Album Cover Art

As we continue our look at Gigwise.com's look at album cover art, let's explore #25 of the most controversial, weirdest, best and worst as decided by their crack staff:


Controversial


24. The Residents: ‘The Third Reich & Roll’ Dick Clark ar Hitler? I love it although the sensors and the powers that be did not care for the cover. The Third Reich 'n Roll is a 1976 album by the U.S. avant-garde rock group The Residents. Their second (officially) released album, it is a parody and satire of pop music and commercials from the 1960s. The work consists of two side-long pastiches of various songs from the period.

Some of these songs are played simultaneously. America's "A Horse With No Name" is slightly newer than the rest of the hits on the album, but matches The Swinging Medallions' "Double Shot of my Baby's Love" exactly. The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" is performed as the guitar solo to The Beatles' Hey Jude.

Better realized and executed than their first album, it also generated controversy due to its cover art which featured television entertainer Dick Clark in a Nazi uniform holding a carrot while surrounded by swastikas and pictures of a dancing Adolf Hitler in both male and female dress. A version was marketed in the 1980s for German consumption which heavily censored much of the cover art by stamping the word "censored" over every Nazi reference.

Rumor has it Dick Clark found the cover amusing, and has a framed copy in his office.

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Weird


24. Tiny Lynn: 'Little Lehman's Half-Fast Songs' hard to believe this thing wasn't picked up by a major label and then go double-platinum with this beauty of a cover. Guess that makes us one of the select few to see it and suffer permanent psychological damage as a result, becasue, if you Google this; there certainly isn't any information about the band. I'd like to have some of his toys though...



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Worst


24. Guns n’ Roses – ‘The Spaghetti Incident’ Anyone hungry for some pasta? "The Spaghetti Incident?" is the fifth album by hard rock band Guns N' Roses. The album is unique for the band, consisting entirely of cover versions, mostly of punk and glam rock songs of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The title is a reference to a food-fight between Axl Rose and Steven Adler, involving spaghetti. Much was made of this food fight during Adler's resolution lawsuit with the band; and Adler's attorney referred to it as "the Spaghetti Incident". It is suggested that the attorney's choice of name for the incident was a reference to the David Bowie movie, The Linguini Incident.

Many of the tracks were recorded with original Guns N' Roses guitarist Izzy Stradlin during the Use Your Illusion I and II sessions. Those tracks were previously intended to be included in a combined Use Your Illusion album, consisting of three (or possibly even four) discs, instead of the two separate discs they ended up being.

In 1992, the band prepared to release the leftover cover tracks as an EP, with then-Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke replacing Stradlin's guitar tracks. They later decided on making the album a full release and recorded several more tracks for it.

Then-Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan sings on many of the album's tracks and Hanoi Rocks frontman (and Axl Rose's idol) Michael Monroe appears on "Ain't It Fun" as a guest vocalist.

The album was released shortly after the conclusion of the Use Your Illusion World Tour which had lasted since early 1991. The vinyl copy of the album was released in clear plastic orange, and the CD was released with colour designs and markings, which would later be changed (in the 1997 reissue) to simply a plain silver coloured CD.

Despite protests from Rose's bandmates, an unadvertised cover of Charles Manson's song "Look at Your Game, Girl" was included on the album at his request. The CD release gave no track number to the song - it could only be found by listening through the dead air left after the last documented track on the album. In early 2000, Rose said that he would remove "Look at Your Game, Girl" from re-issues of the album, citing that critics and popular media misinterpreted his interest in Manson and that a misunderstanding public no longer deserved to hear it. However, the song is still present on the album, and in recent re-issues, "Look at Your Game, Girl" has been added as a separate, 13th track.

To date, it is the last full-length studio album released by Guns N' Roses.

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Best


24. Sonic Youth: ‘Goo’ Not a choice I would make, my guess is that one or more of the voters is a big fan of Sonic Youth- I have seen 100 more album covers that would fit in better for a 'best of' list.

Goo is an album by alternative rock band Sonic Youth, released on June 26, 1990. A remastered version was released in 2005.

Goo was the first album released after the band signed to major label Geffen Records. Their albums became more accessible and less experimental, but still retained elements of their trademark collage of noise.

The cover is a Raymond Pettibon illustration based on a paparazzi photo of Maureen Hindley and her first husband David Smith, witnesses in the case of serial killers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, driving to the trial in 1966.

The handwritten text reads, "I stole my sister's boyfriend. It was all whirlwind, heat, and flash. Within a week we killed my parents and hit the road."

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Album Cover Art

We are now half way through our look at Gigwise's 50 most controversial, weirdest, best and worst album covers as compiled by their crack staff. Let's explore #25:


Controversial


25. Minus – ‘The Great Northern Whale Kill’ Offensive? No doubt. Insensitive? No doubt. Controversial? No way it cannot be because the image you are looking at is of an eight-year old boy.

Mínus is an Icelandic alternative rock/hardcore band from Reykjavík. They are signed to the record label Smekkleysa. Mínus have shared the stage with, among others, Metallica, Foo Fighters, and Queens of the Stone Age. 'The Great Northern Whale Kill' is their third LP and was released 3rd of March, 2008.

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Weirdest


25. Swamp Dogg: 'Rat On!' Albino lab rat? or just playing horsey? Certainly fits into this category. This R&B artist has made many albums in his 40-year career, including this 1971 offering. To those in the know, Swamp Dogg intentionally came up with this ridiculous (some would say startingly ugly) cover shot. Per Swamp Dogg, he thought it hilarious that a black man was finally on top. Also, per Swamp Dogg, the record company, Elektra, was less enthused.

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Worst


25. Fleetwood Mac – ‘Rumours’: I disagree with it belonging along with some of the worst album covers of all time. There was a lot of personal strife within the band (Nicks & Buckingham were fighting, as ususal), so I guess Mick & his little balls stepped up.

Rumours is the thirteenth album by rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1977. In December 1976, prior to the release of the album, Reprise released the single "Go Your Own Way". In 1978, Rumours won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. As of 2007 the album has sold more than 30 million copies, and is on the list of best-selling albums of all time. In addition, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Rumours at #25 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. According to Carol Ann Harris author of "Storms - My Life With Lindsey Buckingham And Fleetwood Mac" the album has sold over one million copies in the Los Angeles area alone. This rare feat puts it next to other major releases such as "Thriller" by Michael Jackson.

Hit singles included Buckingham's "Go Your Own Way", Nicks's "Dreams" and Christine McVie's "Don't Stop" and "You Make Loving Fun". Buckingham's "Second Hand News", Nicks' "Gold Dust Woman" and "The Chain" (the only song written by all five bandmates) also received significant radio airplay.

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Best


25. Prince: ‘Lovesexy’ This makes the 'best' list? The naked 'Purple one'? And he calls it a gospel LP? Great, a naked cover on a gospel album. Has he no shame?

The album is notable for the haunting gospel of "Anna Stesia," and the hit single "Alphabet St." Also notable is the cover, causing some controversy as it depicted Prince in the nude, in a seemingly devout pose. Some record stores refused to stock it or censored the cover with black wrapper.

Lovesexy is an album by Prince, released in 1988. Lovesexy was issued as a substitute record after the release of the infamous Black Album had been suddenly canceled. The Black Album and Lovesexy almost act as companion pieces, sharing the song "When 2 R In Love," but nearly opposite in theme. The album was recorded in just seven weeks, from mid-December 1987 to late January 1988, at Prince's new Paisley Park Studios, and most of the album is a solo effort from Prince, with a few exceptions. The opening track, "Eye No," was recorded with the full band (Miko Weaver on guitar, Levi Seacer, Jr. on bass, Doctor Fink and Boni Boyer on keyboards, Eric Leeds on saxophone, Atlanta Bliss on trumpet and Sheila E. on drums). Sheila E., in fact, plays drums on several tracks and sings backup, along with Boyer. Leeds and Bliss provide horns on most tracks, and Ingrid Chavez provides the intro to "Eye No". As opposed to the LP release, early CD copies of Lovesexy have the entire album in sequence as a single track, so the album is heard in the context of a continuous sequence, though later editions have it as 9 separate tracks.

This Date In Music History- October 4

Birthdays:

Nona Hendryx, who left Labelle for a solo career that saw her singing backing vocals for Talking Heads, was born in Trenton, NJ in 1944.

Bassist Jim Fielder, who played for the Mothers of Invention, Buffalo Springfield and Blood, Sweat & Tears, was born in Denton, Texas in 1947.

Marlena Davies of Philadelphia R&B group the Orlons ("The Wah Watusi") was born in 1944.

Also born on this day in 1944, Soul singer Patti Labelle.

Helen Reddy, US singer, songwriter was born in 1942.

History:

J. Frank Wilson ("Last Kiss") died of a heart attack in 1991.

Roger Miller was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1996. Don’t know what took them so long.

In 1961, Bob Dylan played Carnegie Hall in New York. Of the 53 people that attended, most were friends. He made $20 from the enterprise.

In 1963, the Yardbirds invited Eric "Slowhand" Clapton to replace their old guitarist Anthony "Top" Topham. Clapton was an art-college friend of vocalist Keith Relf.

Number one on the American albums chart today in 1969 was Creedence Clearwater Revival with Green River.

Just days after recording what would be her biggest hit, 27 year old Janis Joplin died of a heroin overdose at Hollywood's Landmark Hotel in 1970. "Me and Bobby McGee" would reach number one in early 1971, her highest chart success since "Piece Of My Heart" with Big Brother and The Holding Company in 1968.

Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" album went to No. 1 in America in 1975.

The song "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" was released by Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1969.

John Lennon released his "Walls And Bridges" LP in 1974, which would go on to top the Billboard album chart a few weeks later. Recorded during his estrangement from Yoko Ono, it turned out to be the last record that Lennon recorded without input from her.

In 1963, Billboard Magazine reported that hot-rodding songs were the latest teen fad, replacing surfing songs. Among the top tunes was the Beach Boys' "Little Deuce Coupe", which sat at #15 on the Billboard chart. Capitol Records started supplying DJ's and record retailers with a book of hot-rod terms.

Also in 1963- The Beatles made their first appearance on the UK rock and roll TV show Ready Steady Go!, where they were interviewed by fellow performer, Dusty Springfield.

"Abbey Road", the last album recorded by The Beatles, entered the UK charts at number one in 1969. The L.P. would go on to be the group's biggest seller in Britain, although "The Beatles" (the white album) sold more in North America.

Queen had their second US number 1 song when "Another One Bites the Dust" hit the top of the Billboard chart in 1980. Earlier in the year, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" also went to head of the hit parade.

Michael Gibbins, drummer for Badfinger on their hits "Come And Get It", "Day After Day" and "No Matter What", died in his sleep in 2005 at the age of 56.

Two Buddy Holly Collections Coming For 50th Anniversary of His Passing

They make no mention of a vinyl release, but let's hope that this eclectic set list will also be available on vinyl.



February 3, 2009 will mark the 50th anniversary of "The Day The Music Died," when a plane crash took the lives of rock 'n' roll legends Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper. In anticipation of that momentous occasion, the vault of rare Buddy Holly tracks will be opened wide for two multi-disc sets released January 28, 2009.

The three-CD, 60-selection Memorial Collection (Geffen/Decca/UMe), presents a thorough, digitally remastered overview of Holly's short, yet astonishing career featuring rare undubbed recordings with original partner Bob Montgomery and backing band and collaborators, The Crickets. The collection includes all of Holly's hits -- among them a few of rock's greatest recordings, That'll Be The Day, Oh Boy!, Maybe Baby, Not Fade Away, It's So Easy, Peggy Sue, Rave On -- the set concludes with selections from the Apartment Tapes, in which Holly sings new songs and accompanies himself on acoustic guitar in his New York apartment just months before the tragic crash. One Buddy & Bob recording, Soft Place In My Heart, has never before been released while two others from the duo appear on a U.S.-issued album for the first time. Maria Elena Holly said, "The release of these sets will be a magical moment for the fans who have been waiting for a long time to hear the beginnings of Buddy's career to the end with the apartment tapes, his last recordings! Holly-lujah!"

The two-CD, 59-selection Down the Line - Rarities (Geffen/UMe), is filled with pre-fame home recordings, alternate takes, undubbed versions, and informal solo tapes. Included is a recording from when Holly was 14 years old; from Buddy & Bob; the complete undubbed Apartment Tapes; outtakes and alternates of familiar recordings by Holly and The Crickets; and the undubbed Garage Tapes. In The Garage Tapes, rehearsals with the Crickets (J.I. Allison and Joe B. Mauldin) were recorded by a friend at various places, including the Holly family garage in late 1956. Buddy ripped through an array of then-current hits, from Chuck Berry's
Brown-Eyed Handsome Man, Little Richard's Rip It Up, and Fats Domino's Blue Monday, to Carl Perkins' Blue Suede Shoes, Big Joe Turner's Shake, Rattle & Roll, and Bo Diddley's Bo Diddley.

Cricket J.I Allison fondly recalls laying down some of those famous recordings. "Many of the tunes were done just in Buddy's garage but I remember doing a few of them like Bo Diddley and Brown-Eyed Handsome Man, way out West at Petty's studio in Clovis, NM. The line-up was Buddy, myself on drums, Sonny Curtis on guitar and Don Guess on bass."

The undubbed Apartment Tapes, include Buddy's raw, pre-overdubbed versions of such popular Holly songs as Peggy Sue Got Married and Crying, Waiting, Hoping.

Along with the U.S. debuts of three Apartment Tapes tracks and the undubbed Holly Hop (from the Garage Tapes) that are heard on both the Memorial Collection and Down the Line - Rarities, the latter also releases for the first time anywhere three additional Buddy & Bob tracks. Throughout both retrospectives, the original recordings, shorn of the overdubbed instrumentation added in the early '60s for belated public consumption, are musical and historical revelations.

In less than two years in the national consciousness, Holly changed the sound of rock 'n' roll. Steeped in country music, the Lubbock, Texas native soon blended in blues, R&B, and the new Elvis-fired rockabilly. The result was some of the most innovative and influential rock 'n' roll ever recorded. Buddy Holly died on February 3, 1959, but his music lives on.

Text courtesy of Universal Music Enterprises

Nick Reynolds of the Kingston Trio Passes Away

Nick Reynolds, who was one of the founding members of the Kingston Trio, passed away yesterday at the age of 75. He had been in a San Diego hospital for a number of weeks before his family made the decision to take him off life support.

Reynolds first met Trio member Bob Shane while attending Menlo College and the two would play as a duo with Reynolds on guitar and Shane on bongos at various fraternity functions. The soon added Joe Gannon on bass and Barbara Bogue on vocals to form the group Dave Guard and the Calypsonians.

Reynolds left the group for a short time after graduation and the remaining musicians reformed as the Kingston Quartet. After little success, Reynolds returned and, along with Shane's friend Dave Guard, they formed the Kingston Trio.

The group's initial success was at San Francisco's Purple Onion, where the started out opening for Phyllis Diller but eventually graduated to their own headlining spot. They played at the club throughout the latter part of 1957 and were signed to Capitol records.

Their self-named first album ended up being a smash, going to number one on the Billboard Album charts and kicking off the folk music revival which would spawn numerous groups and solo artists throughout the early-60's. The album also contained their first number one single, Tom Dooley, which started a string of ten top 40 singles for the group between 1958 and 1963.

Dave Guard left the group in 1961 to explore folk music more deeply and Shane and Reynolds brought in John Stewart who had been a member of the Cumberland Three. The group had already recorded two of Stewart's songs and his personality and voice blended well with the two remaining members.

In 1963, the group heard a young Peter, Paul and Mary sing the Pete Seeger song Where Have All the Flowers Gone? and recorded their own version which placed well on the pop charts and even better on the new Easy Listening tally.

With the onset of the Beach Boys and the Beatles, the popularity of folk music started to fade, but the trio kept going until they decided to call it quits in 1967, playing a farewell gig at the Hungry I on June 17. Guard stayed busy with music and Stewart went on to have a very successful solo career, writing Daydream Believer for the Monkees and eventually having his own hits like Gold. Reynolds, though, move to Oregon where he was a sheep rancher and opened a theater.

In 1981, the group reformed with all of its members over the years for a successful PBS special. Various versions of the group continued and, in the late-80's, Reynolds rejoined the group where he stayed until retiring in 1999.

The Kingston Trio ended up being one of the most influential artists of the last fifty years, ushuring in the folk music craze in the same way that the Beach Boys brought in surf and the Beatles started the British invasion.

Notable Kingston Trio singles:

Tom Dooley (1958, #1 Pop)
The Tijuana Jail (1959, #12 Pop)
M.T.A. (1959, #15 Pop)
A Worried Man (1959, #20 Pop)
Where Have All the Flowers Gone (1962, #21 Pop, #4 Adult Contemporary)
Greenback Dollar (1963, #21 Pop, #6 Adult Contemporary)
Reverend Mr. Black (1963, #8 Pop, #15 R&B)
Grammy Awards:

1958 Best Country & Western Performance - Tom Dooley
1959 Best Folk Performance - The Kingston Trio At Large

SOURCE: http://winkscollectibles.blogspot.com

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Album Cover Art

Let's continue our look at Gigwise.com's top 50 most controversial, weirdest, best and worst album cover art as put together by their staff:

Controversial


26. Dio: Holy Diver - Holy Diver is the American heavy metal band Dio's debut album. Released on May 25, 1983, it has been hailed by critics as Dio's best work and a classic staple in the heavy metal genre. The album was eventually certified Gold in the US on September 12, 1984 and Platinum on March 21, 1989. The original vinyl release had a photo-montage LP-liner.

The cover was controversial, featuring what appears to be a monster killing what appears to be a Catholic priest. Dio was quick to argue that appearances are misleading and it could just as easily be a priest killing a monster. If the Dio logo is held upside down it appears to read "Die", or a stylistically obscured "Devil." It could also mean the devil torturing the priest, but then the chain breaks and he plunges to the depths. It could also mean that priests sometimes get corrupted by evil. It could also mean anything you want it to mean, I guess, if the right substance is utilized.

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Weird


26. Fist: 'Goodbody’s Traveling Torture Show' Tie me up and whip me She-Man, if that is what you are. Utterly indescribable camp from the 70's. I have no idea who Fist was or what happened to her, and judging by the content of this LP-a cacophony of shrieks, slaps, wails and other dungeon sounds-she probably deserved whatever she had coming. And loved it!

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Worst


26. Black Sabbath – ‘Sabotage’ Let's all pose in front of a life-size mirror and call it album cover art. Sabotage is the sixth studio album by the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in 1975. The album cover is a photograph of the band members standing in front of a large bronze mirror. Their "reflections" face the wrong way, and are simply copies of each band member's real image. This is the first album to feature all of the band members on the cover.

For the second time, a Black Sabbath album initially saw favourable reviews, with Rolling Stone stating "Sabotage is not only Black Sabbath's best record since Paranoid, it might be their best ever", although later reviewers such as Allmusic noted that "the magical chemistry that made such albums as Paranoid and Volume 4 so special was beginning to disintegrate".[4]

Sabotage cracked the top 20 in both the United Kingdom and United States, but was the band's first release not to achieve platinum status in the US. Songs such as "Hole in the Sky", and "Symptom of the Universe" became fan favorites, with the latter's chugging riff even cited as an early example of thrash metal. Black Sabbath toured in support of Sabotage with openers KISS, but were forced to cut the tour short in November 1975, following a motorcycle accident in which Ozzy ruptured a muscle in his back.

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Best


26. The Beatles: ‘Revolver’ One of my all-time favorite covers, this would certainly make my top ten, but logs in at #26 on the Gigwise list. Revolver is the seventh album by the Four Lads, released on August 5, 1966. The album showcased a number of new stylistic developments which would become more pronounced on later albums. Many of the tracks on Revolver are marked by an electric guitar-rock sound, in contrast with their previous, folk-rock inspired Rubber Soul. It reached #1 on the UK chart for seven weeks and #1 on the U.S. chart for six weeks.

Revolver was released before the Beatles' last tour in August 1966, but they did not perform songs from the album live. Their reasoning for this was that many of the tracks on the album, for example "Tomorrow Never Knows", were too complex to perform with live instruments.

The cover illustration was created by German-born bassist and artist Klaus Voormann, one of the Beatles' oldest friends from their days at the Star Club in Hamburg. Voormann's illustration, part line drawing and part collage, included photographs by Robert Whitaker, who also took the back cover photographs and many other images of the group between 1964 and 1966, such as the infamous "butcher cover" for Yesterday and Today. Voormann's own photo as well as his name (Klaus O. W. Voormann) is worked into Harrison's hair on the right-hand side of the cover. In the Revolver cover appearing in his artwork for Anthology 3, he replaced this image with a more recent photo. Harrison's Revolver image was seen again on his single release of "When We Was Fab" along with an updated version of the same image.

The title "Revolver", like "Rubber Soul" before it, is a pun, referring both to a kind of handgun as well as the "revolving" motion of the record as it is played on a turntable. The Beatles had a difficult time coming up with this title. According to Barry Miles in his book Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now, the title that the four had originally wanted was Abracadabra, until they discovered that another band had already used it. After that, opinion split: Lennon wanted to call it Four Sides of the Eternal Triangle and Starr jokingly suggested After Geography, playing on The Rolling Stones' recently released Aftermath LP. Other suggestions included Magical Circles, Beatles on Safari, Pendulum, and, finally, Revolver, whose wordplay was the one that all four agreed upon. The title was chosen while the band were on tour in Japan in June–July 1966.

Album Cover Art Story- Pink Floyd

I want to thank Michael Goldstein from www.RockPoPGallery.com for allowing me the exclusive reprint rights to his amazing album cover art stories


Cover Story – Pink Floyd's "Piper at the Gates of Dawn", cover by Vic Singh




Subject – Pink Floyd – Piper at the Gates of Dawn - a 1967 release on Columbia Records (distributed in the U.S. by Capitol Records), with cover photography by Vic Singh.


2007 marks the 40th anniversary of the world’s introduction to the recorded music of Pink Floyd. Clubgoers in London had been treated to the band’s psychedelic blues and instrumentals - with 20 minute jams of “Interstellar Overdrive” and ground-breaking lightshows the highlights of a typical concert event – but it was their first singles, “Arnold Layne” and “See Emily Play”, released early in 1967, that introduced the song-writing capabilities of Syd Barrett to a wider listening audience. The singles had done pretty respectably in the U.K. charts and the band was keen on trying out new technologies in the studio. As it was that Barrett – the chief songwriter and singer – was also quite fond of LSD, it only made sense that their first full-length effort, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (whose title was adapted from a chapter in a fondly-remembered book – The Wind in the Willows – from Barrett’s childhood), would both employ these new technologies to craft songs and experimental musical tracks and also be altered by drugs to the point that they were considered “spacey” and “hallucinogenic” in nature.

While the record was a hit in the U.K. at the time (hitting #6 on their album charts), the record did not fare well here in the U.S. until it was re-released in the 70s, after the band’s popularity had soared due to the popularity of their subsequent albums and their touring with other psychedelic stars of the day - including Jimi Hendrix – and their appearances at many music festivals. Of course, Floyd fans are all aware of Syd Barrett’s rapid and disturbing slide into sickness – both mental and physical – that ultimately lead to his ouster from the band in 1968. After his departure and guitarist David Gilmour’s joining the band, Roger Waters took on the role of the creative lead and the band would go on to create a roster of rock classics, selling over 250 million records (!) world-wide. It wasn’t until many years later that rock critics and fans would revisit the band’s debut album and explore its many intricacies, with most fans and critics now in agreement that it deserves consideration as on of the most-important and influential psychedelic recordings of the rock era.

Pink Floyd has also been associated with a number of the best-known artists and illustrators throughout the years, including Storm Thorgerson/Hipgnosis (who created covers for Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and many others) and Gerald Scarfe (creator of the amazing imagery used for The Wall’s packaging and stage show). After they had reached a certain degree of fame (i.e., right after their first album), they did not appear on the cover of any other album, but in 1967, it was an “industry standard” to feature a photograph of the recording artist on the cover, and so London photographer Vic Singh has the distinction of having shot the image that turned out to be the only one that featured the band – and that featured the soon-to-be-sacked Syd Barrett. Vic, too, was interested in creating something unusual (and “psychedelic”) for this commission, and the result was an image that represented the “vibe” of the time exceptionally well. The “making of” this image is the topic of today’s groovy and gear fab Cover Story, so enjoy, you dig?

In the words of the photographer, Vic Singh (interviewed in September, 2007) –

In the mid-1960’s, I was a young established photographer and a member of the 60's swinging “in-crowd”. I first met the Pink Floyd at an event - or happening as it was called in those days -under the statue of Eros in Piccadilly Circus in London. They were a new, unknown band and we all chatted for a while. They looked trippy and said they were making their first record album.

A few weeks after our meeting at Piccadilly, their manager (I can’t remember who called, but it was probably either Peter Jenner or Andrew King) rang me at my studio and asked me if I would like to shoot the album cover for The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. I agreed, and we fixed a date for a one day shoot in my studio. At that time, The Pink Floyd were a new band unsigned to any record label, and so there was no art director. I asked their manager if he or the band had any ideas for the album cover, the answer was “no”, and so it was left up to me to come up with ideas. I don't know if the band had seen any of my work, and since I was not given much to work with visually, the inspiration would need to come from the music and the band’s image.

The band was psychedelic and their music was surreal and alien compared to other popular music of the time, so it needed a far-out image. Having to work with a small production budget (Colour labs for special effects were mega-expensive, and there was no technology like today), I decided to use a prism lens which George Harrison had given me because he could not find a use for it and I had not used it up till then, so it seemed like the perfect solution. All I had to do was screw it on my Hasselblad camera lens and the creative special effect would go straight on to the film.


The photo shoot was in my studio and was shot on a white background with flat, even electronic strobe lighting (i.e., a studio flash). I used my Hasselblad with an 80-mm lens and 2 1/4 square Kodak Ektachrome Daylight type film. As I had decided to shoot with the prism lens - which multiplied and softened some of the images - I also asked the band to bring colorful psychedelic clothes (fashionable at the time) which would stand out and provide us with more contrast as the prism lens tended to soften and loose contrast as it split the image. I don't know how long it took the band to get the clothes together, but they arrived at the studio in the morning, put the coffee pot on, and sat around the studio chatting. There was a lot to chat about as London was buzzing - it was a time of love and peace.

Finally, we decided to get on with the photos and the boys went to the changing room and started trying on the clothes. I first started with some test Polaroid shots, positioning them on the white background, which was a bit tricky as the prism lens multiplied each figure - they all overlapped each other! - so I had to get the figures positioned right or the whole thing looked like a mess. Syd got especially interested at this point and was quite intense, changing outfits and the positions of the band on the background and shooting tests on the Polaroid film with me.



< - Alternate takes from the session



When it was time for a lunch break, my assistant arrived with sandwiches, a couple bottles of Scotch and some joints - all quite enjoyable. After lunch, we put on some Piper music. I had a rather loud stereo system and the Piper sounds could be heard all the way down the street. With the music blasting away, we got into the session, shooting quite a few reels of film and finishing up around 6:00 PM. We had the films processed the next day and I delivered the photos the day after.

They loved the photos and Syd got inspired to create the back of the album cover. It had been a beautiful day – as had the day before the shoot and the day after – I attribute it to Flower Power!

About the photographer, Vic Singh –


Vic was born in Lucknow, India, his father a son of Raja of Kalakankar, situated on the banks of The Ganges in northern India and his mother a daughter of a well-known Austrian society photographer in Vienna. He was sent to St. Christopher’s College in Letchworth, Hertfordshire as a young child and his mother decided to move to London.

In his teens, he attended St. Martin’s College of Art in London and then got a job at Mayflower Studios as a junior assistant - delivering prints, sweeping the floor, making tea, etc. He then moved on to his first job as a photographer with Studio Five in London's Mayfair, and a couple of years later, he opened his own photo studio called “Vic Singh Limited” also in Mayfair.

He worked for the fashion, advertising and music industries. Being a member of "the Swinging 60's In-Crowd" from it's formation, he had many acquaintances in the music industry. Besides photographing various independent artists such as Pink Floyd, Marc Bolan and others, he also worked for Chris Blackwell of Island Records with artists such as Jimmy Cliff, The Spencer Davis Group (Stevie Winwood) and others shooting PR, record covers and music video (16-mm b/w film), including The Beatles film 'A Day in the Life' (from Sgt.Pepper) for Apple Records.

In the last few years, Vic’s concentrated his efforts on the digital side of photography and video and is working in a new environment of the avant-garde music and fashion scene that is, at present, evolving in London.

To see more examples of Vic Singh’s work, please visit his Web site at:

http://www.vicsingh.co.uk

To see more examples of artwork related to Pink Floyd in the RockPoP Gallery collection, please visit

http://rockpopgallery.easystorecreator.com/items/pink_floyd/list.htm

All images Copyright 1967 & 2007 Vic Singh www.vicsingh.co.uk
Except as noted, All other text Copyright 2007 - Mike Goldstein & RockPoP Gallery (www.rockpopgallery.com) - All rights reserved.

More Vinyl Record News

Death Cab For Cutie to release anniversary edition of debut album

And their most recent album will come out on vinyl

Death Cab For Cutie have announced that they will reissue their 1998 debut album 'Something About Airplanes' this autumn.

The limited-edition deluxe reissue is due out in the US via Barsuk Records on November 25 and will mark the 10th anniversary of its original release. It will include a bonus disc featuring a recording of the band's first-ever Seattle show in February of 1998, as well as redesigned artwork and new linter notes written by Harvey Danger's Sean Nelson.

The band have also announced that they will release their latest album, 'Narrow Stairs', on deluxe vinyl on the same day. It will include a 7” single featuring demo versions of album tracks 'No Sunlight' and 'The Ice Is Getting Thinner'.

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Von Bondies Sign To Majordomo, Finally Set Album Release Date

It's been years in the making, so let's hope the new Von Bondies record, finally inked in for a February '09 release isn't a complete letdown.

The Detroit band, headed by one-time White Stripe-beater Jason Stollsteimer, had originally planned the release of their third album 'Love, Hate and Then There's You' for early 2008, but problems finding a label to release it, plus the perennial line-up changes have resulted in the delay, with Stollsteimer comically noting that the band “would have signed a lot sooner, but it took us four years to find a pen.”

The tie-up with Majordomo, home of the Airbourne Toxic Event and Earlimart, marks the third consecutive LP that the Von Bondies have switched labels. The band did imply earlier this year that they would be releasing their records independently now, following their departure from Sire.

"For me personally, [the relationship] had run its course. I love the people we worked with, but it wasn't right for what I wanted to do." says Stollsteimer, “At this point [we] kind of don't need one, we know how many records we'll probably sell on our own and we're OK with that.”

The Von Bondies will also tour the U.S. this autumn. A new single, taken from the album, entitled “Pale Bride” will follow November 18th as a 7-inch vinyl single.

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Neil Diamond's latest album, "Home Before Dark," will be released as a double-LP set on 180-gram vinyl Nov. 11 via Columbia. The LP includes two bonus tracks: covers of Nilsson's "Without Her" and Bob Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love," as well as a digital download card.

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The first-ever vinyl release from the Cruz del Sur label will be the album "Be Gone" by acclaimed U.S. act PHARAOH. "Be Gone" was released as a CD and limited digipack CD in April. The upcoming deluxe vinyl version will include a full-color poster and a bonus 7" record containing two additional songs from the "Be Gone" album sessions. This package, scheduled for a November release, will come in a gatefold sleeve and be limited to 500 copies.

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The limited edition Jon Foreman vinyl box set is now available to order. It contains four 12" marbled high quality vinyl records (fall, winter, spring, summer) and a beautiful four page book-style cover featuring a few of Andy Barron's best shots of Jon over the years. Each box set is numbered 1-500 (we're only making 500 of these marbled guys!), and every set is signed by Jon Foreman.

Top 5 eBay Vinyl Record Sales

Week Ending 09/06/2008

1) 45rpm - Margaret Little "Love Finds A Way" / "I Need Some Loving" Genbro - $7,400.00

2) 45rpm - Lester Tipton "This Won't Change" / "Go On" La Beat - $7,200.00

3) 45rpm - Tommy & The Derby's "Don't Play The Role" / "Handy Andy" Swing - $4,161.00

4) 45rpm - Al Williams "I Am Nothing" / "Brand New Love" La Beat - $3,220.00

5) LP - Soul Expedition self titled Private Press - $2,939.29

SOURCE: http://ccdiscoveries.blogspot.com/

Classic Rock Videos

Elegants- Little Star

CLARITY VINYL

A rather long post explains the techniques and modifications that Classic Records are implementing in their new vinyl releases. An interesting read for sure and one of importance to all vinyl lovers

The long and winding road continues here at Classic Records with our ongoing pursuit to make the best quality records possible. To that end, we have made some changes that have been in the market now for most of 2008 including a slight modification to our Super Vinyl Profile. Some background is in order here before I explain. Originally, what has come to be known as Classic's "Super Vinyl Profile"

Read the rest here:

http://www.classicrecords.com/blog/index.cfm?archiveyear=2008&archivemonth=9

Album Cover Art

Continuing our look at Gigwise.com's look at the most controversial, weirdest, best and worst album covers (as compiled by their staff) we carry on at #27

Controversial


27. King Diamond: ‘Give Me Your Soul Please’ – A concept album by King Diamond released on June 26, 2007. The album's concept and cover art are both based on a painting titled "My Mother's Eyes."

In the July/August issue of UK metal magazine Zero Tolerance, Diamond elaborated on the themes of the album, being a story of two dead children, murdered by their father, relating their tale to him. He stated that cases of parents killing their children and then themselves were a large influence, citing such an incident which occurred in Dallas four days before the interview took place. Ironically, Give Me Your Soul was also released the day after the highly publicized Chris Benoit double murder and suicide.

The album opens with a sister and brother waiting in the afterlife, haven been recently murdered by their father. The ambigious "Thirteen Judges" have deemed that the boy deserves to go to Hell because they mistakenly believe he committed suicide. The sister, called the Girl in the Bloody Dress, goes to search for a soul free of sin to save her brother from damnation. She arrives at Neverending Hill, where King Diamond lives with his black cat, Magic. She tries to contact him to help her, but only ends up haunting him instead, causing the lights to flicker, objects to move on their own, making the temperature drop to ice-like levels, and increasing the darkness. Using black magic, and fighting the darkness of the house, he finally contacts the girl who tells him her story; that her father chopped up her brother with an axe, splashing her with his blood, then choked her to death before shooting himself in the head. She looks into King's soul, but finds it's no good to her, because his soul is full of sin. In the final track, a rare ballad for King Diamond, he pleads with her to find a new house to search for a soul free of sin before the sun rises. The album ends with the Girl in the Bloody Dress saying that she's moving on to THIS house, implying that she's coming to the house of the listener of the album.

Wow, what kind of drugs were available for this recording session?

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Weird


27. Queensrÿche: 'Hear In The Now Frontier' Maybe they should have called "Five Ears in the Desert"- the mason jars are a nice touch. I love the concept and wonder why it isn't rated higher or even on the 'best' list.

Hear in the Now Frontier is the sixth studio album by progressive metal band Queensrÿche, released in 1997.

The album debuted at #19 but quickly vanished from the charts. The musical sound and style of the album was more basic and stripped down than anything the band had released to date, and some fans and critics pointed to the grunge musical style as being a major influence on the record. Despite the reaction, the singles "Sign of the Times" and "You" received substantial airplay. Queensrÿche has sold over 20 million albums worldwide including over 11 million albums and videos in the United States.

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Worst


27. Bee Gees – ‘Life In A Tin Can’ (1973) Now, I actually own a copy of this LP and I happen to like it. The pre-disco Bee Gees were actually a great pop/rock band and their career is iconic. Certainly an acquired taste, the Seventies soft-rock giants sold many records. But I still haven't figured out how they get in and out of that can.

The Gibb brothers (along with the Wilsons, probably the most famous 'family combo' in the world of pop music) weren't big innovators in the world of pop. What the brothers always had for them, and to a certain extent, have preserved up to the present day, is an incredible knack for writing solid pop melodies This is a plus. Another plus is the brothers' vocal talents: while their harmonies leave a lot to be desired, both Robin and Barry had tremendous singing voices, and were undeniably in the same league with Britain's (not to mention Australia's) best vocalists of both the Sixties and the Seventies... until, of course, they traded everything in for the irritating falsettos on their disco records. And that is where it all ended for me, although they continued to release music until the premature death of Maurice. Maurice Gibb died at a Miami Beach, Florida, hospital on January 12, 2003 of complications resulting from a twisted intestine. Following his death, his surviving brothers Barry and Robin announced that they would no longer perform as the Bee Gees.

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Best


27. Radiohead: ‘Amnesiac’ - Yet another Radiohead album cover designed by Stanley Donwood (he’s done the majority of the band’s complete back-catalogue), this somehow makes it onto the 'best' list- which is beyond comprehension for me.

Amnesiac is the fifth studio album by the English alternative rock band Radiohead. It was released on 4 June 2001 in the United Kingdom and on 5 June 2001 in the United States and Canada, debuting at #1 on the UK charts and #2 on the Billboard Top 200. Seen as the furthest departure yet from the rock style and heart-on-sleeve songwriting of the band's early career,[citation needed] Amnesiac nevertheless has more audible guitar than its direct predecessor Kid A, and unlike that album, it spun off several singles. Like Kid A, it synthesizes influences of electronic music, ambient music, classical music, and jazz.

In addition to the standard release of Amnesiac, a special edition album was released. This consists of a red hardback book, like the book pictured on the album cover. The book is styled as a library book from "Catachresis College Library", with the CD inside the book cover along with library slips and date stamps, some of which reference Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. The book featured many pages of art designed by Stanley Donwood and Thom Yorke, who went by the pseudonym of "Tchocky" when credited. In 2002, the special edition album won Donwood and Yorke a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package. "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors" is called "Pull/Pulk Revolving Doors" on this version.

This Date In Music History- October 2

Birthdays:

Don McLean ("American Pie") is 63.

David Sommerville of the Diamonds ("Little Darlin'") is 75.

Genesis guitarist Mike Rutherford was born in Guildford, England in 1950.

Happy birthday to Gordon Sumner AKA-Sting (1951).

Phil Oakey of Human League was born in Sheffield, England in 1955.

Soul singer Freddie Jackson ("You Are My Lady") was born in Harlem, NY in 1956.

Mall superstar Tiffany ("I Think We're Alone Now") was born in Norwalk, California in 1971.

History:

Elvis Presley's body is moved from a Memphis cemetery to the Meditation Garden at Graceland in 1977 after a plot was foiled to steal the body.

Elvis Presley mades his only appearance on Nashville's "Grand Ole Opry" (the Opry manager tells him to stick to driving a truck) in 1954.

In 1945, ten year old Elvis Presley made his first public appearance in a talent show at the Mississippi-Alabama Dairy Show singing "Old Shep.” He won 2nd place and 5 dollars.

TV's "Soul Train" premiered in national syndication in 1971, with guests Gladys Knight and the Honey Cone.

The first single was released on Phil Spector's Philles Records ("There's No Other Like My Baby" by the Crystals) in 1961.

In 1957, after a heated argument with her father, Connie Francis reluctantly records "Who's Sorry Now" in two takes. Although she doesn't like the song at all, record buyers feel differently and by the following March, it would become her first hit, reaching number 4 in the US and number 1 in the UK.

In 1967, police raided the Grateful Dead's house at 710 Ashbury St. in San Francisco and busted the band's members on charges of marijuana possession. They are released on bail after six hours in jail and later cleared of charges, as the police had failed to obtain a search warrant.

1975- The scene Milwaukee's Hotel Phister. The setup: Bruce Springsteen has retired to the hotel bar after his show at the Upton Theatre is delayed due to a bomb scare. Springsteen ends up performing at the bar after getting what he calls "a little loose." He makes his way back to the theater riding on top of a music journalist's automobile.

In 1998, singing cowboy Gene Autry died at age 91. His biggest hit was the original version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

1997-It is announced that “Candle in the Wind 1997,” Elton John’s tribute to the late Princess Diana, has shipped more than 26 million units worldwide, making it the second biggest single in history (behind Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas”). It topped the U.S. charts for 14 weeks.

Today in 1971, the song "Maggie May" by Rod Stewart topped the charts and stayed there for 5 weeks.

In 1960, "Stay" by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs entered the US chart on its way to number one. At just 1:37, it becomes the shortest US chart topper in Rock and Roll history.

John "Cougar" Mellencamp’s "Jack And Diane" began a four week run at #1 on the U.S. pop chart in 1982.