I can’t have been alone in cherishing a newly acquired record, religiously reading every bit of information. Perusing the inner sleeve and even the label. But even the best covers often had a bit of a functional back sleeve. Obviously the cover sold it. But a few gave us lovely looking reverse sleeves as well as front covers.
The great thing about them is they document the great music too in the track listing. So as great as Drew Struzan’s artwork is for Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, the info from such a monumental release is just as important.
Same goes for Black Rose’s Jim Fitzpatrick artwork.
The thing is, I firmly believe the artwork and information was an integral part of the experience. We totally took it for granted but now, unless like me, you’re a vinyl addict, it has been taken away from us by downloading and streaming.
A record like Planet Waves, whose artwork is drawn by Dylan himself, gives it a unique feel, the opposite of modern Photoshop designs
The simple small photo and track listing of Made In Japan was iconic. I used to just love walking to school with that Deep Purple album and Made In Europe. It was perfect. Same goes for Rainbow Rising with its Ken Kelly artwork on the front and the simple black reverse and Zappa’s Live at The Roxy’s live shot. Indeed there are loads of brilliant covers that are just emblematic of the band Wishbone Ash’s Live Dates is one, as is Ted Nugent’s Double Live Gonzo.
I bought Curved Air’s Phantasmagoria purely because of the sleeve artwork with a front and back illustration that looked like it came from a children’s fantasy story like Alice In Wonderland. And TYA’s Rock n Roll Music To The World, a gatefold, looked so cool and the very embodiment of the rock spirit.
There’s a lot of art in some covers like Bad Company’s Desolation Angels which looks more like a cigarette ad. Rory Gallagher’s Tattoo is another splendid album
Man’s Maximum Darkness with the back sleeve of just lovely Rick Griffin lettering and what I have always assumed is John Cippolina’s Gibson SG on the front is superb and again is a ‘walk-to-school’ record.
I wanted to celebrate all these great aspects because, for me, at least, they’re an exciting part of the whole musical experience and the huge, important part they’ve played in my musical and cultural life, even if now, they’ve all but been dismissed as irrelevant by technological developments.
