A beauty! with handwritten cover tagline from Otis!

There are lots of small regional labels that put out records like this. Many from the South with the featured artist in the gaudiest, most tacky, showbiz outfit. Often with the touring bus in the background. But this one that Tony laid on me out of the blue transcends the ordinary and defines the genre for me. Such is Willis Wade. Isn’t he fabulous!

Now I gotta find a copy. Anyone?

Wow! Another of Tony’s. I love this one (and need a copy!)

There’s a strange sub-genre of covers capturing the artist’s portrait in glass. Reflections appearing like images in a crystal ball. Here are two examples, one from Mexico the other a polka record. The power of alcohol to summon the ghosts of performers stretches from the Rio Grande to the Pennsylvania Dutch.

What do you see when you drink?