Album Cover Hall of Fame - Album Cover Art Interviews and News

Cover Story – R.E.M.'s "Reckoning" & Talking Heads' "Little Creatures", covers by Rev. Howard Finster

Cover Story for September 21, 2007

Subject - R.E.M.’s Reckoning and the Talking Heads’ Little Creatures, with cover paintings done by the Reverend Howard Finster

Rev. Finster w/D. Leonardis

The late Reverend Howard Finster (1916 – 2001) was one of the country’s most talked-about folk/outsider artists. In 1965, he said that he heard a voice from the Lord which told him to transform two acres of land in Summerville, GA into a "Paradise Garden." Using junk, broken dolls, tools and clocks, he embedded these materials in concrete walls which surround both a 30-foot tower built of bicycle parts and his own church called "The World's Folk Art Church."

"Paradise Garden" was an ongoing project that expressed his religious convictions and creativity and he explained that he assembled the pieces for a purpose -"to mend a broken world." In 1976, he had a vision of a tall man at his gate (the Lord) who directed him to begin painting "sermon art" because, "preaching don't do much good - no one listens - but a picture gets on a brain cell." The voice commanded him to paint this sacred art and to create individual paintings and portraits of personal heroes, religious and patriotic images and to pass on his spiritual messages to the world. Finster’s paintings have evangelical themes and inspirational images which come from his own interpretations of the Bible. Angels and saints as well as earthly characters are often portrayed, and all of his paintings contain witty, printed quotations known as "Finsterisms."

Several of his paintings show how he was influenced by the imagery on postcards, popular magazines, cultural icons like Elvis Presley, historical figures and, of course, figures from the Bible. Some of his creations have joined the contemporary art and music world through his paintings for the album covers of the rock groups REM and The Talking Heads. Other artists to use Finster art on their record covers include Memory Dean, Pierce Pettis, and Adam Again.

Finster made art out of nail heads, gourds, bottles, cement, mirrors, plastic, snow shovels and even an old Cadillac. However, the majority of his works were usually made out of plywood or heavy canvas, with the works ranging in size from a few square inches to 8-9 feet in height. His art was original, innovative and expressive. In 1994, a portion of his Paradise Garden was installed as part of the permanent collection of Atlanta's High Museum.

He believed he came from another world and is often referred to as "This Stranger From Another World." Finster believed the more he painted, the more people he would save, and went on to create over 46,000 works of art. The works are presented in many forms, sometimes called "paintings in tongue," visions of other worlds where people live in harmony. Finster had his visions for the future. "A day when one computer will run the earth and the final day when giant tidal waves will cover the world. And then the time will come for G-D to create men again - men like the Reverend Howard Finster."

Chicago-based art gallery owner, Finster historian and owner/curator of the new Howard Finster Vision House museum (located directly across the road from Finster’s “Paradise Garden”) David Leonardis worked for a number of years with the Reverend (until his death in 2001) and spoke with him about “the making of” the two record covers he’s best-known for – R.E.M.’s Reckoning and the Talking Heads’ Little Creatures. He shared his insights with Cover Stories in a September, 2007 interview, highlight of which are detailed below…

On R.E.M.’s Reckoning - The Summerville, GA evangelical preacher and folk artist first gained national fame after collaborating on a number of projects with the Athens, GA – based rock band R.E.M.. Both Finster and the band had appeared in a documentary (released in 1987 and featured on MTV in both their Cutting Edge and 120 Minutes series) about the Athens, GA music scene by writer/director Tony Gayton titled Athens, GA: Inside/Out and, in 1983, the band chose to film the promotional video for their debut recording “Radio Free Europe” at Finster’s "Paradise Garden" compound. The following year, the band's creative lead, singer Michael Stipe, collaborated with Finster on the painting for the cover of their second LP titled Reckoning. The relationship continued into their third record (Fables of the Reconstruction) as the band wrote the song "Maps and Legends" in honor of Finster.

Reckoning was the second studio album by the band, released in 1984 by Miles Copeland’s independent label I.R.S. Records to both critical acclaim and much improved record sales that their debut album (Murmur), reaching #27 in the U.S. and becoming the band’s first charting album (peaking at #91) in the U.K. Songs such as “So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)”, “Pretty Persuasion”, “Time After Time”, “Little American” and “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville” have gone on to become R.E.M. standards, and with Michael Stipe’s unique lyricism, singing style and intense stage presence emerging at this point, Reckoning has, over time, established itself as one of the most-influential records of the 1980s.

According to David Leonardis, “As an art student in the Athens, GA area, Michael Stipe had heard of Reverend Finster and his folk art church, and both were featured in the documentary film called Athens, GA: Inside/Out about the mid-1980s music scene in Athens, Georgia. As Finster recalled it, when Michael needed a collaborator for the painting for the cover of R.E.M.’s 2nd record (Reckoning), he came to Finster and started the work by drawing the outline of the snake that is at the center of the image. Howard then did the rest. I’m not exactly sure where the snake image came from – perhaps it was a sexual reference, or perhaps it was derived from Michael having seen the large ‘Snake Mountain’ that was found in the Paradise Garden, which was a cement sculpture Howard had done. R.E.M. used a similar snake-inspired design in creating a collectible bandana for fans, and also produced a poster for the band that featured Finster’s ‘Snake Mountain’.”

On the Talking Heads’ Little Creatures - The winner of the “Best Album of the Year” in 1985 in writer Robert Christgau’s annual “Pazz and Jop” poll for The Village Voice, the Talking Head’s Little Creatures (on Sire Records) found the band writing songs that were much more mainstream (though, in my opinion, no less unique and interesting) than some of their earlier records. Riding on the success of its well-received singles – “And She Was”, “Stay Up Late” and “Road To Nowhere” – and coming off of the commercial success of their Top 10 hit single/video (“Burning Down The House”) and the tour that was documented in the Jonathan Demme film Stop Making Sense, Little Creatures sold well and eventually went Platinum.

David Leonardis recalls – “The Talking Heads commissioned a Finster painting for Little Creatures in 1985. There was a fine art dealer in Chicago (now in NYC) named Phyllis Kind who was Finster’s principal dealer and was also friends with David Byrne, so she acted as the producer/liaison and lead the project to create the painting. Howard had done a painting that showed himself holding the world on his shoulders, and that served as the basis for this new image. Howard received photographs of the band members and then incorporated their likenesses into the new composition. The final image was so different and appealing that it was later selected as ‘album cover of the year’ by Rolling Stone magazine. He went on to also design the covers for four Talking Heads singles, including ‘And She Was’ and ‘The Lady Don’t Mind’.

Years later, David Byrne and Finster finally met during a trip Howard took to New York (Finster addressed him as 'David Burns'!). Byrne is an accomplished graphic artist himself (Ed. note - he was a graduate of the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design), and he owns the original painting and has it on display in his home.”

And while Howard Finster may have been responsible for introducing millions to folk art, he remained focused on spreading the word of God. He said of the Talking Heads album, "I think there's twenty-six religious verses on that first cover I done for them. They sold a million records in the first two and a half months after it come out, so that's twenty-six million verses I got out into the world in two and a half months!" (Finster 1989, p. 197).

About David Leonardis and the DLG Art Gallery –

At the height of the Recession in 1990, David Leonardis started collecting art. When he realized he wanted to collect more art than he could afford, he got a job working at a gallery. Eight months later, allied with artists Howard Finster, Chris Peldo, Glenn Wexler and Andy Kane, he turned a few profitable art sales into a commitment to own and operate the David Leonardis Gallery. Fifteen years later the Wicker Park (Chicago) gallery is at the forefront of 21st Century American art. In September of 2006, DLG expanded to another location in the prestigious River North Gallery district in order to reach an even broader demographic of art lovers. DLG also carries 19th century French lithographs and 20th century Contemporary, Pop, Folk Art and Photography and focuses on making people and corporations happy by selling them art. The DLG features an "Instant art collection" group show yearly. DLG suggests that you buy one of each of all artists exhibited.

http://www.dlg-gallery.com/index.html

To learn more about the new DLG-run Finster museum in Summerville, GA, please visit http://www.myspace.com/howardfinstervisionhouse

All images Copyright 2007 David Leonardis Gallery www.dlg-gallery.com
Except as noted, All other text Copyright 2007 - Mike Goldstein & RockPoP Gallery - All rights reserved.

Cover Story – The Go-Go's - "Vacation", cover by Mick Haggerty

Cover Story for September 14, 2007

Subject – The Go-Go’s – Vacation - a 1982 release on I.R.S. Records (distributed in the U.S. by A&M Records), with cover art/photography by Mick Haggerty 

In 1981, Southern California’s The Go-Go’s became first all-girl band of musicians/songwriters to have a #1 album on the Billboard Magazine Pop Charts with Beauty and the Beat. Their music conveyed a vibrant, fun-filled sense of the So. Ca. lifestyle, mixing rock, punk and surf music basics into an extremely radio-friendly package, as was well-demonstrated in their hits “We Got The Beat” (which had been released independently on Stiff Records) and “Our Lips Are Sealed”.

Signed to Miles Copeland’s I.R.S. records, home of The Police (and, within a short time, The Bangles, The Beat, The Buzzcocks, The Cramps, R.E.M, Timbuk 3, and a host of other acts), the band toured extensively, were nominated for a Grammy for "Best New Artist" at the 24th Grammy Awards (losing to Sheena Easton) and then continued on its hit-generating way with the release in 1982 of their follow-up record Vacation. While Vacation did not hit #1 again (rising as high as #8), it was home to a couple of well-loved singles, including “Get Up and Go” and “Vacation”, originally penned by bassist Kathy Valentine for the group she was in prior to The Go-Go’s and remade into the classic title track.

And while health issues, personality/creative conflicts and the disappointing sales of their subsequent records lead to the break up of the band in 1985 (although they have regrouped to do special performances - and released the critically-acclaimed “God Bless The Go-Go’s” record in 2001 – as well as continuing on with their solo careers), the band will always be remembered as one of the few bands of the era that truly enjoyed (and deserved) a broad-based appeal and throngs of fans world-wide.

One of the first truly multi-media artists on hire to the music industry, Grammy Award-winning designer Mick Haggerty was brought on to create an eye-catching package design for Vacation and, as he explains in today’s Cover Story, he used the opportunity to develop a concept that succeeded as the basis for a wide variety of promotional needs…

In the words of the artist, Mick Haggerty (interviewed September 2007) –

“I was a friend of Ginger Canzoneri (The Go-Go’s manager), as well as Mike Doud, who had art-directed their first record package. I saw the band play at Brendan Mullen’s club in Hollywood - The Masque - and met (lead singer) Belinda (Carlisle) one night with him.

I maybe have the chronology wrong, but I was also working for The Police around that time and I think that The Go-Go’s were the openers for their tour (ed. note – yes, they were!)… that is, they were the openers until they became more popular than The Police and half of the crowds were leaving before the headliners went on!

The basic idea for the cover was Ginger’s. We were both saturated in kitsch and Americana and both loved movies in which singers were filmed against obvious rear projections - like Elvis singing while he was surfing. I think she may have had a postcard of water skiers; we just started from there and let it snowball.

I had worked for A&M, their label, many times and they just let me loose to work directly with the band. Record companies around this time had only just realized that artwork and image actually effected sales, and I exploited that by presenting this image not as just an isolated cover but as a concept which could work in all media - video, press, merchandise, etc. Of course, this meant more fun and work for me,  but it also pushed the promotional possibilities for the band and, if it all worked, we would all do well.

I researched the world of water skiing shows and soon found out that Cypress Gardens in Florida was known as “the best”. Since I wanted not only to shoot cover stills of the girls but also to film the backgrounds that would be used in making the video, the deal was sealed when I found out they had a camera boat I could use.

I knew I had to strip the bands heads onto the bodies of the girls I shot in Florida, so in order to get the Go-Go’s heads and someone else’s bodies to match, it meant I had to do some very careful measuring of everyone before I left. This in turn led to a quite bizarre moment when I arrived in Florida. No one there knew who The Go-Go’s were, but because they knew I needed to choose my skiers carefully, the Cypress Garden management had about sixty different women in swim suits lined up for my examination - many of them were just amazing!

But let’s be diplomatic here -  I was not interested in their faces and I was not trying to match leggy bathing beauties or aqua athletes, but rather the band members who had more, lets say, “girl next door” bodies. I sheepishly got out my tape measure and ended up with a very odd choice of five girls, and the rest must have thought I was completely nuts. Luckily, the weather was fine, the sky was blue and we shot it all in one day, completing the rest of the shoot with the band on the West coast at the Charlie Chaplin stage at A&M.

I made the promotional video with C.D. Taylor, who was my partner on many video productions. We used all “old technology” - rear screen projection - not the ever-popular blue screen video. The film I had shot of the skiers was projected on to a screen from the rear as we filmed the girls - hamming it up with swimsuits, and doing their best lip-synching - in front. For the package cover shoot, I matched the lighting as closely as I could while I photographed their heads. These being the years of analog, the grain on the film had to match, so I ended up shooting from way up on the soundstage roof. We later made very saturated die transfer prints and retouched the hell out of it all for the final image.

They were great to work with and I liked them all. Looking back, it seem that there were very few problems - they were willing to try anything and, being at the start of their career, had nothing to protect or to argue about (things got more complicated down the road I think).

During one of the many breaks in the day’s activities, I remember the band and I walked out of the lot and strolled up the street and we all sat down on a bus bench on the busy corner of Highland and Sunset Blvd. and just smoked and talked and all the while with them dressing in their full tiaras and tu tu’s. This being Los Angeles, no one seemed to notice - just a few more weirdos in Hollywood.

Of course, as a designer, I went crazy with all the spin-off advertising and merchandise – we did everything from beach towels to disposable cameras. To this day, I think the package still looks like the music sounds.”

Interesting trivia bit from Mike G - "Vacation" was featured in Michael Moore's hit movie Fahrenheit 9/11, serving as the soundtrack of footage of President George W. Bush enjoying a round of golf just prior to the 9/11 attacks.

About the artist, Mick Haggerty –

Mick Haggerty, with Go-Go's Jane Wiedlin and Kathy Valentine.

I interviewed the respected British designer, illustrator, art director, photographer and teacher just a few days prior to his leaving on a tour of Africa. Born in England, he lives, works and plays these days in Los Angeles. As a freelancer, as well as in his roles as the Art Director for Virgin and Warner Bros. Records, he has put together a hugely impressive list of accomplishments, developing memorable designs for a wide variety of musical artists. He has also influenced many of today’s best new designers in his role as chair of the Design Department at the Otis/Parsons School of Art & Design in the LA area.  Here’s just a sampling of Mick’s well-known works and achievements:

Grammy Awards – In 1979, Mr. Haggerty won the award for Best Album Package (along with the late Mike Doud) as the art director for Supertramp’s Breakfast in America. And again in 1983, Haggerty, (along with Ginger Canzoneri - the GO-GO's manager) was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Album Package for The Go-Go’s Vacation

Other well-known artists/covers he's created include:
David Bowie – Let’s Dance, Never Let Me Down and Tonight
The Police – Ghost In The Machine
ELO – Face the Music
The Goo Goo Dolls – Gutterflower
The Smithereens – 11
Stevie Winwood – Roll With It
Dave Mason – Let It Flow
Plus works for OMD, Disturbed, PiL, King Crimson, Richard Thompson, Roxy Music, Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Lee Lewis, Keith Richards, Aerosmith, Sammy Hagar, Roy Orbison, Boz Scaggs, the Violent Femmes and, recently, Josh Groban and Michael Buble’

To see more of Mick Haggerty’s work, please visit his website at http://www.mickhaggerty.com/

All images Copyright 1981 & 2007 Mick Haggerty www.mickhaggerty.com
All other text Copyright 2007 - Mike Goldstein & RockPoP Gallery - All rights reserved.

Cover Story – Black Label Society - "Shot To Hell", cover by Neil Zlozower

Cover Story for September 7, 2007

Subject – Black Label Society – Shot To Hell - a 2006 release on Roadrunner Records, with cover photography by Neil Zlozower 

A band formed in 1999 by (at the time) former Ozzy Osbourne lead axeslinger and heavy metal guitar god Zakk Wylde, Black Label Society was, initially, a 2-man operation (including drummer Phil Ondich), with ZW playing all the other instruments. After a tour, another album and then a Second Stage slot on the Ozzfest tour in 2000, Wylde rejoined Ozzy’s band and has played in two bands ever since (sometimes, playing with both bands on the same day at Ozzfest).

Since that time, BLS has released new CDs and DVDs nearly every year that showcase Wylde’s songwriting abilities and musicianship, including the platinum-selling DVD Boozed, Broozed and Broken Boned, ultimately moving from Spitfire Records to metal powerhouse Roadrunner Records, who released 2006’s Shot To Hell, which featured a cover photograph that was either hilarious or sacrilegious, depending on your upbringing. Zakk’s long-time friend and member of the ZW inner circle Neil Zlozower was his co-conspirator responsible for the shot.

Beginning his career as a glorified fan, photographer Neil Zlozower (aka “Zloz”) spent as much time as possible in Hollywood record shops and concerts – bringing with him a Honeywell Pentax camera that he and his father bought in an East L.A. pawn shop and using phony backstage passes (“they didn't have the big, fat bouncers then, so you could just buy cheap seats and walk to the front and sit there all night and shoot photos just for fun.") – Zloz began his career as a photographer selling these photos at a record shop across from his high school, splitting the $1 he charged with the shop (he got 60%) and selling 60 photos his first month.

Since then, Zloz has gone on to become one of the most sought-after photographers in the business. He began working with Black Label Society lead guitarist Zakk Wylde when he first joined Ozzy Osbourne’s band in the late 1980’s and has photographed him ever since. He says that he’s honestly never met anyone in his life quite like Zakk, and so when he was approached to shoot the soon-to-be-controversial cover for BLS’s 2006 release Shot To Hell, he knew that he’d be in for quite a ride, as he details for us today in our latest “Cover Story”…

In the words of the photographer, Neil Zlozower (interviewed August 2007) –

"I first worked closely with Zakk alone when I was working on a photo shoot for Guitar World magazine in 1990 and had him over to my studio in Hollywood. Although he looks like he’s a die-hard bar-brawler dude, he is actually the nicest person in the world. Everybody loves Zakk – he’s the most honest guy there is – no lies or other B.S. (However, he does not seem to have any concept of time – he’ll just pick up the phone and call his friends whenever he feels like talking to you.)

One day, Zakk came to me with an idea for the cover of his new album Shot To Hell – something about nuns playing pool with the BLS logo-skull on the 8-ball - and we discussed it over some oysters and beer. Five or six months later, his wife Barbaranne called me and said that they wanted to go ahead with it. Now, since I’m the 'executioner' – the one that needs to take a client's idea and make it happen – I wanted to better understand what he was looking for.

Zakk suggested that we get a bunch of really old women and dress them up in nun’s habits and have them play pool. I told him that I didn’t think that really old people would be able to handle a pool cue the right way, so we should get some 50-60-year-olds and a good make-up artist and do it that way.

The label had no say in the matter – they don’t know what looks good – and so we asked Zakk’s right-hand man 'RA' (Rob Arvizu), who also happens to be an artist and photographer, to be one of the judges as to whether we pulled it off or not. The next job was to find the right people for the cover shot.

We held a 'cattle call' for actors at my studio in Hollywood and about 20 older ladies and gentlemen showed up. We handed them a pool cue and asked them to make a bunch of different faces while I took photos of them. From this group, we selected the people we’d use and then Zakk and RA went to find the location we’d shoot at.

About a month later, we scheduled a full-day shoot at a bar off of the 14 Freeway in Santa Clarita (CA) called 'The Rendezvous' – this was a favorite place of Zakk/RA’s near where they both lived. We got there early to set the place up and then get the actors made up – which took a long time, from morning until about 3pm, and then we spent the rest of the day/night shooting (pictures and pool).

Besides the pool-playing final shot, we set up a lot of different scenes – nuns with shotguns, nuns drinking and carousing with guys made up as The Devil, nuns with really bad teeth smoking cigars, and drinking/smoking nuns playing cards. We took a lot of these images and used some of them in the fold-out booklet in the CD package. It was a very long day, but I think that we ended up with just the right shot for the cover.

You know, I’d been shooting Ozzy’s performances live in concert for magazines since Black Sabbath, so after Zakk joined Ozzy’s band in 1988, little did I know that eight years later I’d have such a close relationship with him - much tighter than you'll usually find between a photographer and the bands he shoots - that I'd decide to name my own son Zak (only one 'k') after my friend and bro, Zakk Wylde!”

About the photographer, Neil Zlozower –

A fixture in the rock n' roll photography business for more than 37 years, photographer Neil Zlozower has watched more than his fair share of rising stars from behind the camera.

Spending “quality time” with the likes of Whitesnake, Poison, Dokken, Motley Crue, Ratt, Extreme and Van Halen - as they made their way to the top of the charts - "Zloz" got to know the behind-the-music business of rock long before VH1. He is now one of rock's most prolific photographers, with his work appearing in countless magazines and on the album covers of major artists including Alice Cooper, Slipknot, Nickelback, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Paul Stanley, and many others.

As part of Van Halen's entourage, Zloz toured America with the band, becoming their primary photographer. He was their friend who had the intimate access to the band that no one else had. Whether on the stage of a football stadium, poolside at a Holiday Inn or at Diamond Dave's dad's house, Neil and his camera were there, and in everyone's face..

Obviously, being a rock n' roll photographer keeps him busy, but being "Zloz" is a full-time job. He shoots who he digs, so working with Zloz is not just working with a pro, it's an official rock n' roll endorsement. In his own way, he's become as much of a Hollywood legend as the bands he's worked with.

New Book Info - Internationally renowned independent publisher Chronicle Books, based in San Francisco, is pleased to announce the November 26, 2007 release of Van Halen: A Visual History.

Van Halen has sold 56 million records in the U.S. and 75 million worldwide. All eleven of their albums have broken the Billboard top 20, and four have hit number one. The band was among the top best-selling artists of all time and in 2007 Van Halen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band recently announced they were reuniting with the group’s original singer David Lee Roth for their first tour together in 20 years.  To coincide with the tour, Chronicle Books is publishing the very first photo retrospective of the band, as seen through the lens of photographer Neil Zlozower.

From 1978 to 1984, rock photographer Neil Zlozower was the “fifth member of Van Halen”, touring, partying with, and capturing images of the band during the David Lee Roth era, a time when the band was at the height of its powers. His photos capture the all-out, spandexed, high-kicking, high energy, blazing glory and backstage antics of the band as they became legends, and helped solidify their image as the ultimate rock ‘n’ roll party band. This visual history collects more than 250 live, session, candid, and backstage photos from Zlozower’s behind-the-scenes perspective, along with testimony from the rock pantheon paying homage to the band, including members of Led Zeppelin, Guns ‘n’ Roses, Alice Cooper, Def Leppard, KISS, Mötley Crüe, Slipknot, and many more.  The book also includes an exclusive peek inside the band with a foreword by legendary frontman David Lee Roth.

Van Halen: A Visual History – Available 11/26/07 - Hardcover *  $35 * 232 pp * 260 color images * ISBN 0-8118-6304-9 * November

To pre-order an AUTOGRAPHED copy of the book, please visit - http://www.zloz.com/vhbook.htm

For more information about this and other Chronicle Books, visit www.chroniclebooks.com.

To see more of Zloz's work, please visit his website at http://www.zloz.com

All images Copyright 2006 & 2007 Neil Zlozower www.zloz.com
Portions of text Copyright 2007 Neil Zlozower
All other text Copyright 2007 - Mike Goldstein & RockPoP Gallery - All rights reserved.

Cover Story – Stevie Ray Vaughan - "Real Deal: Greatest Hits, Vol. 1", cover by Robert M. Knight

Cover Story for August 31, 2007

Subject – Stevie Ray Vaughan – Real Deal: Greatest Hits, Volume 1 – a  2006 release on Epic Legacy Recordings, with Cover Photography by Robert M. Knight.

The story of Dallas, TX born and bred guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan is legendary – a story of an incredibly gifted musician’s life of inspiration, discovery, fame, addiction, recovery and redemption, and then an untimely death. Like Hendrix before him, guitarists all over the world watched in amazement as the axe-master from Texas channeled the spirits of the blues and rock’n’roll to develop a blazing style of playing that was all his own.

A 1982 performance of his band Double Trouble at the Montreaux Festival caught the eye of David Bowie, who asked Stevie Ray to play on his new album Let’s Dance. This was quickly followed by a record deal with Epic and the release of the band’s first album, the chart-busting Texas Flood. That record was followed up by a quick succession of others (Couldn’t Stand the Weather and Soul to Soul), along with the band’s embarking on a relentless tour schedule. This continued until 1987, when Vaughan’s drug and alcohol use caught up with him and he checked himself into rehab.

After this much-needed break, the band continued to tour (although at a slower pace) and then released their most-successful album – the Grammy-winning In Step – in 1989.  In the spring of 1990, Stevie Ray and his brother Jimmie (of Fabuous Thunderbirds fame) recorded an album (Family Style) which was scheduled for release in the fall of the year. Then on August 26, 1990, after the band played an Alpine Valley, WI show (which featured a “guitar superstar” encore jam of “Sweet Home Chicago” played with brother Jimmie, bluesman Robert Cray, and SRV’s guitar idols Buddy Guy and Eric Clapton) on a warmly-received American tour, the 35-year-old Vaughan boarded a helicopter headed for Chicago. Minutes later, the helicopter crashed and killed Vaughan and 4 other passengers.

In 2006, after a string of posthumously-released recordings, Sony’s Legacy division put out a remastered and updated 16-track retrospective of SRV music titled Real Deal: Greatest Hits - Vol. 1 and went to well-known SRV photographer and friend Robert M. Knight to find just the right image to grace the cover.  Robert was the only photographer on hand that night in Wisconsin and took the last photos of SRV in performance and prior to his boarding the helicopter. Reaching back into his archives also brought back a flood of memories – some happy and life-affirming; others quite painful – when he chose an image for this package from another concert in 1990 where he’d caught SRV “in the light”. Robert recounts some of the details of his relationship with Stevie Ray, the photos he took of him that fateful night, and more in today’s edition of “Cover Stories”…

In the words of the photographer, Robert M. Knight (interviewed August 2007) –

“There was a point that night that Stevie wanted me to come back to Chicago with him to go see Buddy Guy play. I did not like the idea of flying at night in helicopters as they do not have any sort of radar, so I didn’t go.

A guest in the hotel room I was staying in had set the alarm clock to turn on a news station, and the next morning I awoke at 9AM with the news about the crash. Soon my phone started to ring with calls from magazines that wanted my photos from the night before to illustrate their stories. However, Stevie was my friend and I could not bear to have my images of him used alongside of photos of a helicopter crash. I sat on them for two years before I let them be used.

As for this particular shot, I had just come off working with Sony/Epic on the re-release of Jeff Beck’s 1969 album Beck Ola, where the label had used about 12 of my shots done in 1968 for that package. When we finished the project, Sony asked who else I might have in my archives as they were working on many re-releases of classic albums. About 80% of my album projects have been when the labels are looking for good shots that have already been done. Once they see what’s in your archive, they call back over and over for other projects.

 

I had been working with Stevie Ray since 1989, when I photographed many dates on the Stevie Ray/Jeff Beck tour. I also shot several magazine covers during pre-production at Prince’s Paisley Park in Minneapolis and got to know Stevie very well.

This image of Stevie on stage in Minneapolis was one that had been fooled with early on using a process I developed in the late 60’s using "Kodalith" film in special chemicals that prevent the silver halide from linking together - giving the illusion of blackness - but the dark areas are actually made up of the actual grain of the film.

I only got to know Stevie when he was sober. A lot of time, he would come into Los Angeles, give me a call and we'd just hang out and talk. Stevie basically died of drugs and alcohol 6 years earlier in Switzerland and after rehab he became sober and came back to life and was walking, I feel, “in the light”. Whenever I photographed him, I tended to get shots of Stevie in “The Light”.

Over the years, I have done many album projects with Jeff Beck, Robert Cray, John Lee Hooker and have also done many dozens of magazine covers with every one in rock and roll. Currently, we are in production of a major documentary on my life and work by producer Tim Kaiser (Will and Grace/Seinfeld) and will cover a lot of the Stevie story as part of the project. I’d seen a true ‘guitar legend’ in Stevie, so it was great to have this image of him on the cover of this ‘Greatest Hits’ record – he was my friend and ‘the real deal’.”

Editor’s note – After his death, then Texas governor Ann Richards declared his birthday - October 3rd - as “Stevie Ray Vaughan Day” in Texas and there’s been a fund-raising concert (for the SRV Memorial Scholarship Fund) each year in Central Texas to commemorate this date. http://www.srvrideandconcert.org/

The city of Austin also commissioned and unveiled a statue of SRV (which is now a popular tourist attraction that stands in Lady Bird Lake park) and Fender Guitar has issued 2 different commemorative (and hot-selling) models of his best-known guitar – his beat up ’59 Stratocaster known as “Number One”.

Later this year, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of SRV & Double Trouble’s debut at Montreaux, Epic will be releasing a newly-remastered re-issue of the 1990 DVD package titled Pride and Joy that, according to the label, “has been updated, upgraded (to new Stereo and 5.1 surround-sound mixes), and expanded to more than twice its original length. The new DVD edition of Pride and Joy reprises the original eight segments, and now adds a bonus promo video clip (“Little Wing”), three acoustic numbers from the original MTV “Unplugged” series, two television commercials, and performances with Stevie Ray’s older brother Jimmie in the Vaughan Brothers (along with the EPK created for that band).  The new 17-track DVD will arrive in stores November 6th on Epic/Legacy, a division of SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT."

About the photographer, Robert M. Knight –

 

Raised in Hawaii, and now based on the West Coast, Robert is a long time advertising photographer who also specializes in the Rock’n’Roll music industry. His career spans from 1968 to the present. Constantly working in the music industry for international record companies, publications and musical equipment manufacturers, Robert is best known for his “Guitar Legend” archive, having worked with such “classic” artists as Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Eric Clapton and such contemporary artists as John Mayer, Steve Vai, and Maroon 5. His limited-edition prints are represented by a number of prestigious art galleries throughout the world. 

Robert is also part of Guitar Center’s "Hollywood RockWalk" team, working alongside RockWalk director Dave Weiderman. Robert and partner Maryanne Bilham have an exhibition of 10-foot-tall photos on the outside of the more than 200 Guitar Centers around America., making it one of the largest outdoor gallery shows of original photographic art.

Robert has published several books, including 50 Rock Guitarists (1995 Shinko Music) and Hollywood’s RockWalk – The First Decade (1996) and was part of the 1996 book Led Zeppelin – The Photographers. His most-recent venture is an artistic collaboration called “RockMachine” – an entity that produces fine art and design for the rock culture.

In July, 2007, the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas honored Robert and guitarist Slash by dedicating a case of memorabilia on the main casino floor, which was then followed by a dinner party for 50 rock celebrities and friends at Kerry Simon's restaurant. Billy Morrison (The Cult, Camp Freddy) jetted in as host DJ and the party continued at the hotel's Body English club with a audio/visual retrospective of Robert’s career as a top rock photographer.

To view Robert’s archives and purchase prints of his best-known images, please visit -www.nikonrocker.com

All images Copyright 1990 & 2007 Robert M. Knight www.nikonrocker.com
Portions of text Copyright 2004 Robert M. Knight
All other text Copyright 2007 - Mike Goldstein & RockPoP Gallery - All rights reserved.

Cover Story – Queen - "Queen II", art direction and photography by Mick Rock

Cover Story for August 24, 2007

Subject - Queen II – a 1974 release by Queen on EMI/Elektra Records, with Art Direction, Cover Design and Photography by Mick Rock.

Mick Rock’s cover photo for Queen’s 1974 recording has the distinction of being an image that both served to establish the band’s unique “class act” image and, later on, provided the setting and inspiration for the video production that convinced record labels and music fans that “the music video” could be much more than simply “promotional”.

Queen II was the second album by the band and featured two different themes – their “white”/emotional side (side A) and their “black”/fantasy side (side B) – as well as their individual and collaborative songwriting and performing abilities. And while not a commercial success when compared to later releases (while it was their first Top 5 album in the U.K., it only reached #49 on the U.S. album charts and did not “go gold” until many years later), it showed the band maturing and a new confidence in their abilities to produce over-the-top glam/prog songs and still rock with the best of them. They certainly were not trying to be a “pop” band – only one song (“Seven Seas of Rhye”) even attempted to serve as a “pop single” – but it set the basic formula and dramatic tone for the next records, starting with Sheer Heart Attack later in 1974 and then A Night At The Opera (which featured the aforementioned music video – for the epic “Bohemian Rhapsody”).

Image Copyright 1974, 2007 Mick Rock www.mickrock.com

Photographer Mick Rock had a feeling about this young band and their approach towards their music, their image, and how the two could be artfully combined to show just how special they were. They knew that, based on Rock’s success with Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed and others, they’d found someone with the creative chops to establish their “look” from that point forward. How did he do it? Let’s let him tell you in this edition of Cover Stories…

In the words of the photographer, Mick Rock (interviewed August 2007) –

"One day in the late summer of 1973, while recording 'Pinups' with Bowie, David's co-producer/engineer, Ken Scott, told me that there was a new band who was very interested in working with me. They were signed to a production company, Trident Audio Productions, who also owned Trident Studios in London where Ziggy Stardust and Transformer, among many other classic albums, were recorded. Ken Scott, was also managed by Trident. They were virtually unknown at the time (I didn't know anyone who'd heard of them). They told me that they were especially impressed with the work I had done with Bowie, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop, and so I agreed to meet with them.

Later that year (in October 1973), we met in the board room at Trident Studios. Their first album Queen had been released and had garnered little interest. They wanted to grab some of the 'glam' allure that was the hot image at the time. It was almost certainly Freddie's idea. And of course I had all the right credentials!! They were very articulate and confident and when they played me the Queen II acetate I understood why - it was a unique and powerful sound. 'Like Ziggy Stardust meets Led Zeppelin,' was my immediate response. And that was what they wanted to hear from my mouth – I’d 'gotten it' immediately – it was 'the sound of success'! So the game was afoot. They needed two things from me - a publicity session to try to help their first album get some attention, and then a package for their new album. The publicity photo session took place in December of ’73, and then it was on to the cover for Queen II. As was often the case in those days, I served as both the art director and the photographer for the Queen II cover (no one got paid very muck for either job back then, so it made sense to do both if I could!). The band's brief to me was: it had to be a gatefold cover (those were the days!!), it had to have a black and white theme and it had to feature the band. After that I was on my own.

From the power of the music and the palpable ambition of the band I knew that the image had to have a 'grand' quality. I really only came up with one basic idea. I had recently come across a photo of Marlene Dietrich on the set of Shanghai Express with her arms crossed, fingers spread. I showed it to Freddie and he got it immediately and corralled the rest of the band. This would be the 'black’ image. Of course there was also the 'white' image, and we shot both on the same day (there was no budget to shoot a second day!).

It was just the band and me. No one else was needed. They were very strong-minded, and even though they hadn't sold many records, they were masters of their own destiny and insisted on doing it their way from the start.  I had to make sure I had clean black and white seamless paper. I had an assistant and a makeup artist and the band bought or brought their own black and white clothes. Everything else was about lighting and composition.

It did take a few Polaroids and a lot of adjusting to get the angle and the band's heads lined up in the right way to achieve the required effect and Queen were a very lively (if inexperienced) band. This was only their second ever studio session (after the publicity shoot I had done in December so they did have some experience of working with me ); they already knew that I was a fan of their music. I took a lot of frames in both black and white and color film, though of course it was the color ones that ended up on the cover.

Image Copyright 1974, 2007 Mick Rock www.mickrock.com

The tricky part was the politics of deciding which image would go on the outside of the cover and which would go on the inside. This was left open when we actually did the session. For a while afterwards Brian, John and Roger were leaning towards the 'white' one. They were somewhat concerned that the obvious power of the 'black' one would leave them open to criticism that it was 'pretentious' since they were a virtually untested band. As I recall this was a word that one of the few critics who had bothered to review their first album had applied to their music and it bothered the three of them somewhat. But not Freddie. He and I were firmly and unshakably in the 'black' camp from the start! And as seemed to be the case for most things visual about the band in those early days, Freddie could always armtwist the others in the final analysis. 'Pretentious' was not a word that could scare Freddie!

The management and record company had no involvement at all in the process, and we didn't show them anything or even describe it to anyone. There were no comps or sketches. They were going to have to use what we came up with. The band was not at all interested in their comments. They trusted me and their own instincts. It was entirely their decision to work with me. Because of my own rising star at the time I don't think anyone had any objection, but the band wouldn't have cared if they did!!

As Brian May says in the introduction to our beautiful photobook Killer Queen, 'We were full of ideas and precocious enough to want to control everything. But in Mick Rock we had found our match, our foil, stocked with his own ideas and his own matching stubbornness.'"

About the photographer, Mick Rock -

Often referred to as “The Man Who Shot the Seventies”, legendary rock and roll photographer Mick Rock first met David Bowie in early 1972. Most of the memorable images of David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust were shot by Mick Rock in his capacity as Bowie’s official photographer.

Rock was instrumental in creating many other key rock ‘n roll images such as album covers for Syd Barrett’s The Madcap Laughs, Lou Reed’s Transformer and Coney Island Baby, Iggy and the Stooges’ Raw Power, Queen’s Queen II (recreated for their classic music video ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’) and Sheer Heart Attack, the Ramones' End of the Century and Joan Jett’s I Love Rock ‘N Roll. He was the chief photographer on the films The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Shortbus. He also produced and directed the seminal music videos for Bowie to be found on Bowie’s Sound and Vision DVD collection: ‘John, I’m Only Dancing’, ‘Jean Genie’, ‘Space Oddity’, and ‘Life On Mars’.

Mick’s massive (186 prints) 2003 retrospective exhibition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography was dubbed ‘one of the finest collections of pop art to ever reach these shores’ in the local press. Mick Rock’s enthusiasm for his art has remained undimmed and he has continues to capture the musical spirit of succeeding eras through his work with musicians of the 1980’s and 1990’s and the new millennium.

His 150 print exhibition at Manchester, England's Urbis Cultural Centre (which ran from Sept 2005 to Jan 2006) was voted Manchester's # 1 exhibition for 2005, and after reviewing it the London Times dubbed him ' the music world's top snapper'. In the feature Mick, talking about how he shoots, is quoted - "I've never felt like a voyeur, although I've certainly done plenty of looking! I work from the inside out. Like a cook, I gather all the ingredients and keep mixing and stirring and tasting until this kind of effluvia starts to rise, then I'm off to the races. It's an addictive kind of a feeling that I need a regular shot of otherwise I don't feel right..."

He has had major exhibitions in London, Liverpool, Berlin, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oslo, Stockholm and Rotterdam, with upcoming ones for 2008 in Milan, Paris, Adelaide and Helsinki.

His recent subjects include Michael Stipe of REM, Kate Moss, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Chemical Brothers, The Rapture, The Killers, Razorlight, The Libertines, Queens of the Stone Age, New Order, The Editors, the Magic Numbers, The Flaming Lips, Kasabian, The Scissor Sisters, Snow Patrol, The Fratellis, The Horrors, Mika, The Klaxons, Peaches, Franz Ferdinand, Fat Joe and old friends Bowie, Lou Reed and Debbie Harry.

In recent years, he has published a series of books, many based on his classic images, including: A Photographic Record 1969-1980 (Century 22 Books 1995), Glam: An Eyewitness Account with foreword by David Bowie (Omnibus Books, Spring 2006)), Psychedelic Renegades / Syd Barrett (Genesis Publications 2002), Moonage Daydream / Ziggy Stardust (with David Bowie)(Genesis Publications), Rock ‘n Roll Eye (Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography 2003), Killer Queen (with Brian May and Roger Taylor) (Genesis Publications 2003), Picture This – Debbie Harry & Blondie with foreword by Debbie Harry (Omnibus Books 2004), Raw Power – Iggy & The Stooges with foreword by Iggy Pop (Omnibus Books 2005), Rocky Horror with foreword by Richard O'Brien (Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Autumn 2006) and Classic Queen (Palazzo Editions 2007)

Upcoming publication:  Exposures - a 35 year retrospective (Palazzo Editions, Autumn 2008)

To see and buy the beautiful co-signed and slipcased limited-edition Killer Queen photobook featuring the photos of Mick Rock , please visit the Genesis Publications web site at www.genesis-publications.com

As mentioned above, Mick has a new book coming out in the U.S. at the end of September called Classic Queen. For more information on this item, please visit the Sterling Publications web site at  www.sterlingpublishing.com

All images Copyright Mick Rock 1974, 2007 www.mickrock.com

All text Copyright 2007 - Mike Goldstein & RockPoP Gallery - All rights reserved.

Cover Story - Elvis Presley - "50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong", artwork by Bob Jones

Cover Story for August 17, 2007

Subject – 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong: Elvis' Gold Records - Volume 2 – a 1959 recording by Elvis Presley, released on RCA Records and featuring design and art direction by Bob Jones.

With the marking this week of the 30th anniversary of the untimely death of Elvis Presley, this week’s Cover Story will be presented in a slightly different format, with the details behind the making of this iconic record cover coming from a variety of different sources, most notably the descriptive literature produced along with a series of lithographs produced in the early 1990s by a now-defunct publisher called “Record Art”.

Released just prior to Elvis’ return from his stint in the Army, this record was the first “Greatest Hits, Volume 2” rock & roll compilation (with his first Greatest Hits album coming out in early 1958, just before he entered into his military service) and consisted of all five of his Top 5 singles released in ’58-’59 (both “A” and “B” sides). His records sold so well that even the “B” sides charted in the Top 40!

Included in the compilation were a number of songs that showed just how mature a performer he had become while still being able to rock the socks off his competition. All the more impressive was the fact that these songs were recorded while Elvis was in the Army (when the set was re-released in the late 1990’s, the re-mastered recordings improved the sound dramatically), so you’d think that he’d have been slightly distracted, but cuts such as “I Need Your Love Tonight” and “A Big Hunk of Love” proved that he’d be even more formidable once he was out of the Army and back in the studio.

According to Bob Jones, who served as art director for RCA Records for this (and many other) recordings – “To the best of my knowledge, Elvis was indifferent to his image and to the graphics on his covers…the overwhelming number of Elvis Presley’s album covers were produced according to a formula – a large color photo of his head; a bold, horsey hand-lettered ELVIS, a title and the repertoire. During my brief and infrequent visits with him, the subject of covers never came up. It was just another matter of business that The Colonel (Tom Parker) took care of.

For several years during his career, the sales of Presley product accounted for well over 20% of all of RCA Victor Records’ gross income. At the time, RCA had at least one hundred contract recording artists on the label, and my department was producing over 400 LP and 45EP covers each year. The “man behind the man” was Colonel Thomas A. Parker, and he was a far more interesting and complex character than his artist. As the music and motion picture industry knew, he was an aggressively shrewd and calculating man. He sensed from the beginning that Elvis was “product”. The Colonel was a master of promotion, merchandising and exploitation.

Of the more than 70 combined LP and 45EP covers I was responsible for, the only departure from the Parker formula was the 50,000,000 Elvis Fans cover. My final stab at trying to bring a fresh look to Presley’s covers came when I took samples of some big name illustrators to the Colonel in L.A. I took portraits by Bob Fawcett, Austin Briggs, Al Parker, Victor Kalin and even young Andy Warhol. I had hardly started my pitch when it was brought to a screeching halt. ‘Damn it, I’ve told you I don’t want any of your artistic stuff!’ However, The Colonel had been unable to come up with a single gimmick to promote the album. He then gave me a picture of Elvis in a gold lame suit and told me to come up with something.

While Tom and Harry Jenkins – the RCA V.P. – started discussing merchandising schemes, I started making a few thumbnail sketches for a cover. The Colonel looked over to me and asked to look at what I had been doing. With barely a glance at the sketches, he chose the one with the full figure surrounded by the six or eight smaller ones. He said ‘That’s it, but I want at least a couple of dozen of the little pictures in there’. I later sent him a mechanical and he approved the image with less than two dozen figures (ed. note – there are 16 pictures of Elvis on the record cover).

The album sold well over $1,000,000 worth of product. The Colonel loved that gold lame suit. He kept it in one of his closets in his home for years. Elvis Presley hated the damned suit from the first time he put it on…”

The now-famous cover photo montage of multiple Elvises (or would that be Elvi?) dressed in his gold lame’ “Nudie Suit” – as well as the record’s title - has inspired many knock-offs record packages, including (in descending order) Bon Jovi’s 100 Million Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong, 1,000,000 People Can’t Be Wrong by Blues Traveler, 50,000 Fall Fans Can’t Be Wrong by The Fall, and Phil Och’s 50 Phil Ochs Fans Can’t Be Wrong!.

About the artist - Bob Jones -

Bob Jones – Art Director, RCA Records – won a Grammy Award in 1965 for “Best Album Cover, Photography” for Jazz Suite on the Mass Texts, an RCA recording featuring a shot by photographer Ken Whitmore. Other credits include covers for Hall & Oates (Rock ‘n Soul: Part 1 – Greatest Hits) and many other RCA artists. He is considered one of the early pioneers of LP/45 cover design, working at various points with other classic cover artists such as Jim Flora and Alex Steinweiss.

Interview text Copyright 1991 - Record Art

All other text Copyright 2007 - Mike Goldstein & RockPoP Gallery - All rights reserved.

“Elvis” and “Elvis Presley” are Registered Trademarks of Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc.

Cover Story - The Eagles - "Hotel California" artwork by Kosh

Cover Story for August 10, 2007

Subject – "Hotel California” – a 1976 recording by The Eagles, released on Warner/Asylum Records and featuring designs, artwork and art direction by Kosh.

The follow-up to the successful 1975/early 1976 releases – the Grammy-nominated One Of These Nights and the huge-selling Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 - Hotel California was the first album to feature guitarist Joe Walsh, whose playing and song-writing influence brought the band from their more country-leaning efforts towards a more mainstream rock audience.

During the year and a half spent in the making of the record, drummer/singer/lyricist Don Henley emerged as the “featured player”, and much of the record’s tone and subject material reflected his commentary on success (and the excesses it can breed), love lost and just how strange life in California can be.

With their arena-rock-ready musicianship now well-honed (Don Felder and Walsh on guitars and Henley and Randy Meisner providing the rhythmic fundamentals), the band was now ready for the big time and Hotel California proved that they could create music that could both sell countless millions of albums (the record went platinum in 1 week!) and make a countless millions of fans in stadiums around the world cheer loudly as they sang aloud every word of every hit song. Hotel California won the Grammy in 1977 for Record of the Year and the songs “Life in the Fast Lane”, “New Kid in Town” and the epic “Hotel California” (which you can never leave) became enduring classic Eagles tracks.

As the designer of some of the most well-known album cover images in history, Kosh has always appreciated a challenge (and a nice production budget), and so when the Eagles’ manager and record label called looking for an image to properly illustrate the release of a record by a “new” Eagles band – and a band that needed no introduction – Kosh and his team braved the California winds in a death-defying effort that produced an iconic cover image and one very exciting Cover Story…

In the words of the designer, Kosh –

“I had been designing album covers and promotional material in London for The Rolling Stones, The Who (Who’s Next?) and The Beatles (Abbey Road) at Apple and working closely with John Lennon on his 'War Is Over' campaign. Peter Asher was head of A&R at Apple Records at the time.

After a 6-month stint in New York, the family moved to LA in 1974 and I soon fell – with great enthusiasm - into the West Coast music scene. Heady times. I began working with Peter Asher again, who was now managing James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt in LA. This led me directly to Linda's label - Asylum - and the Eagles. Irving Azoff, their manager, called me in to meet Don Henley and Glenn Frey (they were still friends at this point so the conversation was fresh and lively). Don Felder was also there, along with the amazing falsetto, Randy Meisner. It was a jolly affair - the Eagles were huge, enjoying hit after hit, and the California rock scene was burgeoning. Their producer and engineer, Bill Szymzyk, brought in an acetate of Hotel California - destined to be the first cut on, and the title of, their next album. It was an obvious hit.

For the album cover, Don wanted me to find and portray THE Hotel California – a hotel which would best-exemplify a classic 'California hotel', and to portray it with a slightly sinister edge. Photographer David Alexander and I set out to scout suitable locations. We photographed three hotels (including some with a rather ‘seedily genteel’ character) that fit the brief and large prints were made for approval. By now I was dealing mostly with Henley - the rest of the band would saunter in as we progressed and mutter their approvals – and he preferred more sumptuous images. The shot of the Beverly Hills Hotel against the golden sunset was deemed the favorite.

To get the perfect picture, David and I had perched nervously atop a 60' cherry picker dangling over Sunset Boulevard in the rush hour, shooting blindly into the sun. Both of us brought our Nikons up in the basket and we took turns shooting, ducking and reloading. We used high-speed Ektachrome film as the light began to fade. This film gave us the remarkable graininess of the final shot.

Beautiful dye-transfer prints of the chosen frame were made by the great Ted Staidel. I designed and drew out the master Hotel California logo which was to become the theme of the package and the promotional materials. The script was almost impossible to bend in real neon and so, after many experiments, Bob Hickson was commissioned to airbrush the neon effect on the logo – which he did wonderfully - and it was pasted over the Beverly Hills Hotel sign on Ted's print. The whole piece was then re-photographed, re-printed on the same stock as the original image and retouched to match the grain and hide the surgery.

Next we organized the gatefold spread – a photo of the band surrounded by friends in the hotel lobby. This was shot inside a cleverly re-decorated flop house, called The Lido, in Hollywood by David Alexander. Our combined rock 'n' roll friends were all invited. Nobody knows what the sinister figure lurking in the balcony window is doing - or who he is. I assume he must have been a benign spirit as Hotel California went platinum immediately (and then some!).

A lot of great talent contributed to this LP’s packaging. Photographer Norman Seeff was commissioned to shoot portraits of the band, which were arranged as a gritty black and white fold-out poster montage that was to be inserted in the package. Throughout the package (and the related promotional items), the graphics were carefully coordinated to retain the unique color and typographic schemes. It was, for its day, and expensive effort, but a very satisfying one.

It is interesting to note that I got tangled in the same heated debate with Asylum Records over the using of the band’s name on the cover that I had years earlier with EMI in London. I thought it unnecessary to use the words, ‘The Beatles’ on Abbey Road considering the album was so eagerly anticipated and The Beatles were the biggest band in the world at the time. Such was the case with Hotel California. By 1976 the Eagles were the biggest band in the world and eventually only the title, ‘Hotel California’ appeared on the original cover of the album.

Subsequently, as the sales of Hotel California went through the roof, lawyers for the Beverly Hills Hotel threatened me with a 'cease and desist' action - until it was gently pointed out by my attorney that the hotel's requests for bookings had tripled since the release of the album.”

About the designer, KOSH –

As a designer and art director, KOSH became prominent in the mid-1960s with the Royal Ballet and the Royal Opera. He met up with the Beatles towards the end of the decade and, as creative director at Apple Records, was responsible for design, promotion and publicity for The Beatles. His clientele expanded to cover the cream of the British rock bands including the Rolling Stones, the Who, and many others. He handled John Lennon’s crusades including the "War Is Over" campaign in 1969 and art-directed and produced the world-renowned Abbey Road and Who’s Next? album covers, among many others.

Kosh became well known in the London avant-garde art scene, designing and producing exhibitions, posters and books. After garnering several awards with the London Design & Art Directors Club, he was elected to the British Art Directors’ Jury before moving to Los Angeles in 1974. A seven-time Grammy nominee, Kosh won three of the coveted awards for his work for Linda Ronstadt (Lush Life, Get Closer and Simple Dreams). He served as faculty member of Otis Parson’s Institute of Art and on the Board of Governors of the National Recording Academy.

Kosh’s client roster has included Capitol Records, Tri-Star, Disney Studios, Fox Television, CNN, MCA, MGM, NFL (he designed the Super Bowl XXI logo), Disney, Sony Records and Warner Bros., Records. Artist clients include The Beatles, Jimmy Buffett, the Eagles (including Hotel California - voted No.6 in Rolling Stone Magazine's "100 Best Album Covers of All Time"), Humble Pie, Randy Newman, Pointer Sisters, Linda Ronstadt (Kosh has prepared all her graphics since 1974), Bob Seger, Electric Light Orchestra, Ringo Starr, Spinal Tap, Rod Stewart, James Taylor, 10,000 Maniacs, T. Rex, The Who and many others. A display of his more prominent graphics was exhibited at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Museum.

Susan Shearer and Kosh formed Ten Worlds Productions in 1995. Tenworlds achieved critical acclaim for their work on The Last Days of Kennedy and King for TBS and the ten hour documentary 100 Years -100 Movies for the America Film Institute and CBS. In 2006, Ten Worlds produced and directed DECLASSIFIED: The Rise and Fall of the Wall, which shed new light on the Berlin Wall for The History Channel.

Tenworlds is presently producing a 13 part series of DECLASSIFIED documentaries on subjects such as John Lennon, Fidel Castro, the Tet Offensive, Charles Lindbergh, Joseph Stalin and World War 1 for The History Channel, with Kosh directing. Aimed at younger audiences, these shows combine interviews with U.S. presidents, top echelon politicians and rarely seen archival footage, overlaid with innovative graphics and searing rock soundtracks. Ten Worlds is also in pre-production for a documentary celebrating the 40th anniversary of The Beatles’ Apple Corps.

To see more of Kosh’s work, please visit – http://www.tenworlds.com/.

Cover Story - Pink Floyd - "The Wall/Hammers" artwork by Gerald Scarfe

Cover Story for August 3, 2007

Subject – "Hammers" from The Wall – a 1979 recording by Pink Floyd, released on Columbia Records and featuring illustrations by Gerald Scarfe.

Pink Floyd’s “rock opera” The Wall (released on Columbia Records in the U.S. and on Harvest Records in the UK), is the best-selling multi-disc recording of all time, having sold well over 30 million packages since its 1979 release. The record reached #1 in the U.S. (topping at #3 in the U.K.) and included the #1 hit single “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)”, along with the hits “Hey You”, “Run Like Hell”, and the epic “Comfortably Numb”. It was voted #87 of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” in the 2003 survey published by Rolling Stone Magazine.

It was after this record that founding keyboardist Richard Wright departed, to return as a paid player when the band performed The Wall on tour, finally re-uniting as a full member in 1987.

According to the legend, songwriter/lyricist Roger Waters was inspired to begin writing The Wall while on tour in 1977 promoting their Animals record. Near the end of the tour, an angry Waters spat in the face of an audience member who was trying to jump up onto the stage with the band. Whatever the motivation, the record required 8 months in the South of France to complete.

All Pink Floyd records since their 1967 release The Piper at the Gates of Dawn had featured cover designs/packaging by Storm Thorgerson and Hipgnosis. For The Wall, the band chose U.K. cartoonist and illustrator Gerald Scarfe, who then also designed the giant puppets of the 'Mother', 'Wife' and 'Teacher', as well as the animations that were projected around the theater and onto the Wall constructed during the public performances of the opera. The selection of Mr. Scarfe as illustrator was inspired, as he creates “drawings that are often a cry against that which I detest, and in showing my dislike I have to draw the dislikeable.  To horrify people with a drawing of the waste of war I must make a horrific drawing of war, and when I come to draw people, their bodies become vehicles for their emotions – greed, lust, cruelty.” Considering The Wall’s subject material, the story behind the making of today’s Cover Story image is particularly compelling….   

In the words of the illustrator, Gerald Scarfe (interviewed July 2007, with additional quotes and info provided by Julie Davies and the nice folks at geraldscarfe.com) –

“In 1973, the BBC sent me to Los Angeles to work on a twenty minute animated film about all things American – a psychedelic stream-of-consciousness work featuring Mickey Mouse, Black Power, Playboy Magazine, the Statue of Liberty, Nixon and John Wayne. We used a new animation system called the ‘De Joux’ system. In full Disney-type animation there are twelve drawings to one second of film.  The 'De Joux' system cut that number to only six or eight by mixing photographically between every drawing and producing the illusion of extra movement.  This still meant an immense amount of work, drawing every second of a twenty minute film.  I worked, ate and slept that project for six weeks, drawing every cliché I knew about America straight onto 70mm film - from Coca Cola to John Wayne.  I called the film Long Drawn-Out Trip.

Two members of Pink Floyd (Roger and Nick) saw this film when it was shown on the BBC and asked me to make an animated film for their next series of live concerts, based on their LP Wish You Were Here. I didn’t take up the offer for some time – it seemed like a lot of work and I feared it might stop the flow of my other work (it did!). Directing animation is a full-time job. I ended up with a studio of about forty animators whom I tried to wean away from the Disney system in which most are trained.

The first animations I made for Wish You Were Here were projected onto a circular screen at the back of the stage, behind the band. I drew a man who walked slowly towards the camera, stopped and was eroded, like sand, by the blowing wind. A metal monster that stomped across the landscape for the song, 'Welcome to the Machine', a sea of blood that appeared over the horizon, raced towards us and engulfed two shining, circular metal towers. The blood turned to groping hands which prayed to the metal monoliths. A leaf tumbled through the sky and slowly turned into a naked man who, still tumbling, smashed through the sky as though it were made of glass.

I continued my association with Pink Floyd by collaborating on The Wall.  Begun in 1979, this project became three years of work. Roger and I worked out the cover design in the South of France and I completed it on my return to London. Roger gave me complete carte blanche, complete control over it.  Besides showing me the libretto, they didn’t interfere at all in crafting of the images.  They obviously saw what I was going to do, but they never altered them.  I remember Roger saying that “when we employ an artist, we employ him for what he does, not for what we would like to make him do.”

In as far as what inspired the 'Hammers' imagery, we obviously wanted to have some figure of oppression, and I came up with the hammers.  I had to think, ‘what would be the most obvious symbol of oppression’, and the most unrelenting, crushing, unthinking thing that I could think of was a hammer.  The violence of a hammer when it comes down is horrific. I was slightly worried that they might be adopted by some fascist, neo-Nazi group as a symbol but thankfully it didn’t happen. And I think that when I did the hammers, and Roger wrote 'hammer, hammer' into the lyrics, it was the one instance when the drawings influenced the lyrics. 

I knew the images were ultimately going to be used in an animated sequence. The actual images came to me quite quickly, but of course the animation is an incredibly time consuming process. When we began the animation for the film there were only about 8-10 people on the project, but by the end there were around 40-50 animators using pen, paper, ink and paint.

From the original LP of The Wall, a stage show was produced, for which I art-directed. I made puppets and inflatables and directed another animated film, The Trial.  The Wall was subsequently made into a feature film which I designed and for which I directed two further pieces of animation – 'Empty Spaces' and 'Goodbye Blue Sky'. 

As a child who grew up in the war, 'Goodbye Blue Sky' came completely from my mind, because I had memories of the war.  Roger was born after the war; as you may know, he lost his father in the war, and that’s why he refers to it, but I actually lived through it, and remember the bombs falling in London, and being in air raid shelters.

But above all else I remember having to wear a gas mask, which is a very claustrophobic thing for anyone to wear, let alone an asthmatic. I’d put this thing on and fight for breath.  We had to put them on for practice – thankfully there was no occasion when gas bombs were actually dropped, to my memory.  But I hated the mask. They tried to make it look cute and childlike by putting Mickey Mouse ears on it and calling it a 'Mickey Mouse children’s gasmask'. But the memory of the mask came in useful for the 'Frightened Ones'. I gave them gas-mask heads and they are running for cover into air raid shelters as the dove which explodes into the Germanic Eagle, and flies across the landscape, lays its trail of waste. 

When I do my illustrated talks I like to show the 'Goodbye Blue Sky' sequence, because it ties up with my childhood really, it’s a sort of poem to the Second World War, and it was the Floyd that gave me the opportunity to do it.  I am often asked if I think my drawings change anything.  I don’t believe they do, but on occasion I hope they may crystallize a mood or sum up an attitude.  If I have succeed in demonstrating this – or even better, in making people laugh – then I can ask for no more."

About the illustrator, Gerald Scarfe -

Illustrator and cartoonist Gerald Scarfe was born in 1936 in London. He was asthmatic as a child and spent much time drawing and reading. After a brief period at the Royal College of Art in London, he established himself as a satirical cartoonist, working for Punch magazine and Private Eye during the early sixties. He has had many exhibitions worldwide, including ones in New York, Osaka, Montreal, Los Angeles, Sydney, Melbourne, Chicago and London, as well as 50 one-man shows. He has designed the sets and costumes for plays, operas and musicals in London, Houston, Los Angeles and Detroit. His film work includes designing and directing the animation for Pink Floyd's rock opera The Wall (he also created the graphics and animation for Roger Waters' 1984 solo album titled The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking and its supporting tour). Scarfe has written and directed many live action and documentary films for BBC and Channel 4.

He has also  published many books of his work, including Heroes & Villains: Scarfe at the National Portrait Gallery, which was published in September 2003. His most recent book, Gerald Scarfe: Drawing Blood: 45 Years of Scarfe Uncensored was published in November 2005. Gerald Scarfe has been political cartoonist for the London Sunday Times for 40 years, and has worked for The New Yorker magazine for 14 years. His work regularly appears in many periodicals and in 2005, he was selected as one of the 40 Most-Influential Journalists by the U.K.’s Press Gazette. In 2006, he received the British Press Award as Cartoonist of the Year.

Most recently, he has just completed working with Ozzy Osbourne on illustrating a 10-foot guitar for Gibson Guitar and their special charity event held for the Prince’s Trust.

He is married to British film/TV actress and author Jane Asher, and they have 3 three children.

You can see more of Mr. Scarfe’s work, please visit – www.geraldscarfe.com. Not only will you find a large selection of illustrations covering his whole career (including the work with Pink Floyd), but there is more information about Gerald, his book Drawing Blood (where some of today’s material was excerpted from), a CV, and writings on all the different subjects of his work.

Cover Story - IOMMI - "FUSED" cover art by Hugh Gilmour

Cover Story for July 27, 2007

Subject – Fused – a 2005 recording by “Iommi” (Tony Iommi & Glenn Hughes), released on Sanctuary Records and featuring a cover image by artist Hugh Gilmour.

Main personnel – Tony Iommi – Guitars; Glenn Hughes - Vocals, Bass; Kenny Aronoff – Drums; Bob Marlette - Keyboards, Bass

Having first worked together on the 1986 Black Sabbath album Seventh Star, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes reunited in 1996 to work on new songs but, as Tony was "side-tracked" by constant touring with Sabbath for the next 8 years, they weren't able to get together again to work on this music until 2004 (note - you can listen to their 1996 efforts as they were compiled on an album released in 2004 titled DEP Sessions: 1996). After the release of the DEP Sessions record, the pair formed a power trio with crack session/John Mellencamp drummer Kenny Aronoff and with producer Bob Marlette also adding his keyboard talents, the group released Fused in 2005.

Looking to return to their harder, riff-centric pasts (Iommi's riffs set the stage for all metal bands to come, and Hughes' vocal and bass work with Deep Purple filled in the gaping holes left by Ian Gillian and Roger Glover in 1973), the band left no doubt of their blues/rock/metal pedigrees and musical prowess with riff-filled tunes such as "Face Your Fear", "Dopamine", and the epic "Insane".

It only made sense then when the band approached Sanctuary Record's former Head of Design (a well-known "metal head" and now independent graphic designer) Hugh Gilmour to create the packaging for this new release. According to Hugh, it was Black Sabbath's fault that he got a job in the music industry in the first place. Let him explain in today's Cover Story...

In the words of the artist, Hugh Gilmour (interviewed in July 2007) -

"I was at University in Kingston in UK, and saw that Castle Communications had a vacancy for a Mac Operator. I’d switched an Apple Macintosh on and off at University, so I figured I was qualified. Castle Communications had the rights to the Sabbath catalogue in the U.K., and I knew that one day they would have to reissue and remaster them, and I wanted to be the one to do it, so I applied for the job and got it.

After I’d been there a couple of years they began a campaign of reissuing the Black Sabbath catalogue (everything from 1970-1987), and I was the obvious person to do it, as I was the resident metal freak. Back then (in 1995) you didn’t automatically get sleeve notes, additional pics, memorabilia or additional material, in CD reissues. At the time, only Ryko was making the effort to give value for money with the packaging etc. but this was something I really pushed for. When I was told there was no budget to have sleeve notes written I went ahead and wrote ’em myself, all of which was approved by the Sabbath camp. I still have the faxes (this was before email!) from Sharon Osbourne praising my liner notes.

I worked on something like twenty Sabbath releases, mainly reissues and compilations. I did one Sabbath compilation called Between Heaven And Hell that I wanted to look like a Joy Division album cover, something akin to 1980’s Closer LP, and all of a sudden old Sabbath stuff is being compared favourably to Joy Division. Coincidence? Maybe. I also made sure we included tracks like ‘Wicked World’ (which was unavailable on CD in Europe) included as well. I genuinely created those from the perspective of being a fan first and foremost. They sold so well, and at a time when interest in Sabbath wasn’t that great, that it set the standard for all of the catalogue releases. I was told that certain record chains had complained that the booklets had been stolen, not the CDs! So I knew I’d done something right. And if you disagree with my opinions in the notes? Too bad. It was a long time ago, anyway. I also designed Geezer’s first solo record Plastic Planet for Gloria Butler, and like Sharon, I found Gloria and Geezer very easy to work with, and I’m still very proud of that album. These were all labours of love for me, but I also got to put my opinions and ideas in print.

To provide inspiration for the image and the theme of the packaging overall, I was given a brief by Tony's management. They said that although it was an IOMMI album and that it was produced very much as a collaboration with Glenn Hughes. I wasn’t given a lot of specific imagery or instructions about the design, other than they wanted a sense that it was a collaborative effort, of 'something fused together', and to hopefully give an impression of brotherhood.

Another reference point I was given was a Rammstein album which consisted of an orange background and a single white strip. Whether you feel that’s a good or challenging design, or not I had to agree that something that was that simple and graphic does jump off of a CD rack. It was important to depict the IOMMI logo clearly, but to also find a way to balance Tony Iommi and Glenn Hughes’s names too. Tony wanted some colour in the artwork too, as most of the albums he has been associated with have tended to be a bit dark, tonally. Some of the early ideas for Fused had a sense of heat, of something fusing through being melted then forged together. The finished design is quite cold in comparison. I quickly developed a number of ideas, and variations on those. I designed about 100 different ideas before the one used was settled upon.  Tony and Tony’s management were involved very closely from theoutset, which is a far cry from the early days of Sabbath when the band would see the artwork for the first time when it was in the record stores.

I trained as a traditional artist and technical illustrator (examples are on www.myspace.com/hughgilmour), but this sleeve was made up from a number of different images and photos put together in Photoshop. I still paint and draw as and when required, but Photoshop is now my primary tool for design. I couldn’t say exactly, but the time it took to develop the image, from the initial brief to the finished sleeve, was probably a month or so, which is quite generous as record labels do tend to work to very tight deadlines.

The images inside the Fused booklet are meant to be partly abstract, but at the same time, hopefully illustrate the lyrics in some way. There’s even a self portrait (of me) in there, somewhere..."

About the Illustrator/Designer, Hugh Gilmour –

Although little is known about what led Mr. Gilmour down the path he took to graphic design stardom, here’s what I can tell you. He was born on 20 June, 1969 and began his career in design doing freelance work in the early 1990s. From 1993-97, he was a Senior Designer at Castle Communications in Surrey, moving in 1997 to the position of Art Director at Diablo Design Ltd, Fox Studios, in London where he was responsible for the Design and Art Direction for a variety of clients including Castle Music, EMI Records, Sanctuary Music anagement, Snapper Music, Inferno Records, Eagle Rock Records, Iron Maiden Holdings Ltd., Music For Nations, Cleopatra Records (US), JVC (Japan) and Pony Canyon (Japan).

In 1998, he took on the job of Head of Design at the Sanctuary Records Group, UK, managing a team of 5 designers and a number of freelancers on a wide range of products and services for a busy music and multi-media company, reporting to the company COO.  He provided the Design and Art Direction for CDs, DVDs, cassettes, videos, T-shirts, posters, advertisements, salesheets, POS and other associated promotional material. Clients have included Iron Maiden, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Phil Collins, Alice Cooper, The Who, Bruce Dickinson, Motörhead, Marillion, Status Quo, David Bowie, the Kinks, ELP, Fleetwood Mac, Bobby Womack, Barbara Dickson, Elkie Brooks, Small Faces, Humble Pie and the Sex Pistols.  Additionally, he was responsible for packaging design for the Isle Of Wight Festival OST, Get Carter OST, Dune DVD, Conan The Destroyer DVD and Blue Velvet DVD.

With that experience under his belt, in September 2001 he launched his own Graphic Design & Art Direction firm - Gilmour Design, in London, UK. His clients include Capitol, EMI, Sanctuary Records, Sony/Columbia, JVC, Eagle Rock, Demon Vision, 2Entertain Ltd. and the BBC.

In addition to the packaging and print work he's done for the music industry, he has written many sleeve notes for the same clients, and has published a number of articles on design and packaging in the popular music press. He has also lectured on packaging and graphic design for Moscow University, and he received his Master of Arts (with Commendation) in 2005 from the Communication Design School at London’s Kingston University.

Recently, he's worked with Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson on a logo for his new airline - Bruce Air - and he's also been working closely with David Coverdale (who he calls "a true gent") and Whitesnake, as well as on an Anthology project for Glenn Hughes (beginning with his work on Trapeze's Medusa record, through his time with Deep Purple and up to his current solo material).

When he's not incredibly busy working on designs for his clients, he also does the designs and artwork for his own metal band Pig Iron (www.myspace.com/soundsofcaligula or www.pigironmc.com)

You can see more of Mr. Gilmour's work as Hugh Gilmour Design at http:www.gilmourdesign.co.uk and on mySpace at http://www.myspace.com/hughgilmour

Copyright 2007 - Mike Goldstein & RockPoP Gallery - All rights reserved.

Cover Story - The Ramones - "Too Tough To Die" cover by George DuBose

Cover Story for July 20, 2007

Subject – “Too Tough To Die” – a 1985 recording by The Ramones on Warner/Sire Records featuring a cover photograph by George DuBose.

Main personnel – The Ramones - Joey (vocals), Johnny (guitar), Dee Dee (bass), Richie (drums)

After “suffering” through three albums of music that was more slickly-produced hard pop than the straight-ahead punk rock, Ramones fans were rewarded with a return-to-form production titled Too Tough To Die. After firing drummer Marky (due to his diminished abilities brought about by alcoholism) and replacing him with the newly-christened Richie Ramone, original drummer and now producer Tommy (Erdelyi) headed the band into the studio and, with the help of Dave Stewart, brought the band back to playing what they played best – short, fast, and smart punk tunes, with 9 of them written or co-written by bassist Dee Dee.

Critics have said that the was the “last great Ramones” recording, and it certainly showed that the band was ready and able to hold its own in the emerging early-mid 1980’s hardcore punk scene.  The album features two classic Ramones tracks - "Wart Hog" and "Endless Vacation" (sung by Dee Dee), as well as the Stewart-produced “Howling at the Moon”. 

The cover for Too Tough To Die was one of nine covers George shot for the Ramones. The song "Durango 95" bears the same name of the car driven by Alex in the Kubrick film A Clockwork Orange. Why is that important? Read on…

In the words of the photographer, George DuBose –

“I met the Ramones when Tony Wright asked me to shoot the cover for Subterranean Jungle. A year later, a call came from His Rockin’ Royal Highness, Johnny Ramone himself. He told me that he definitely wanted me to shoot another cover for them, but he asked me if I knew any other art directors, as they were not happy about the way the cover of Subterranean Jungle looked.

‘What was wrong with Tony Wright?’ I asked. ‘The graffiti on the cover he did for Subterranean Jungle really looked fake – we didn’t like it,’ Johnny said. Having worked with Tony on many projects by this point, I knew the range of his talents and capabilities. ‘Don’t write Tony off so quickly. Tony is extremely versatile. He will design the cover any way you want – you just have to be clear and tell him what you like and what you want.’ I felt an allegiance to Tony. After all, I would never have shot Subterranean Jungle - or probably even met the Ramones – if Tony had used another photographer.

At the following creative meeting with Johnny and Joey about the upcoming cover session for Too Tough To Die, Johnny asked me if I had ever seen A Clockwork Orange, the Stanley Kubrick film. ‘Not completely’, I said, not elaborating that I found the film kind of boring and didn’t appreciate the excessive sadism that the film projected. Johnny told me that, in the film, there was a scene of a mugging in a tunnel in London and that the band wanted to recreate that scene – or at least the feeling of it.

I asked my now ex-boss and mentor, professional fashion photographer Lane Pederson, where in NYC could a small pedestrian tunnel be found. Lane told me that there were lots of tunnels in Central Park and suggested one near the Children’s Zoo. I checked that tunnel - as well as a dozen other tunnels in Manhattan - but Lane was right; the small diameter of the tunnel at the zoo lent a scale to the shot that would be perfect. The tunnel was small and would make the guys in the band look bigger in relation…and more imposing.

As this was a job for Warner Bros. Records and the budget was quite substantial, we rented a Winnebago to use as a dressing room. I asked the band what they wanted in way of refreshments and they said ‘pizza and beer!’ This time, I felt like I was in charge of quite a big production. I had two assistants, a valid location permit, and the Winnebago we rented had an on-board electric generator to supply us with electricity for the lighting. We sealed of one end of the tunnel with clear plastic sheeting to control the smoke that would come from the smoke machines. We had several powerful studio strobe lights with blue-colored filters or gels outside the far end of the tunnel to backlight the blue smoke background and white light from the front of the tunnel to illuminate the group.

After shooting a couple of Polaroids to test the exposure, then several roles of 2-1/4 slide film, all the while listening to Johnny complaining about why the Polaroid pictures took so long (one minute!), I changed the Polaroid film pack from color to B&W for quicker developing time (30 seconds). Johnny was now looking at a B&W Polaroid and asked me ‘I thought we were shooting this in color!?’ I then let the band take a pause and asked them if they wanted to eat some pizza and beer. They ate the pizza, but I noticed that the full case of beer was untouched. After the pizza break, we resumed the session and I took another color Polaroid, but this time the white front lights didn’t flash for some reason…and wow!

It was clear from the image on the Polaroid that the silhouette of the band in the tunnel against the blue and smoky backlights was really powerful. Tony asked me to shoot a whole roll with no front lights. I then called a ‘wrap’, although I wasn’t quite convinced about the potential masterpiece that had just been created. The band quickly disappeared into the dark night without so much as a ‘good bye’.

After my assistant broke down all of the lighting and camera equipment and loaded everything into the Winnebago, I wanted to offer my hard-working crew their well-deserved first beer of the evening. When I looked into the Winnebago’s icebox, the whole case of beer had disappeared.

The following evening, I showed the developed film to Tony. It was clear that the backlit shots were by far ‘the bomb’ and since this was the seventh LP for the band – most of which had their faces on the cover – we thought that it would be easy to convince the group to use the silhouette shot. A couple of days later, when we met with the band to show them a mock-up of the cover, the band immediately agreed upon our choice. Tony added some simple block white type to the cover design which read ‘RAMONES’ and ‘TOO TOUGH TO DIE’ and one of the most powerful and classic rock’n’roll LP covers of all time was created."

About the photographer, George DuBose -

Originally apprenticed to commercial and fashion photographers, George DuBose first became associated with New Wave music after he began speculative work with the fledgling B52s from Athens, Georgia. He has photographed and designed over 300 album covers, collecting 18 gold and platinum albums for groups as diverse as the REM, The Go-Gos, Melissa Etheridge, Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Biz Markie and Big Daddy Kane. The Ramones have commissioned him to photograph or design their last nine covers and it is his shot for their only gold record (Ramonesmania) that he treasures most. He continues to provide creative guidance, art direction, computer graphic design, photography, manufacturing assistance for major record companies and up-and coming artists that want to produce their own albums.

Du Bose's professional experience includes staff positions as art director and photographer for Island Records and Cold Chillin' Records, the first photo editor for SPIN magazine and The Image Bankbook division and staff photographer for the original Interview magazine. His company, PopEye Designs International lists Island Trading Company, The New Music Seminar, PolyGram, Warner Bros, Island Records (since 1978), Sony, MCA, Playboy Enterprises, Thirteen/WNET and others among its clients.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

ART DIRECTOR/PHOTOGRAPHER
FREELANCE  1991-PRESENT

SENIOR ART DIRECTOR/PHOTOGRAPHER
ISLAND RECORDS, N.Y.C.  1988-1991

PHOTO EDITOR
IMAGE BANK  1987-1988

PHOTO EDITOR
SPIN MAGAZINE  1984-1987

PHOTOGRAPHER/GRAPHIC DESIGNER
1978-1984

ASSISTANT PRODUCTION MANAGER
WESTSHORE PUBLISHING CO.  1975-1978

Read George’s new book, titled I Speak Music – Ramones - This book is 104 pages of text and colorful photos (many unpublished) that document the 10 year relationship between the Ramones and their "official" photographer, George DuBose. Stories about how the various concepts came about and how these remarkable photos were executed. This book is a "must have" for any serious fan, old or new. Click the link below to take a look (and buy) his new book -

http://www.lulu.com/content/877509

Cover Story - Iggy Pop & The Stooges' "California Bleeding" cover by James Fortune

Cover Story for July 13, 2007

Subject – “Life, Death, Love and Hate”, a photograph by James Fortune used as the cover of California Bleeding, a CD of 1973-74 live concert recordings of Iggy Pop & The Stooges released in 1997 on Bomp Records.

With 1973’s Raw Power serving as a pre-cursor to (and strong influence for) the hard-core punk music movement that was to occur a few years later, Iggy and the Stooges built a small but hard-core base of fans and would seemingly stop at nothing to serve as that era’s “poster children” for the self-destructive lifestyle. It was during their live performances that Iggy would dive from the stage, or flash his privates, or smear raw meat on himself and, quite often, use a knife or broken beer bottle to cut himself – tactics later recreated by many punk artists (an homage, perhaps?). “The Godfather of Punk” and his band put on legendary shows, including a five-day booking at LA’s Whisky A Go Go in 1973, the recording of which serves as the basis of today’s Cover Story.

After disbanding in early 1974 due to the band’s famous drug problems, The Stooges reunited in 2003, appearing on Iggy’s Skull Ring record with original members Iggy Pop on vocals, Scott Asheton on drums, and Ron Asheton on both guitar and bass. When touring live, The Stooges have performed by adding bassist Mike Watt (The Minutemen) and Steve MacKay (Fun House) on saxophone. And while he never had the huge commercial success of many of his peers and contemporaries (David Bowie, Alice Cooper, The Doors), songs such as “Search and Destroy”, “Lust for Life”, “Candy”, “I’m Bored” and “Real Wild Child” always rank high on the list of most-influential rock recordings.

Iggy’s life story will soon be a motion picture – “The Passenger” is currently in production for a 2008 release and, personally, I hope that they bring in Robert Downey, Jr. to play him at some point – the resemblance is uncanny (currently, Frodo Baggins/Elijah Woods is set to star) and the lifestyle choices both shared at one point are uncanny, too.

The image shown at the beginning of the column was the original black and white photograph (the colorized version used on the cover is shown below) and it is a perfect portrait of Iggy Pop at his outrageous best. It shows Iggy clutching a mic in one hand, a knife in the other, with blood is running down his chest from several self-inflicted cuts. Photographer James Fortune tells us what it was like to be there to take the photograph that is the subject of today’s feature…

In the words of photographer James Fortune (interviewed early July 2007 via email/phone at his home in Virginia) –

"While I was in college and working hard to break into the world as a rock and roll photographer, I met Danny Sugerman when I was photographing the band he managed – The Doors. Later on, Danny called me to help him shoot a photo of Ray Manzarek that would ultimately be used for the cover of his 2nd solo record and, because of that relationship, when a new band that he managed – Iggy & The Stooges – went to play the Whiskey in late 1973, he asked me to photograph those performances, too.

Prior to packing up my equipment and driving out to the club with my wife, Danny gave me a warning that 'Iggy will get physical', but he didn’t elaborate. When we arrived at the club, there was an ambulance parked outside and my wife asked me 'why do you think that is there'? As I’d never seen the band, I really couldn’t answer her.

Since I used a 120mm lens on my Hasselblad to be able to take high-resolution B&W  images and close-ups, I really wasn’t paying much attention to what was going on overall during the performance when suddenly I saw that Iggy had a rather large knife in his hand. Then, without any obvious reason, he started stabbing and cutting himself. He’s 5 to 10 feet away from me and, as you can see by the photograph, he’s bleeding pretty badly. He then jumps down into the audience and he’s mobbed by his fans. I picked up my wife and my equipment and quietly left the club…

Six months later, Ray Manzarek’s band is playing and Danny invited me over to photograph him and his friends as they played and partied. There was Danny, Alice Cooper, John Densmore, and Iggy. They were all in good moods, having a good time, and there was no violence to speak of at the event.

In 1980, I packed up all of my negatives and moved them with me to Virginia (where he currently lives and works as a photographer – MG) and then in the late 1990s I began to digitize them. I had done some jobs for Columbia Records and knew of Michael Ochs, who was a publicist there and had since started the Michael Ochs Archives. In 1997, Michael was looking for some pictures to sell and so I sent him 70-80 8x10s from my collection, including the pictures I’d taken of Iggy at the Whiskey. One day not long after, I was told that the Iggy photo was sold for use as an album cover. While I did get a check and an album credit, I had no say about how it was going to be used – it turns out that they somehow colorized the photo (see below).

Needless to say, I now have an agent…"

Iggy Pop-related bonus tidbit #1 – "When I was packing up my photos and moving out to Virginia in 1980, I called Danny Sugerman and offered to sell him all of my Doors and Iggy Pop negatives, and he turned me down. Now, I’m REALLY glad he did!"

Iggy Pop-related bonus tidbit #2 – While James thought that his photographs of Iggy at the Whiskey were his first, he actually had taken an earlier photo. "I had contacted one of the big PR firms in LA (Salters & Roskin) and told them that I was interested in photographing Led Zeppelin if there was ever a chance, so one day in January 1973 I received a call and was told to go to a hotel where the band was encamped – they were in town to play a show and were at the hotel 'getting ready'. After they invited me in, I started taking shots and, at one point, followed Robert Plant out on to the balcony of their suite where there were some people I knew and others I didn’t, but I said “hello” to everyone. Years later, I was going through my files and found those photos and, lo and behold, one of the people on the balcony was Iggy Pop. It’s pretty obvious that he was one of those people you just had to party with in LA!"

About James Fortune (from his bio) -

There's a very good chance you've seen the photography of James Fortune before. Like many of the best-known famous rock photographers, his images have been seen by millions in books, magazines and album covers. One of his pictures of Jimmy Page was used for the cover of Led Zeppelin's 2003 release titled How The West Was Won.

Beginning as a photographer for his college paper in the late '60s, Fortune spent more than a decade photographing rock music icons like The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Doors, Paul McCartney, Led Zeppelin, Elton John, and countless others. His catalog of over 15,000 images from the tumultuous '60's and '70s contains shots of everything from hippie riots in Hollywood to Gene Simmons and Cher sharing an eclair. He ran with the high-and-mighty and photographed them all - Jimmy Carter and the Bee Gees, Iggy Pop, Eric Clapton and Ronald Reagan. His photographs capture moments in rock history. Back in the 1970's, in the aftermath of a world-wide political, civil, and sexual revolutions, Fortune plied his trade in the backstage areas and VIP sections of some of the nation's biggest musical events. His work even spanned the Pacific to Vietnam, where the intrepid photographer served active duty from 1968 to 1970 with the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet Combat Camera Group.

Since moving to Virginia in 1980, James has kept himself busy on photo assignments of all types. To see more of his work, please visit his site at http://jamesfortunephotography.com/

All images used to illustrate this story Copyright James Fortune - All Rights Reserved.

Cover Story - "AC/DC's Classic Logo" by Gerard Huerta

 

Cover Story for July 6, 2007

Subject - "AC/DC Classic Logo", a logo/typographic design by Gerard Huerta used as a principal design element on a number of LP/CD/DVD covers for AC/DC, including "Let There Be Rock”, a recording released in 1977 on Atlantic Records.

Released as a follow-up to their album Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, the 4th AC/DC album - Let There Be Rock - was the first to be released simultaneously world-wide (Dirty Deeds was not, in fact, released in the U.S. until 1981, and went on to sell over 6 million copies in the U.S.). As with the band's previous recordings, fans in different parts of the world received slightly different products, with U.S. fans getting a record sans the naughty "Crabsody In Blue" (which was replaced by "Problem Child"). However, while the fans in Australia received a record packaged in a pretty mundane cover, U.S. fans enjoyed a cover that featured the debut of Mr. Huerta's classic logo (Australian fans did finally see this product a bit later when the packaging was replaced to be the same world-wide).

The last recording with original bassist Mark Evans, Let There Be Rock was eight tracks of down-and-dirty AC/DC badness. The focus then was on doing what they did to separate their sound from other hard rock bands at the time - these boys were nasty and proud of it. With singer Bon Scott telling us (from experience?) that "Hell Aint A Bad Place To Be" and that sex was best with big girls in "Whole Lotta Rosie", these proud practicioners of the "Bad Boy Boogie" established themselves at the forefront of the emerging heavy metal scene, playing with endless energy and joining Iron Maiden and Judas Priest and others in this formidable assault on the eardrums of rock fans world wide.

In 1980, AC/DC released a live concert motion picture entitled AC/DC: Let There Be Rock (with an audio recording of this same event released on CD in 1997). In total, the band has sold more than 150 million albums worldwide (almost half in the U.S.). Their 1980 release "Back in Black" has sold 42 million units worldwide, making it the second best-selling album ever and the biggest-selling album by any rock band. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2003, and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler joined them on stage during the induction (there's another electrical term!) ceremony to perform their hits "Highway to Hell" and "You Shook Me All Night Long".

The Young brothers claimed that the idea for the band's name came to them after seeing the letters "AC/DC" on the back of a sewing machine owned by their sister. Since the boys felt that the band's recordings and performances drew equally from their raw energy, they thought that the name AC/DC was appropriate and adopted it. Mr. Huerta was touched by that same energy as the inspiration for his designs - let's let him explain...

In the words of the artist, Gerard Huerta -

"Album cover design in the '70s was the place to be if you were an artist, illustrator, photographer or letterer. The twelve and a half by twelve and a half inch surface was one of the largest areas to fill for anyone involved in graphics. What seems somewhat rare now in the digital age was commonplace
then - i.e., artists actually drawing things. My role first as a staff member at CBS Records and later as a freelancer was designing albums with an emphasis on the typography. As a young and eager artist, I took any chance I could get to invent letterforms for album covers - not only for rock, but for classical and country albums as well. It was a wonderful opportunity and always a challenge to see what you could get printed. I worked on the first Boston album with Roger Huyssen, designed a number of titles for Ted Nugent¹s albums as well as for Blue Oyster Cult, Willie Nelson, Alvin Lee, Rick Derringer, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Earl Scruggs, The Oak Ridge Boys, The Isley Brothers, Stan Getz, Archie Bell and the Drells and many classical albums. After CBS, I worked on albums by Foreigner, Stephen Stills, Chicago, Firefall, The Outlaws and AC/DC.

AC/DC was on the Atlantic label and I had first drawn some lightning bolt-style lettering for an album titled High Voltage (which featured a photo by Michael Putland and, incidentally, was their 2nd album with that title - the first being an album released in Australia only). It was basically my typographical interpretation of the title. Bob Defrin was the art director there and I designed many pieces of art for him and his staff.

Usually an album had a theme or title and it was my job to interpret that in
letterforms. I was hired to design lettering for the next AC/DC album (after their hit 'Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap'), entitled Let There Be Rock, the title providing me wit an obvious reference. I recalled a live album I worked on at CBS for Blue Oyster Cult called On Your Feet or On Your Knees. The BOC cover featured a moody composite photo shot by Creative Director John Berg of a church with a limosine parked in front of it. The sky was dark and the limo had a flag retouched in with the BOC emblem on it. After researching religious typography and, in particular, the Gutenberg¹s bible type, I came up with some lettering based on that, with the twist being that it was metallic, as if it were a car nameplate. The lettering took on a slightly sinister look, particularly when placed over this wonderful photo.

This record featured a cover photo of the band on stage with a dark sky overhead and bright light shining down through the clouds. One of my sketches used the BOC Gutenberg-inspired lettering, but this time it was orange in color and dimensional. This lettering is probably the only typography I have designed that was made entirely of straight lines. The final artwork was produced on illustration board out of cut color adhesive backed overlay film with some starbursts airbrushed on."

The rest, they say, is history...

About the artist, Gerard Huerta -

 

Based in Connecticut, Gerard Huerta is a designer of letter forms. From trademarks and logotypes to mastheads, from illustrative lettering to Swiss Army watch face designs, he has worked in a variety of typographic styles. Born and raised in southern California, he graduated from Art Center College of Design and began his career at CBS Records in New York designing album covers and creating letterforms for Boston, AC/DC, Ted Nugent, Blue Oyster Cult, Stephen Stills and Foreigner. He started Gerard Huerta Design in 1976 and has been drawing custom letters and logos ever since.

In addition to his well-known designs for the music industry, some of his logos and logotypes have included Swiss Army Brands, MSG Network, CBS Records Masterworks, Waldenbooks, Spelling Entertainment, Nabisco, Calvin Klein¹s Eternity, Arista Records, Type Directors Club, the mastheads of Time, Money, People, The Atlantic Monthly, PC Magazine, Adweek, Us, Conde Nast¹s Traveler,
Working Mother, WordPerfect, The American Lawyer, The National Law Journal, The National Catholic Register, Illustration and Architectural Digest as well as corporate alphabets for Waldenbooks, Time-Life and Conde Nast. He has been featured in Money Magazine, The Penrose Annual, Typographic i, Scripsit, The Graphis Business Issue, How Magazine, Step-By-Step Magazine, Westport Magazine and the books Graphis Typography 1: Masters of Typography and Friedrich Friedl¹s reference book Typography: When Who How.

He is also a guitarist and singer in the group The Merwin Mountain Band (www.merwinmountainband.com) and his studio is in the historic Southport Freight Station.

To see more of his current work, please visit Mr. Huerta's sites at http://www.gerardhuerta.com/   and   http://www.graphis.com/portfolio-slideshow/gerard-huerta/ 

Cover Story - "Rolling Stones Tongue & Lips" by John Pasche

Cover Story for June 29, 2007

Subject - "Tongue and Lips", a logo designed by John Pasche and used as a principal design element on a number of LP/CD/DVD covers for The Rolling Stones, including Sticky Fingers, a recording released in April, 1971 on Rolling Stones Records (distributed by Atlantic Records).

One of the (if not THE) most-recognized band logos in the rock era, John Pasche's "Tongue and Lips" design was first introduced to fans in 1971 as part of a record package that, according to a decree by VH1 in 2003, was the "#1 Greatest Album Cover" of all time. It is included in every book/article that chronicle the "best-and-most-influential album covers" as it was also a seminal (and quite controversial) work by artist Andy Warhol, featuring a Warhol photograph of a man (from the waist down) in tight jeans, the zipper of which was fully-functional. Unzipping the zipper revealed the subject's underwear, imprinted with a saying - "This Is Not Etc." (try doing THAT with a CD jewel case!). The design offended everyone you think might have been offended at the time, and so the record was also released with an alternative cover in some markets.

The band's first release on its own label after having worked with Decca/London records since 1963, Sticky Fingers is also notable as it represents the first time that Mick Taylor was included as the band's new full-time guitarist. With the band and their management now in total control of their music and its packaging, the resulting package featured extraordinary efforts in both music and art.

Reviews of Sticky Fingers focus on the fact that many of the songs are about drugs and drug use and, while this might be true ('Sister Morphine' being particularly drug-focused), it is a mix of music that really set the tone for their songwriting after this album, mixing the blues, rock and even a bit of country on 'Wild Horses' (which, interestingly, was written by the Stones but first released by Keith's friend Gram Parsons and his group, The Flying Burrito Brothers).

The record introduced other Stones classics, such as 'Brown Sugar' (which went to #1 on the U.S. charts), 'Can't You Hear Me Knocking' and the aforementioned "Wild Horses" and its combination of attitude (both playful and mean-spirited) and classic studio craftsmanship helped make it the first of eight straight chart-topping records for the band and one of the '500 Greatest Albums of All Time' (#63) in Rolling Stone Magazine's 2003 listings.

Imagine, then, being a design student, still in college, and then being called upon to create identity graphics for one of the biggest acts in the world. Here's John Pasche's account of his first big gig, in his own words...

In the words of designer, John Pasche -

"In 1969, Mick Jagger’s office rang the Royal College of Art in London and asked if there was a suitable design student to come up with designs for their 1970 European Tour poster. I was recommended and on 29 April 1970 Jo Bergman, who was running the Stone's office at the time, wrote to me to confirm that they had commissioned me to design a poster for their forthcoming tour. At this time, I was in my final year of a graduate design course. I was very honored when Mick Jagger turned up at the College to see my final degree show as the artwork that would ultimately be used for the poster was on display in one of the exhibits.

A short time later, I met with Mick again, who then asked me to design a logo or symbol for The Rolling Stone's new record label. Mick showed me an image of the Goddess Kali which became the starting point to our discussion regarding the design of the logo. I was paid £50 for the design, which took me about a week to complete. In 1972 I was paid an additional £200 in recognition of the logo's success.

The design concept for the Tongue was to represent the band’s anti-authoritarian attitude, Mick's mouth and the obvious sexual connotations. I designed it in such a way that it was easily reproduced and in a style which I thought could stand the test of time. The first use of the logo was the inner sleeve for the Sticky Fingers album. The outer sleeve was designed by Andy Warhol, hence the mix-up with the credits (Ed. Note – many have attributed the logo design to Warhol, so we’re happy to clarify this here today!). The logo was not fully registered in all countries and a German jeans company registered the logo in Germany for their own products. This situation - and the fact that the tongue was getting used by unauthorized manufacturers of badges and t-shirts - prompted the proper registration and a merchandising agreement with myself to capitalize on the  success of the logo.

The simplicity of the design lent itself to many variations which were done by other designers and not myself. Due to it’s immediate popularity, the Stones kept with it over the years and I believe that it represents one of the strongest and most recognizable logos worldwide. And  of course I’m proud of that. The Stones ultimately bought the copyright but I still own the hand drawn & painted artwork which, by the way, is now on sale for £200,000.

My busiest time creating artwork for the Stones was from 1970 - 1974, which included creating four tour posters. This led on to work for Paul McCartney, the Who and many other artistes and bands through to eleven years ago when I started working as Creative Director for the South Bank Centre Arts Complex in London. I left this position last April due to the closure of the Royal Festival Hall for an eighteen month renovation programme. I am now 61 years old and work as a freelance designer from my studio at home - still enjoying rock music and working as a designer." 

About John Pasche (again, in his words) -

 

(Left) A 1969 photo of myself – a little more hirsute than I am now.

During the sixties, I was very interested in the Pop Art movement  but also influenced by then current conceptual designers such as Bob Gill and by the works of the painter Magritte. In 1967, I was awarded a BA in Graphic Design from the Brighton College of Art and then a Masters Degree from the Royal College of Art in London in 1970. My career has included stints in the advertising world (Benton & Bowles Agency), freelance graphic design, 13 years in Art/Creative Director roles for United Artist (Music Division) and Chrysalis Records, Ltd., and then, most-recently, 12 years as the Creative Director for the South Bank Centre. I've also been a Visiting Lecturer at the Royal College of Art.

My designs have been used on record packages for Art of Noise (one of 'The Greatest Album Covers of All Time'), Go West, Sinead O’Connor, Steeleye Span, UFO, Jethro Tull, The Stranglers, Fischer-Z, Dr. Feelgood, The Vapors and many others.

Design Awards include the 1996 Communication Arts "Award of Excellence", 7 Music Week design awards for "Top Single/Album Sleeves", 11 Design & Art Direction Certificates, and NME's "Top Album Sleeve" Award.

There are examples of my sleeves and other projects on my site – www.johnpasche.com - for your reference.

All artwork and photographs featured in this article - Copyright 1969-present by John Pasche - All RIghts Reserved. All other text and images Copyright 2007-present by Mike Goldstein - All Rights Reserved.

Cover Story - "Nashville Skyline" by Elliott Landy

Cover Story for June 22, 2007

Subject - "Bob Dylan, at his Byrdcliff Home", an Elliott Landy photo used on the cover of “Nashville Skyline”, a recording released in April, 1969 on Columbia Records.

To put it simply – everyone who was part of “the 60’s generation” knows this photograph. So much so that, in order to provide visitors to their “Summer of Love – Art of the Psychedelic Era” exhibition (on display thru 9/16/07), the Whitney Museum of American Art chose this image as the principal illustration for the fold-out handout given to attendees during the show.

And why not? To many, this photo of Bob Dylan at his home in Woodstock represents the mood of the era where, as Elliott puts it, “it reflects the love we were all seeking to find through making the world a better place”. Dylan certainly looks happy at home, don’t you think, and yet he was trying hard to distance himself from the world’s troubles and just focus on his family and his music.

Nashville Skyline, which featured the timeless “Lay Lady Lay”, “I Threw It All Away” and a host of Dylan-penned classics – including a duet with Johnny Cash called “Girl From The North Country”, was the 1969 follow-up to John Wesley Harding and an out-and-out country/country-rock album. When you first heard it, you weren’t 100% certain that it was Dylan singing, as he had taken on a country crooner’s vocal stylings, but once you heard the words and music, Dylan’s magic took you over and made you a country-rock fan. The record spawned three hit singles and reached #3 on the U.S. record charts. It was also his fourth #1 album in the U.K..

After Elliott’s previous photos of Dylan and The Band had solidified his relationship with the artists and their management/record label, he moved to Woodstock permanently in 1968 and, in early 1969, he was hired to take a picture for the back cover of the soon-to-be-released Dylan album, titled Nashville Skyline. Here now, in the words of photographer Elliott Landy, we learn how this image went from the back cover to the forefront of our consciousness (and the front cover of the record!)…

In the words of photographer Elliott Landy –

“He had the front cover already picked out – a picture of the skyline of Nashville, where he had recorded the album. We didn’t know what to do – we had no concepts when we started. We met and he suggested that we take a picture in front of the bakery in Woodstock with his son Jesse and two local Woodstock people. The brown leather jacket he was wearing was the same one he had worn for the covers of John Wesley Harding and Blonde on Blonde.

He was still uncomfortable being photographed and, therefore, I was uncomfortable photographing him, but we stayed with it. We took some pictures at the bakery and then went to my house and hung out…The same day, we took some photographs outside my house. He had his glasses on, but there wasn’t any discussion about ‘I don’t want to have the glasses on the album’ or anything like that. We were just easy – it was very casual. He wanted some pictures, we took them, and neither of us conceptualized it. I’m spontaneous when I work, and so is he. An Art Director might have said ‘Take the glasses off’, but neither he nor I thought about it. However people present themselves is how I photograph them – I don’t judge it.

Then on another afternoon I went over to his place. As we left the house, he grabbed a hat and asked ‘Do you think we could use this?’ I had no idea if it would be good or not, so I told him ‘take it and we’ll see.’ We walked around through the woods behind his house looking for a good spot. It had just been raining, we had boots on, and he was carrying this hat.

He paused for a moment – apparently inspired – and said ‘What about taking one from down there?’ pointing to the ground. As I started kneeling I saw that it was muddy, but I kept going. ‘Do you think that I should wear this?’ he asked, starting to put on his hat, smiling because it was kind of a goof, and he was having fun visualizing himself in this silly-looking traditional hat. ‘I don’t know’ I said as I snapped the shutter. It all happened so fast. If I had any resistance in me, I would have missed the photograph that became the front cover. It’s best to be open to life.

I brought the picture to CBS Records and told them that Dylan wanted this as the new cover image and that he didn’t want any writing on the cover – no names, logos or other sales tools. This was Bob’s way of saying that his music was not created as a commercial pursuit. Despite his wishes, CBS put their logo in the upper left-hand corner and, although small and seemingly insignificant, this ruins the three-dimensionality of the image (try this – while looking at the record cover, cover up the logo, then uncover it and cover it up again. The image will appear to go from two dimensions to three and then back).

During those days in Woodstock, he was really open and in a good mood. It was sunny out and we just followed our instincts. It was the first picture of him smiling and, in my opinion, it reflects the inner spirit, the loving essence of the man behind all of the inspiring music he has given us. Someone told me that the reason people like it so much is that it makes them happy. Every review of the album mentioned his smile on the cover…This was a magical picture for all of us. It certainly assured my reputation as a photographer.”

(Text excerpted, with the author's permission, from his book “Woodstock Vision”, copyright 1994 Elliott Landy). Purchase this book from Elliott at http://www.landyvision.com/books.html

 
About Elliott Landy  – 
Elliott Landy, born in 1942, began photographing the anti-Vietnam war movement and the underground music culture in New York City in 1967. He photographed many of the underground rock and roll superstars, both backstage and onstage, from 1967 to 69.

His images of Bob Dylan and The Band, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Joan Baez, Van Morrison, Richie Havens, and many others documented the music scene during that classic rock and roll period which culminated with the 1969 Woodstock Festival, of which he was the official photographer.

After that, Elliott moved on to other inspirations and art forms, photographing his own children and travels, creating impressionist flower photographs and doing motion and kaleidoscopic photography in both still and film formats.

His photographs have been published worldwide for many years in all print mediums including covers for Rolling Stone, Life, the Saturday Evening Post, etc. and album covers, calendars, photographic book collections, etc. He has published “Woodstock Vision, The Spirit of A Generation”, in book and CD-ROM format, and authored the book “Woodstock 69, The First Festival”.

Elliott Landy trivia – “curiously, because our names are anagrams of each other – DYLAN/LANDY – many people thought I didn’t exist – that I was Dylan under an alias!”

Elliott Landy at Woodstock in 1969

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All photographs featured in this article are Copyright 1969-present by Elliott Landy - All Rights Reserved. All other text and images Copyright 2007-present by Mike Goldstein - All Rights Reserved.

Cover Story "Evolution" by Karl Ferris

Cover Story for June 15, 2007

Subject: "Evolution" – an album cover design produced by photographer Karl Ferris for the cover of the 1967 recording by The Hollies titled "Evolution", released on Parlophone Records (U.K.) and distributed in the U.S. by Epic Records.

One of the “British Invasion’s” most-popular bands, the Hollies began (as did most acts at the time) doing covers of early rock, blues and R&B tunes. As they grew musically (and finalized their core line-up), they soon added original tunes that focused on their unique vocal harmonies (featuring Allan Clarke and Graham Nash), Tony Hicks’ ringing guitar work and Bobby Elliott’s innovative drumming. 

Throughout the 1960’s, the band landed in the U.K. Top 20 charts nearly 20 times, but they didn’t have a hit in the U.S. until 1966, when they broke into the Top 40 with “Look Through Any Window”, followed soon after by the Top 10 hit “On A Carousel”, “Bus Stop” and “Stop Stop Stop”. While the Hollies focused on keeping pop listeners happy, other top British acts began to experiment with more studio-based psychedelic sounds and records “that made a statement”.

Graham Nash, in particular, thought that it was time to explore their more trippy side, and so their next album would begin taking them in that direction. Released in the U.K. in June of 1967 on Parlophone Records, Evolution reached #13 on the British charts, driven by the record’s fan-friendly mix of psychedelics (“Headed for a Fall”) and great pop (“Carrie-Anne”).

Original band members Allan Clarke (guitar/vocals), Graham Nash (guitar/vocals), Tony Hicks (various stringed instruments/vocals) and Bobby Elliott (drums) were joined by new bassist Bernie Calvert in their effort to take their sound into new and exciting directions. Let’s pick up the story now as cover photographer Karl Ferris recalls what happened next - 

In the words of photographer Karl Ferris (interviewed in June 2007) –

“In the summer of 1966, The Hollies had asked me in to design a front album cover photograph for their new LP, Evolution, with which they wanted to break from their ‘Pop Beat’ sound into something more psychedelic. During the Hollies recording sessions at Abbey Road Studios which I attended, the Beatles were also there recording the Sergeant Pepper album and John and Paul dropped in to hear some Hollies tracks and invited us over to hear some of their new tracks, which we did, and were duly blown away by the revolutionary music. 

To begin the process, I listened to the music that they were recording and got an image of them pushing through a membrane into ‘the Psychedelic world’. I took a studio shot of them pushing out their hands and the lead singer pointing through clear plastic. Over this, I superimposed a shot of William Morris ‘Art Nuevo’ wallpaper with an illustration and some ‘Love’ lettering drawn by my girlfriend, Anke.

This combination created the image of the Hollies ‘pushing through to a new wave of music style and consciousness’. I worked with the design collective The Fool (lead by Simon Posthuma) on this, and they did the lettering, the back cover design and created the group’s fantastic costumes.

When it was released early in 1967, the music magazine columnists raved about the cover photo, saying that it was the first ‘psychedelic photo’ cover they had seen anywhere.

I then started to be approached by other major Pop stars who’d seen Evolution to do their promo shots and album covers. A month later I was invited to the ‘wrap party’ for Sgt. Pepper, during which I was asked if I wanted to shoot some 16mm film of the happenings there, which I did.  Everyone was there, all the London Rock elite: The Rolling Stones, The Hollies, Donovan, Marianne Faithful, The Who, The Fool and many others. At one point we all stood in a large circle beneath a hanging mike and sang an ‘Oom’ mantra which was double-tracked with a long extended note that Paul was conducting and had the London Philharmonic’s 77-piece orchestra play while I filmed it. This recording was used as the final note on the song ‘A Day in the Life’. The camera and film were placed in a box and I didn’t see it again for 35 years, until I recently saw it on The Beatles Anthology DVD set and recognized some of the footage I shot.

Later, apparently Jimi Hendrix saw the Evolution cover and said to his manager Chas Chandler that he wanted something similar “psychedelic” on his Are You Experienced album when it was to be released in the USA, as he was not happy with it’s UK cover “which he said, made him look like a fairy” so he sent Chas off to contact me…”

This, as you might figure, will be the subject of an upcoming “Cover Story”… :-)

About Karl Ferris –

Karl Ferris is known as "the Innovator of Psychedelic Photography". A photographer to the “British Rock Elite” - Eric Clapton, Cream, Donovan, The Hollies and Jimi Hendrix - Ferris was invited as their personal photographer to create their “Images”. He was given an insider access to the “Experience” that defined the 60’s and the world.

As a World War II baby who grew up in Hastings, England in the 50’s, Ferris learned two things that would later affect his life, the first being the history of Hastings, conquered by the Normans in 1066. This peaked an interest in this medieval period of history and Karl would find himself bicycling around Norman castles and fantasizing about battles, knights, chivalry and heraldry. The second thing he learned was an appreciation of art, having a showing of his early paintings at the Hastings Museum. He later went on to study at Hastings College of Art focusing on the Pre-Raphaelite style of painting which would later influence his psychedelic photography of the 60’s.

After school and with dreams of traveling to India, Ferris signed up as a steward on a P&O liner that went to Australia via India.  After returning to England he served two years with the Royal Air Force for his National Service (Conscription) as an aerial photographer. During this period he became friends with a fellow conscriptee, who was a member of a Liverpool Mersey Beat group, and he was introduced for the first time to this type of music. He was invited back to Liverpool to see a new group - The Beatles - who were appearing at the Cavern Club and was introduced to them. He was then hooked on the “Beat” music from which the Beatles took their name.

After his military service, Ferris immigrated to Vancouver, Canada working as an assistant to master photographer Harold Nygard. From him, Karl learned the skills of composition, form and texture. He also began an involvement in the “Beatnik” lifestyle and began hanging out in “coffee bars” listening to poetry readings and the progressive jazz of such artists as Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, John Coletrane and Ornette Coleman. He shot his first music subjects at these gatherings for local newspapers and magazines. He also began to take fashion shots of girl friends and models, building up a portfolio. Nygard told him that he had a real talent in this and should return to London where the Mod Fashion scene was going on.

In 1964 Karl returned to England and the happening Beat scene.  Ferris received commissioned work as a fashion photographer for the teen magazine “19” and later for  Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, French Mode and Marie Claire. These commissions brought him to such locations as Paris, Cannes, Munich, Ibiza and Morocco. When he wasn’t working, he would join into the “Scene”. After meeting up (and eventually dating) Denmark’s top superstar model of the time, Karl was introduced to a pop group called the “ The King Bees” who invited him to sing Rolling Stones cover songs with them, so he began touring in and around Copenhagen doing this.

He eventually returned to England for a “shoot” offer with Vogue. The Beatles had just released Rubber Soul and Karl had the chance to meet up with their official photographer, Robert Freeman, who encouraged Ferris to experiment with different styles of images - which he promptly did - in his unique psychedelic style. On a trip to the Spanish island of Ibiza he met and began shooting “The Fool’s” (Simon and Marijke) innovative psychedelic fashion designs, which were eventually printed in the fashion section of The London Times. This was the first time such psychedelic photography and fashions had been seen anywhere. He and the Fool were then invited to come to London to shoot some more “Psychedelic” fashion features.

From this Ferris received many commissions. He also began working on “Psychedelic Happening shows” combining projections of colored liquid and photographs over freeform dancers. The likes of Paul McCartney, Graham Nash, Eric Clapton, T Rex, Pink Floyd and John Lennon dropped by and began participating by playing music with these shows. Ferris was also invited to do a stage light show for Pink Floyd, which is believed to be the first one ever done in England, in 1966.

Ferris met with Jimi Hendrix in 1967 through Chas Chandler, who had “discovered” Hendrix. Karl received the compliment of a lifetime when Hendrix remarked to him, on seeing his portfolio, “You‘re doing with photography what I’m doing with music - going far out beyond the limits”.  Hendrix then asked Ferris to be his photographer and to re-shoot the UK version of the album Are You Experienced for the US market.

Karl began experimenting using a giant Nikon fisheye lens and secret infrared film that had just been released by the military, who had used it for U2 plane spying. He created the famous photograph used for Jimi’s first US record album cover, which he also designed, and his images appeared on all three U.S. album covers released during Hendrix’s short life - Are You Experienced, Axis Bold As Love and Electric Ladyland. Karl also created the album cover images for Donovan - Gift From A Flower To A Garden, Wear Your Love Like Heaven, For The Little Ones and Hurdy Gurdy Donovan and for The Hollies’ Evolution. During the years 1967-69, Karl was one of the preferred photographers to the British Rock elite, shooting also many PR photos for them.

In 2003 Ferris began his quest to re-visit a time in music that defined a generation, creating “The Ferris Experience” Happening. He exhibited the famous record album cover photographs and a psychedelic multimedia video and slide show in Vancouver, Canada, at The Exhibitions Gallery. It was be the first time in 35 years that such an exhibition had been unveiled. In 2005, Karl’s “Happening” show and photo gallery exhibit began a tour of major cities in the USA, starting with the San Francisco Art Exchange and continuing in Toronto and other cities in 2006.

Also in 2006, Karl and his team began production on a major filmed documentary called "Revolution” which was scheduled for a  2007 release (to coincide with the 40th anniversary of "the Summer of Love" in 1967). ‘Revolution’ explores, through interviews with many of its key instigators, the ground-breaking cultural and social transformation of the 1960s, looking to find the roots of what exactly changed during that period. To what extent is our society and culture today a product of those changes? What remains to be done today to complete the revolution? ‘Revolution’ will serve as a legacy and historical document of the era from which future generations will gain a better understanding of the 1960s through first hand accounts by those that not only experienced it, but also helped to shape that revolutionary era.

The film will uncover the culture of 1960s psychedelia as a symptom and part cause of this cultural shift. The film is narrated by Peter Coyote, film star, political activist and a former San Francisco street mime! 

Karl and his buddy Willie Nelson - Maui, HI - Feb. 2007

 

 

 

 

Artwork and photographs Copyright 1967-present by Karl Ferris - All Rights Reserved. All other text and images Copyright 2007-present by Mike Goldstein - All RIghts Reserved.

Cover Story - "Foxtrot", by Paul Whitehead

Cover Story for June 8, 2007

Subject: "Foxtrot" – a painting produced by artist Paul Whitehead for the cover of the 1972 recording by Genesis titled "Foxtrot", released on Charisma Records (U.S.) and distributed by Buddah Records.

Featuring classic tunes such as "Watcher of the Skies", "Get Em Out By Friday" and the epic 23-minute "Supper's Ready", this recording shows the band at their creative and performing zenith, producing music that was truly "prog" (in its whimsy and strange lyrical imagery) and "rock" (in that it kicks with a vengeance, when needed).

The record was the fourth studio album by the band, the second (following 1971's "Nursery Cryme") featuring the line-up of Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks and Steve Hackett. It was also the first to make the UK record charts, topping off at #12.

Artist Paul Whitehead met the band after producer John Anthony and Peter Gabriel saw his "High Tide" cover for Liberty Records and then more of his work in a London Gallery. They were looking for someone to work on the cover for what was to become their record album "Trespass" and with that effort (after meeting with Charisma chief Tony Stratton-Smith) became the designer for Trespass, their next album ("Nursery Cryme") and then, at 27 years of age, for the subject of today's Cover Story - Foxtrot...

In the words of artist Paul Whitehead (interviewed June, 2007) -

"Having worked with the band on the previous two record covers (and, it turns out, also providing the titles for all three albums), we'd developed a very sound approach to creating the imagery. I would stay with the band for three or four days while they were developing things musically and lyrically. We'd then have a number of brain-storming sessions where I'd show them books and other reference materials. I'd do pencil sketches of the design ideas I'd have on tissue and then we'd come to an agreement as to what the basic approach would be and which images would be included in the final painting. Peter would give me the libretto and I'd then go away for a couple of weeks and we'd then hold an unveiling of the painting - done in oils - in Tony Stratton-Smith's office (often accompanied by champagne, as would be served at any art opening).

Foxtrot was the follow-up to Nursery Cryme, and it was our goal to continue to use the cover imagery to poke fun at British High Society (where Peter, Mike and Tony had all come from). The cover of Nursery Cryme painted a scary portrait of the game of croquet, a staple of aristocratic entertainment, and so we chose another activity associated with the priviledged class - fox hunting - as the main theme for the new record. You'll note, though, that I included a scene from the previous record - the croquet tournament - in the background of this new image to provide the continuity we were looking for."

I asked Paul to step us through the images found on the cover and provide us with the reasons they were chosen and laid out as they were...

"Adding a new dimension to the fox-hunting theme, I based the four principal images on the left-hand side on a loose interpretation of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. "Death rides a pale horse" - you'll see that the character on the white horse is weeping - and he also has a huge chip on his shoulder (perhaps as he's the only one actually named in the Bible)! These characters have come to the water's edge in their chase after the Fox, but as foxes are known for their cunning, this one has chosen to disguise himself in a red dress and escape the huntsmen and their dogs by escaping on the water on top of an ice floe. At the time, in America, pretty girls were known as 'foxes', which is another reason I chose to add a more feminine touch to the crafty fox's escape.

Here's an interesting aside - as we were always trying to get away with something for a laugh and sneak something past the censors, I was particularly proud of how we accomplished this feat in this painting. Now, you may have looked at this cover hundreds of times, but I'll bet that you have never noticed just how "excited" the 4th horse (the one farthest to the right, ridden by the rider with the green head) is to be this close to the Fox.. ;-)
To this day, I still win bets with people who 'know this painting backwards and forwards' but who've never seen that particular 'naughty bit' before!

I also included some imagery from the lyrics of 'Supper's Ready' - the 'six saintly shrouded men, move across the lawn slowly, the seventh walks in front, with a cross held high in hand', as well as some additional imagery from other songs and albums, such as the Hogweed and the croquet mallet floating in the water.

The band and I also felt it important to include images that reflected the state of the world and the planet at the time. In the water in the upper right-hand corner, you'll see a U.S. nuclear submarine, which represents the presense of the U.S. Naval Fleet off the coast of Scotland. Many people in Britain, including members of Parliament, were unhappy with the fact that the U.S. maintained a fleet of nuclear subs 'only 30 minutes by missle' away from the Soviet Union. The 2 dolphins and fish rising up from the ocean were representing the marked increases in water pollution (caused by the nuclear subs?) and its effects on all living things, while the man with his head buried in the sand (to the left of the Saints)represented 'the music business' who had yet to treat the band and its music with much respect (Editor's note - In my mind, this character may also have represented the "art establishment", who would not treat album cover artists such as Paul with the respect they were due for having created some of the most well-known and loved fine art images of the last 50 years).

Two other images were a bit more personal and illustrated things I knew and had talked to the band about. To the far left in the painting, you'll see a person riding a bicycle - rather wobbily and, if you've ever tried it, impossible to do on the sand. Peter would ride a bike to meetings and such, but he was not that steady on his bike...The Holiday Inn-style hotel in the background was my way of illustrating to the boys that they had better get used to staying in places like that - another night, another city, another hotel - as they were going to start "going places" very soon, which turned out to be quite right!"

Paul's newest work for Genesis will be seen later this summer, as he's doing the official event program cover and poster for their huge European Tour. 

About Paul Whitehead (in the words of Paul Whitehead) –

"Most of you will know me as the artist that painted the record covers for Genesis and Van der Graaf Generator in the 70’s. Choosing “artist” as your job description is rather like giving yourself permission to spend your life creating and approaching life as it comes to you - as an artist.

I was born at the end of World War 2 in Dartford, Kent at that time a severely bombed out suburb of S.E. London. By the time I started school at five I knew how to draw and paint. My work was always chosen by the teacher to be put up on the wall at school, the other kids thought I was a show off and my mother would always tell me to, "Clear up that mess - dinner’s ready." I ignored the world and sat in my corner endlessly amusing myself seeing how much fun I could have drawing anything that I could imagine. It also helped me to escape from the rigors of school "learning", which I did as much as I needed to to get by.

I suffered the consequences of this and was frequently caned and penalized for my lack attention. The only bright lights in the dreary school week were the geography and art classes. I went through a disastrous yet very informative 'art school' phase at Oxford, which was just a continuation of the schools I had already been through, except this time they were trying to turn me into a museum curator.

My real education came in London in the sixties, a time of great change, vitality and immense creativity. I designed my first record cover in 1967 for Fats Domino and became a kind of in-house designer for Liberty Records in London. Shortly after that I was in the right place at the right time and became the original Art Director for the magazine 'Time Out' in London, an entertainment guide to everything going on in Swinging London. Naturally every band - both the up and coming hopefuls and the already successful - came through our doors to place an ad or seeking a review of their latest LP. My design skills were often called on and then I met Genesis through their producer.

We hit it off instantly and - thanks to the visionary approach of the record company - Charisma - we were left alone to create the records and the covers of three records together with no interference. The results were Trespass, Nursery Cryme & Foxtrot, some of the most successful collaborations I have ever had working with musicians, they created the music and I made original paintings that reflected exactly the contents of the records. Other bands on Charisma that I worked with included Van der Graaf Generator, Peter Hammill on his solo projects, Lindisfarne & Trevor Bilmus. I quickly became known as the painter and designer who worked with rock bands, a nice niche to be put into I thought. Collaborations with Renaissance, IF, High Tide, Mott the Hoople, Matthews Southern Comfort, Colin Scott & Steamhammer followed.

Then I immigrated to the United States and finally settled in Los Angeles. I continued to create paintings for record covers and immediately worked with Tom Fogarty and Le Orme who came to L.A. to make Smogmagica. Most of the record cover work I have done has been for Progressive rock bands although I’ve made record covers for everything from R&B & New Age to Funk.

The record cover work is, however, only a part of what I do – there are a lot more levels to Paul Whitehead, the artist. For example did you know that I am in the 'Guiness Book of Records' for the largest mural in the world, or that I conceived and organized the 'Eyes & Ears Billboard Art Show' - the first "Drive Though Art Gallery" in - where else - Los Angeles? I have designed many corporate logos and for three years I was the creative services director at The Universal Studios Theme Park in L.A. This got me interested in writing screenplays and I completed half a dozen scripts on many subjects including, stealing the Mona Lisa, the martyrdom of Savonarola and the Christmas Truce in the first year of The First World War. I also make my own particular brand of music. My interest in science fiction, performance art and classical and progressive music has led to the composition, recording and performance of The Borg Symphony.

I like to be given BIG creative challenges and, of course, I love to paint!"

Artwork Copyright 1972-present by Paul Whitehead - All Rights Reserved. All other text and images Copyright 2007-present by Mike Goldstein - All Rights Reserved

Cover Story - "Tommy" by Mike McInnerney

Cover Story for June 1, 2007

Subject: "Tommy" – an illustration produced by artist Mike McInnerney for the cover of The Who’s 1969 recording titled "Tommy", released on Decca/MCA Records (U.S.).

One of the first (and, arguably, the finest) "rock operas", Tommy was the first of two such musical works by The Who, followed in 1973 by Quadrophenia. Both were later made into feature films.

Written primarily by Pete Townshend, this now-classic story about the life and ultimate awakening of a deaf, dumb, and blind boy was both hailed as a breakthrough in modern rock composition and also banned for its subject matter in some less-than-free-thinking parts of the world. That this effort launched the band's career as superstars is undeniable. Later adaptations of the story - in concert, theaters and film, met with varying degrees of critical and public acceptance, but it was Townshend's ability to craft a complex narrative around some of rock's best songs - "PinballWizard", "I'm Free", "Sensation" and "We're Not Gonna Take It" - that ultimately establishes this work as an all-time great (who can forget Daltry's performance of "See Me, Feel Me" during the early-morning sunrise at Woodstock?).

The recording was ranked #96 in Rolling Stone Magazine's list of "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".

Tommy was originally released as a two-LP set with the cover artwork in a fold-out triptych. All three of the outer panels are spanned by Mike McInnerney's painting, which is the subject of today's Cover Story. Executives at The Who's record label insisted on having the band members pictured on the cover, so another version featuring small images of their faces inserted into the gaps in the central sphere was created for this purpose. Recently released remastered CDs were packaged with Mr. McInnerney's original artwork.

Mike McInnerney was the art editor for the International Times underground British newspaper when he met Pete Townshend in 1967 at a gathering organized by the paper. An active member of the UFO Club and an ardent follower of Meher Baba, McInnerney introduced Townshend to the teachings of M. Baba and these influences ultimately shaped (to a certain degree) Townshend's budding rock opera. As their relationship grew and as the recording process advanced, Townshend finally commissioned McInnerney to do the cover. Pete Townshend adds - "As ever, Mike overflowed with visual ideas, many of them influencing the way some of the songs - at that time in raw demo form - were to turn out.." With this as the background, let's now turn to the words of Mike McInnerney for the rest of this Cover Story...   

In the words of artist Mike McInnerney -

"It was 1968 and the world was full of messages. Everyone was promoting some kind of message - feminism, expanded consciousness, meditation, revolution, God, drugs, love, the environment. Rock was doing its usual up-to-the-minute job of transmitting them - if rock could do it, I thought, so should illustration.

By the time Pete commissioned me, the recording was well advanced. He gave me some tape cassettes from the recording studio, filled me in on the libretto, and left me to it. Tommy was a lovely vehicle for the visual interests I had at the time. I had been exploring ways of creating images that could picture my pre-occupation with spiritual ideas. I particularly liked the patterns and rhythms of Op Art and its concerns with perception and illusion and the language of Surrealism - not for its subversive qualities but rather its transcendental possibilities - like finding poetry in the ordinary.

The project started off as a double album cover job and grew into a triptych with 12-page booklet. The Opera had a strong libretto which I used to develop the images...I chose to do images that acted as symbols for key moments in the story. I hoped the images would be viewed like painting and sculpture are viewed - that is, in a contemplative way, with a long look at images layered with references.

I liked the 'idea' of the Tommy character. Rather than trying to portray him, I wanted to picture his experience of being in a world without conventional senses. I thought it would be limitless and unbounded, yet trapped in an environment made for people who have all of their senses.

The outer and inner covers seemed to be the appropriate places for this statement. The outer cover has its globe (Earth/Self) hanging in an endless infinite space that can never be touched - only imagined. The inside cover has its wall and wall lights, a symbol of domestic space - the room we all live in. The light from these lamps, however, does not fix things as in our sighted world - it shifts and changes for Tommy.

The work took two to three months to complete (According to Pete T. - 'Mike worked constantly under a single ordinary lightbulb. He entertained and pontificated from his drawing board at one side of the room, stopping only to eat...Behind him on the wall was a picture of the young, craggy-looking Meher Baba...As an illustrator, he was constantly up against impossible deadlines, and in the case of Tommy, he worked indefatigably to produce the cover art even though the actual album completion was continually delayed by technical and financial problems.'). During that time, I had the feeling that I was working on a special project. That's why it kept expanding.

I have this memory snapshot, back in '68, sitting in Pete T's kitchen, showing him the finished artwork for the Tommy cover and trying to find a way of bringing God into the cover copy. The Indian word for God is 'Avatar' and, for us, his name was Meher Baba and the cover credit list was where we put him. Somehow, giving God a job description on the album, juxtaposing the ordinary with the extraordinary, seemed appropriate to the project. It was a contrast that wove its way throughout the Opera."

As Townshend put it - "The poetic mysticism of his work, its simplicity and bleakness, mirrored the music precisely. As ever, Mike's response was explosively positive."

About Mike McInnerney – by Pete Townshend -

"Michael McInnerney was an important figure in my life in the late 1960s. His move to Richmond and later to East Twickenham near the River Thames attracted me to look at the area, and when we got married my wife and I bought a house near Mike and his wife Katie.

They were a gregarious couple. Their hippy wedding in Hyde Park made the national papers and their dilapidated-but-aristocratic flat was always full of life."

McInnerney was art director for the underground paper International Times, which was part of the network of underground press in the UK at the time. After the release of Tommy ("I was in Morocco when it hit the shops"), his career "took a turn for the better". He went on to produce well-regarded art - posters and more cover art, including images for Rod Stewart and The Faces.

Text adapted from 1990 essays by Mike McInnerney and Pete Townshend for the descriptive text to accompany the limited-edition album cover art prints published in 1990 by Record Art, New York.

Artwork Copyright 1969 by Mike McInnerney - All Rights Reserved. Except where noted otherwise, all text Copyright 2007 by Mike Goldstein - All Rights Reserved

Cover Story - "Dark Side of the Moon" by Hipgnosis

Cover Story for May 25, 2007

Subject: Dark Side of the Moon – an illustration produced by Hipgnosis (Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell, producers, with design by Storm Thorgerson and illustration by George Hardie) for the cover of Pink Floyd’s 1973 Harvest/Capitol Records release titled “Dark Side of the Moon”.

This album is Pink Floyd’s commercial-meets-conceptual equinox. No.1 on the Billboard album charts in March of 1973, this recording went on to achieve a record 741 weeks (or 14 whole years) on the ‘Top 200 Albums’ chart. It is the longest-charting album ever (beating its nearest rival by five years), with well over forty million copies sold to date (one of the top-five best-selling LPs ever).

The album has been re-released a number of times on CD and in collector’s edition vinyl record packages. The 1992 remaster was sold as the “20th Anniversary” box set and then, in 2002, a 5.1 channel Dolby Surround version - mixed from the original studio tapes – was released as the “30th Anniversary” edition. In 2003, a collector’s vinyl version of the 30th Anniversary package was released which included reprints of the original poster, stickers, and Storm Thorgerson’s new 30th Anniversary artwork.

In the words of Storm Thorgerson –

“The idea itself was cunningly cobbled from a standard physics textbook, which illustrated light passing through a prism. Of significance was the simple, elegant layout against black - standard textbook illustrations did not do this. Also important to the art direction, was the fortuitous decision to listen to Rick Wright, who suggested we do something clean, elegant and graphic, not photographic – not a figurative picture.  And then to connect this idea to their live show, which was famous for its lighting, and subsequently to connect this to ambition and madness, themes Roger was exploring in the lyrics… hence the prism, the triangle and the pyramids.

Of minor significance was the complete appropriateness of the artwork to the record. The design is simply a mechanical tint lay, which means we drew outline shapes, black on white, and indicated what colours were to appear when printed. The prisms were airbrushed black on white and reversed by the printer.

The refracting glass prism referred to Floyd light shows - consummate use of light in the concert setting. Its outline is triangular and triangles are symbols of ambition, and are redolent of pyramids, both cosmic and mad in equal measure, all these ideas touching on themes in the lyrics. The joining of the spectrum extending round the back cover and across the gatefold inside was seamless like the segueing tracks on the album, whilst the opening heartbeat was represented by a repeating blip in one of the colours.

Pink Floyd. in their infinite wisdom, perused our 7 complex detailed roughs for this cover in a drab basement room at Abbey Road - submissions over which we at Hipgnosis had toiled for weeks - but managed to decide within 3 minutes which one they liked. No amount of cajoling would get them to consider any other contender, nor endure further explanation of the prism, or how exactly it might look. ‘That's it’, they said in unison, ‘we’ve got to get back to real work’, and returned forthwith to the studio upstairs.

‘It all connects, somehow, somewhere.’. says Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, ‘We knew that the package – the record and the cover and everything together – was going to be far, far stronger than anything we had done before.’

To look back now and reflect upon how the actual artwork itself had no colour, being just a tint lay, and how the spectrum was missing a colour anyway, and how the whole design was only cobbled from a standard physics textbook diagram (albeit cunningly), and how there was another album called “Dark Side Of The Moon” (released in 1972 by British blues-rock band Medicine Head, which didn’t sell well at all! - MG) only a year previously, all of this just goes to show how such matters pale if a design feels 'appropriate'. How fitting it is to be fitting!"

-- Storm Thorgerson (via MediaBitch, his PR firm – thanks to Robin Headlee for her help in gathering materials for this Cover Story)

The “other” ‘Dark Side of the Moon’, just for fun…

About Storm Thorgerson (again, in his own words, in the third-person) –

“Born, if that's the word, in Potter’s Bar Middlesex, in 1944. BA - Honors in English and Philosophy from Leicester University (63 - 66) and finally an MA in film and TV from the Royal College of Art, London (66 - 69). Formed Hipgnosis in 1968 with Aubrey Powell (Po), a graphic design studio specializing in creative photography and working mainly in the music business designing album covers for many rock 'n' roll bands including Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Genesis, 10cc, Yes, Peter Gabriel, Black Sabbath, Paul McCartney, Syd Barrett and Styx, amongst others. Started a series of books on album cover art with Roger Dean called "Album Cover Album' and, with Hipgnosis, wrote and designed ‘Walk Away Rene’ in 1978 and ‘The Goodbye Look’ in 1982, about their own stuff.

In 1983 Storm, along with Po and Peter Christopherson, formed Green Back Films and embarked on producing numerous rock videos including material for Paul Young, Yes, Nik Kershaw, Robert Plant, Interferon, Nona Hendryx, Big Country and many others and also long forms for Barry Gibb (Voyager), Yumi Matsutoya (Train of Thought), and Channel Q - a heavy metal compilation for Polygram Records. Green Back and its partners went up in smoke in 1985.

Storm went solo (because he had to) and continued making videos ("Learning To Fly" for Pink Floyd won "best director" at Billboard), and tried his hand at commercials (Tennant’s 'One Great Thing' won Golden Rose in Scotland). He continued designing album covers for Pink Floyd, Catherine Wheel, Alan Parsons, Anthrax, amongst others, and branched out into documentaries, making "Art Of Tripping" for Ch 4 in 1993, a two part exploration of the connections between drugs and artists. In 1994 Storm directed six short films for Pink Floyd which were screened at concerts during their world tour, and also an hour long science documentary on the Hubble Constant for Equinox called "The Rubber Universe". In 1997 he compiled a book of his images for Pink Floyd called 'Mind Over Matter' published by Sanctuary Books. And in 97/98 he wrote and directed an hour long documentary for Discovery channel about the (non) existence of Aliens subtitled "Are We Alone?" (Or was it We Are Alone).

Storm continued to design album covers (Phish, Ian Dury, Cranberries, Pink Floyd, Catherine Wheel, Alan Parsons, Ween etc etc), to execute assorted graphics for DVDs, websites, programs, T-shirts and so on, and to direct the occasional film. He has written and designed several books including "100 Best Album Covers" (Dorling Kindersley) and "Eye Of The Storm" (Sanctuary Books). Thorgerson died in 2013, but his studio continues to produce great examples of album cover art.

Artwork Copyright 1973-present by Storm Thorgerson/Hipgnosis - All Rights Reserved. All other text and images Copyright 2007-present by Mike Goldstein - All Rights Reserved.

 

Cover Story - "Led Zeppelin II" by David Juniper

Cover Story for May 18, 2007

Subject: Led Zeppelin II – an illustration and limited-edition print created by artist David Juniper for the cover of Led Zeppelin’s 1969 Atlantic Records release titled “Led Zeppelin II”.

Led Zeppelin II was released in October, 1969, and became the first LZ album to go to #1 on the U.S. album charts, unseating “Abbey Road” by The Beatles for the top spot. It was the first recording with engineer Eddie Kramer (famous then for his work with Hendrix) and his expertise, combined with their desire to “keep it raw” in the studio, produced a record that influenced every heavy metal/hard rock record (and act) that followed.

Amazingly, this record took 8 months to record, since the band was touring the U.S. and the U.K. most of the year, and so they’d go to the studio during breaks to lay down tracks whenever possible. Although they could not spend that much time writing new songs, their re-workings of the rock and blues standards (“Bring It On Home”, the hit “Whole Lotta Love”, and others) let them add the Zeppelin touches – guitar solos, extended drum solos, pounding bass lines – that turned these tracks into what would become “classic Led Zeppelin”. Robert Plant was able to exhibit his song-writing prowess, however, on new tunes such as “Ramble On” and “What Is and What Should Never Be”, and it is pretty obvious that Kramer and Jimmy Page twirled many a knob on the mixing board creating the psychedelic center section of “Whole Lotta Love” (creating a 6-minute hit song during a period where 3-minute hits were the norm).

In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the album #75 on their list of “Greatest Albums of All Time”.

Interesting LZII trivia –
The band opened many of their live shows in 1971 and 1972 with "Immigrant Song" followed immediately by "Heartbreaker", while during subsequent tours it was often played as an encore. "Heartbreaker" and "Communication Breakdown" were the only songs to be played live during every year that the band toured. However, on commercial radio, "Heartbreaker" typically segues into the next song on the album, "Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)," However, they would never be played this way during live concerts because (apparently) Jimmy Page did not like playing "Living Loving Maid".

The making of Led Zeppelin II, in the words of the artist, David Juniper -

“In the late sixties in London, anything seemed possible!! I was employed at the time in a boring Art Director’s job, so I got a lot of satisfaction out of moonlighting on speculative stuff.

The music of "Led Zeppelin I" had blown me away and so, on spec, I mocked up a fold-out design for the second album and took it to (Zeppelin’s manager) Peter Grant and Micky Most at Rak Records. I had a few friends starting to get into the music industry and they helped to point me in their direction.

The combination of collage/photography and airbrush illustration was groundbreaking for me, because the traditional airbrush technique was very tricky, especially when compared to today’s digital equivalents. The cover imagery was completely experimental and I liked the combination of the abstract ghostly Zeppelin shape along with a faded sepia WW1 photo of German Aviators.

All the faces were replaced or altered (sunglasses & beards on some of the pilots!). In amongst the four band members (airbrushed in from a publicity photograph) are Miles Davis (or was it Blind Willie Johnson?), a girlfriend/muse of Andy Warhol (perhaps Mary Woronov) and the astronaut Neil Armstrong. The original photo of the Jasta Division of the WW1 German Air Force came from an old book about the ‘Sopwith Camel’, which was a famous British bi-plane from WW1.

I used bright inks to make the illustration parts really pop. I just presented it to the group and they went for it, with only a few changes to the inside spread (see below). The outside cover went through as it was proposed.

The inside image is full-on psychedelia, in contrast to the original idea discussed, which had a Zeppelin flying past the Statue of Liberty. They did not want something on the inside with a similar feel to the outside, so I just went for a colourful painting as a complete contrast to the outside. I remembered a documentary film of 1920/30's German architecture and thought this approach would give the image a heavy rock/blues feel.

Anyway, from that point forward, the group’s management was all very friendly and used me on other covers for some of their other artists, including Donovan and Lulu. Another great treat was to be asked down to Olympic Studios in Barnes while they worked on the recording, but what pleased me the most was that cover was nominated at the 68' Grammy Awards!

About David Juniper (again, in his words) –

I grew up in Epson Surrey UK, as did Jimmy Page, and we went to art schools in the same area. This area was a great place for music fans, and I would have liked to have taken the time to learn the guitar, but decided instead to concentrate on drawing and painting. I still wish I had done both.

I have been a professional Artist and Designer for 40 years including stints in Ad Agencies, a Studio (Wurlitzer) partnership and freelance illustrating/designing. My Web Site contains loads of images www.davidjuniper.com if you’d like to see what I’m up to these days.

Artwork and photographs Copyright 1969-present by David Juniper - All Rights Reserved. All other images and text Copyright 2007-present by Mike Goldstein - All Rights Reserved.

Cover Story - "Lynyrd Skynyrd Road Series - Blue" by Michael Cartellone

Cover Story - Subject - "Lynyrd Skynyrd Road Series - Blue" - a painting and limited-edition print created by artist Michael Cartellone and used in the CD booklet of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s 2005 release on Universal Music’s UMTV records titled "Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Greatest Hits".

 

 

 

 

 

 

Originally published on May 11, 2007 by Mike Goldstein

Greetings – As those of you who may have visited my old RockPoP Gallery site and have read my past interview columns know, my gallery's focus to try and elevate the status within the fine art world of people who earn their living creating the artwork and photography that grace your favorite album/CD covers and other music-related promotions and packaging. All of the artwork and photographs featured to this point were created by talented individuals who make their living on “the graphics side” of the business. This story, though, is quite special, as it features the work of someone who has earned his fame as a much-praised studio/tour drummer (and continues to enjoy a fantastic career as the drummer for one of the most popular musical acts of all time, 2006 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Lynyrd Skynyrd).

That’s right – this issue we’re featuring the fine art of Michael Cartellone, who’s recorded and toured with an amazing list of acts, covering all genres of music - John Fogerty, Peter Frampton, John Wetton, Freddie Mercury, Cher, Adrian Belew, Accept and, my favorite, multi-platinum “supergroup” Damn Yankees.

As busy as he is with his musical career, Michael’s first love was painting, and while his career kept him on the road constantly, he found himself relaxing and refocusing his energies by painting in his hotel rooms and on the tour bus. As it is that he works to create hyper-realistic images of life on the road (hence, his most recent prints, which are used to illustrate the booklet included with “Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Greatest Hits” - the 30th anniversary compilation on UMTV records - are named the “Road Series”), I’m not quite sure just how he relaxes while he works, but let’s ask him to give us some insight…

In the words of the artist, Michael Cartellone - 

“I’m very proud of the Road Series Paintings. The three years (during three World Tours - 2001, 2002 and 2003) I spent painting the five canvases were very satisfying creatively. I was being fed musically at night, playing with Skynyrd, and artistically during the day, painting in my hotel rooms. I enjoyed this so much that I can’t imagine touring without painting now. In fact, this year I’m working on a painting of a carousel, which has been an idea stored in the back of my head for a dozen years.

So, when my friend Michael Goldstein asked me to contribute a piece to his interview series, I thought I’d focus on one of the Road Series Paintings – “Blue”.

Blue is easily the most personal painting of the five, as it illustrates my working perspective (which no one else shares) of Life On The Road. Only I see that view, day in and day out while on tour. So, I thought it would be interesting to share it with others. Any drummer will tell you, when sitting at their kit they feel a comfort zone. It’s one constant for us, in an ever changing, city to city, venue to venue environment. I feel this comfort when I look at Blue.

Blue also gives away some of the “behind the scenes” attributes of the Road Series paintings: the ever-present half an orange (for sticky hands to hold drumsticks), the bottle of Gatorade, the tape on the pedal board for a little bit of traction and last, but not least, the homage to all my drum endorsement companies.

I will say that of all five paintings, the hardest thing and most time consuming to paint was the cymbal in Blue. I spent a month alone on that cymbal. Upon close inspection, you’ll notice the ridges changing color throughout. This effect required a lot of attention and many, many coats of paint to achieve the final result. I knew I would be happy with that cymbal once finished, but I honestly was surprised how involved it was to paint. I love this painting and it’s my favorite of the five.

Looking back on the Road Series paintings, I couldn’t be happier that they were how I officially kicked off my art career. Even though I had shown and sold work through the years, these paintings enabled me to enter “the Art World” with a real splash. Doing so, it enabled me to use my art, to paint about my life in music. It’s the perfect example of two halves making a whole.”

Michael Cartellone
May 2007

Lynyrd Skynyrd Greatest Hits – released June, 2005, on the Universal Music TV label, UK.
This 'greatest hits' package brings together some of the finest moments from Southern rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd's back catalogue. This two CD set acts as the perfect introduction into the band's mix of hard rock, blues, and country and features 30 of their biggest hits, including “Freebird”, “Sweet Home Alamba”, “What’s Your Name”, “Gimme Three Steps”, and many others.

Formed by high school friends in Jacksonville, FL in 1964 and adopting the name Lynyrd Skynyrd from the name (Leonard Skinner) of an antagonistic high school PE teacher, the core of the band at the time - singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Gary Rossington, guitarist Allen Collins, bassist Leon Wilkeson, and drummer Bob Burns – release their first single in 1968.

Their debut LP - 'Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd' is released and goes gold. In November of that year, they opened for The Who on their 'Quadrophenia' tour. Al Kooper then discovers Lynyrd Skynyrd in an Atlanta club and signs them to his Sounds Of The South label. From that point forward, the band released a series of hit singles, charting with “Sweet Home Alabama” in 1974, then with “Saturday Night Special”, followed by “Freebird” (from their debut record, but re-released as a single in 1975).

During the next 30 years, the band recorded and toured continuously (including a tour with the Rolling Stones), with musicians moving regularly in and out of the band, and a series of tragedies – culminating with the horrible plane crash in late 1977 that killed 4 band members (including founding member Ronnie Van Zandt) and injured many of the others – only served to motivate the surviving members to continue to play, ultimately re-grouping in 1987 (with Ronnie’s brother Johnny on vocals) and continue producing Skynyrd music, bringing their unique brand of Southern Rock to good ole’ boys everywhere to this day. In 2006, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which featured a performance by many of the musicians who had played with the band over the years.

Michael Cartellone bio –
Michael Cartellone was born June 7, 1962 in Cleveland, Ohio. He began painting at the age of four and drumming at the age of nine. Music and art would be a simultaneous learning adventure throughout his childhood.

Michael's music career began at the age of 11 when he played his first bar. After many years on the club circuit, he moved to New York City when he was 22. After playing with former Roxy Music/UK keyboardist Eddie Jobson, and then former Styx guitarist Tommy Shaw, Michael found himself a member of the multi-platinum selling band Damn Yankees. This was the springboard for a career that has included recording and touring with John Fogerty, Peter Frampton, John Wetton, Freddie Mercury, Cher, Adrian Belew, Accept and, since 1998, drumming for 2006 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Michael's art career has included New York-area gallery shows, two shows in suburban Washington, D.C. and dozens of paintings sold to individual collectors.

UPDATE - To see more of Michael's artwork - paintings, prints and hand-embellished drum heads - please visit his site at http://www.michaelcartellone.com/about-michael.php and his collection available through The Wentworth Gallery - https://www.wentworthgallery.com/cartellone.html 

Artwork/photographs Copyright 2006-present by Michael Cartellone - All Rights Reserved. All other text and images Copyright 2007-present by Mike Goldstein - All RIghts Reserved

Cover Story - Green Day's "Insomniac" by Winston Smith

Cover Story - Subject - "God Told Me To Skin You Alive" - a mixed-media collage created by artist Winston Smith and used on the cover of Green Day's 1995 release on Warner/Reprise records titled "Insomniac".

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green Day – Insomniac – with artwork by Winston Smith

Originally published May 4, 2007 by Mike Goldstein

"Insomniac" was the fourth studio album from Bay-area punk rock band Green Day. The follow-up to the very successful predecessor "Dookie", it was released in October 1995 and although it went to #2 on the U.S. charts (selling 2 million + records), its slightly darker approach to song-writing and lyrics kept it from spawning any mega-hit singles (as their previous record did in droves).

Their traditional punk roots kept the songs tight and fast, but their eagerness to experiment with some "punk-pop" tunesmithing, less-traditional chord progressions, all coupled with a more hard-rock-oriented studio mix, produced a recording that was a bit more tame (but, in my opinion, more musically interesting) than the more balls-to-the-walls approach of their previous releases. While their music may have been a bit less raw, their selection of Winston Smith as the illustrator for the record's packaging could not have been more punk. With a pedigree that included works for the Dead Kennedys that were banned in some countries and lambasted by the Religious Right, Mr. Smith found a group of young collaborators eager to create a cover that would stick a pin through the eyelid of their fan base.

Let Winston explain, in his own words... 

"I met (Green Day drummer) Tre (Cool) when he lived up in Northern California. One day a couple years later he gave me a call and asked if I'd do a record cover for the band he was in, Green Day. Without knowing anything much about them I said, 'Sure.' And the next thing I knew, Tre and Billie Joe (Armstrong) - I think Mike (Dirnt) was out of town that day - were sitting in my studio pouring over photocopies of almost everything I'd ever created. The image that grabbed them the most was the pair of figures appropriated from Jan van Eyck's 'Wedding Portrait of 1434', in the picture 'Til Death Do Us Part' (page 17 of his book 'Artcrime'), so I used that as the nucleus for my composition.

My title for the piece, 'God Told Me to Skin You Alive', was a reference to a comic book-style religious tract that Biafra and I used for the fold-out poster included with the first Dead Kennedys' album, 'Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables'. This phrase was also Biafra's first line on side one of that album. (My cat, 911, now wears it on his collar tag...) Bill instantly got the reference the moment I showed it to him. He asked how long it took me to create and I said that, not counting the two weeks prior which were consumed with locating and high-grading hundreds of images for the winnowing-out process, I'd spent the last 38 hours working on the assembly of the composition. He asked me how it was possible for me to stay awake that long and I said, "It's easy for me. I'm an insomniac".

Interestingly, the original working title for the album was to be "Tightwad Hill". I don't know if my remarks inspired the final title of their record, but if not, then it's a weird coincidence.

When the Green lads were examining the new cover art I'd created for their album they noticed that there were two skulls in the composition. I told them there were in fact three skulls, one for each band member. They couldn't locate the third skull until I held the picture flat and pointed out that by looking at it from that oblique angle, what previously appeared to be a blurry piece of driftwood protruding from the fire came into focus as a perfect human skull.

This distended skull was originally from the 1533 painting by Hans Holbein the Younger titled "The French Ambassadors". It is an anamorphic image; that is, it changes shape when viewed at an angle. Trompe-l'ceil art of this kind was popular during the Renaissance. I have somewhat re-adjusted it in order to show how it would look from the proper angle. This re-formed version appears in the Tijuanna No! Contra-Revolucion Avenue composition (Ed. note - see page 52 of "Artcrime").

Winston Smith Bio –
(Portions excerpted from the winstonsmith.com Web site)

Winston Smith (born Patrick Morey in 1952 in Oklahoma City, OK) is an artist armed with razor blade and a fiendish wit. His modus operandi since the 1970's has been to kidnap "innocent" images from the pages of vintage magazines and then to diabolically glue them into compromising or politically revealing positions in his surreal collage landscapes. "Perhaps the most vibrant collage maestro since Max Ernst," wrote popular underground artist Frank Kozik, who goes on to credit Winston with being "single-handedly responsible for an entire generation's graphic style." Smith's name is a reference to the character of the same name in George Orwell's novel "1984"(Smith was the main character and a clerk at the Ministry of Truth, where he worked on re-writing history books to appear in line with the current Government’s portrayal of historical events).

After studying in Italy, Smith moved to San Francisco in the 1970s, working primarily in the road crews of Bay-area rock bands such as Santana and The Tubes. In the mid-70's Smith, along with fellow artist Jayed Scotti, wrote, illustrated and published a satirical magazine titled "Fallout", while also producing and posting flyers for non-existant gigs in San Francisco (just to confuse the heck out of people). 

To illustrate an article in Fallout about organized religion and our obsession with money, Smith created a shocking 3D work fashioned from a real crucifix covered with money (titled "IDOL"). After a color photocopy of this work was submitted to a local art show, a friend of the Dead Kennedy's leader Jello Biafra told him of this work and asked for samples of this and other works. This led to a long-standing series of collaborations with Biafra, the Dead Kennedys and their "Alternative Tentacles" label, creating logos (the famous DK and Alternative Tentacles logos), CD covers, and numerous related works.

Since then Smith, once known only to DK fans and the punk underground cognoscenti, has been gaining popularity in mainstream culture. He's had one-man shows in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, London and Rome. His debut book, "Act Like Nothing's Wrong", was published in 1994 by Last Gasp of San Francisco was favorably reviewed a wide variety of regional and national magazines. His eighteen month (1995-97) sojourn as illustrator for SPIN magazine's "Topspin" political page further brought his work to national attention as did his award for "Best Cover Illustration" from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies in 1997. On the musical front, his bizarre "Insomniac" alum cover for the popular neo-punk band Green Day was voted a favorite in a 1996 readers poll in Rolling Stone Magazine.

A slightly-altered version of one of Winston’s most iconic compositions (“the Money Tree” used as a back cover for the Biafra/D.O.A. album "Last Scream of the Missing Neighbors”) wound up later being used as the cover for the New Yorker Magazine (May, 2000 issue).  His works have also appeared in Playboy, Spin, Wired, AdBusters, La Repubblica, Juxtapoz, Flipside, Maximumrockandroll, Red Herring, Vice, Utne Reader, and many other publications.

Two decades down the line, Winston's style continues to not only to have political punch, but it has also developed an almost classical surrealism. His recent album cover for Tijuana No!'s - Contra Revolucion Avenue has been called the collage equivalent of a cross between Picasso's "Guernica" and the social realism of a Diego Rivera WPA-era mural. Another fine example of his new style is Apocalypse Wow!, a full page spread commissioned by SPIN magazine that depicts a swirling end-of-the-world populated with a mind-blowing array of whimsical images from sword-carrying angels to flying poodles.

The growing demand for Winston's humorous and controversial collage illustrations prompted the release of his second and third books, "Artcrime" and "All Riot on the Western Front", and the production of his first-ever series of collectible archival prints. The jumbo scale and fine quality of this new print series hugely expands the already powerful visual impact of Winston's work. Intricate collages, formerly seen only in miniature on CD covers or in newsprint, take on a whole new life when blown up and printed on archival papers. We have arrived at the threshold of the twenty first century. It's time to call off the art police. The work of mischievous art-criminal Winston Smith is finally being brought to full color justice.

In 2006, Smith married artist Chick Fontaine, with Bay-area icon Wavy Gravy performing the ceremony.

All images Copyright 1995-present Winston Smith - All rights reserved. All other text and images Copyright 2007-present Mike Goldstein - All Rights Reserved

Cover Story - "Unbelievable" by Howie Green

Cover Story - "Unbelievable", a mixed-media image created in 2006 by artist/illustrator Howie Green

Subject - "Unbelievable", a mixed-media image created in 2006 by artist/illustrator Howie Green. Used on the cover of Mick Boogie's "Unbelievable: A Tribute to Biggie Smalls", a 2007 release on Bad Boy records.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Originally published April 27, 2007 by Mike Goldstein

While commercial artist Howie Green has built a loyal following of music fans on the basis of his astounding collection of "album cover re-creations" - that is, his pop art-influenced interpretations of well-know record covers - one particular work caught the eye of just-the-right-person who, as we'll soon read, elevated this work into "real album cover" status...

Unbelievable: A Tribute to Biggie Smalls - the cover, by Howie Green

I always find it interesting when small personal projects, like my Biggie Smalls portraits, strike a chord with a public audience and go on to have life of their own. Being of a certain age I wouldn't exactly call myself a rap or hip hop aficionado - but I do know a great face when I see one and Biggie Smalls was one cool looking guy. I came across some photos of the Notorious B.I.G. when I was researching possible images for a mural project I was working on - a 30' x 15' wall of my album cover paintings. The mural, now located in Jacksonville, FL, needed to have a wide cross section of musical styles represented and I was looking for recording artists that were well known to most people. I found two vintage black and white promotional images of Biggie that reminded me of the kind of old school look that the jazz cats of the 1950s and the Blues guys of the 1930 used to have - "Cool" as they could possibly be.

I listened to a bunch of Biggie's tracks and I could see why he had become such a popular rapper and why he's become a legend since his death. His musical contributions are public record but what most interested me most was the way he looked. Most rappers dress up in big sneakers and street clothes and cover themselves with all manner of accouterments, but not Biggie. Biggie was a style maven and when it came to his look he had it going on! I know that an accident made him have to use a cane to walk around but the man turned the cane into a cool accessory. I appreciate anyone who can wear a hat and no one in recent history looked cooler in a hat that Mr. Smalls.

I did paintings of both the photos I found and proposed them for the mural but for various reasons they were not used and I put them in my online gallery for folks to see. About 6 months later I got contacted by a fellow named Mick Boogie who told me he was producing an album of Biggie's tracks and wanted to know if I would allow them to use one of my Biggie portraits as the cover artwork for the CD versions. I was happy that my art would finally get some use so I agreed and the album, by LCMG Productions, came out in early April to great acclaim and is making a lot of noise among the hip hop community.  Before the album's release I got my pre-release copies and was surprised at the stellar lineup of talent on the tracks including none other than Sean "DIDDY" Combs as the album's host. In addition to P Diddy the tracks include The Clipse, NAS, Jay-Z, 2Pac, Lil Kim, Lil Wayne, Mobb Deep, Kayne West and others.

Several days after the album came out I was very surprised to get a photo emailed to me by Mick Boogie of himself and P Diddy holding the CD with my album cover artwork (see below). I have received several emails from folks who appeared on the album expressing their appreciation of the cover and Mick is having me do a very large version of the cover done that will be given to P Diddy to hang up in the offices of Bad Boy Entertainment."

Over the past several years, the album cover has become an iconic image of Biggie and I recently saw myself referred to a "the man who painted Biggie Smalls". This I find kind of funny since no one could be further away from representing the hip-hop aesthetic than me - a bespectacled, badly-dressed and Boomer-aged white guy! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cleveland-based DJ/producer Mick Boogie sourced the title for this tribute record from "Unbelievable", a track from Biggie's 1994 release titled Ready To Die. Ready to Die was a hugely-influential hardcore rap recording, as it established the Notorious B.I.G., his record label (Bad Boy) and label impresario Sean (Puffy/P.Diddy) Combs as the ones to beat on the East Coast.

"Unbelievable: A Tribute to Biggie Smalls" - from the mickboogie.com (producer) web site -

On the 10th anniversary of the tragic passing of Christopher ‘Notorious B.I.G.’ Wallace, Mick Boogie and newcomer Terry Urban of the League Crew teamed up to release Unbelievable: A Tribute To Biggie Smalls, a project that many critics are calling “the best Biggie mixtape ever.” Hosted by Sean “Diddy” Combs, this 100% creative mixtape features Biggie material remixed the way it was supposed to be done. Original beats and special guest appearances, as well as plenty of crazy remixes, are abundant throughout the project.

"Unbelievable" Track List

1. Diddy Intro
2. Biggie and The Clipse: Blow
3. Biggie and Ray Cash: Gimme The Loot 2007
4. Biggie, Game, and Darien Brockington: On Top (Produced by The Kickdrums)
5. Biggie and AZ: Brooklyn
6. Biggie and Grand Agent & Liv L’ Raynge: Motherf*ckers
7. Biggie and Big L: Let The Games Begin
8. Biggie: Live For The Funk (Produced by Khrysis)
9. Diddy Interlude
10. Biggie and Jay-Z: Get Money (live)
11. Biggie and Kanye West: Kicks Open Doors
12. Biggie and Jadakiss: All Day Every Day
13. The Madd Rapper: Still Mad Interlude
14. Biggie and Lil Kim: Only One Thing
15. Biggie and Young Chris: Young G’s 2007 (Produced by Moss)
16. Diddy Interlude
17. Biggie and Jay-Z: The Commission
18. Biggie, Black Rob and Ness: Live at the BBQ (Produced by D-Dot)
19. Biggie and 2Pac: Party and Bullsh*t (live)
20. Biggie and Lloyd Banks: Never Been
21. Biggie and Nas: It Ain’t Hard
22. Diddy Interlude
23. Biggie and Ab: The East Coast Overdoser (Produced by Terry Urban)
24. Biggie and Prodigy: Escape From NY
25. Biggie and Puff: Lyricist Lounge Freestyle
26. Biggie and Lil Wayne: If You See Me (Produced by Garbs)
27. Biggie: Let It Go
28. Biggie and Mobb Deep: Last Dayz 2007
29. Diddy Outro

Howie Green bio information -

Howie's design and illustration work has won over 40 awards from regional and national design competitions. Howie's portrait "Madonna Smoking" was featured in the 2004 British Art book "Madonna in Art" by Mem Memet. Recently one of Howie's album cover paintings won First Prize in the Absolut Vodka 25th Anniversary art competition in Boston, MA.

In 1992 Howie Green came to national attention as a painter and artist with the publication of his book “Jazz Fish Zen: Adventures in Mamboland”. His colorful and whimsical artwork has been featured in 18 group and solo shows and has adorned 9 public and private murals. He regularly creates privately commissioned portraits and corporate logo paintings.

Born in Rochester, NY and raised in Rochester and Clarence Center, NY, Howie Green has a unique artist's eye for the colorful fun that springs out of our popular culture. Images from comics, celebrities, movies, TV and various other flotsam and jetsam that washes up on the rocky shores of our popular media all make their way into Howie's colorful and fun Pop Art creations.

When Howie entered art school in the mid-60s at RIT in Rochester, NY, it was an explosive time in popular culture. While there Howie was exposed to color guru Josef Albers, typographic master Hermann Zaph, sculptor Wendell Castle and most importantly color theorist, painter and architect Fritz Trautman. Later, when Howie was art director of "New Age Journal", he was contacted by Peter Max after he had done a Max-like illustration for the magazine. Howie recalls "Peter saw my illustration and called me to see if we would like to use him to do artwork for the magazine. I was thrilled! Not only did he do artwork for "New Age Journal" for me, but I also worked with him for several years on projects for the University of New Hampshire. I'm also proud to say, Peter did his very first sports painting for me for the cover of the Boston Celtics Media Guide."

Howie has continued through the 1990s and into the new millennium to paint and create new images and works that combine his endless curiosity, technology and color...lots and lots of color! Regarding his use of color Howie said, "I was in art school during the era, of Peter Max, Yellow Submarine and the San Francisco rock posters. What can I say? I guess it "colored" my thinking!"

Today, Howie uses a pop-fauvist color palette and has an eclectic, upbeat, approach to his subject matter. Howie says a lot of people tell him that they love "his colors". Howie comments "My colors? They don't belong to me. Colors are out there floating around. I just happen to use them all!"

Howie's celebrity portraits combine digital technology and traditional painting to reflect the genre developed by Warhol and Max, but in a whole new approach, unique to Howie. "I was looking for a way to do something with my art and with my growing pile of computers and technology and I found it."
Indeed...

In 2006, Howie created an album cover-covered cow sculpture for the 2006 Boston "Cows on Parade" display to benefit the Jimmy Fund and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. His album cover cow - which featured 39 album covers by Boston-based bands - sold at auction for over $6000. Another work - his "Flower Cow" - sold at auction for $8500. Both cows were sold at the final auction in September 2006, with all the money going to benefit the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. His 2007 began with an installation at the Mellow Mushroom restaurant in Fleming Island Florida (featuring over 50 of his record cover recreations!), and his commission for the Notorious B.I.G. tribute album cover discussed in this article (available as a print, visit Howie's website at www.howiegreen.com to view this item).

 

 

Cover Story - "Frampton Comes Alive" by Richard E. Aaron

Interview with Richard E. Aaron - "Frampton Comes Alive", a photograph taken in 1974 and used on the cover of his 1976 double-live LP 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Subject - "Frampton Comes Alive", a photograph taken in 1974 by Richard E. Aaron, used on the cover of Peter Frampton's 1976 2-record set titled Frampton Comes Alive, released on A&M Records.

Originally published on April 20, 2007 by Mike Goldstein

Holding the record as the biggest-selling live double album of all time for nearly 30 years (such a big-seller that, in the movie Wayne's World 2, Mike Myers' character Wayne states that "everybody in the world has Frampton Comes Alive. If you lived in the suburbs, you were issued it free along with samples of Tide."), 1976's Frampton Comes Alive is the record that made guitarist/singer Peter Frampton (who'd made a name for himself as a "teen idol" in the UK with his band The Herd and then again with his guitar chops both in the studio and with the band Humble Pie), a household name. His band's powerful live performances, as well as his use of the "Talk Box" effects device, made hit singles of songs such as "Show Me The Way" and "Do You Feel Like We Do". The record was a compilation of a number of performances recorded in 1975, including shows in California at the Winterland Ballroom and the Marin County Civic Center, as well as two New York area performances. There was so much material available that A&M decided to make it a 2-record set, doubling the studio workload of the band and master engineer/remixer Chis Kimsey (see photos, below). Once it was decided that this would be a double album, A&M's art department needed to create an eye-catching package, and so our story begins... 

In Richard's words - "One day Peter Frampton, whom I had photographed many times by the early 70's, called and asked if he could take my photo portfolio of him to A&M headquarters in Los Angeles as the senior art director there was looking for a photograph for Peter's next record, a live concert album. Of course I agreed but thought nothing more of it. Although I was already in demand as a photo-journalist, I had pretty much given up on ever having an album cover credit; art directors, it seemed, preferred studio shots.

A few weeks later, I got a message on my answering service that Peter had called and that it was "very important" that I return his call in L. A. By this time, his career was beginning to take off, and the answering service operator was impressed that he had called -- "Do you really know Frampton?"

The message came in at 9:30 a.m., which made it only 6:30 a.m. in Los Angeles. I reached Peter immediately, and he said, "Richard are you standing or sitting?" " Why?" I asked. "Well you should sit. You not only got the cover of my LP but you also got three out of four of the shots inside the double album. " (Editor's note - Richard's photographs of Frampton, guitarist and keyboard player Bob Mayo and bassist Stanley Sheldon were used on the inside of the gatefold).  I was in shock. Finally, after three years, I got my first album cover, and it was from a musician who's music I actually liked and who was also a friend. He knew that it was my first album cover and he congratulated me.

A few months later at a party for Peter in New York, he showed me a mock-up of the cover -- a gatefold with a performing shot of Peter that extended over both outer sleeves. This was the first time I had seen the photo A&M had picked (Ed. Note #2 - interestingly, the shot used was taken at an earlier concert at Madison Square Garden in NYC and is not from one of the shows featured on the recording). The art department had put an extra diffusion filter over the photo to give the hypnotic effect to the viewer, a dreamy effect. The two background stage lights to the side of Peter's head had been re-positioned to make it more symmetrical, and also some coloring added in selected areas on the print. At the time, the only thing that really bothered me was that the focus wasn't sharp; I was trained to believe that every photo had to be technically perfect -- no exceptions. What would my professors at New York School of Visual Arts and the Brooks Institute say when they saw it?

Through the years, colleagues would good-naturedly kid me about the focus. At first, I would say that I had purposely used a diffusion filter. Then, about 10 years later on a radio interview, I came clean -- I told everybody it was out of focus. The album went on to become the biggest selling live LP in history, which just goes to show you: teachers, and critics, aren't always right".

BONUS PHOTO MATERIALS - For this story, Richard went into his archives and provided us with 2 additional never-released photos he took to document the making of this classic recording. Both images were taken at Electric Lady studios in New York City in late 1975 during the mixing sessions for the "Frampton Comes Alive" record.

The first photo shows the three lads in deep concentration - they'd just been notified that this record was going to be a double LP and now they had twice the work to do!

The second photo of Peter in concert was taken in October 2007 - the man still rocks with the best of them!

BONUS EDITORIAL - Here's an excerpt from my April 2016 interview with designer Stan Evenson that provides even more of the back story – In 1974 at the age of 23, and after graduating from Art Center College of Design (ACCD) being trained in advertising and design, I was fortunate enough to land right in the middle of the heyday of the 70's music business looking for a job as a designer. Initially I was hired by the renowned album cover photographer, Norman Seeff, who already had an extensive music celebrity roster by the time I showed up. Not too much later, my former ACCD professor, A&M Records Creative Director, and mentor, Roland Young, hired me to work under his direction in the Creative Services division at A&M. A&M Records was pure, unadulterated Hollywood, located on the former Charlie Chaplin Studio lot near the corner of La Brea and Sunset Blvd. While there, I had the opportunity to work on Cat Steven’s IZITSO advertising and marketing campaign - which included a billboard on Sunset Blvd with an oversized working yoyo that went slowly up and down - to working directly with George Harrison on a few of his Dark Horse Records campaigns. Eventually, I found myself creating the album packaging for Frampton Comes Alive!, a live double album package that went to #1 on Billboard Magazine charts fairly quickly and became one of the largest selling albums of all time, selling over 11 million worldwide and voted “album of the year” by Rolling Stone Magazine in 1976. 

I actually remember the late Gil Friesen - then the Executive Vice President when I was there and who, ultimately, became the President of A&M several years later - coming into Creative Services one day just a few weeks before Frampton Comes Alive! had exploded off of the charts and delivering a hand written note in ALL CAPS that read…"I DON'T WANT TO SEE ANY MORE 4-COLOR ADS…ONLY B&W OR 2-COLOR!" - instructions which demanded our immediate attention. Obviously, full color ads were much more expensive in the trade publications than one or two-color ads and Gil was exercising his authority and concern for budgets and wanted us to tighten our belts. Just a few days later, Gil delivered another hand written note in all caps, "I ONLY WANT TO SEE 4-COLOR ADS BEING PRODUCED FROM NOW ON!". This obviously meant A&M was suddenly rolling in the dough due to Frampton’s huge hit. A&M even built a three-story office building for their music publishing arm next door to their historical lot because of this new-found success. I was a very lucky young designer, at the right place and time, who was asked to design the packaging for this kick ass two-record set.

On a side note, I saw Peter Frampton at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, doing his "Frampton's Guitar Circus" show, a couple of years ago. I went back stage to reintroduce myself and he hugged me as if he remembered me 38 years before. It was a fun, though, seeing him very bald but still having his act together after all those younger days during which he sported his famous long golden locks. Peter and I are close to the same age, him being 65 and I'm turning 65 in August this year. It was quite a trip for me at the age of 24 helping Roland, Jeff Ayeroff, along with Dee Anthony and Peter finally decide on the cover photo that is such an iconic image for that time. 

Richard E. Aaron biography -
In a career that spanned over three decades, Richard E. Aaron shot still photography for a wide variety of media, ranging from feature films, television and video to corporate public relations, entertainment publicity and album covers.

Perhaps best known for his music photography, he was honored by Modern Photography Magazine as one of the "10 Best Rock Photographers" in the world, he has more than 50 album covers to his credit including FRAMPTON COMES ALIVE which was, until being passed by Garth Brooks' mega-selling Double Live LP, the biggest-selling double live LP ever released. He shot the first photographic rock 'n' roll cover of Time magazine - Paul McCartney/Wings Over America. All told, his work has appeared in more than 6,000 magazines, newspapers and books worldwide.

His extensive work in music photography (4,000 groups photographed) led to his first tour assignment, "Fleetwood: The Visitor in Africa" (RCA Records), a tour shot on location in Ghana West Africa. Similar projects for many top rock & roll groups around the world followed. He traveled through the People's Republic of China for several months in 1986, where he documented the first Western rock group to record an album and tour.

Later on in his career, Richard worked with a variety of feature films, unit still and gallery photographer and as director cameraman producing videos on “Behind The Scenes/The Making Of” for feature film companies. He also continued to shoot for clients in the music business, contributing to music videos, CD jackets and other publicity.

A native of New York, Mr. Aaron and his photo agency had been located in Los Angeles since 1980. He was a graduate of the School of Visual Arts (NYC) and of Brooks Institute of Photography (Santa Barbara, California). You can learn more about Richard’s portfolio of work at his website – www.rockpix.com

Sadly, Richard passed away in December, 2016 at the age of 67.

 

All photographs Copyright 2007 Richard E. Aaron - www.rockpix.com - All Rights Reserved and used by permission to illustrate this story. All text Copyright 2007 & 2016 Michael Goldstein/AlbumCoverHallofFame.com - All Rights Reserved.

Cover Story - "Bob Dylan - Infrared" by Elliott Landy

Cover Story - Subject - "Bob Dylan - Infrared", an Elliott Landy photo most-recently used on the cover of “The Collection, Volume 4 - Nashville Skyline/New Morning/John Wesley Harding (Reissue), released in 2005 on Sony records.

Story originally published on April 13, 2007 by Mike Goldstein

This three-disc entry in Sony’s “The Collection” series of classic album compilations delivers fans three of Mr. Dylan's most experimental and exciting recordings – 1967’s John Wesley Harding (which introduced “All Along The Watchtower” and introduced us to Dylan’s “country side”); 1969’s Nashville Skyline (which featured the timeless “Lay Lady Lay” and a host of Dylan-penned country classics – including a duet with Johnny Cash called “Girl From The North Country” – as well as another great Landy cover shot); and 1970’s New Morning, which included Dylan standards such as “If Not For You” and “One More Weekend”. Sony, it seems, did not want to include music from Dylan’s Self Portrait album, which was released earlier in 1970 and confused/frustrated the heck out of critics and fans alike (although it did include a striking album cover painted by Dylan himself).

In Elliott's own words (adapted from his book “Woodstock Vision”) - "Everyone liked the Big Pink photographs I'd shot for The Band, and shortly afterward Al Aronowitz, a writer and friend of Dylan's, asked me to photograph Bob for the cover of the Saturday Evening Post."

"I rented a little VW bug and drove up from the city to Bob's house in Woodstock. This was during the height of his fame, when he had been seen publicly only once in a couple of years, and many people thought he had died in a motorcycle accident." Aronowitz introduced us. Bob told me how much he liked the Band photos, grabbed his guitar, sat on an old tire, and began playing while I took pictures. It occurred to me that millions of people would be thrilled to be ten feet away from Bob Dylan while he was playing, but he was so casual, it seemed normal to me."

"He suggested some other things. 'This is what I do up here, take a picture,' he said while putting the garbage cans away. He sat on the step of his equipment van and then in front of an old British cab he had. After a while he asked to use the camera. For some of the pictures I used infrared color film, which made the leaves bright red."

"Although he was comfortable with me, he was nervous in front of the camera, and his uneasiness made it difficult for me. I was never the kind of photographer to talk people into feeling good, I let them be the way they were and photographed it. Usually it worked out, because I flowed with whatever mood they were in, without resistance until things lightened up."

“He asked me to come back with the pictures when they were ready, which I did the following week. He liked the photos, and we started to hang out a bit…He was very happy, in love with his lovely and gracious wife, Sara, and his family. He was hiding from the world, savoring the magical experience of having young children. That’s why I didn’t publish the pictures for many years. He cherished his privacy and didn’t want any media attention on his family.”

"I was very impressed with Bob. He was a very special person. He intuitively understood what was going on in a situation. There was a feeling you got when you were with him that was exciting. I believe it was the flow of creative energy surrounding him that sort of spilled over onto you. Over the years I've seen him walk into rooms, even in the presence of other very famous people, and suddenly everyone's attention becomes totally focused on him. It's difficult to have this type of charisma: people always want a piece of you."

The photo was shot at his Byrdcliff home in Woodstock, NY, in 1968
 
Elliott Landy bio –

Elliott Landy, born in 1942, began photographing the anti-Vietnam war movement and the underground music culture in New York City in 1967. He photographed many of the underground rock and roll superstars, both backstage and onstage, from 1967 to 69. His images of Bob Dylan and The Band, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Joan Baez, Van Morrison, Richie Havens, and many others documented the music scene during that classic rock and roll period which culminated with the 1969 Woodstock Festival, of which he was the official photographer.

After that, Elliott moved on to other inspirations and art forms, photographing his own children and travels, creating impressionist flower photographs and doing motion and kaleidoscopic photography in both still and film formats.

His photographs have been published worldwide for many years in all print mediums including covers of Rolling Stone, Life, the Saturday Evening Post, etc. and album covers, calendars, photographic book collections, etc. He has published “Woodstock Vision, The Spirit of A Generation”, in book and CD-ROM format, and authored the book “Woodstock 69, The First Festival”.

More recently, Elliott has published a book based on his photographs of The Band (Elliott Landy: The Band Photographs, 1968-1969), with more books based on his archives planned in the future.

Elliott Landy trivia – “curiously, because our names are anagrams of each other – DYLAN/LANDY – many people thought I didn’t exist – that I was Dylan under an alias!”

For more on this artist, please visit his site at https://www.elliottlandy.com

Cover Story - Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" by Terry Pastor

Cover Story - Subject - Terry Pastor creates the album cover for "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars", released in 1972 on RCA Victor records.

   

 

 

 

 

 

Originally published on April 7, 2007 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com

Always in the top 50 of everyone's "Greatest LPs of All Time" listings, this record tells the story of a visiting Martian who's on a mission to save the world from its day-to-day humdrum. Of course, this is best accomplished via sex, drugs and rock'n'roll, with the Messianic main character being torn apart by fans in the end (so much for a "Peace & Love" message).

In addition to singer/songwriter David Bowie taking on the role of the lead character, the Spiders From Mars band also featured Mick Ronson on guitar, Trevor Bolder on bass and Mick Woodmansey on drums. A note on the album cover suggests that it is "to be played at maximum volume".

The Brian Ward photograph that serves as the basis for this cover image by artist Terry Pastor shows Bowie-as-Ziggy standing on London's trendy Heddon St. (just off of Regent St., a popular shopping area in the West End). Many Bowie fans seek out this spot on trips to London (although the phone booth shown in the background as removed years ago).

In the words of artist, Terry Pastor -

"I was given a black and white photograph printed on matte paper - David Bowie's management wanted some colour put into it. I also did the cover for his previous LP, Hunky Dory. This was also a black and white photo that I coloured up in the same way. Perhaps this is why the label decided that the Ziggy cover would be similar? I applied the colour using photo-dyes with an airbrush (a DeVilbiss Super 93). The lettering for the front cover (which isn't included on this print) was lettraseted (rub-down transfer lettering) - a very hands-on way of doing things, but in 1972 that was the way things were done. No Mac computers in those days!

I was working on the back cover one evening at my studio, which at the time was in Covent Garden, London when I received a phone call from David asking how the cover art was going. I told him I had finished the front and was working on the back cover photograph. He was very excited hearing that, having no idea there was an image for the back cover. He asked me what the image was, and said that he was really looking forward to seeing it. From that you can assume David didn't have any real input into the art direction at this stage of the cover. He probably had much more input when the photograph was being shot. The back cover, featuring Bowie in a phone box was done in exactly the same way.

Also an interesting point - before this album was released, I would bump into David occasionally in the West End (Central London) or meet up in a pub, and he would go totally unnoticed. Within a matter of months from the release of Ziggy Stardust, he became a mega-star and would get mobbed if he appeared anywhere in public."

Terry Pastor bio –

Mr. Pastor has worked over 40 years working as an illustrator and photographer. Traditionally working with an airbrush, the last few years has found him working with design and illustration in digital formats.

With a focus on food photography, he works alongside his wife Carol, who is a Cordon Bleu-trained cook, writer and food stylist for national magazines and cookery books.

A self -confessed motorhead, he is passionate about cars (particularly Corvettes, as a proud owner of a 1984 Crossfire) and motorcycles (he’s produced some amazingly-detailed illustrations of classic bikes and cars – you can find (and buy) editioned prints of some of his favorite machinery on his website at http://www.terrypastor.co.uk.  (Editor’s note - I personally bought one of his prints of a 1947 Indian Chief, as I’m an Indian rider myself. It is REALLY a fantastic print).

His clients include: Sony, Nintendo, Ford Motor Company, Psygnosis Software, Lever Brothers, NASA, Akai, Saab, Phillips, RAF Red Arrows, Playboy Magazine, G.M.Corvette Division, Nissan, IBM, Honda, MacDonalds, most major book publishers and record companies.