The Complete Record Cover Collection


Book Description

A landmark work that pays splendid homage to a forgotten era of seminal American music. Robert Crumb first began drawing record covers in 1968 when Janis Joplin, a fellow Haight Ashbury denizen, asked him to provide a cover for her album Cheap Thrills. It was an invitation the budding artist couldn't resist, especially since he had been fascinated with record covers-particularly for the legendary jazz, country, and old-time blues music of the 1920s and 1930s-since he was a teen. This early collaboration proved so successful that Crumb went on to draw hundreds of record covers for both new artists and largely forgotten masters. So remarkable were Crumb's artistic interpretations of these old 78 rpm singles that the art itself proved influential in their rediscovery in the 1960s and 1970s. Including such classics as Truckin' My Blues Away, Harmonica Blues, and Please Warm My Weiner, Crumb's opus also features more recent covers done for CDs. R. Crumb: The Complete Record Cover Collection is a must-have for any lover of graphics and old-time music.




Blue Note


Book Description

Music lovers have been attracted to the distinct style and sleek sound of jazz since its birth at the turn of the century. The album covers collected in this comprehensive volume under the well-known Blue Note record label embody classic design and pioneering typography. Two hundred color photographs of the album sleeves, an informative history of the Blue Note record company, and a portrait of Reid Miles, who designed nearly 500 album covers, capture the integrity of this distinctive record label. Sophisticated jazz connoisseurs and young listeners alike, as well as those with an interest in style and graphic design, will enjoy this exciting book of jazz memorabilia.




Dust & Grooves


Book Description

A photographic look into the world of vinyl record collectors—including Questlove—in the most intimate of environments—their record rooms. Compelling photographic essays from photographer Eilon Paz are paired with in-depth and insightful interviews to illustrate what motivates these collectors to keep digging for more records. The reader gets an up close and personal look at a variety of well-known vinyl champions, including Gilles Peterson and King Britt, as well as a glimpse into the collections of known and unknown DJs, producers, record dealers, and everyday enthusiasts. Driven by his love for vinyl records, Paz takes us on a five-year journey unearthing the very soul of the vinyl community.




The Greatest Album Covers of All Time


Book Description

With the resurgence of vinyl going from strength to strength, album cover art is as important as it's ever been. This sumptuous book brings together 250 of the greatest album covers of all time and is arranged chronologically, beginning in 1956. Our judging panel, drawn from the great and the good of the music industry, has selected the final 275 entries, giving their reasons for selection to accompany the illustrations. From rock ‘n’ roll to pop, R&B to jazz, blues and even folk, some of the album covers included are obvious classics, while others will surprise readers and jog memories. The chosen entries might not necessarily be of a best-selling release, but they are important artistically, stylistically or culturally. This fascinating book forms a wonderful visual record of this popular art form, and is an essential read for music fans the world over.




1000 Record Covers


Book Description

Vinyl's back in style and in this selection of 1,000 of the most iconic record sleeves from the 60s to 90s, we recall why it's the biggest and best music format ever. Seminal artwork, memorable cover-sleeves, and long-lost classics all jostle for space in this virtual shelf of music history.




Classic Album Covers of the 1970s


Book Description

A stunning collection of over 200 essential and influential album covers of the decade A visual reflection of psychedelia-influenced artwork to Punk anti- design – from Pink Floyd to the Sex Pistols Indispensable purchase for the dedicated follower of music and art The seventies are often regarded as a mean, dark and turbulent decade, full of discontent and pessimism. The album covers of the burgeoning hard rock, progressive rock, pop and punk scenes that dominated the decade mirrored this social and cultural dystopia effectively, and accurately, capturing the tone of the music as well as the world at large. Over the decade it became clear that the 1970s were a hotbed of experimental, unique and mind-expanding design – perfectly mirroring the progressive music of the time as well as the technology of music recording and photography and being an expansive step away from the 1960s optimism. Classic Album Covers of the 1970s is an essential collection of over 200 of the greatest album covers produced during that dark decade. From the Grateful Dead, Roxy Music and David Bowie, to Patti Smith, The Ramones and the Sex Pistols, this volume will prove indispensable to all those interested in the history of album cover graphics and design, and to those whose memories of the seventies are stirred by the record covers of that period.




Hipgnosis


Book Description

The complete catalogue of design collective Hipgnosis, showcasing groundbreaking cover art created for iconic rock ’n’ roll giants, including the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd The complete, definitive, and never-before-published catalogue of album covers created by the legendary design agency Hipgnosis, this volume finally does justice to the work of the most important design collective in music history. Founded in 1967 by Storm Thorgerson, Aubrey “Po" Powell, and Peter Christopherson, Hipgnosis gained a legendary status in graphic design, transforming the look of album art forever and winning five Grammy nominations for package design. Their revolutionary cover art departed from the conventional group shots favored by record companies of the day, resulting in groundbreaking, often surreal designs inextricable from the major albums of many of the biggest names in the history of popular music: AC/DC, Black Sabbath, The Police, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, Syd Barrett, The Who, Wings, Yes, and XTC, to name but a few. Arranged chronologically, Vinyl . Album . Cover . Art features stunning reproductions of every single Hipgnosis cover—more than 300 in total—for the first time, along with pertinent insights from the rock ’n’ roll legends whose albums are featured and behind-the-scenes photography. The text, written by Powell, and with contributions by Peter Gabriel, Robert Plant, and Nick Mason, brims with information that illuminates the album art and the compelling stories behind each cover’s creation.




Vinyl Junkies


Book Description

Not too far away from the flea markets, dusty attics, cluttered used record stores and Ebay is the world of the vinyl junkies. Brett Milano dives deep into the piles of old vinyl to uncover the subculture of record collecting. A vinyl junkie is not the person who has a few old 45s shoved in the cuboard from their days in high school. Vinyl Junkies are the people who will travel over 3,000 miles to hear a rare b-side by a German band that has only recorded two songs since 1962, vinyl junkies are the people who own every copy of every record produced by the favorite artist from every pressing and printing in existance, vinyl junkies are the people who may just love that black plastic more than anything else in their lives. Brett Milano traveled the U.S. seeking out the most die-hard and fanatical collectors to capture all that it means to be a vinyl junkie. Includes interviews with Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, Peter Buck from R.E.M and Robert Crumb, creator of Fritz the cat and many more underground comics.




Vinyl Age


Book Description

From Carolina Soul Records, one of the world's largest online record sellers, comes the definitive guide to every aspect of record collecting in the digital era. Any music fan knows that there's nothing like the tactile pleasure of a record. Even with access to a variety of streaming services, digital technology has paved the way for the analog revival; from multiplatinum megahits to ultra-obscure private presses, millions of records are available for purchase from all over the world. Vinyl Age is the ultimate post-internet guide to record collecting. Written by Max Brzezinski of Carolina Soul Records, one of the world's largest high-end record dealers, Vinyl Age combines an engaging narrative and incisive analysis to reveal the joys and explain the complexities of the contemporary vinyl scene. Brzezinski demystifies the record game and imparts the skills essential to modern record digging -- how to research, find, buy, evaluate, and understand vinyl in the twenty-first century.




Portraying Performer Image in Record Album Cover Art


Book Description

In this work, Ken Bielen explains how album cover art authenticates recording artists in a particular genre. He considers albums issued from the 1950s to the 1980s, the golden era of record album cover art. The whole album package is studied, including the front and back covers, the inside cover, the inner sleeve, and the liner notes. Performers in rock and roll, folk and folk rock, soul and disco, psychedelic, Americana nostalgia, and singer-songwriter genres are included in this study of hundreds of record album covers.