The Rolling Stones   “Some Girls”   (1978)   Cover designed by Peter Corriston.   A die-cut cover of ladies wig ads with the faces of the band alongside those of Lucille Ball, Farah Fawcett, Judy Garland, Raquel Welch and Marilyn Monroe peeking through from the inner sleeve.   Soon after it’s release the cover was withdrawn due to legal threats from many of the celebrities or their estates.   The revised cover removed all the celebrities whether they had complained or not, and they were replaced with just   colors with the phrase PARDON OUR APPEARANCE – COVER UNDER RE-CONSTRUCTION.

1. Miss You (4.48)
2. When The Whip Comes Down (4.20)
3. Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) (4.38) (Whitfield, Strong)
4. Some Girls (4.36)
5. Lies (3.11)
6. Far Away Eyes (4.24)
7. Respectable (3.06)
8. Before They Make Me Run (3.25)
9. Beast Of Burden (4.25)
10. Shattered (3.47)

On a personal note, I saw the stones play the summer “Some Girls” was released.   It was at the Cleveland Municipal Stadium on July 1, 1978.   A crowd of 80,000 plus!   After getting there in the early morning for a 2PM gate, I scrambled to the front of the field – where I stayed for about ten straight hours.     The concert opened with J. Geils and then Peter Tosh.     Peter Tosh, lit a HUGE joint, and tossed it into the crowd as he kicked into “Legalize It”.   (It made the rounds for most of his set).   He also came out for a duet on “Don’t Walk Back.”   Sugar Blue came out and played harmonica on the new songs.   That Fall, back in New York, I went to Studio 54 a few times and “Miss You” will always make me think of that time and place.

(55 votes, average: 3.82 out of 5)

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Family Cactus is a great new band from Wellington, New Zealand.   Here’s the cover art for the band’s first CD, “Come Howling” on Arch Hill Records.   The band is in town for the CMJ Music Festival and recently played a private gig for industry and friends of LP Cover Lover.   Here’s their single “Kingmaker” (which is being used in a national Yellow Pages commercial here in the states) and here’s an article that ran today in the New Zealand Herald by New York correspondent Gemma Gracewood.

Behind the scenes – Family Cactus recorded the music video for “Kingmaker” in this grand old house tucked into one of the Thorndon terraces in Wellington. Built 1905 by John Sydney Swan, a Commodore of the  Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club and owner of one of the world’s largest collections of photographs of ships. Currently listed on the NZ Historic Places Trust register.

(36 votes, average: 2.86 out of 5)

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An EP from Ulf in Sweden.   “Rock”   with the James Brothers and Dick Lory on DOT Records (Sweden) (1957)     Ulf notes that in Swedish, the word “rock” also means “coat”.

(26 votes, average: 3.27 out of 5)

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Pantomime   Everywhere It’s Christmas   The Beatles’ fourth Christmas 7″ flexi distributed free to their fans through the fan club.   Recorded November 1966.     Produced by George Martin.   Illustration by Paul McCartney!

(31 votes, average: 2.58 out of 5)

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2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees The Hollies   “On A Carousel” b/w “All the World is Love”   Dischi Parlophon Records (Italy) (1967)

(29 votes, average: 2.97 out of 5)

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Bob Dylan   “Oh Mercy”   Columbia Records (1989)   Produced by Daniel Lanois   Street Art by Trotsky; Album Design by Christopher Austopchuk; Type Design by Mark Burdett; Photo: Suzie-Q

Bob Dylan — Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica
Daniel Lanois — Dobro
Malcolm Burn — Tambourine
Tony Hall — Bass
Willie Green — Drums
Brian Stoltz — Guitar
Daryl Johnson — Percussion

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(39 votes, average: 2.85 out of 5)

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Black Sabbath Vol. 4 Vertigo Records UK   (Warner Bros. in US/Canada) 1972.   Features several Sabbath classics, such as “Tomorrow’s Dream,” “Snowblind,” “Supernaut” and “Changes.” Eminem uses “Changes” as the basis for his track “Going Through Changes” from his album Recovery.

Here’s a video of “Changes” from Ozzy’s “end of the road” last concert.

In June 1972, Black Sabbath reconvened in Los Angeles to begin work on their fourth album at the Record Plant Studios.   The recording process was plagued with problems, many due to drug issues. Despite the copious amounts of cocaine, the band produced another first-rate album that pushed the boundaries of heavy metal and would influence countless bands.       As Butler told Guitar World in 2001, “Yeah, the cocaine had set in. We went out to L.A. and got into a totally different lifestyle. Half the budget went on the coke and the other half went to seeing how long we could stay in the studio…We rented a house in Bel-Air and the debauchery up there was just unbelievable.”

The album cover features a monochrome photograph of Ozzy Osbourne with hands raised, taken during a Black Sabbath concert. The album’s original release features a gatefold sleeve.   Each band member is given their own photo page, with the band on-stage (and photographed from behind) in the center.   The album’s cover art has proved iconic and even Converse shoes released a limited edition of a pair of sneakers with the Vol. 4 cover.

Now , just for fun, check out this brief clip from evangelist Michael Mills’ album about Hidden and Satanic Messages in Rock Music:

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(47 votes, average: 3.64 out of 5)

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George Harrison   “All Things Must Pass” Apple Records   (1970)   (I got my copy that year.)   A triple album with the #1 hit “My Sweet Lord,”   “Isn’t It A Pity,” and many other beautiful songs.   Album design and photography:   Tom Wilkes.

Wilkes was partner in a Long Beach advertising firm when he became art director for the 1967 Monterey International Pop Music Festival for which he created all of the graphics and print materials, including the festival’s psychedelic poster that was printed on foil stock.   Music producer Lou Adler, who produced the landmark music festival with singer John Phillips, said Wilkes “caught the spirit of the time” with his festival graphics.   The Monterey pop festival “catapulted” Wilkes’ career into the music industry, his daughter said, beginning as art director at A&M Records.

During his heyday, Wilkes designed or provided the art direction or graphic design for scores of album covers, including designing the covers for the Rolling Stones’ “Beggars Banquet,” Neil Young’s “Harvest,” Eric Clapton’s “Eric Clapton,” Joe Cocker’s “Mad Dogs & Englishmen” and George Harrison’s “Concert for Bangladesh” and “All things Must Pass.”

As he did with many of the albums, Wilkes also shot the cover photo of Joplin for her 1971 “Pearl” album, which shows the flamboyant singer lounging on a settee.   (Their photo session was the night she overdosed.)

In 1973, Wilkes won a Grammy Award for best recording package for the Who’s rock opera “Tommy,” as performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Choir.

Wilkes passed away in 2009.   He was 69 years old.

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(49 votes, average: 3.82 out of 5)

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“Takin My Time”   Bonnie Raitt’s third LP released in 1973.   A personal favorite.   And what a cast of players!   Bonnie, Freebo, Lowell George, John Hall, Milt Holland, Jim Keltner, Taj Mahal, Earl Palmer, Van Dyke Parks and Ernie Watts.   Produced by John Hall (see the story below)   Art direction: Tom Gamache, Sandy Kroopf   Cover photo: Michael Dobo

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In an interview given in 1982, Raitt would reveal that “Takin’ My Time is one of my favorite records to listen to, although I started out with Lowell George producing it, and he and I got too close to be able to have any objectivity about it. That’s the problem when you’re a woman and you get involved with the people you work with – and I just don’t just mean romantically. It becomes too emotional. It’s hard to have a strong woman telling the man her ideas when, in fact, the man wants to take over the situation. So that album had a lot of heartache in it. At the time it was a difficult one to make, but now I like it.”

(31 votes, average: 3.58 out of 5)

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Two by Bijelo Dugme   Yugoslav Rock

(59 votes, average: 4.14 out of 5)

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