (45 Original) and the team at Tour Design (printed by the talented blokes at CCA Galleries) and with each of the 100 prints hand-signed by Teenage Cancer Trust’s Honorary Patron, that being Roger Daltrey, CBE. The prints will be shipped in mid-December, but orders are being accepted now at https://shop.teenagecancertrust.org/products/autographed-roger-daltrey-lucky-print
b) John Lydon – AKA Johnny Rotten – of Sex Pistols and PiL fame – has just released a series of digital prints on paper featuring artwork he’s done for several record packages and a book he’d authored – https://www.johnlydon.com/john-lydon-art-collection/
Promoted on his site but sold via another – https://www.awaywithmedia.com/buy-books – these limited edition (500 prints per image) works are hand-signed by the maestro himself and a priced rather-reasonably at £100.00 plus delivery (UK: £10.00; EU: £35.00 and USA: £45.00). Titles include I Could Be Wrong, I Could Be Right (the original artwork from the cover of Lydon’s 2020 book by that title), This Is PiL – The Buffalo Of Freedom (original artwork from the 2012 PiL Album This is PiL), What The World Needs Now… (based on the original artwork from the 2015 PiL studio album What The World Needs Now…, with this artwork being somewhat-inspired by Native American Hopi characters and Hawaii, which is based on the original artwork from the 2023 PiL single ‘Hawaii’ and is “a personal yet universal tribute to John’s now late wife Nora Forster that will resonate with many. The artwork painted before her sad passing depicts the couple in an ocean beachside setting inspired from their holiday in Hawaii.”
c) It’s the 50th anniversary of one of rock’s heaviest albums – Black Sabbath’s Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, featuring artwork by illustrator Drew Struzan and the team at Pacific Eye & Ear, and so the group’s merch people have come up with some great gear just in time for Holiday giving (I’ll leave it up to you to assign the proper holiday) – https://blacksabbathapparelshop.com/pages/sabbath-bloody-sabbath-prize-draw?
d) NotJust Clothing’s Official Beatles Abbey Road Christmas Sweater (AKA “jumper”) – One of the world’s best-known album cover images has been re-interpreted again, just in time for this year’s gift-giving season. As described on the UK manufacturer’s site, “Designed and manufactured ethically in the UK, the knitted jumper features The Beatles’ own image with John, Paul, Ringo and George each wearing a red Christmas hat as they stride across the iconic Abbey Road crossing.” It’s priced around $58 and can be seen on the NotJustClothing.com site – https://notjustclothing.co.uk/collections/christmas-jumpers/products/beatles-jumper
In this article on the Yahoo! News site, you’ll see that the Fab Four are not the only ones with some unique items for Xmas – https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/snow-then-versus-christmas-starman-120603597.html?
e) Photographer Dick Zimmerman is the shooter credited with the cover image for what might be the most-popular record ever sold, that being Michael Jackson’s classic Thriller. In an upcoming auction this December 9th at Blackwell’s Auction house in Florida that also includes some fancy watches, artwork by Peter Max, Salvador Dali and Alexander Calder, along with a large collection of circus memorabilia, the auction company will be offering a lot that includes both the camera Mr, Zimmerman used to shoot the famous image (a Hasselblad model 500ELX) and several test/alt shots he took during that photo session – https://bid.blackwellauctions.com/auctions/5-Z3U9A/the-iconic-sale?limit=36&search=zimmerman
An article on the UK’s Daily Mail site gives us the basics – https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12804403/Dick-Zimmermans-original-polaroids-taken-cover-Michael-Jacksons-1982-Thriller-album-one-worlds-best-selling-albums-auctioned-copyright.html Pre-auction estimates are in the $4-8,000 range for the alt cover shots, $10-20,000 for the single polaroid shot that established the basis for the final cover shot, and then $10-20,000 for “the Thriller camera” itself. While the camera is no longer working after years of hard use, its lenses were also the ones that, according to the item’s description, “…included two other sessions with the King of Pop: Michael’s collaboration with Steven Spielberg on the E.T. album, as well as the exclusive wedding photos of Michael and Lisa Marie.”
I’ll let you know what the final prices were next month – I’m quite curious to see how much these sell for, aren’t you?
f) My Bloody Valentine album art prints – including one hand-signed signed by the band – are now available for order – https://mybloodyvalentineart.com/products/mbv-standard-signed Choose between Loveless (1991), the band’s second studio release and 2013’s MBV (their third studio album, over 20 years later!), the former sporting a photo by noted film/video director Angus Cameron and the latter featuring artwork by Nicholas Pankhurst, a multi-disciplinary artist who studied at Chelsea College of Art and the Royal College of Art, and lives and works in London and Gloucestershire, UK.
Done in collaboration with The Flood Gallery, these exclusive giclée fine art prints serve to celebrate the 10 years since the release of the MBV album. The 24″ x 24″ giclée art prints are printed on Hahnemühle archival fine art paper and both sport official “mbv” embossing. The unsigned open edition prints of Loveless are priced at £60, while the special limited edition is done in a numbered edition of 300, with each signed by all four members of the band. Shipping in December 2023, the limited-edition prints are priced at £140.
g) Another interesting item I noted on the Flood Gallery site is Rolling Stones’ ICONS photo book – https://www.thefloodgallery.com/products/the-rolling-stones-icons? – where a passel of well-known photographers have each curated a chapter with photos they’ve contributed and written text about their individual experiences working with the band.
As it’s described on the gallery site – “The Rolling Stones: Icons brings together the greatest photographs ever taken of the greatest rock ’n’ roll band of all time. The result is the most important anthology of The Rolling Stones’ images ever compiled, featuring the iconic, the awe inspiring and the surprising. Spanning six heady decades, and countless tours and album covers, this thrilling portfolio features imagery from some of the most eminent names in photography, alongside the photographers’ own memories and reflections. The Rolling Stones: Icons captures many of the milestone moments of the band’s remarkable career.
The book Includes photographs by: Terry O’Neill, Michael Ward, Gered Mankowitz, Linda McCartney, Michael Joseph, “Spanish Tony” Sanchez, Dominique Tarlé, Ed Caraeff, Barry Schultz, Al Satterwhite, Michael Brennan, Ken Regan, Brian Aris, Denis O’Regan, Douglas Kirkland, Greg Brennan and founding member, bassist and photographer, Bill Wyman.
h) KnuckleBonz adds two new 3D vinyl collectible statues – album art-based recreations – featuring two unique variants of their “Eddie” mascot found on the covers of the hit Iron Maiden albums Fear of the Dark and Piece of Mind – to its expanding offering, with pre-orders now being accepted at a discounted price – https://knucklebonz.com/collections/iron-maiden-collectible-statues-by-knucklebonz?
With an estimated ship date some time in Spring of 2024, each hand-crafted statue is one of only 1993 pieces that will created and, like all KnuckleBonz statues, these are officially licensed, limited edition collectibles. The company uses a fine-art-based production process and each approx. 8″ high x 9″ depth x 8″ width statue is hand-cast, painted and numbered, with each statue shipped with a certificate of authenticity on the base of the statue.
Also just announced is a big-time addition to the KnuckleBonz line-up – collectible statues of the Rolling Stones – https://knucklebonz.com/collections/rolling-stones? Mick, Keith, Ronnie and Charlie – $169 each, available in Summer 2024 in limited-editions of just 3000 of each, done in 1/9 scale.
i) Eddie fans have more to rejoice about, because there’s a new Iron Maiden limited-edition hardcover graphic novel available through our friends at GOLDMINE Magazine titled Iron Maiden: Piece of Mind sporting “Trooper” cover art by JG Jones, who contributed the art to Anthrax’s 2021 re-release of Among The Living.
According to the publisher’s promotional info, the tome charts the band’s rise from the clubs of East London to the world stage, and “This commemorative tome, containing comics, art, and remembrances from acclaimed writers, artists, musicians and storytellers, is a powerful celebration of the unparalleled vision which inspired them — the living legend that is IRON MAIDEN.” Contributors include Bruce Dickinson, Tony Lee, Damien Worm, Steven Grant, Antony Johnston, Alison Sampson, Leah Moore & John Reppion, John Pearson, Chris Roberson, Danijel Žeželj, Mike Oeming & Taki Soma, Brian Posehn, Carson Thorne, Staz Johnson, Iván Brandon, Francesco Dossena, Heather Moore, Sacha Gervasi and Christian Rosado, with artwork by top illustrators including Ghoulish Gary, Akirant, Jan Meininghaus, Jay Geldhof, Carin Hazmat, Nat Jones, Steve Chanks, Kyle Hotz, Travis Knight, Montos & Rantz Hoseley (who also edited the book). Priced at $40.00, it’s available for a short time (only 500 copies), so click on over soon.
j) A recent flyer from my local liquor chain Binny’s informs me that Rush beer is now being sold there – https://www.binnys.com/147980? Made by Toronto-based Henderson Brewing Company and offered in some collectible packaging – https://shophendersonbrewing.com/en-us/products/rush-canadian-golden-ale?variant=40580930502849, my research also unearthed a YouTube video of Rush’s Geddy Lee touring the brewery – https://youtu.be/SadY0mP812A?list=TLGGt7kVwkdK47IwMzExMjAyMw
There’s also related merch available, such as this “Books are for tourists – Beer is for geniuses” t-shirt – https://shophendersonbrewing.com/en-us/products/rush-day-t-shirt?variant=47727450849511. The new beer offering is a follow up for the 2022 “Moving Pitchers” release – https://shophendersonbrewing.com/en-us/products/copy-of-rush-golden-ale-t-shirt? While logo beer glasses and other items – part of the Henderson X RUSH collection – can be found at – https://shophendersonbrewing.com/en-us/collections/rush
k) NEW FOR THE HOLIDAYS? – While this recent article on the Metal Sucks web site notes that a new Cannibal Corpse coloring book has been banned in Germany – https://www.metalsucks.net/2023/11/02/this-cannibal-corpse-coloring-book-apparently-goes-too-hard-for-germany/
The perfect stocking stuffer for those with somewhat-disturbed little kids (or parents who keep the little buggers locked in the basement), this new entry to this company’s Rock N’ Roll Colouring series “features some of the most iconic Cannibal Corpse album cover art by artist Vince Locke.” The series also includes coloring books from Iron Maiden, Cannibal Corpse, Alice Cooper and others, so while I’ve left this link out of my annual gift guide (isn’t self-censorship grand?), if you really want one, please click on over to – https://eyesoremerch.com/brands/rock-n-roll-colouring-books/
l) There are some new Arthur Gorson photos of Bob Marley, including one used on the cover of the 50th anniversary re-release of his classic Catch A Fire album (his first for Island Records), that can now be bought as limited-edition prints via the Musichead Gallery in Los Angeles – https://musichead.com/collections/arthur-gorson
Another bio that needs to be added soon to the ACHOF site, a quick Wikipedia search (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Gorson ) reveals that Gorson “has established a prestigious career in entertainment, and film. His extensive collaboration with iconic creative personalities has allowed unique access for his highly collectable photography. His classic photos of Bob Marley provide the album covers for Talking Blues, Lively Up Yourself. His photographic work has been published extensively in magazines such as Rolling Stone, Télérama, AD, as well as in several books about Bob Marley. Gorson has produced both feature and documentary films as well as over 75 major music videos.”
It’s now on my “To Do” list – hang in there, and thanks for your patience.
m) The Architect of the new Hip Hop Museum in NYC has collaborated with a top commercial carpeting manufacturer to create a line of floor coverings that represent the five elements of hip hop (remember what I taught you, or revisit the timeline at https://uhhm.org/revolution-of-hip-hop/hip-hop-timeline-1980-1985/ ). Per the press release – Architect Mike Ford from BrandnuDesign (https://brandnudesign.com/) has teamed with Shaw Contract and has introduced “the Mike Ford + Shaw Contract Collection of rugs and broadloom that celebrates the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop. The designs are inspired by the visual expression of the five elements of Hip Hop: Graffiti, DJing, Emcee, Breakdancing and Knowledge. Ford’s mission is to position Hip Hop culture as a catalyst to introduce underrepresented youth to architecture and design.”
They also just look so nice – take a look – https://www.shawcontract.com/en-us/collection/details/scx
To see some of Mike’s recent work on The Hip Hop Museum’s campus in New York, click on over to https://brandnudesign.com/designportfolio#/universal-hip-hop-museum-1/
n) The folks at Genesis Publishing are now offering a set of prints from the archives of the late photographer Michael Cooper, someone well-known for his contributions to record packages for The Beatles (Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band), the Rolling Stones (Their Satanic Majesty’s Request) and several others, as well as portraits of many of classic rock’s best-known stars. Called the Blinds & Shutters Collector’s Boxed Set (named after a book about Cooper’s work previously published by Genesis), the box contains (as described by the publisher) a total of thirty (30) 8” x 10” prints on Fuji Crystal Archive paper, including “a colour portrait of the Rolling Stones, originally taken as a potential cover image for the band’s 1967 album, Their Satanic Majesties Request. This colour C-Type print is estate-stamped and numbered. An incredible selection of 29 prints follows, all black and white, revealing rarely seen off-duty images of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Brian Jones. Giants of the world of art are represented – including René Magritte, David Hockney, Francis Bacon, Andy Warhol and Peter Blake – as well as Sixties icons, Twiggy, Anita Pallenberg and Marianne Faithfull. Reportage photographs taken at the Chicago Democratic Convention of 1968, and the surrounding anti-war protests, offer a fascinating insight into the era and feature cult writers William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Jean Genet and Terry Southern.”
There are 450 sets available at £225.00 – https://www.genesis-publications.com/print/blindsshuttersprints/blinds-shutters
o) UPDATE #2 – Last month, I shared some additional details regarding the book Simon Robinson had been working on to complete – his just-released book about “the strangest of the strange” album covers titled The Art of The Bizarre Vinyl Sleeve – and last month I let you know about the fact that the book’s foreword had been written by popular U.K. comedian (and avid record collector), Stewart Lee. As an addendum to that information, I’d like to point you all to an article recently published on the wonderfully-named web site “Huddersfield Hub” that features some additional updates, including the book’s price (£18.99) and that there was the launch event on November 16 at The Williamson Gallery in Birkenhead (near Liverpool) that I’ve touched on earlier in this newsletter. The nicely-illustrated article also includes some comments by Mr. Lee about how the project left him with great sadness about the state of the world and how he blames both Simon and the man behind the assortment of covers included in the book – collector Steve Goldman – for that fact. Steve takes his comments in stride, noting that “To have my favourite stand-up comedian write that he hates me and Simon in the foreword to our own book is a rare privilege. It’s truly a once in a lifetime experience!”
You’re invited to visit the Easy on the Eye site to take a look at the book and its contents prior to placing your orders, so please visit https://easyontheeyebooks.wordpress.com/forthcoming/the-art-of-the-bizarre-album-sleeve/ for all of the significant details and to commit to a copy of your very own. A recent review of the book on the Shindig! site gave the book five stars – https://easyontheeyebooks.co.uk/forthcoming/the-art-of-the-bizarre-album-sleeve/shindig-magazine-review/
Brief Bits:
p) While the aforementioned The Art of The Bizarre Vinyl Sleeve book might provide readers with an overview of the sheer number of strange/wonderful/disturbing (and bizarre) album cover images that have been produced over the years, a recent article on the Bored Panda site I found carries on the discussion by showing us a site that builds a bit on the same topic by ranking the worst of the worst (according to them/their participants) – https://www.boredpanda.com/bad-record-covers/
q) Wax Poetics re-releases a classic album cover art poster they created that includes thumbnails of 150 of the best-known cover images all on one page – available in 2 sizes – $38 (42cm X 59cm, or 16.5” X 23.4”) or $58 (59cm X 84cm, or 23.4” X 33.1”), plus shipping –https://store.waxpoetics.com/products/poster-mock-upasset-5?variant=42774198616249
r) KEEP YOUR EYES ON THIS – COMING SOON – They’re back…and, by the looks of things, better than ever. For several years prior to COVID, those in the music/arts worlds collaborated to create a very unusual and successful project to raise money for charities in the UK but, like so many things paused by the pandemic, this effort has remained dormant. If you’ll recall, the Secret 7” project asked visual artists of all stripes to anonymously craft one-off designs for singles put out by some of the music industry’s top talent, with these items put up for auction/sale, with all of the proceeds going to that year’s selected charitable organizations. What made this all the more exciting was that, amongst the works submitted, several were created by some of the world’s most-collected artists so, without knowing it, the lucky buyers might have ended up with an original by Stanley Donwood, Anish Kapoor or Lubaina Himid (who all were included in the last offering in 2021), among others. Past contributors have also included Yoko Ono, Ai Weiwei, Antony Gormley and other top artists.
Once they’re submitted, all of the covers (100 each of seven tracks) will be put up on display at London’s NOW Gallery from the 2nd to the 18th of March, 2024, after which they’ll be sold off. If you’re an artist interested in submitting a cover, here’s a link to a page on the Secret 7 that will give you all of the basics – https://www.secret-7.co.uk/submission (you have until early January to participate).
So happy to see this return.
Auction Results Updates
a) Eric Clapton’s guitar, custom-painted by the famed art collective “The Fool” sells for an oodle of money – https://artdaily.cc/news/164163/Eric-Clapton-s-The-Fool-Guitar-sold-for-world-record–1-27-million-at-Julien-s-Auctions-Hard-Rock-Cafe-Nashville Formed in 1967, The Fool design collective initially consisted of Dutch artists Simon Posthuma and Marijke Koger. Posthuma had organized a number of influential “happenings” in the early-mid 1960s before meeting fellow artist Marijke Koger in 1965 and joining forces with her to embark on a wide range of multi-discipline projects, including fine art, fashion design, set decoration and various performance art efforts, with a focus on colorful, psychedelic designs. Their album package credits include covers for the Incredible String Band (The 5000 Spirits or The Layers of the Onion), The Hollies (Evolution) and The Move (Move) among others, and they also achieved some fame for their costume and stage designs for Cream, Procol Harum and The Hollies and for program artwork for The Saville Theatre in London. The Beatles had seen the pair’s designs and hired them design clothing for them and for the Apple Boutique/Cultural Centre, where they also developed treatments for displays and murals to decorate the building’s exterior. Their creative relationship is also credited for inspirations for the song “The Fool on the Hill” and the George Harrison-scored film Wonderwall.
b) Bonham’s held a nice “Rock, Pop & Film” memorabilia auction at the end of November in London items that included a good sized cache of album cover-related lots, including a very nice Roger Dean oil on canvas from 2005 titled The Pulpit (which sold for £11,520 inc. premium) and a vintage 1969 print of the first shot photographer Iain Macmillan took of The Beatles crossing Abbey Road, which sold for a mere £1,408 inc. premium – https://www.bonhams.com/auction/28540/rock-pop-and-film/?query=album+cover
Miscellaneous Items and other Brief Bits
As always, I’m going to have to keep these short-and-sweet (well, most of them, anyway):
Obits:
Neville Garrick, who was the art director for the late singer/songwriter/performer Bob Marley, died recently after battling with prostate cancer. He was 73 years old. Responsible for dozens of album covers for Marley & The Wailers, starting in 1976 with Rastaman Vibration, as well as other top reggae acts on the Island, Tuff Gong and Roadrunner record labels, the accomplished artist, photographer and art director’s work helped define how the world saw he unique and compelling music industry clients.
The Kington, Jamaica born and UCLA-trained graphic artist was a close collaborator and friend with Mr. Marley, and it was Garrick who accompanied Marley to London to rest and recuperate for six months after having been shot in his home in Kingston in the summer of 1976. After Marley died in May 1981, it was Garrick who designed the cover for the posthumous 1983 album Confrontation, and he later became head of the Bob Marley Foundation and used his personal memorabilia collection to help stock the Bob Marley Museum.
I found a couple of nicely-detailed obituaries online that will give you more background on this accomplished artist – one on the UK’s The Guardian site – https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/nov/22/neville-garrick-obituary
And another on the Legacy.com site – https://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-deaths/neville-garrick-1950-2023-bob-marleys-art-director/
NEW FROM MUSE BY CLIO – Here’s a brief overview of the latest entries in the ongoing series of album art-related features on the Muse By Clio site. This recap finds the editorial team behind the “Art of the Album” series asking several artists/production execs/musicians and album art fans to share some of their favorite covers and why it is that they stand out amongst all others.
– 10 Great Album Covers, Chosen by Jose D’Alta of Forsman & Bodenfors: Claude Fontaine, Macintosh Plus, Joy Division and more
https://musebycl.io/art-album/10-great-album-covers-chosen-jose-dalta-forsman-bodenfors
Jose D’Alta is a senior art director at Forsman & Bodenfors NY agency with offices in Europe, Asia, Canada and the US. According to the agency’s site, they’re “a global creative collective, founded in Sweden in 1986. We believe in the power of ideas that get remembered, build fame and shift culture. Ideas that have a positive impact on our clients’ businesses, and on society. Our radically collaborative way of working unlocks creative excellence and builds unusually human brands. Today, we are 380 people, working in 8 offices, in 6 countries, on 3 continents, with 100+ Cannes Lions between us. Clients include Uber, Haagen-Dazs, Polestar, Oatley and many others. https://www.forsman.com/
Next up is 10 Great Album Covers, Chosen by Dan Deacon of Barking Owl: Hilary Stagg, Harald Grosskpof, Cabo Boing and more
Musician Dan Deacon – recently signed to the Barking Owl record label – sums up his feelings about great cover art thusly – “sick cover art rules” – with the word “sick” being understood as something a bit different than what you find on a Cannibal Corpse coloring book…
https://musebycl.io/art-album/10-great-album-covers-chosen-dan-deacon-barking-owl
– 10 Great Album Covers, Chosen by Nate Thompson of Amplify: Steve Hillage, Orbital, Divine Styler and more
Nate Thompson is executive creative director of the London-based global creative agency Amplify.
https://musebycl.io/art-album/10-great-album-covers-chosen-nate-thompson-amplify
Muse By Clio is part of the same group that puts on the annual Clio Music Awards…
a) At long last, a mystery that has dumbfounded vinyl collectors and album art fans for over 50 years has been solved, with the question being “just who was that old man carrying a bundle of sticks on his back on the cover of Led Zeppelin IV”? Thanks to the sharp eyes of a photo researcher who was looking through a catalog of Victorian-era photos that had been sold in an auction earlier this year – as well as his follow-up sleuthing – we now know the answer as to who they’re calling “the stick man” actually was. Here are some links to the coverage this has received since the story was released last month – https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/08/arts/music/led-zeppelin-iv-album-cover.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-67336495
and here’s a link to the page in the auction catalog where the image was found –
Let’s give three cheers to Brian Edwards, a visiting research fellow at the University of the West of England, for his discovery. 2023 has been a good year for solving album art-related mysteries, with another auction item providing the proof that Paul McCartney was not actually missing during the making of the cover for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/aug/14/photo-that-solves-sgt-pepper-mccartney-mystery-up-for-auction .
And, because everyone wants to get in on the act these days, here’s the story of a modern thatcher who has attempted to recreate the original photo – https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-67401126
b) Yep, it’s real…with the advent of AI image-making capabilities, many are wondering whether what they see daily is real, so fact-checking sites are being used with greater frequency to affirm/deny whether something that someone has seen is, in fact, “real”. Recently, a query was made on the Snopes.com site regarding something quite surreal – i.e., the infamous “Butcher Cover” image found on the Beatles’ Yesterday & Today’s original pressings (later replaced by something more common) – and the researcher assigned the task came back with a story that, while vinyl collectors have been aware of the image’s history for a long while now, might be news to a younger audience. For me, I’m just happy to see that people are taking the time to ask questions!
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/beatles-bloody-dolls-butcher-cover/
c) In more AI-related news, two former Pink Floyd members, ambient music trendsetters The Orb and English (but now Southern Californian) multi-disciplinary artist Simon Ghahary have joined forces to offer the public the chance to get their hands dirty (digitally, of course) and use a new online tool to create both music and visuals based on the art and musical elements from portions of the Metallic Spheres In Colour album.
According to the details released in late November on the Sony Music site, “fans can visit metallicspheres.io (https://metallicspheres.io/) to create their own personalized AI track and artwork remixed from portions of ‘Metallic Spheres In Colour.’ Visitors to the site will follow a series of prompts indicating the emotion they want the album’s artwork to convey, plus mood and tempo preferences for the available audio. The site, using artificial intelligence capabilities, then generates a new version for playback. Fans can share links to their creations via social media along with their reimagined album covers, and there will be an opportunity to purchase full length remixes as a download in the coming weeks.” Sounds like fun.
Read more about the participants, the project and the inspirations behind it via this link – https://www.sonymusic.com/sonymusic/the-orb-and-david-gilmour-launch-metallic-spheres-in-colour-ai-global-remix-project-for-fans/
To see more about the artist responsible for the visuals for both the album cover and this project, click on over to https://ghahary.com/
d) The duo of singer Alison “VV” Mosshart and guitarist Jamie “Hotel” Hince perform as “The Kills” and have released several critically-acclaimed records during the course of their 20+ years together, with their sixth studio release hitting the stores in late October. This latest effort – titled God Games – find them taking the term “art rock” to a new level, with their love of photography contributing significantly to the beauty and complexity of the record’s packaging. They each added photos they’d taken to illustrate the lyrics of each of the songs included on the album, while the packages cover art is a riff on a painting found over the mantel in Hince’s home (which was left by the previous owners). Min Chen talks to the pair about the making of this package in this recent article on the ArtNet News site – https://news.artnet.com/art-world/the-kills-god-games-photography-2383339
Brief Bits:
e) On its web site recently, Loudwire Magazine reprised part (about 17 minutes) of a 2017 documentary that celebrated the 25th anniversary of the release of Pantera’s Vulgar Display of Power and, in this clip (beginning at around 13:00:00), always-humble (although trend-setting) lead singer Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, drummer Vinnie Paul and others involved – including photographer Brad Guice – talk about the inspirations behind the making of that amazing, in your face (in the most literal way possible) album cover image and, along the way, dispel any rumors as to how it was made (was he or wasn’t he?) – https://loudwire.com/pantera-tell-story-vulgar-display-power-full-documentary/
In other related Pantera news, an article I found on the Kool 109.7 (“Western Colorado’s Greatest Hits”) provides readers with the details of the photo used on the cover of the band’s 1990 release Cowboys From Hell and that the original shot was taken in the early 1900’s in – guess where – a saloon in Colorado – https://kool1079.com/ixp/510/p/colorado-saloon-pantera-cover/ What a coincidence!
f) Justin Becker releases the 8th and 9th installments of his album cover art series. The first seven were “What Ever Happened To…” style, focused on the people/places/things found on the covers of famous albums, with the series shifting now to reveal the “Story Behind Iconic Album Covers”, as seen on the Ultimate Guitar.com site – https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/articles/features/story_behind_iconic_album_covers_part_8-159088
The first article shares the details about three iconic albums by Nirvana, The Beatles, and Prince, while the second – https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/articles/features/the_story_behind_iconic_album_covers_part_9-159334 – explains the inspirations behind records by Crosby Stills Nash & Young, NWA, Pink Floyd and Stone Temple Pilots,
g) The Guardian’s Dorian Lynskey takes a slightly different approach to sharing info on Led Zeppelin’s “Stick Man” by adding details about other people who’ve appeared on album covers that, over time, have become “iconic” (or, as he puts it, “modern pop enigmas”) – https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/nov/12/album-cover-stars-modern-pop-enigmas Some we’ve seen many times, others not so much.
h) Clara Getty, a third year Government and Media Studies major at the University of Virginia and a contributor to the Her Campus.com web site, pulls no punches with an item expressing the reasons why she thinks that the album cover for Noah Kahan’s latest record (Stick Season: We’ll All Be Here Forever) deserves everyone’s disdain as it appears to be – in Ms. Getty’s opinion – a rip-off of the cover for George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass – https://www.hercampus.com/school/uva/did-noah-kahan-copy-george-harrisons-most-iconic-album-cover/ One can hope that these feelings, too, shall pass.
i) Here’s a story about a teacher in Minnesota who is certainly on the opposite side of the whether or not to use AI as a tool with which to make album cover art argument – why not re-create album cover images using seeds and grains and call it “crop art” – https://www.billboard.com/culture/lifestyle/crop-art-album-covers-minnesota-1235467076/
j) “The Most influential Metal Album Covers” according to someone on the BraveWords.com site – https://bravewords.com/news/the-most-influential-metal-album-covers Can you pack any more ads on one web page as they do here? I don’t see how…
k) Not to be out-done in the “best”, “most”, “most iconic” (“best most iconic”?) genre of clickbait articles, the editors of the SOHH.com site recently treated us to “Unveiling the Most Iconic Hip-Hop Album Covers: N.W.A., Dr. Dre, 2 Live Crew & More” – https://www.sohh.com/unveiling-the-most-iconic-hip-hop-album-covers-n-w-a-dr-dre-2-live-crew-more/ . Another strong effort in the “how many ads can you jam on a page” marathons we’re treated to on the Webernet.
l) Live goats recreate the famous road crossing from Abbey Road – https://ca.news.yahoo.com/goats-recreate-beatles-classic-abbey-063709936.html Some say that The Beatles were the goats (i.e., Greatest Of All Time) of the British Rock Invasion, but to take it that literally…
Lastly but not Leastly…
Those of you who read my newsletter last month were treated to a brief illustrated summary of a recent trip my wife and I took to the UK and that my souvenir (besides the memories) from that tour was a copy of a Beatles album – A Collection of Beatles Oldies But Goodies – never released in the U.S. that sported the psychedelic artwork of the late David Christian. Soon after, I received an email from super Beatle-fan and author Ken Orth, which made me happy for two reasons – 1) it was proof that some people – including people who know quite a lot about a variety of related topics – actually ready my monthly missives and 2) it contained more information on Mr. Christian, which is something I’d had little luck finding on my own. In fact, Ken had written a great article on the album and its artwork for the June, 2023 issue of Beatlefan Magazine (since 1978 “the world’s foremost news magazine for fans of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr” – https://beatlefan.com/) and, with his permission, I’m going to share a bit more info on this artist, who died 10+ years ago and whose bio will soon be added to the ACHOF bio section.
First, I’d like to share Ken’s intro to the article – Mike, please use whatever is helpful from the article. And the “Oldies” album was indeed an official release. In late 1966, The Beatles were fed-up with touring and in no mood to write and record another album. Besides, they all had other projects they wanted to work on. Still, Parlophone didn’t want to miss the UK’s 1966 Xmas season sales and so they put “Oldies” together with “Bad Boy,” which, at the time, was still unreleased in the UK. The album was deleted from the official Beatles canon in 1987 after the release of everything on CD. There was no comparable US LP.
As an aside, I now see the “Oldies” cover art as setting the stage for “Pepper” the following summer, in an almost coincidence-defying manner. Both are over-the top pop and psychedelically colorful. Both are full of component images that evoke nostalgia for earlier generations. Both have a sliver of blue sky at the top, items scattered about at the bottom, and a central drumhead emblazoned with the album title in an unusual typeface. And those four figures surrounding the “Oldies” Rolls Royce in the upper left may be The Beatles if you squint at them long enough! I’m jus’ sayin’…”
In Ken’s Beatlefan article, he explains how the Australian-born artist was transferred by the advertising agency he worked for to London, where he met his wife and decided to settle down, eventually opening his own shop and working for some pretty high-profile clients there. In 1965, while out knocking on doors to drum up business, he approached NEMS (Editor’s Note – this was the management company established by Brian Epstein) to show off his portfolio, first to Brian Epstein and then to Beatle John Lennon himself. His timing was fortuitous as they’d recently been disappointed by another artist and needed some fast-turnaround art done for some projects they’d planned. “That led Christian to create the cover artwork for A Collection of Beatles Oldies, a colorful picture that used “oldies” images from the 1920s to reinforce that the album largely was a compilation of previously-released hit songs. The LP was released in the U.K. in December 1966. There was no comparable release in America.” Ken then added, “The following year, Christian created the title lettering for the sides of the touring coach featured in The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour made-for-TV film. His resulting rainbow-design title appeared not only on the coach, but also the front cover of the Magical Mystery Tour records, which were released as an LP in November 1967 in the U.S. and as a double-EP in December in the U.K.
Concurrent with his album work, Christian also prepared a drawing for the cover of The Beatles’ 1966 Fan Club Christmas single. Although a drawing by Paul McCartney ultimately was used on the disc, Christian’s drawing appeared in ads in the New Musical Express and Billboard…”
Christian’s works would later be found on records by The Bee Gees and Cliff Richard. After retiring to Cornwall in 1998, where he continued to draw and paint Cornish landscapes, Christian died in June, 2013.
I’d again like to thank Ken for sharing this info with me/us as its always great to learn more about the people whose works have left a positive impression on us.
That’s all for now – be on the lookout for the next newsletter update – the first of the new year 2024 – which is scheduled to be delivered on January the 1st and, with any luck, published just in time for you to read it after your post-New-Year’s-celebration morning coffee. I should also be able to deliver my annual summary of the “Best of” and “Worst of” editorials and, as I’m always prone to do, publish an article/news alert or two along the way, so I’d suggest that, if you haven’t done so already, you sign up on the ACHOF home page to get an automatic email every time there’s something new on the ACHOF site.
Also, if you have any suggestions for me – ideas for articles, notices about events or adding/editing sections of the newsletter or web site, please feel free to share those with me. I read every email I get (and reply to them all) and really appreciate the feedback as it’s my hope to make this site/news source as good as it can be.
Until we meet again next month (and year),
Peace and Love and Happy New Year to you all,
Mike G
Unless otherwise noted, all text and images included in this article are Copyright 2023 Mike Goldstein and AlbumCoverHallofFame.com – All Rights Reserved. All the trade names mentioned in these summaries are the properties of their respective owners and are used for reference only.
Album Cover Hall of Fame.com 
Thanks for the shout-out Mike. I’ve sent it along to Nicole Christian, David’s daughter, and Beatlefan Editor Bill King. I know they’ll appreciate the recognition.
Happy holidays.
Ken – thanks to you (and Nicole and Bill K) for your help in adding these important details to the story.
I will be working on adding David C to the ACHOF bio section this week, so thanks also for the additional details to make that possible as well.
Let’s stay in touch, and enjoy the rest of your Holiday/New Year’s season as well.
Cheers
Mike G