The vinyl record collecting blog - with news about new vinyl record releases, vinyl record sales, new music releases, album cover art and weekly features
Sarah McLachlan Unveils "Laws Of Illusion" Album Cover
Sarah McLachlan is proud to unveil the cover art for her forthcoming album "Laws of Illusion." The first single from the highly-anticipated new release, "Loving You Is Easy", is now available to download at iTunes, Amazon and all major digital retailers. Leave a comment right here letting Sarah and other fans know what you think of the album cover and remember, "Laws Of Illusion" will be available everywhere June 15th!
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Grave Unveil "Burial Ground" Cover Art
Swedish old school death metal misanthropes Grave recently unveiled the cover art and tracklisting for their eagerly-anticipated upcoming studio album entitled "Burial Ground." The striking imagery was crated by Costin Chioreanu of Twillight13 Media (Ulver, Absu, Summoning, Goreaphobia etc.). "Burial Ground" is scheduled for release via Regain Records this June.
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Book Talk: Sex, drugs and classic record covers
NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - A new book of record covers shows how musicians forged an identity and communicated with fans, using an art form that has sometimes endured longer than the music between the covers.
"The Art of the LP: Classic Album Covers 1955-1995," by Ben Wardle and Johnny Morgan, which will be published in the United States and Britain on Tuesday, groups rock, pop and jazz images by theme: sex, drugs, death, and escape.
The escape theme has cropped up in lyrics and imagery of popular music since the beginnings of rock 'n roll half a century ago.
The imagery on album covers became an important part of the music experience. In the book fans will find Eric Clapton, ABBA, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Tony Bennett and others.
Morgan spoke with Reuters about the images, baby boomers' deep pockets, and why some album covers were more useful than others.
Q&A with Storm Thorgerson, Album-Cover Artist Extraordinaire
LONDON— Storm Thorgerson had been in his London flat when the Pink Floyd dropped by. No surprise there. They all knew each other from Cambridge. “Syd and I were mates in the same gang. Roger wasn’t in our gang. But he was at the same school,” Thorgerson says. Syd Barrett. Roger Waters. This was 1968.
Thorgerson had an artist friend in the flat whom the Floyd had asked to design the cover of their second album, Saucerful of Secrets. “He declined,” Thorgerson says. “I was standing in the doorway.” He mimicked his eager young self. “I’ll do that! I’ll do it!”
So he did. Thorgerson was doing two years in the Royal College’s film school. “I had aspirations of being a filmmaker,” he says. The Saucerful cover changed that. Hipgnosis, the company he started with Aubrey Powell – “Po” – did several other commissions, then established a rep for quirky freethinking with an image of a piebald cow in a field, its majestic rear end pretty much in the viewer’s face, they proposed for the Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother. EMI shuddered; the band loved it. Deal.
Born on this day in 1911, Robert Johnson, blues singer, guitarist. Influenced Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Eric Clapton, (Cream covered 'Crossroads) The Rolling Stones, ('Love In Vain'). Johnson died on August 16, 1938.
Born today in 1943, Danny Whitten, guitarist, singer, songwriter. Member of Neil Young's Crazy Horse and writer of "I Don't Wanna Talk About It," covered by Rod Stewart, Rita Coolidge and Everything But The Girl. The Neil Young song "The Needle and the Damage Done" was written about Whitten’s heroin use (before he died of an overdose on Nov 18, 1972).
UK keyboard player Graham Bond committed suicide in 1974 after throwing himself under a London tube train at Finsbury Park station, (age 36). It took police two days to identify his body which was crushed beyond all recognition. Briefly a member of Blues Incorporated, a group led by Alexis Korner, before forming the Graham Bond Quartet, with a lineup of Bond on vocals and organ, Ginger Baker on drums and Jack Bruce on bass.
Neil Bogart died of cancer in 1982 (age 39). Bogart was the founder of Casablanca Records, with Peter Guber, home of Donna Summer, The Village People, Kiss, T.Rex and Joan Jett.
Born on this day in 1940, Ricky Nelson, (1958 #1 "Poor Little Fool" plus over 30 Top 40 hit singles). Played himself on his parent's US TV The Adventures Of Ozzie and Harriet.' Nelson died on December 31, 1985.
Born today in 1941, John Fred Gourrier of John Fred and His Playboy Band. He died on April 15, 2005 after a long battle with kidney disease (age 63).
Country artist Eddy Arnold died of natural causes in 2008, one week before his 90th birthday. He sold more than 85 million records and had 147 songs on the US charts, including 28 number one hits on Billboard's Country Singles chart. He was once managed by Colonel Tom Parker (who later managed Elvis Presley).
History:
In 1954, BBC radio in the UK banned the Johnny Ray song "Such a Night" after listeners complain about its 'suggestiveness.' Ray was famous for his emotional stage act, which included beating up his piano, and writhing on the floor.
The Beatles had held the #1 position on the US singles chart for fourteen weeks in 1964 with three #1's in succession. "I Want To Hold Your Hand" for seven weeks, "She Loves You" for two weeks and "Can't Buy Me Love," for five weeks.
Shooting of the promotional film for Bob Dylan’s 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' took place at the side of the Savoy Hotel in London in 1965. Actors in the background were Allen Ginsberg and Bob Neuwirth. The cards that Dylan held up to the camera were painted by Alan Price and Joan Baez.
Gerry And The Pacemakers announced they were splitting up in 1967, recognizing they could no longer keep pace with the rapidly changing UK rock scene.
In 1969, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr signed a business management contract with Allen Klein and his company ABKCO, but Paul McCartney refused to sign, continuing to let the Eastmans represent his interests.
The Beatles twelfth and final album, 'Let It Be' was released in 1970, (it was recorded before ‘Abbey Road’ and originally to be called Get Back). The album came in a deluxe-boxed edition with a Get Back book.
In 1972, Billy Preston became the first rock performer to headline at Radio City Music Hall.
Bad Company’s second album, “Straight Shooter” went gold in 1975.
The Steve Miller Band released, “Take The Money and Run” in 1976.
In 1976, BBC Radio 1 DJ Johnny Walker announced he was quitting the station after being told he must pretend to like The Bay City Rollers.
Former lead singer of the Lovin Spoonful John Sebastian went to #1 on the US singles chart in 1976 with "Welcome Back," taken from the US TV show 'Welcome Back Kotter.'
Vangelis went to #1 on the US singles chart in 1982 with "Chariots Of Fire."
Tom Waits won $2.5 million in 1990 when a Los Angeles court ruled that Frito-Lay unlawfully used a Waits sound alike in its Doritos ads.
Aerosmith entered the US album chart in 1993 at #1 with 'Get A Grip.' The album went on to sell over 20 million copies worldwide as well as winning the band two Grammy awards.
In 1998, the Beatles were awarded tapes from the “Star Club” era. The group and Yoko Ono had gone to court to stop the release of these live, bootleg recordings.
Ricky Martin went to #1 on the US singles chart in 1999 with "Livin' La Vida Loca." The song spent 5 weeks at the #1 position.
Bruce Springsteen was at #1 on the US album chart in 2005 with 'Devils and Dust' his 13th #1 studio album.
In 2006, the two Australian miners were rescued after spending nearly two weeks trapped more than a half-mile underground. What’s that got to do with Rock History? The miners passed the time listening to the Foo Fighters on their iPods. As a result, lead Foo Fighter David Grohl promised, "there's two tickets to any Foo's show, anywhere, and two cold beers waiting for you."
Also in 2006, Apple Corps, the label owned by the Beatles' members and/or their families, lost a trademark-infringement lawsuit against Apple Computer. A London court ruled that the computer company did not breach a ‘91 contract involving the "Apple" name and logo, because its iPod and iTunes services were involved in selling music rather than creating it.
A two-disc reissue of David Bowie's ‘75 "Young Americans" hit the stores in 2007. It has a remastered version of the original eight-song disc with three bonus recordings, and a DVD that features the CD's 11 tracks in 5.1 Surround Sound and video footage from Bowie's December ‘74 appearance on The Dick Cavett Show.
