Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of record covers from the golden age of LPs


Subscribe to feed Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Tumblr

July, 2008

Out Of This World

The Theme from the TV Show “Out Of This World”   Tony Hatch   PYE Records

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (37 votes, average: 3.30 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...

“It’s about love, it’s about connection!”

Like a locomotive gobbling up the track or the head of a Roman soldier.   A perfect cover from Brazil –   “Aqui Comeca O Mundo Maravilhoso Da Musica”   “A Fantastica Orquestra De Studio De Cipo”

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (25 votes, average: 3.96 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...

Hasid rock

A Woody Allen impersonator. I think this is a Russian record of Yiddish comedy.   (Editor’s note:   It’s not!   See the helpful comments left.)

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (41 votes, average: 2.93 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...

Storyville

A nice illustrated cover by Ben Shahn (1898-1969). “Chicago Style Jazz” on Columbia.

Art, as I saw it one day when I helped hang a National Academy show while I was a student there, was about cows. In those days, early in the twenties, there were many cow paintings. More than that, the cows always stood knee-deep in purple shadows. For the life of me I never learned to see purple where there was no purple — and I detested cows. I was frankly distressed at the prospects for me as an artist.

But there came a time when I stopped painting, stopped in order to evaluate all these doubts. If I couldn’t see purple where there was no purple–I wouldn’t use it. If I didn’t like cows, I wouldn’t paint them. What then was I to paint? Slowly I found that I must paint those things that were meaningful to me–that I could honestly paint in the shapes and colors I felt belonged to them. What shall I paint? Stories.Ben Shahn

Ben Shahn was an artist who spoke to the world. A man of uncompromising beliefs, he became the most popular artist of his age – his work was on the cover of Time as well as in the Museum of Modern Art.

Shahn came to prominence in the 1930s with “The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti,” a politically pointed series about the Italian anarchists who many believed were framed for murder. He went on to paint murals and take photographs for the government during the New Deal, and to become a successful painter and commercial artist.

In 1956-57, Ben Shahn was the Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard University (poetry was broadly defined as “all poetic expression in language, music, or the fine arts.”) During that time he gave a series of lectures, later collected and published by Harvard University Press. The Shape of Content has been in print and widely read since its publication in 1957. In fact, many people come into contact with Shahn’s writing before they are aware of his art.

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (40 votes, average: 4.03 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...

Hammer of the gods

“The Man Who Invented Music” Don Gillis London Records

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (21 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...

Smokey Joe

“Pal Joey”   The Don Elliott Quartet   Hallmark Records

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (30 votes, average: 3.40 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...

Lip service

Carmen McRae Bethlehem Records. Designed by Burt Goldblatt

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (33 votes, average: 3.18 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...

Audazious!

Exitos De EL-AUDAZ Luchador, Cantante y Actor. On Audaz Records. Audaz was the 1976 Universal Wrestling Association Champion and an early star of Lucha Libra

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (46 votes, average: 3.46 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...

A grill’s best friend

It’s July 19th and hot as hell in New York City.   Everyone is in the park with their little grills, bags of coal and coolers of beer.   I’m inside listening to “Music to Barbecue By” and dreaming of fat, juicy T-Bones and Porterhouse steaks, corn on the cob and baked potatoes.   This Lp was put out by Monitor Records and Adolph’s steak sauce and tenderizer “For your personal enjoyment all summer long”.

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (30 votes, average: 3.73 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...

Banana boat Millie

“Time Will Tell” by sexy, little Millie Small who had an international hit with the 1964 Ska single “My Boy Lollipop.”

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (41 votes, average: 4.71 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...