Assignment 13: Curate Yourself

“33 1/3 Rotations Per Minute” – An Exhibition of Surrealist Album Art From The Vinyl Rock Era.

This curated exhibition celebrates surrealistic album cover art from the 60's and 70's vinyl rock era, and the creative inspirations of designers. The aim of the surrealist movement was to, "Resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality.”

Surrealism grew from the Dada movement during World War I, and spread internationally to influence film, music, and visual art spanning across cultures, languages, politics, and social and philosophical theories. Surrealist art creates the element of surprise through the juxtaposition of seemingly unrelated visuals as an expression of the human condition through suggestive dream imagery.

These cover illustrations explored the subconscious minds of the musicians as expressed through the conceptual ideas of the illustrators. According to André Breton, a leader of the surrealist movement, surrealism was, “A revolutionary movement, above all else.” The art inspired by the vinyl rock era represents artifacts of this philosophical movement.

Tommy

Band: The Who
Album Artists: Mike McInneryney & Barrie Meller
Year: 1969
Genre: Hard Rock, Rock.

“Tommy” was conceived by guitarist, Pete Townshend, as a “rock opera” about a boy who is rendered deaf, dumb, and blind through a trauma, and his vulnerable relationship with his erratic family. Townshend was heavily influenced by the spiritual teachings of Meher Baba, and tried to translate his teachings into musical form.

Townshend recruited designer, Mike McInneryney, who was a fellow follower of Baba’s teachings. McInneryney wanted to portray a world seen through the eyes of a boy limited by his external senses. He chose to, “Depict a kind of breaking out of a certain restricted plane into freedom."

The cover shows a blue and white “web” of clouds with a fist punching through the black void. The Who's Co-Manager, Kit Lambert, approved of the design on behalf of Townshend, who was busy in the recording studio at the time of presentation. The only change to the design was to include images of the band members in the holes of the web at the request of their record label.

Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs

Band: Derek And The Dominoes
Album Artist: Emile Théodore Frandsen de Schomberg
Year: 1970
Genre: Blues Rock

Eric Clapton requested that the front cover for “Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs” be a reproduction of a painting by Emile Théodore Frandsen de Shomberg entitled “La Fille Au Bouquet,”or “The Girl With The Bouquet.” Clapton saw this painting in the south of France at the house of Giorgio Gomelsky. Clapton spotted a likeness between the girl in painting and Patti Boyd, for whom “Layla” had been written. He insisted the painting represent the album without any additional text to identify the band name or title.

In Search Of The Lost Chord

Band: The Moody Blues
Album Artist: Phil Travers
Year: 1968
Genre: Progressive Rock, Psychedelic Rock

Phil Travers worked in the art department at Decca records when he was asked to create a cover for “In The Search Of The Lost Chord”. The Moody Blues shared their recordings with Travers so he could design with the music in mind.

The directive from the band was to portray an abstraction of “meditation.” Travers found this difficult initially (having never experienced meditation), until he remembered seeing a multiple reflection of himself in the audio suite glass separating the recording and mixing stations. Travers used gouache, watercolor, and airbrushing to create the radiant visuals. Travers would continue to create album art for the Moody Blues, and his style would become synonymous with the band's albums of the 1970’s.

Days Of Future Passed

Band: The Moody Blues
Album Artist: David Anstey
Year: 1967
Genre: Proto-Prog, Art Rock, Progressive Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Symphonic Rock.

The album art for “Days Of Future Passed” is fondly remembered for its brightly colored imagery. Originally created by David Anstey, the imagery was meant to represent a musical “cycle of life” that blends psychedelic pop and classical music together.

Anstey’s illustrated cover in 1967 would set the precedent for Moody Blues album covers to feature complex surreal imagery that was both thematically cohesive and visually subjective. The meanings are still debated as to what the imagery definitively represents.

Revolver

Band: The Beatles
Album Artist: Klaus Voormann
Year: 1966
Genre: Rock, Pop, Psychedelic Rock

The album cover for The Beatles “Revolver” was designed by Graphic Designer Klaus Voormann. He met the Beatles in 1962 along with photographer, Astrid Kircherr, who took the (now famous) black and white photography of The Beatles during their club band days in Hamburg, Germany. Voormann's initial concept for Revolver was to create a “scrapbook collage” by mixing illustrations with photographs for a mixed media piece. Revolver was influential in the rise of rock subgenres such as psychedelic, electronica, progressive, and world music. The cover won the 1967 Grammy for Best Album Art. Voormann would later design art for George Harrison’s 1988 single “When We Was Fab” which included the image of Harrison from Revolver along with an updated illustration in the same scrapbook style.

On the Threshold Of A Dream

Band: The Moody Blues
Album Artist: Phil Travers
Year: 1969
Genre: Progressive Rock

After designing cover art for the Moody Blues album “In Search Of The Lost Chord,” Phil Travers was asked to create the cover for “On The Threshold Of A Dream.”
Travers created a rough pencil sketch while listening to the recordings. The cover painting is meant to depict our ambitions, sometimes left unrealized, as projected in our dreams. Travers began painting once the band greenlit the original sketch design. Due to the intricate detailing, Travers would frequently pull all-nighters in order to meet project deadlines. Despite being under intense pressure, Travers found the experience artistically fulfilling, and reflects on the period fondly.

A Question Of Balance

Band: The Moody Blues
Album Artist: Phil Travers
Year: 1970
Genre: Progressive Rock, Folk Rock

Phil Travers continued his design relationship with The Moody Blues with the cover art for “A Question Of Balance”. As with the other covers, Travers would illustrate while listening to the music. The design contains multiple swirling images, most notably a reference to Albert Einstein, the scientific progress, spirituality (God reaching out with his left hand), and satire of spirituality (God holding a smoking cigar with the other).

This cover initially stirred controversy for including an image of a man holding a gun. The art was based on an actual person, but he was not happy with the depiction. To quell the objections, Travers altered the imagery to include a pith helmet. When the album was later released on CD, the image appeared as originally intended.

Pyramid

Band: The Alan Parsons Project
Album Artist: Hipgnosis
Year: 1978
Genre: Progressive Rock, Art Rock, Symphonic Rock, New Wave.

At the time the album's inception, there was renewed interest in Egyptian culture, and in particular, and the Pyramids of Giza. The Alan Parsons Project wanted to express this fascination through their music. Pyramids were believed to harbor great power, and the cover art was meant to portray this internal fascination. The cover art was created by the design group, “Hipgnosis,” which existed from 1968 to 1982. Hipgnosis consisted of Storm Thorgerson, Aubrey Powell, and Peter Christopherson, and they specialized in album art, logos, and other promotional materials for rock musicians. The company name came from Adrian Haggard, who scratched the word on Storm and Aubrey’s front door late one night. In 1982, the artists formed a new business called “Greenback Films” which specialized in music videos.

Mind Games

Band: John Lennon
Album Artist: John Lennon
Year: 1973
Genre: Rock

John Lennon designed and created the cover for “Mind Games” using a collage style approach with pieces of his own photography. Yoko Ono's profile appears as a distant mountain range that Lennon is emerging from. It was meant to represent Yoko's powerful influence on him as an artist and romantic partner. Lennon recorded this album during his 18 month separation from Ono due to his U.S. Immigration difficulties. Both the front and back covers are similar except for whether John’s position appears in the foreground of the mountain or the background.

Axis: Bold As Love

Band: The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Album Artist: Roger Law, Karl Ferris
Year: 1967
Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Pop Rock

The cover art for “Axis: Bold As Love” was illustrated by Roger Law. It depicted Jimi Hendrix and his band as different forms of Vishnu. A portrait of Hendrix, taken by Karl Ferris, was integrated into the final design. When presented with the art, Hendrix was dismayed at the choice of Vishnu, stating that Native American imagery would have been more appropriate because of his heritage. Despite this, the cover art was used, and Hendrix would celebrate his Native American heritage in posters and international television appearances.

Weird Scenes Inside The Gold Mine

Band: The Doors
Album Artist: Bill Hoffman
Year: 1972
Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Acid Rock, Blues Rock, Hard Rock.

“Weird Scenes Inside The Gold Mine” was the second compilation album for The Doors, and the first to be released after Jim Morrison's death in January 1972. The album title comes from the song, “The End,” and the cover was designed by Bill Hoffman under the art direction of Robert Heimall, who has been a active designer and director since the 1960’s. The press, once highly critical of Jim Morrison for pushing the limits of decency, began to celebrate his fearless, often reckless, individualism as an artist. The cover painting is meant to suggest his image was the subject of perception, and the only true identify of any individual is within their own mind. The Gold tones suggest his exceptionalism, and the compilation album was thought to be his musical eulogy.

Toys In The Attic

Band: Aerosmith
Album Artist: Ingrid Haenke
Year: 1975
Genre: Hard Rock, Blues Rock, Heavy Metal

The art concept for “Toys In The Attic” came from Steven Tyler. He originally wanted a teddy bear with his wrist cut, and stuffing spilling out all over the floor. However, following a discussion with the illustrator, Ingrid Haekne, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry decided the attic should be filled with toys, instead. Haekne was best known for fashion design and storybook illustrations, and her artistic influence is evident in the cover's final design.

From The Mars Hotel

Band: The Grateful Dead
Album Artist: Alton Kelley, Stanley Mouse
Year: 1974
Genre: Acid Rock, Jam Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Blues Rock, Folk Rock

“From The Mars Hotel” cover art was created by Kelley/Mouse, who previously designed the covers for “American Beauty,” “Grateful Dead,” and “Europe ’72.” Alton Kelley, specifically, is credited for the 'Skull and Crossbones' design synonymous with The Grateful Dead. “From The Mars Hotel” features a depiction of an actual building in San Francisco juxtaposed against an extraterrestrial landscape. The actual building was a hotel “flophouse” and temporary residence of Jack Kerouac, and used as the location shot for David Bowie's 1972 promotional film, “The Jean Genie.” The reference to Mars refers to the otherworldly atmosphere created by those that gathered at the Hotel. This hotel was eventually demolished during the Yerba Buena redevelopment, and footage of the demolition can be seen in “The Grateful Dead Movie” released in 1977. It is now the location of the Moscone West Exhibition Hall.