Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Summary – September/October, 2019

Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Summary – End of September/October, 2019

By Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

Dear Readers – This month’s summary will be perhaps my most-truncated effort ever, and for that I must apologize. Sometimes Life really gets in the way of doing what you love, and when you’re caring for a relative with profound dementia, it can be a bit overwhelming, as it is today.

With that as my excuse for this month’s abbreviated summary, let’s take a look at my digest of what’s happening/happened lately in the world of album cover art and the people that make it:

New Exhibitions/gallery shows –

a) The Mr. Musichead Gallery in Los Angeles will be sponsoring and hosting a special fund-raising event this coming Thursday, October 3^rd that will be built around a 30-year career retrospective of noted rock photographer Chris Cuffaro – https://www.mrmusichead.com/events/2019/10/3/puppies-and-pearl-jam-photography-exhibition-amp-fundraiser? 100% of the proceeds will benefit the Wags & Walks charity, an organization that provides new homes for rescue dogs and much happiness to the people who adopt these animals.  https://www.wagsandwalks.org/our-story

b) Warhol comes to the Art Institute in Chicago – A show that’s drawn crowds and received rave reviews since it’s premiere at the Whitney Museum – Andy Warhol From A to B and Back Again – will open at Chicago’s Art Institute later this month (October 20th, running through January 26, 2020) with a newly-curated collection of hundreds of the pop art master’s most-impressive works. And yes, there will be a small collection of his album covers included in the display. I’ll be touring through the show soon after it opens and will share that coverage with you post-haste. Until then, you can learn more about what will be on display by visiting the museum’s site at https://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/2937/andy-warhol-from-a-to-b-and-back-again

ONGOING Exhibitions/Gallery Shows –

a) Previously posted 9/13/19 – Sunday, September 15th was the launch date of the Fall Open House at Mana Contemporary (888 Newark Ave in Jersey City, NJ) and the talented folks from Gary Licthenstein Editions are hosting a show of new works by a whole host of artists whose work they produce, including several who are well-known to fans of album cover/music-related imagery, such as Cey Adams, Bob Gruen, Eric Orr and others (I’m particularly excited to see works by noted artist/film director Charlie Ahearn, whose Wild Style documentary is required-watching for fans of hip-hop culture). I’m told by GLE’s Melissa Marr that the exhibition will be on display for at least a month. For those of you who would be visiting the venue for the first time, Mana Contemporary is a few blocks away from the Journal Square Path Train Station in Jersey City, NJ.

https://www.manacontemporary.com/event/fall-2019-open-house/

b) While not specifically an album cover art show, there is a new show at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles that opened September 12^th featuring the portrait work of Richard Ehrlich, a photographer whose five-year project meant to capture the emotional expressions of music-makers enjoying their favorite music – a project called “Face The Music” – was originally shared via several videos and a book of the same title that was published in 2016. According to the museum’s advance PR, Face The Music showcases Ehrlich’s artful shots of 41 musicians in a variety of musical genres. “To showcase these portraits, the GRAMMY Museum® proudly announces Face The Music, a new photography exhibit showcasing 41 legendary musicians including Quincy Jones, Ringo Starr, Herbie Hancock, Dave Brubeck, Wayne Shorter, Iggy Pop, Esperanza Spalding, Herb Alpert, Sir Graham Nash, Sheryl Crow, RZA, Philip Glass, Emmylou Harris and many more, each who were photographed while listening to three pieces of music of their choice.” The samples I’ve seen are truly stunning examples of just how deeply music can touch anyone/everyone, so I hope that you’ll take the time to visit the exhibit during its run (through January 6, 2020). More details of the show are available on the museum’s web site –  https://www.grammymuseum.org/exhibits/traveling-exhibits/face-the-music – with more examples from the photographer’s portfolio available on his own site (including some of the aforementioned video clips) – https://www.ehrlichphotography.com/facethemusic; https://www.ehrlichphotography.com/face-the-music-video

BTW – Mr. Ehrlich does indeed have an album cover credit – he shot the cover for Steve Tibbet’s 2010 jazz/rock album titled Natural Causes – so I feel much better now about including this item in my summary.

c) There’s an exhibition that opened on Saturday, July 20th at  the Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg, PA that I urge any fan of great design – particularly in the realm of album/poster art – to make a beeline to ASAP. Era of Cool: The Art of John Van Hamersveld (running now thru Sunday, October 20, 2019) includes a selection of Van Hamersveld’s album covers, poster designs, drawings, mural designs, photography and paintings. His portfolio of music-related artwork is legendary – Exile on Main Street for the Rolling Stones; Hotter Than Hell for KISS; The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour; Blondie’s Eat To The Beat and Autoamerican; Skeletons From The Closet for the Grateful Dead and many others for Steve Miller, Van Morrison, Jefferson Airplane and more. If you’ve been to Fatburger, you’ve seen his work (that’s his logo). And that “Endless Summer” artwork you see on t-shirts, beach bags and on a poster that hangs in the lobbies of many beachfront hotels – it’s his work as well. Quite the portfolio, you have to admit…

Nice interview with JVH by Bonnie C. West, the curatorial assistant at The Westmoreland – https://thewestmoreland.org/blog/

For more information on this exciting new show featuring one of the best-recognized album cover artists/graphic designers in the business, click on over to the museum’s web site at https://thewestmoreland.org/exhibitions/era-of-cool-the-art-of-john-van-hamersveld/

Local reporter Lisa Cunningham, writing for the Pittsburgh City Paper, provides us all with more background on John and this news show – https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/artist-behind-hundreds-of-iconic-album-covers-debuts-first-solo-show-at-westmoreland-museum-of-art/Content?oid=15431122

John’s work has been featured many times in many different articles on the ACHOF site. I’m a proud owner of several of his works of art and had the pleasure of meeting him (and his wife, Alida), interviewing him and, back in the day, selling his works in my gallery, so you can imagine how happy I am to see such a retrospective made available to fans of great art and design. Go, Go, Go!

d) A show at the Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, MI looks to be a must-see for students of the art of the album cover. According to the press release for the show, “For the Record: Artists on Vinyl mines a unique vein of creative expression, the design of the record album cover and the use of phonographic recordings by artists as a vehicle for creative expression…This exhibition features more than 50 designs, many of which are paired with artworks, drawn from our permanent collection, by the same artist.” Most readers of this site know how often it is that now-famous artists either got their start in the album cover art business (Andy Warhol and Drew Struzan are prime examples of this) or, as musical and graphical artists are often on the same wavelength, how many successful collaborations there have been between music and art makers.

For the Record: Artists on Vinyl is organized by Cranbrook Art Museum curator Ian Gabriel Wilson, the Jeanne and Ralph Graham Collections Fellow, with the assistance of Frank M. Edwards, with many of the artworks on display drawn from the collection of Mr. Edwards. Previously, Mr. Edwards and his wife, Ann M. Williams, who serve on the museum’s board, were the principal sources for another Crankbrook exhibition – Warhol On Vinyl The Record Covers, 1949-1987+ that was on display there June 21, 2014 – March 21, 2015. Artists in the show include: Banksy, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Harry Bertoia, Salvador Dalí, Richard Diebenkorn, Keith Haring, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Motherwell, Claes Oldenburg, Yoko Ono, Robert Rauschenberg, Bridget Riley, Frank Stella, Andy Warhol, among many others.

For the Record: Artists on Vinyl can be found in the museum’s deSalle & Lower Level Galleries – now through April 19, 2020 – https://cranbrookartmuseum.org/exhibition/for-the-record-artists-on-vinyl/

e) Let’s begin with a fun fact – although Linda McCartney had great talent with the camera and had the last name Eastman, she was NOT, as was widely thought, a scion of the Eastman family associated with the Eastman-Kodak company (her dad was, in fact, a copyright attorney). Nevertheless, after graduating from high school in Scarsdale and then becoming an Art History major at the University of Arizona, where her love for nature motivated her to purchase a Leica camera and stud the photography of horses under the tutelage of Hazel Larsen Archer (and then marrying/divorcing cultural anthropologist Melville See, with whom she had her first child, daughter Heather, in 1963), Linda and her daughter moved back to New York City, living off an inheritance her mother had left her and take a job as a receptionist/editorial assistant for Town & Country Magazine in 1965.

A romantic relationship with photographer David Dalton allowed Linda to study how a professional shooter works and, soon after, she began to manage her own photo sessions, using her knowledge, good looks and ability to communicate with even the most-difficult subjects to secure gigs featuring people in the music business. She became a house photographer at Bill Graham’s Fillmore East venue and, over time, she’d shoot music superstars including Eric Clapton, The Doors, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, the Rolling Stones, Neil Young (one of her photos of Young performing in 1968 at Canterbury House would later become the cover of a record called Sugar Mountain) and others – in fact, her photo for Rolling Stone Magazine’s May 11, 1968 issue was the first cover taken by a female photographer to appear in that magazine – and so when she met Beatle Paul McCartney while covering the release of the band’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band LP and married him a couple of years later, it marked the beginning of a long and productive creative relationship as well – one that ended, sadly, with her death in 1998.

So, while she might not be with us, her portfolio lives on and is the subject of a show which has toured the world for the past 5+ years, with stops in Vienna, Montpellier and Seoul and is launching today at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow, Scotland – it’s first display in the U.K. and is on display now through the 12^th of January, 2020 (Editor’s note – I’m hoping to tour this show during my visit to Glasgow later this month – photos to be shared upon my return). Simply titled “The Linda McCartney Retrospective,” the show was curated by the photographer’s husband, fellow musician Paul McCartney and their two daughters, Mary and Stella, and, according to the pre-show press, “It brings together dozens of Linda McCartney’s photos—from famous portraits of 1960s rock icons to more personal snapshots of her quiet home life with Paul—as well a trove of archival materials being shown in public for the first time, including cameras, her personal magazine collection, and even a diary from the ’60s.” More info is available at https://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/event/1/linda-mccartney-retrospective

Linda was also credited with a number of well-known-and-loved album cover photos, including the shot of Paul and his newborn daughter Mary taken in Scotland that was used on the back cover of Paul M’s solo debut album in 1970 titled McCartney. Available in the museum’s shop – quite the nice souvenir – is a limited-edition (one of 12), 20” x 24” fine art print of that photo (signed by Mary, who is now old enough to sign her name), priced at only £4,200.00  https://shop.glasgowlife.org.uk/mccartney-album-cover-scotland-1970-limited-edition-print. Get one for someone you love.

More details also at https://www.lindamccartney.com/the-linda-mccartney-retrospective/

f) Also in the UK (London), the Design Museum has put on a display of the nominees and winners of their annual “Beazley Designs of the Year” competition. Now in its twelfth year, the Beazley Designs of the Year is an annual celebration of “the most original and exciting products, concepts and designers across the globe today.” New this year was the addition of designs nominated by the public.

The last time an album cover was given one of these prestigious awards was back in 2017, when designer Jonathan Barnbrook won for his memorable package for the late David Bowie’s Blackstar album (being crowned “Graphic Design of the Year”). I’ve seen some impressive work this year, so let’s hope the judges are as impressed as I’ve been…

https://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/beazley-designs-of-the-year;

g) In addition to the photo portrait shows covered here previously, the busy curators at the Grammy Museum launched a show this past August built around memorabilia – album and advertising art, clothing, tour documents and lots of photos – taken from the archives of one of the music industry’s best-known concert promoters/artist managers, Jerry Weintraub and Concerts West – the man/team responsible for a number of memorable shows by  musical acts including John Denver, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, The Carpenters, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Rick James, Beach Boys, Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, The Commodores, the Bee Gees, The Moody Blues, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney and many others. While he’d begin his rise to the top of the entertainment business in the early 1970s, he’d expand his empire to include a long list of successful film/TV productions, including hits such as Oh, God!, Nashville, Diner, the Karate Kid movie franchise and the Emmy Award-winning TV documentary on global warming – Years Of Living Dangerously – among many others. This expansive look into the career of one of the best showmen in the business runs through early December, and you can learn more on the Grammy Museum site –  https://www.grammymuseum.org/exhibits/current-exhibits/jerry-weintraub-presents; https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/jerry-weintraub-presents-exhibit-coming-grammy-museum

h) Some of you might recall that I was honored a few years back to write an article for Rockwell Museum curator Jesse Kowalski’s “Illustration History” site about album cover design and production (which you can find at https://www.illustrationhistory.org/essays/producing-album-cover-art-for-clients-in-the-music-business). As we corresponded recently about a VR-based initiative the Museum is involved with (people love their little screens these days, right?), Jesse shared some info on a new show he’s got up that focuses on two hot topics this year – the 50^th anniversaries of the Woodstock Art & Music Festival and Man’s landing on the Moon – along with everything else that made the year 1969 a memorable one in our history. Running now through October 27^th, “Woodstock to the Moon: 1969 Illustrated” fills two of the museum’s galleries and, according to the show’s PR, “those galleries are well provided for and cover a lot of range. A display relating to Sesame Street, which debuted on public television that year, is an implicit reminder that Woodstock was by no means the most important cultural event of 1969. An early draft of the screenplay for Easy Rider sits near a poster for the movie version of Hello, Dolly!…In a nice nod to another Massachusetts museum, the show includes artwork for ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ (yes, published in 1969), whose author-illustrator is the namesake of the Eric Carle Museum, in Amherst.” The show also includes a number of famous concert posters (including Arnold Skolnick’s iconic Woodstock poster) groovy examples of mind-bending psychedelic found on the album covers and other materials from bands such as Led Zeppelin, The Who, and the Grateful Dead. I do hope that you’ll visit https://www.nrm.org/2016/12/woodstock-to-the-moon-1969-illustrated/ to plan on your trip to see this show, and if you’d like to read a recent review on it as seen in the Boston Globe – https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/art/2019/07/10/illustrating-year-when-rad-met-trad/8PUuaMrm3FOREZV0PoONkL/story.html

Artist News and Interviews –

a) NEW, BUT NOT REALLY – Noted designer/illustrator/album cover artist Stefan Bucher has re-launched his daily video journal called the Daily Monster, where each day he takes you through the steps of creating a  monster with the hopes that he’ll inspire you to create monsters of your own – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNGRtjBO4IFMWWuzJ1spS4w

b) Previously posted 9/27 –  With all of the recent excitement (and articles a-plenty) about the celebration of the 50^th anniversary (on September 26^th) of the release of the Abbey Road album by The Beatles, I wanted to simplify your approach to reviewing the memorable album art via this recent with the designer who was tasked with putting together the original package for this recording – the immensely-talented Mr. John Kosh (or, as he prefers, simply “Kosh”). Two recent interviews with the 75-years-old-but-still-working-like-a-madman designer were published this past week – one in Forbes and one in the NY Post –  about his work on Abbey Road –

Forbes – https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidchiu/2019/09/24/beatles-abbey-road-album-cover-design-john-kosh/#6a4fec7d1c07

NY Post – https://nypost.com/2019/09/25/inside-the-story-of-the-abbey-road-album-cover/

and to mark the occasion, I’d like to share a photo of myself (see below) with two items that arrived in the mail today – my copy of the 50^th anniversary edition (remixed by Giles Martin and Sam Okell) 2-CD set and, because I realized this week that I’d never added the book to my personal collection, my copy of Aubrey Powell’s generously-illustrated 2017 book Vinyl.Album.Cover.Art: The Complete Hipgnosis Catalogue which, I can assure you, will provide me with much to be happy about this weekend as I read it (while listening to the Abbey Road CDs, perhaps). Both items contrasted nicely with my Abbey Road in silhouette t-shirt, don’t you think?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you’d like to read my own interview with Kosh about his work on another well-remembered (and honored, as it won a Grammy) cover – Linda Ronstadt’s 1984 recording of her takes on classic big band tunes titled Lush Life – I’d invite you to click on this link and you’ll be whisked right there –  https://albumcoverhalloffame.wordpress.com/2014/05/09/interview-with-kosh-linda-ronstadts-lush-life-album-cover/

Bonus anniversary mention – Not quite as old as Abbey Road, but sporting a cover photo that is perhaps as well-known (to a slightly younger crowd) –  this year (December, actually) marks the 40^th anniversary of the release of The Clash’s London Calling album which featured photographer Pennie Smith’s photo of Joe Simonon’s frustrated bass-smashing on stage in NYC – Fox5 NY posted a video interview this week with Smith and Rolling Stone’s Anthony DeCurtis on the topic – https://www.fox5ny.com/news/the-clashs-london-calling-album-cover-photo-turns-40

c) One of the best-known photo-journalists covering the Seattle/grunge scene is Charles Peterson (guests of the Hotel Max in the city will find his work incorporated into the hotel’s décor). Here’s a recent interview on the UDiscover Music site about shooting Soundgarden covers – https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/charles-peterson-soundgarden-photos-interview/

New Products (Books, Prints, Other) –

a) The folks at KnuckleBonz continue to impress as they expand their 3D album cover sculpture line to include Pantera’s Vulgar Display of Power and Aerosmith’s Toys In The Attic to their line – (shipping this fall, pre-orders accepted now) – https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/pantera-iconic-vulgar-display-power-181409936.html

Miscellaneous Items – 

a) Sir Peter Blake, who created the cover for The Who’s Face Dances 1981 LP (along with covers for The Beatles, Eric Clapton, Paul Weller and many others) was commissioned once more by Misters Daltrey and Townshend to create the designs for their upcoming album for The Who titled, quite controversially, Who. The designs were premiered at the opening for the new Pace Gallery in NYC, with special guests (guess who? No, not the Guess Who) there to play an acoustic set – https://petetownshend.net/news/the-who-perform-acoustic-set-and-reveal-new-album-cover-at-pace-gallery-in-nyc

b) Kerrang Magazine just had to publish this article about 12 albums with really-embarrassing album covers –  https://www.kerrang.com/features/13-amazing-albums-with-embarrassing-covers/

Perhaps one day I’ll publish a piece about 12 magazine articles about album cover art that were really embarrassing…that’ll show ‘em.

c) Perhaps this article on the Yardbark site about the “most-iconic album covers of all time” will make the cut?  – https://www.yardbarker.com/entertainment/articles/the_most_iconic_album_covers_of_all_time/s1__30083705#slide_1. Or how about this one from the editors at the UK’s Radio X on the “Most Boring Album Covers” – https://www.radiox.co.uk/features/x-lists/most-boring-album-covers/

d) Here’s a new review of the latest in heavy-metal album art design – https://www.treblezine.com/shadow-of-the-horns-metal-album-covers-have-come-a-long-way/

e) Part of the process of making album art – working hard to produce designs, only to have them rejected by your clients – is illustrated nicely here in this article which uncovers a rejected design for AC/DC’s Black Ice LP – http://www.alternativenation.net/new-acdc-album-cover-finally-leaks-years/

f) RIP – Previously posted on 9/11/19 – It’s my sad duty to inform my readers that photographer Robert Frank, perhaps best-known to rock album art fans for his contributions to the Rolling Stones’ classic 1972 double album Exile On Main Street, has died at the age of 94. Born in November, 1924 in Zurich, Switzerland to Jewish parents whose Swiss citizenship kept the family relatively safe while the War raged on around them, Robert Frank saw how Nazism oppressed individual expression and, rather than focus his attentions on business, decided to dedicate himself to expressing himself through photography and studied the subject with several photographers and designers. He took his talents to the United States in 1947, working first as a photographer for Harper’s Bazaar magazine, leaving a short while later to tour the world and returning in 1950 when he met famed photographer Edward Steichen and was asked to participate in his group show at NYC’s Museum of Modern Art.

That same year, he met and married his wife Mary (a fellow artist) but, after a few years of life in the U.S., Frank was bothered by society’s pace, intense focus on capitalism and, to Frank, a lingering loneliness he felt there. Looking for an escape, he embarked – with his wife and two young sons – on a tour of the world, returning to NYC in 1953. He took on freelance work for a number of fashion and news magazines and, along with several other photographers (such as Diane Arbus, Walker Evans and others) became part of what was called at the time “The New York School of Photographers”.

In 1955, supported by a Guggenheim fellowship, he began a journey across the United States, looking to photograph people and places from all walks of life and in all parts of the country. From the nearly 30,000 photographs he took over the next two years, he selected 83, which became the basis for a book he titled “The Americans”.  After completing this work, Frank decided to put his still camera away and focus his talents on film-making, with one of his best-known works from this time being his 1959 film titled Pull My Daisy and featuring many of the best-known “Beat” artists, writers and poets of the generation.

After Frank and Mary’s marriage ended, he then married sculptor June Leaf and, in 1971, the couple moved to a community on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. Family tragedies struck hard when his daughter Andrea was killed in a plane crash in Guatemala in 1974 and his son Pablo was later hospitalized for a mental disorder and later (in 1994) took his own life, moving the artist to create the Andrea Frank Foundation, an organization that supports artists with grants.

His introduction to music industry clients came in 1972 when he was hired to document the Rolling Stones while they were on tour. So accurate was the portrayal of the band (and its excesses and, notably, the loneliness of their lives on the road) that the band and its management demanded that the resulting film – Cocksucker Blues – not be shown in theaters in the U.S.. The band and Frank reached a settlement that allowed for the movie to be shown only 5X per year (with Frank required to attend the showings) and the photographer was then asked to supply the photographs that were used on the group’s famed Exile On Main Street record cover. He continued throughout his life s to work on a wide variety of projects (spending time both in Canada and back at his loft in NYC) and had directed several music videos. Notable album cover credits in his portfolio included Kraftwerk’s Radio Aktivitat; Philip Glass – Hydrogen Jukebox; Jerry Garcia – Shady Grove; John Hiatt – Greatest Hits: The A&M Years ’87 – ’94 and Chronicles; New Order – Item; The New Lost City Ramblers – 50 Years: Where Do You Come From, Where Do You Go? and Tracy Nelson – Tracy Nelson Country.

There have been a number of showings of Frank’s art over the years, including a 1994 retrospective at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, a 2004 show at London’s Tate Modern Museum, shows in 2008-9 in Germany, a 2012 show at Moscow’s Multimedia Art Museum along with a 2014 exhibition at Stanford University. In 2009, The National Gallery of Art organized a large exhibition that went on to tour both the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.  The same gallery has also assembled what they call “the largest repository of materials related to renowned photographer and film-maker Robert Frank”, ready in its entirety in time for Frank’s 90th birthday in November, 2014.

Upon hearing of his death on September 9, 2019 at the age of 94, the Rolling Stones issued the following statement – “We’re very sad to hear the news that the visionary photographer and filmmaker Robert Frank has died. Robert collaborated with us on a number of projects including the cover design of Exile on Main Street and [he] directed the Cocksucker Blues documentary. He was an incredible artist whose unique style broke the mould. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time.”

Learn more about this artist at http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/features/robert-frank.html

On a related note, I’d like to invite you to read my May, 2010 interview in Goldmine Magazine with designer John Van Hamersveld, who worked with Frank on making of the Exile cover – https://www.goldminemag.com/articles/the-rolling-stones-exile-on-main-street-and-the-artwork-by-john-van-hamersveld

g) The National Portrait Gallery recently added a photo portrait of pop goddess Beyonce to their collection. Here’s an interview with the talented shooter – Tyler Mitchell – who took the photo – https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2019-08-07/beyonce-vogue-cover-smithsonian

h) The editors at Juxtapoz Magazine have added three new entries to the magazine’s “Sound & Vision” album art series:

1. Takashi Murakami’s cover work for Kanye West’s Graduation album – https://www.juxtapoz.com/news/music/sound-vision-kanye-west-s-graduation-by-takashi-murakami/
2. Eric Timothy Carlson’s most-recent assignment to create the artwork for Wisconsin-based rockers Bon Iver’s i,i – https://juxtapoz.com/news/music/sound-vision-an-interview-with-eric-timothy-carlson-the-artwork-behind-bon-iver-s-i-i/
3. Miles Davis chose his “best friend”, Corky McCoy, to create the colorful cartoon-style artwork for his 1972 album On The Corner – https://juxtapoz.com/news/music/sound-vision-miles-davis-on-the-corner-and-1970s-releases-by-corky-mccoy/ He’d go on to create the covers for several more albums by the legendary jazz trumpeter.

That’s all for now – stay tuned and be on the lookout for timely news alerts on our news feed –https://www.facebook.com/AlbumCoverHallOfFame – we’ll be back when we can with another monthly summary for you.

Unless otherwise noted, all text and images included in this article are Copyright 2019 Mike Goldstein and AlbumCoverHallofFame.com – All Rights Reserved. All of trade names mentioned in these summaries are the properties of their respective owners and are used for reference only.

Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Summary – End of August/September, 2019

 

 

 

 

 

By Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

It’s almost Labor Day weekend again, which most of us use to mark the end of Summer while some of us cling with every fiber of our being to hold on to the season’s last vestiges. We did use a nice day recently to tour Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood (visiting the National Museum of Mexican Art, which sports one of the best museum stores I’ve ever been to) and, while strolling down W. 18^th Street after a dessert stop at Creperia Nuevo Leon, we came upon Pinwheel Records, a place that was advertising an upcoming fund-raiser for a local kitten support group with a window display of well-known album covers that had been “kittenized” (see photo). This reminded me of just how important album cover imagery is in the promotion of music products and in building lasting memories for fans and consumers of these products. Great new examples of these can be found in the 200+ submissions we judges had the opportunity to see and review for this year’s Making Vinyl Packaging Awards (see item on this competition, which follows) and also in the many shows, articles and more you can read about (if you give me a few minutes of your time) by scrolling through this month’s easy-to-digest run-down of all of the album cover artist/art-related news I think might be worth your time investigating:

Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Summary – End of July – August, 2019

 

 

 

By Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

Summer marches on. After driving by the area in downtown Chicago where the annual Lollapalooza music event is being held (making motoring down Lake Shore Drive extra fun) and seeing the happy crowds enjoying the performances/shenanigans taking place there (although, with ticket prices starting at $130 for a one-day general admission pass and going up to $4200 for a 4-day “platinum pass”, which gets you “access to the luxurious, climate-controlled North & South Platinum Lounges featuring signature cocktails, craft beer, champagne, wine and curated culinary offerings; premium viewing areas in front of five stages; access to on-stage viewing at the North & South main stages; complete access to the VIP Lolla Lounges, including the new stage featuring performances by Lolla artists” and, my favorite perk, “golf cart transportation between the Platinum Festival entrance, Lounges, and front-of-stage viewing areas” – I mean, who can walk after all of that champagne and “curated culinary offerings”? – this is one fest I’ll have to live without), it reminds me that there are simpler and no-less-enjoyable ways to spend a few minutes of your time, such as reviewing this month’s easy-to-digest run-down of all of the album cover artist/art-related news I think might be worth your time investigating:

Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update and Summary – Independence Day Weekend, July, 2019

Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update – Independence Day Weekend, July, 2019

By Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

Hope that all of you here in the U.S. are enjoying your 4^th of July holiday break – BBQ-ing, fireworks, trips to the beach, sun burns, little kids spilling sand on your blanket while their parents are checking their Facebook feeds, etc. – oh such fun! We had great weather (i.e., no rain) here in Chicagoland and were lucky enough to enjoy two nice fireworks displays, so with my ears still ringing and bursts of color burned into my corneas, here is a quickie, much-streamlined run-down of all of the album cover artist/art-related news I think might be worth your time investigating:

Album Cover Hall of Fame Art and Artist News Update for February 1, 2019

 

Album Cover Art and Artist News Update for February 1, 2019

By Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

We made it! It was rather exciting to step out into a -54 F wind chill (-21 F actual temp) yesterday morning here on Chicago’s North Shore – it’s amazing how fast your eyeglasses freeze to your nose.

Interview with SMOG Design about the I’ll Be Your Girl box set for The Decemberists

The Decemberists’ I’ll Be Your Girl Box Set

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interview with Smog Design, Inc. about the making of their award-winning package for The Decemberists’ I’ll Be Your Girl

 

By Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

 As we’ve seen take place a number of times since the introduction of the modern album cover 70 years ago, certain market-savvy musical acts have teamed up with specific visual artists to collaborate on their overall “visual branding” (sorry for the buzzwords) for significant portions of their careers. Examples of these pairings include artist Phillip Travers working with the Moody Blues, Roger Dean’s visual stylings for YES, team Hipgnosis’ catalog of covers for Pink Floyd and Cal Schenkel’s mind-bending images for Frank Zappa and his chums (among others).

Album Cover Art & Artist News Update for January 4th, 2019

 

 

 

 

 

 

Album Cover Hall of Fame News Update

posted January 4^th, 2019, by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

Hope that you all had happy new year celebrations (some of you may still be in the midst of one!) and, while I said that I wasn’t going to be posting monthly news summaries for a while (in order to be able to devote more time to organizing the materials for my book and some other projects I’m involved with), I am still going to share a headline or two when I think that there’s something timely you should know about…

ACHOF’s Annual Summary of the Best & Worst Album Covers of 2018

 

 

 

 

New Year’s Eve, 2018

by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

While I can’t speak for all of you, I’m fairly certain that there are a great number of you who are tired of hearing other peoples’ opinions. Nearly every conversation you’re exposed to these days – on your Twitter or Facebook feeds, your favorite TV news channel or penetrating your personal space from that group of guys that sit behind you on the train or next to you in your health club’s locker room – it’s nearly impossible to not overdose on other peoples’ takes on what’s “good” or “appropriate” or “the best/worst” these days. And so, rather than talk about “what’s best” this year, after both participating (as a judge) in several album cover art competitions and having had the chance to review the articles by others in which the “best covers of 2018” are discussed/rated, I thought that I’d simply make note of several of the trends I’ve seen in record package design lately, leaving the pontificating to those who are perhaps better qualified (or, at least, prepared to convince you that they are) while I remain simply a teller (or re-teller) of tales and one that will continue to monitor the field for my readers so that you’re aware of who is behind the projects that produce the most-notable packages for your favorite LPs, CDs, DVDs and box sets/compilations.

Album Cover Hall of Fame’s 2018 Holiday Gift-Buying Guide

Holiday Gift Suggestions for the Album Cover/Vinyl Record Lovers in your Life

 

Works offered for sale by (above, left to right) – Snap Galleries, UK, Vinylux and KnuckleBonz

As suggested by Mike Goldstein, Curator, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

Holidays, 2018

Well, it’s been five years since I published the first of what were supposed to be annual overviews of “artistical” things that, in my opinion, might make nice gifts for anyone who is a fan of album cover art and packaging. Of course, I could come up with several excuses as to why I’ve back-burnered this until now – my book project, my move from Portland to Chicago or my heavy drinking since November, 2016 – but suffice it to say that it wasn’t because I didn’t want to provide this information to you. So, if you’ll accept my apology, let me continue with what I hope is some valuable information in this update.

As I’m sure you all know, getting just the right gift for your loved ones at Holiday time can be such a puzzle – what with all of the advertising that bombards you from every direction and “Black Friday” now beginning sometime in mid-late July – that you’re left with little time and inclination to search for just the right thing when all you want to do is “get this over with”…

And, while I’ve been told never to buy “art” for others, because of the link between music and art, buying a gift for lovers of album cover art has never been so simple. As you’ll see by the list of companies that specialize in album cover-related items of all types (and fitting all budgets), with a little research (“Hey Honey, who’s your all-time favorite band?”) and perhaps a phone call or two, I’m feeling pretty confident that you’ll be able to locate and secure a gift that will be long-appreciated by its recipient. Who knows, maybe it will start a tradition in your family!

Album Cover Artist And Art News Summary And Preview For August/September, 2018

ALBUM COVER HALL OF FAME’S ALBUM COVER NEWS RECAP FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST, 2018, WITH PREVIEWS FOR SEPTEMBER.

 

 

 

 

 

BY MIKE GOLDSTEIN, ALBUMCOVERHALLOFFAME.COM

Greetings once more to you all – hope that you’ve all had a good time this Summer, however you chose to occupy your time. Even though my work on updating the bio section of the ACHOF site continues slowly but surely, I’m still happy to announce that there’s been a fair amount of album art/artist-related news to review – more interviews, profiles, news about new books and prints, etc. – and as you’ve seen in my previous news summaries, if you simply read the summaries I’ve written and click the links provided, you’ll be able to find out more about the details from sources from around the world on items featuring many of the world’s most-talented album art creators.

I am also pleased to announce that the second part of the two-part article I wrote about album cover art, artists and album art production has been added to the Illustration History web site – https://www.illustrationhistory.org/essays/design-and-illustration-in-the-record-business

Titled Design and Illustration by the “Early Influencers” working in the Record Business, this new article was designed to allow you to meet some of the most-notable purveyors of note-worthy and memorable album packaging and read what they have shared about what they do, why they do it, and what the future holds for this unique craft. To remind you, the Illustration History site is a project of the esteemed Norman Rockwell Museum (Stockbridge, MA) and serves as an educational resource for fans, students and teachers of the fine arts of illustration and design. It’s been an honor to be able to share some of my research and writing on a subject – album cover art – that features so many great examples of work by the talented people who’ve contributed to the visual side of the modern music business, so once again I’d like to thank curator Jesse Kowalski for this opportunity and hope that you’ll spend some time reading both articles and then digging through the site’s impressive archives as well..

In addition, I’ll soon be adding another article to the ACHOF site titled “Album Art and Packaging Trends Timeline and Overview” that seeks to answer, decade-by-decade, beginning in the 1940s up to the present, this important question for those of us interested in the history of album cover art “what was it exactly that the products produced during each decade or era have shown us about Pop Culture and the status of record music promotion at that time?” The article will first be posted on the ACHOF site, with announcements made via social media, and I do hope that you’ll take the time to read, absorb and comment.

Several of you may recall from last month’s summary that I was asked (one of a number of music packaging gurus) to serve as a judge for the upcoming (early October) Making Vinyl Packaging Awards extravaganza that will be a keystone event at this year’s Making Vinyl conference in Detroit. The first round of judging has been completed and, from an impressive number (nearly 250!) of entries in all of the categories, the finalists have just been announced, with the list available for your viewing pleasure at – https://makingvinyl.com/making-vinyl-packaging-awards-announces-finalists-in-12-categories/

I gotta tell you, folks…I really had no idea that there was so much creativity and ingenuity (and, by the looks of some of the packages, resources) being put to task to create new retail packaging for recorded music products until I spent some time – nearly 3 full days! – looking at each of the entries before posting my opinions. What was more interesting to me was to learn more about the people working on these projects, with a nice balance seen between entries submitted by major labels working with “household name” designers/art directors/photographers and the impressive output from people/teams I’ve never had the pleasure to meet before. While I can’t release any of the details now, you can rest assured that I will be introducing myself to some of these new (at least to me) names ASAP and will be sharing the fruits of those efforts with you when I can.

The winning entries – that is, those picked from the aforementioned list of finalists – will be selected by a panel of esteemed judges at the NYC offices of the AIGA design organization and awards will be announced and presented at a ceremony that will be held at the Westin Book Cadillac Detroit on the evening of October 1^st. You will, of course, find more information on the winners immediately thereafter here on the ACHOF site and, with any luck, will be able to read an interview or two with some of the winners ASAP after.

As always, I ask that you please share this info with everyone you know who are fans of great album cover-related talent and, of course, your comments and feedback are quite welcome.

1) UPCOMING, RECENTLY-LAUNCHED/CURRENTLY RUNNING AND JUST-CLOSED SHOW/EXHIBITIONS –

a) I’m happy to announce that my friends at the U.K.-based art publisher/art gallery Hypergallery are taking a road trip to Berlin, Germany to stage, along with album cover design great Aubrey Powell, a survey exhibition that will “explore and unpack the significant influence of the Hipgnosis design studio through an unprecedented display of images from the Hipgnosis catalogue.” The show – titled Daring To Dream – is scheduled as part of the European Month of Photography (EMOP) 2018 event and is being co-curated by Emily Smeaton and John Colton, under the watchful eye of Mr. Powell.

The show will run from September 30^th thru the 28^th of October, staged in a courtyard located on the 1^st floor of Bergmannstr. 5, 10961 in Berlin, with an opening party scheduled at that location on the evening of September 29^th, beginning at 7PM local time. Mr. Powell will be on hand that evening – along with members of a local opera company – and will be signing copies of his own retrospective book of Hipgnosis-generated album art called Vinyl.Album.Cover.Art which was recently published in Germany by Edel Books. More info can be found on the Hypergallery web site at https://www.hypergallery.com/event-hipgnosis-in-berlin/

I’m eagerly awaiting to see photos from the show/opening night event and will point you to those when they’re available.

b) For those of you who weren’t able to attend the Bill Graham-centered art/memorabilia show (BILL GRAHAM AND THE ROCK & ROLL REVOLUTION) that toured last year, you’re being given a reprive of sorts with the staging of the Summer of Love poster show at the Andaz Gallery/Hotel in Hollywood, CA, put on in cooperation with the Grammy Museum and featuring 17 original posters from the 1960s by noted visual psychedelic artists including Wes Wilson, Bonnie MacLean (AKA Mrs. Bill Graham), Jim Blashfield, Greg Irons and Stanley Mouse.

http://westhollywoodmag.net/press-release-andaz-west-hollywood-and-the-grammy-museum-unveil-original-summer-of-love-posters-in-new-salon-art-exhibit/

If you’d like to read my exhibition recap from the Bill Graham show as it was staged here in the Chicago area last year, click on over to https://albumcoverhalloffame.wordpress.com/2017/08/04/achof-exhibition-tour-bill-graham-and-the-rock-roll-revolution/

c) There’s a show taking place in London in mid-September that, if I understand what it is that I’m reading, looks to introduce show-goers to several new formats of visuals that might be accompanying and augmenting recorded (and live) music as time goes on. Based on work done by musician/artist Beatie Wolfe and cohorts at Nokia Bell Labs, you’ll be given the chance to see/listen/experience works including (as they’re described in this article by Oisin Lunny on the Forbes.com site) “the world’s first live 360˚ Augmented Reality (AR) stream combining live, 360˚ stereoscopic video and real-time AR visuals” that will “create a modern ‘Fantasia-like’ live streamed album experience.” A short video documentary is also there to better-explain what it is that Ms. Wolfe and her chums have created.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/oisinlunny/2018/08/26/beatie-wolfe-explores-the-art-of-music-in-the-digital-age-at-the-va/#6d1f677f1217

The show at the Victoria & Albert Museum – titled “The Art of Music in the Digital Age: a series of world-first designs” – runs from September 15^th through September 23^rd in the Prince Consort Gallery on Level 3 and will, in addition to the Raw Space Chamber described above, put on display such must-be-seen-to-be-understood items as “a theatre in the palm of your hand, an album as a deck of cards and wearable record ‘jacket’” designed by former D. Bowie tailor Mr. Fish, among other equally-innovative items.

The entire effort is delivered as part of the London Design Festival, with more information available at  https://www.londondesignfestival.com/event/beatie-wolfe-art-music-digital-age-series-world-first-designs and additional details on the V&A site at https://www.vam.ac.uk/event/bJR1B3Ng/ldf-2018-the-art-of-music-in-the-digital-age-a-series-of-world-first-designs  If any of you do attend and can share what you’ve seen with the rest of us, it’d be greatly appreciated as we are all curious as to where the future of music-related visuals is headed.

2) Artist interviews/profile articles –

a) NYC Radio show host Zach Martin just posted links to Parts 1 & 2 of his Big Fat American Rock Show! interview with NYC-based album design gurus Spencer Drate and Judith Salavetz, well known to album art fans for their award-winning work for Talking Heads, Lou Reed, Bon Jovi, Ramones and many others. The stories they share in Part 1 of how the two worked both alone and together to produce a huge portfolio of commercial work for their clients in the music business over the past 40+ years will make your head spin, so make yourself a dirty olive martini, place yourself in your favorite comfy chair and enjoy the ride – https://youtu.be/4LAwoiNtjy4

In Part 2, Spencer shares the details of who his favorite band is (and why) and how he and Judith seem to do their best work “when everything flows” – https://youtu.be/g144AXr4S_g

On a related note – for both this article and the one you’ll read on the upcoming Making Vinyl trade show – Mr. Drate and Holly Stephey will be hosting an online interview with Mr. Larry Jaffee, the producer of the event and the Packaging Awards show that will be taking place during that event. The live event takes place Friday, August 31^st at 5PM EST and you can catch it online at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/redvelvetmedia/2018/08/31/larry-jaffee-making-vinyl

You won’t meet anyone with more passion about the resurgence of the vinyl record and the importance of album cover art, so I hope you’ll take the time to listen to this interview.

b) While Madonna may have been making headlines recently for both celebrating her 60^th birthday and enduring some music industry flack after delivering a not-so-well-received tribute to the recently-departed Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin at the MTV Video Music Award ceremonies, one thorough read of this recent amply-illustrated FOTO Story interview article with photographer Kevin Mazur reminds you of just how much she’s influenced Pop Culture since launching her career as a singer/dancer in the early 1980s in the clubs surrounding New York City. Having met Ms. Ciccone while he was himself a young lad from Long Island (he’s 57 now), Kevin has been on hand to document the Material Girl’s meteoric rise, being on-hand to shoot scores of her concerts (beginning with 1985’s Virgin tour) and producing a huge portfolio of work we’ve all seen in magazines, books and web sites over the years. He’s also produced album cover shots for top musical acts including Bob Dylan, Elton John and U2, but in this article, the focus is on just how much fun he’s had being on hand and moving from gaga-eyed fanboy to long-time friend of someone who has impressed us all with her talent, dedication and fearless approach to success in a really tough business – https://foto.gettyimages.com/celebrity/musicians/madonna-in-motion/

c) NYC-area music art fans might want to quickly click on over to the Eventbrite site (via the link at the end of this notice) to register for what’s sure to be a sold-out event at the Great Hall at Cooper Union (7 East 7th Street, New York, NY 10003) this coming October 19^th (from 7-8PM EDT) featuring Metallica’s drummer (and famed fine art collector) Lars Ulrich talking photography with the Brooklyn-based photo duo Herring & Herring (the team behind the album cover imagery for the band’s hit 2016 release Hardwired…To Self Destruct) about how artists like themselves collaborate to create great art.

Herring & Herring consists of Dimitri Scheblanov (who is himself a 2005 graduate of The Cooper Union’s School Of Art) and Jesper Carlsen (who was schooled at the Art Academy on the Danish island of Funen, graduating in 2006) and has worked with Metallica – serving as creative directors, photographers and music video directors – since 2014. In addition to their corporate work – with celebrity clients including musicians Ozzy Osbourne, Beyonce and Questlove, film stars Uma Thurman, Willem Dafoe and Billy Bob Thorton, TV personalities Fred Armisen, Oprah Winfrey and Andy Cohen and sports celebs Derek Jeter and Abby Wambach (among many others) – the partners also produce and publish the highly-praised image-only photo magazine also titled Herring & Herring (available on newsstands everywhere).

Ulrich will be taking a short break from the band’s tour in support of this album, which kicks off September 2^nd with a show in Madison, WI.

Event info/registration  at  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/photography-duo-herring-herring-talk-with-metallicas-lars-ulrich-tickets-49040489424?aff=MetallicaFanClub  The event is free and open to the public, although the promoters warn that pre-registration doesn’t guarantee a seat, so get there early!

Article on the Blabbermouth site – http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/metallicas-lars-ulrich-to-talk-with-photography-duo-herring-herring-at-new-york-city-event/

d) We’ve all had to consider, at some point in our lives, just what the proper “work/life balance” would be in order for us to continue to enjoy both aspects of our day-to-day existences. For some of us, the choices were quite simple, being dictated by the status of our health or of our continued relationships with friends and loved ones. For others, it’s when they’ve noticed “something missing” from the enjoyment of their day-to-day activities, whether at work or at home. For Grammy-winning designer Stephan Sagmeister, as you’ll read in this recent article (and audio interview) by Ayse Burcell on the Salon.com web site, he noticed that “once I started to allow for repetition in the work, there was just less excitement.” What did he do to get his life back in balance? Well, he did something we all wish we could do – he took a year-long sabbatical. To do this, he had to overcome fears of “being forgotten” and/or being seen as “unprofessional” but, once he did, you’ll see that it was time well-spent. I’d suggest taking a break from your own hectic schedules to read and listen to this compelling interview via the link at https://www.salon.com/2018/08/27/the-case-for-taking-a-sabbatical-why-grammy-winning-designer-stefan-sagmeister-took-a-break/

3) Sales/Auctions –

a) Being touted as the “most-metal” of all memorabilia auctions, the estate of the late singer Ronnie James Dio is soon to offer a nice selection of Dio-owned property at Julien’s auction house that includes original album cover paintings, artwork, costumes and much more – http://www.juliensauctions.com/auctions/2018/ronnie-dio/index.html

Slated for two days in mid-September at the Hard Rock Cafe in NYC (September 15^th and 16^th), the event (titled PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF RONNIE JAMES DIO) includes well over 600 items and will showcase both “normal” personal effects (his little league baseball jersey, autographed baseballs and jerseys signed by his favorite pro sports players, etc.) and those things he aggregated during his multi-decade career as the lead singer for Rainbow, Black Sabbath and his own band, Dio. Album art collectors will have the opportunity to bid on:

– The Last In Line original cover painting (est $20-30K) opening bid $10K – The original acrylic and collage painting executed by Barry Jackson and used as the cover art for the Dio album The Last in Line (Warner Bros., 1984). Framed, 26 1/2 by 45 1/2 inches; Sight, 18 by 37 inches

– Sacred Heart original cover painting (est $20-30K) opening bid $10K – The original acrylic and collage painting executed by artist Robert Florczak and used as the cover art for the Dio’s 1985 Warner Bros. Records album Sacred Heart, signed by Florczak in the lower left. Framed, it’s sized at 25 1/4 by 25 1/4 inches;

– Dream Evil original artwork (est $2-4K) opening bid $1K – The original acrylic on canvas board painting done by Steve Huston and used as the cover art for the  1987 Dio album Dream Evil (on Vertigo), signed in pencil in the lower right by Huston. This was the last album to feature “Murray” on the cover. Unframed, it measures 27 by 40 inches;

– A trio of Alan Aldridge items from Dio’s personal collection – opening bid $150 – A signed print of the cover art for The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics, a copy of the book The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper’s Feast and an LP copy of the album of the same name. That 1975 album was produced by Roger Glover of the band Deep Purple and featured Dio in the role of “Froggy”. Framed, it measures 24 by 32 1/4 inches

4) New Print/Book/Product RELEASES –

a) Fans of the late Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia know that he considered himself as (as he’s been quoted) “an artist who played music” and that he expressed himself via a paintbrush with just as much passion as he did via his playing and song-writing. In the early 1980s, he began to study the visual arts much more seriously and, from that point until the end of his life, he dedicated himself to drawing, painting and creating images on his computers.

Recently, Jerry’s ex-wife Manasha Garcia and his daughter Keelin Garcia teamed up to create “a mission-based company inspired by musician and artist, Jerry Garcia” that’s called “Jerry Garcia Music Arts” and, as part of this music/fine art company’s launch – and to honor what would have been Jerry’s 76^th birthday in August – they’ve released what they’re calling a “thematic pairing of art and music”, meaning that they’ve created both a new fine art print of a JG watercolor titled “Ripple” and have released a newly-remastered live version of the Garcia/Hunter-penned song of the same name on streaming music services including  iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Napster, MediaNet, VerveLife, Tidal, Gracenote, Shazam  and 7Digital..

The print – an unframed, museum-quality giclee piece printed on Hanhnemuhle Bamboo 290 gsm paper and offered in an unsigned edition of 500 – is sized 11”w x 15”h, priced at a very-affordable $130.00 and comes with a certificate of authenticity and is available from Terrapin Stationers in their Terrapin Gallery

https://www.terrapinstationers.com/collections/terrapin-gallery/products/terrapin-gallery-and-jerry-garcia-music-arts-present-ripple-unsigned

A portion of proceeds from these sales support ocean conservation (Mr. Garcia was a strong proponent of saving the coral reefs and even shared these beliefs as he testified before a conservation committee for the State of Hawaii in 1990), with more details about the company and its mission available on their web site at – https://www.jerrygarciamusicarts.com/fine-art.html

b) New clothing and wall art designs featuring album cover-inspired imagery by “speed painting “ master Stephen Fishwick was introduced by art/marketing agency Get Down Art at the MAGIC Las Vegas event at the Mandalay Bay Hotel this past August 13 – 15, with these images and products looking to extend the popularity of several well-known album cover designs to a younger demographic via the fashion brands and trends they’ve shown they appreciate. For example, Pink Floyd’s memorable Dark Side of the Moon cover image, as reworked by Mr. Fishwick, shows the iconic diamond on a paint-splattered background, while the new version of AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” image shows Mr. Young bravely facing a very colorful electrical storm. The company is offering these designs and many others printed on t-shirts and long-sleeved shirts for both men and women, along with poster prints on canvas and other household items. Now your kids can wear their own unique iterations of their parents’ favorite album art and, in doing so, inter-generational love and understanding will finally be achieved – https://getdownart.com/collections/icons-collection

5) Other articles of interest –

a) This month’s collection of Sound and Vision articles – which provide in-depth details of the stories behind some of your favorite album art – offered to us by Eben Bensen and the nice people at Juxtapoz Magazine includes quite the range of music/art of both recent and historical vintages. Managing Editor Eben Bensen has stayed true to his promise to give us a new story every week, with the most-recent articles summarized below:

– Michael Trevithick’s Magritte-inspired (well, at least to me) artwork on the cover of the late Nick Drake’s third and final studio release – 1972’s Pink Moon – replaced the photograph originally taken for the project, which showed the musician in declining health – https://www.juxtapoz.com/news/music/sound-and-vision-nick-drake-s-pink-moon-cover-by-michael-trevithick/

– Neutral Milk Hotel’s 1998 indie release In The Aeroplane Over The Sea was viewed by music critics as a “game-changer” – an album based on the life of Dutch Holocaust victim Anne Frank – with its artwork the result of a collaboration between songwriter Jeff Magnum and album cover designer Chris Bilheimer and based on the artwork found on a turn-of-the-century travel postcard –   https://www.juxtapoz.com/news/music/sound-and-vision-neutral-milk-hotel-s-in-the-aeroplane-over-the-sea/

– In 2009, the Portland, OR (yeah, baby)-based experimental rock band called Portugal The Man released its fourth studio album The Satanic Satanist, which featured a very trippy cover crafted by the band’s own lead singer, John Gourley, who combined photos with watercolors to create the image – https://www.juxtapoz.com/news/music/sound-and-vision-portugal-the-man-s-the-satanic-satanist-cover-by-john-gourley/

– What is that thing jumping over the hurdle in Joan Ludwig’s photo featured on the cover of Beck’s 1996 hit record Odelay? A floor mop? A batch of ramen noodles? The answer is available via the link at https://www.juxtapoz.com/news/music/sound-and-vision-beck-s-odelay-cover-photography-by-joan-ludwig/

b) Now you can help two young-but-experienced artists in Portland, OR (yeah, baby!) launch a new “multi-disciplinary creative studio” via your support of their Indiegogo campaign and, as a reward, receive a limited-edition print and music compilation created just for this fund-raising effort. Over the past 13 years, composer/musician/sound designer Courtland Urbano and award-winning illustrator Anthony M. Benedetto worked on and off together on projects, but after Urbano moved to Portland to join the Humble Beast label roster, Anthony followed in 2014 to join the team as Creative Director. They both realized that, as a team, they could offer external clients a whole slew of services, so they decided to strike out on their own and launch a new agency they’re calling Nova Nimbus, with Anthony currently working out of Court’s garage.

Help Anthony get out of the garage into a proper office with your pledge of support and, with a commitment as little as $75, you’ll get a print of a work Benedetto created to show off both the natural beauty of their Pacific NW location and his respect for great mid-Century graphic design called Modern Romanticism.  Urbano adds music to the package with a download of a 19-cut collection of tracks he’s produced over the years, with both testifying to the fact that they love to listen to his soundscapes while they work, so you ought to, too.

The program runs for about another month, with details available at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/nova-nimbus-a-multi-disciplinary-creative-studio/x/18934317?#/

c) Using album cover art to find out the identity of one of the art world’s most-mysterious creators – is Robin Gunningham the real “Banksy”? Those bidding on a work of art printed on the sleeve insert for an early 1990s Bristol-based ska band sure hope he is! Artnet.com’s Henri Nuendorf provides us with the details, and happy value-hunting – https://news.artnet.com/art-world/early-banksy-auction-1329194

d) Orlando Sentinel reporter David Whitley provides “a public service” for us in his article “All Great Album Covers lead back to Abbey Road” by providing us with a “10 Greatest Album Covers of All Time list” (what, again?) based on his contention that “everybody can be an expert” (this is why I stay away from these lists) – http://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/audience/david-whitley/os-ae-album-covers-david-whitley-0808-story.html His email is provided at the end of the article, so feel free to respond.

e) Don’t they know that it’s just not safe out there? Several times each year, someone takes it upon his/herself to present a list of the “worst” record covers of all time and, each time, I share a link to this list with the hope that enough of you are outraged to the point of expressing yourself somehow on the author’s site. And while I will be the last one to promote any form of censorship, I would ask that folks look deep inside themselves before releasing “best/worst of all time” lists like this one. Yes, there’s been some horrible/disturbing/nonsensical album art used to package recorded music over the past 70+ years (just as there’s been a lot of “bad” music packaged and offered for sale), but the subject has really been beaten to death and is usually built around the same content, which just makes it boring. Please don’t click on this link. I’m asking you nicely…

http://ajournalofmusicalthings.com/because-everyone-loves-awful-album-cover-art-heres-another-gallery-of-some-of-the-worst/

f) Now, after the last entry, here’s one for the “Looking Forward” folder – Is this the “future” of album covers? Rapper/style icon (and very funny talk show guest – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s9joL_AGfo ) Nicki Minaj uses artificial intelligence/virtual reality to bring fans up close-and-personal with her and her album art for her new record Queen – https://mobile-ar.reality.news/news/snapchat-strikes-familiar-chord-with-shoppable-ar-lens-for-nicki-minajs-new-album-0186464/

That’s all for now – stay tuned and be on the lookout for timely news alerts on our news feed –https://www.facebook.com/AlbumCoverHallOfFame – we’ll be back early next month with another monthly summary for you.

Unless otherwise noted, all text and images included in this article are Copyright 2018 Mike Goldstein and AlbumCoverHallofFame.com – All Rights Reserved. All of trade names mentioned in these summaries are the properties of their respective owners and are used for reference only.