Albums from the 60's - Jazz and Blues

Album Art 60's Blues & Jazz

To bring my research home and steer it into a more applicable direction for my brief, Im starting to look at blues and jazz album artwork from the 60's.

The reason I am specifically looking at the 60's pieces for now is because I want to give my own piece a very vintage style and 60's based heritage, although I will try to blend it with a modern and contemporary theme. 

Here are a few classics I've picked out from the 1960's.

Love the font on this one!

Excellent composition, more my style, although seems to have drifted from the standard blues cover art.. more contemporary. 

Really nice font, very 60's, contrasting with a very old style photo of Muddy, Bo and Howlin'.

I like the sense of age the black and white (sepia) style photo has, maybe representing the earlier days the musicians became established in...

Very basic but also self explanatory. I think the font is beautiful,  it stands out like a sore thumb in a yellowy okre and blood orange stating the album name quite proudly.. yet humbly. 

Love it, although I probably won't take much from this piece as it is a very basic photograph and I want my piece to have a fair bit more going on to communicate my concept.

All of these covers, barring 'American Folk Blues Festival' , depict the artist/musicians. 

All have a very plane washy backdrop of pale colour, with a loud standout text that sharply expresses what the album is. Also, I've noticed, other rock albums etc of the same era, like to express a lot in there cover artworks.. sometimes a strong sense of personality.. wealth.. status etc.

Whereas blues albums seem to stay humble, nothing to prove.. blues music is not about fame, popularity or success, it is the music for the thinking mind, the awkward ponderer, the lonely romantic and the heartbroken.. it remains patiently calm, and wishes to state nothing about itself other than what it is...

The blues. 

The main points I have taken from looking at 60's blues album art is thus:

*Pale washy background

*Strong stand out text

*Depiction of the musician

*Dont show off, stay humble, be respectful of the genre and do it quiet justice. 

Album Artwork 60's Research

Jefferson Airplane - Takes Off

1966

I'm really struggling to find any information about the making of this album cover, as far as I can tell it was designed by the band themselves. 

What I like about this is the composition, the very 60's font and the use of colour.. it is not as contemporary as other album covers of its era but it communicates what it has to and personally, I think it is a very successful piece. 

 The Velvet Underground & Nico 

1967

The banana itself is the of course the handy work of Andy Warhol, Warhol managed the iconic band and acted as an umbrella for the band during the days when they weren't big enough to tackle some of the tough situations they found themselves in, Warhol's status of course big enough in the 60's to tackle most complications. 

The original album cover was designed to allow the fans the peel back the banana as a sticker, revealing the nude-coloured fruit beneath. This sexually metaphorically charged marketing ploy caused complications however, the manufacturing being more complicated than normal meant that the album was released after the release date. The sticker covers later became a rare collectors item, and the banana became a symbol for the protopunk genre. 

I personally absolutely love album cover, so much that I referenced it in my narrative illustration brief, the banana image being the logo on the t-shirt of my main character...

Anyway I think altogether the piece is very contemporary, a bright yellow phallic banana symbol on a plane white background with the album name at the top... job done. 

 The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed

1969

This album cover is 'mint'. It displays an over the top and gaudy cake, made from random layers including a tire, a clock face, film canister and a pizza. there are small figurines of the band members placed on the top of the cake, and its all placed on top of a record player.

Keith Richards hired close friend Robert Brownjohn to design the cover.. Interestingly, Brownjohn hired a younger and less famous Delia Smith, to bake the cake..lol. 

Originally the album was to be called Automatic Changer, although the name changed, the band kept Brownjohns piece because the liked it so much.

I like this piece a lot, its randomness, playfulness and colour expresses the feel of the album perfectly.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced

1967 

Jimi Hendrix was not at all pleased with the packaging and art work on the UK release of this album, claiming, "It makes me look like a fairy."

He took this complaint to his manager Chas Chandler, who then called artist Karl Ferris. Ferris worked with them to come up with the new psychedelic inspired art work for the up and coming US release. 

I love it, I love psychedelic artwork from this era it really nourishes my inner need for colour and madness. Ferris said that when he started creating this image, he was listening to the music Jimi had sent him away with and thought that it sounded 'far out' and as if it was from outer space.

So he decided he would like to create an image where the band was blasting through space on a 

journey to bring there outer space music to the earth... hence the space circle thing ^^

. 

I have managed to find a link with a first person account of the processes working with Jimi for the cover from Karl Ferris ...

http://rockpopgallery.typepad.com/rockpop_gallery_news/2008/02/cover-story---j.html

Album Cover Research

Album Covers Research

I am now looking at and researching albumin covers of the sixties, mainly because the album I am working with was first released in 1966. (even though it was recorded in the 1930's).

Im going to try to find similarities in the album covers, and take note of how they change as time moves forward. 

To start with, I will look at one of the later 60's, but most iconic album covers of all time..

Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

Peter Blake, the artist and designer behind the iconic art piece said, " In my mind i was making a piece of art rather than an album cover. It was almost a piece of theatre design." 

That I agree with, it does look like a piece of theatre design..

He went on to say, " I offered the idea that if they had just played a concert in the park, the cover would be a photograph of them with the group who watched the concert.. If we did this using cardboard cutouts, it could be whomever they wanted."

Each Beatle was told to come up with a list of people they most admired. Ringo, being the least pretentious said, " Whoever the others choose is okay with me." 

John Lennons creative mind instantly came up with Adolf Hitler and Gandhi, both were axed, Hitler for obvious reasons and Gandhi because they thought it would lessen their sales in the far east.

George Harrison chose four Indian gurus, and Bob Dylan was an obvious choice as all of the band members worshiped him.

Fred Astaire was Paul's choice, and was chosen to help sell records with his legendary dancing status.

Among many big names, some of the most notable are:

*Sonny Liston (boxer twice defeated by Ali)

*Lewis Carroll (Johns writing hero, based 'I am the Walrus' on Carrol's poem 'The Walrus and the Carpenter')

*Marilyn Monroe

*Oliver and Hardy

*Marlon Brando

*Oscar Wilder

and Albert Einstein 

The most touching tribute however was for former bandmate Stuart Sutcliffe to appear in the shot.

Sutcliffe who John considered his 'best friend' barring Paul, died in 1962 aged just 21 from a head injury and never got to see the success of the band.

The cover was shot by Michael Cooper on March the 30th 1967. In the cover the band members are shown wearing custom made military style outfits made satin. Four wax dummies of the Beatles are shown standing alongside the living members of the band, symbolising the 'old Beatles' sporting mop tops and plane suits. 

The Album cover won the 1967 Grammy award for best album cover, Graphic design.

Who Was The Devil that Appeared to Johnson

MEPHISTOPHELES?

I have been reading about the demons that appear to people in different circumstances for different things, and the one that stands out the most is Mephistopheles.
    Mephistopheles or Mephisto is a demon from Germanic folklore, originally appearing in the legend of Faust.
  In the Faust chapbooks (based on the historical Johann Georg Faust) The lord challenges Mephistopheles (the devil) that he cannot lead astray the Lords prized scholar, Dr. Faust.
Disappointed with the science of natural means, Faust tries and fails with magic to gain knowledge of nature and the universe, and becomes depressed and suicidal at his failed attempts.
 After being followed by a poodle, Mephistopheles appears to faust and offers him a contract: He will do Faust's bidding on earth, and Faust will do the same for him in hell.

The word Mephistopheles, may derive from the Hebrew word mephitz, meaning "distributor" and tophel chequer, the literal translation of which is "falsehood plasterer".
 It could also be a combination of three Greek words: "me" as a negation, "phos" meaning light, and "philis" meaning "loving" which would make it mean "not-light-loving", a possible parody on the latin "Lucifer" or "light-bearer".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5fhRQQmi8Y

^^^^A great link with a short clip from the 1926 film Faust, in which Faust summons Mephistopheles at a CROSSROADS....coinsidence?? I think not. 

ALSO JUST FOUND THIS, THIS IS A DEPICTION OF MEPHISTOPHELES FOR A THEATRE PRODUCTION, AND HE IS SHOWN PLAYING A GUITAR.. NICEE (the story goes with Robert Johnson that when the demon appeared to him, in the form of a black man, he took the guitar from Johnson, tuned it and gave him it back..)

Crossroads Folklore Research

CROSSROADS FOLKLORE

So I've been doing some research on the folklore surrounding crossroads.
    In ancient Greece, the people used to place marker stones at crossroads to commemorate the god Hermes. In ancient Rome the god Mercury who was similar to Hermes was the crossroads guardian.
In India the god Bhairava, the older version of the god Siva, was said to have guarded the crossroads at the outskirts of villages and towns. Stone phalluses and statues of Bhairava's eyes where erected to represent him as the guardian of the boundaries.
 In Africa, basically every cultural subgroup has its own version of crossroads god, their belief is that the spirit opens the way, guards the crossroads and teaches wisdom.
      In more modern times, the crossroads beliefs are still in effect but have changed slightly over the years with the emergence of new cultures, like Voodoo. In Voodoo, (conjure, rootwork and hoodoo) the African American magical spirituality, they say that in order to achieve various skills one should attend a crossroads at midnight.. you shall be greeted by a large 'black man' (some call the devil) and he will bestow upon you your chosen desires in trade for your immortal soul.
     This is what is said Robert Johnson did, it is supposed at the crossroads that intersects highway 61 and highway 49, although Son House the blues musician who knew Johnson has said that it was in fact in Rosedale where the crossroads intersect highway 8, with highway 1... I trust in Son House's knowledge and believe it was in Rosedale.

In Europe there is also a lot of old folklore involving crossroads and demons, mainly in pagan belief.. and I actually have managed to source a Grimm's Fairy Tale given in full on the internet, that explains the Germanic belief about becoming the Devil's servant and also bears reference to musical ability!
http://www.grimmstories.com/en/grimm_fairy-tales/the_devils_sooty_brother

Non-Narrative Brief - Packaging Ideas.

Packaging

So, for the brief the first challenge I have come to is packaging. I have been asked to produce professionally presented packaging for a CD or 12" vinyl, I have decided on the 12" vinyl.
 I came to this decision pretty much as soon as I had decided to choose Robert Johnson for my brief. My reasons for this are simple;
          *Robert Johnson was alive from 1911-1936, there was only vinyl then and his first album was released on mono LP.
          * I am a massive blues fan and play a little myself. I believe that with the perfect match of rustic, delta, slide blues on acoustic guitar, accompanied with Robert's shrill and haunting voice, all played through the cackle of vinyl on a turntable.. it would be a great dishonour to choose a format (CD) that to me would let down the authentic sound and also represents the basic opposite of Robert Johnson's message.

So... To help me get started with ideas on planning my vinyl sleeve...I started with a basic mind map on paper, listing some buzzwords I felt would guide me in the right direction, and then branched them off into there own separate categories with there own associated words.. These are the words I started with, with the associated words I came to, to keep in mind when planning my composition.

(sorry that was a mouthful)

DEVIL
satan, evil, deceitful, scary, powerful

CROSSROADS
(pick one of the two possible crossroads to work from, if deciding to draw crossroads)

COTTON FIELDS
white, vast, field clothes, workers, slavery

GUITAR
gibson L1, old, tatty

BLUES
cool, honest, sad, historical reference

WHITE/BLACK DIVIDE
racism, mobs, plantations, slavery, linching, hangings

MISSISSIPPI
floods, river, deep south, flatland

SOUL SELLING
gives soul for gift of musical ability, midnight, trade, immortal soul, satan

DEATH OF WIFE IN CHILDBIRTH
sorrow, utter dispair, life changing moment that lead to decision to become travelling musician

After this, I then jotted down all of my associated words (shown above in softer font) separately and wrote down some associative words for them, I then went back through them and circled all the ones I felt were going to best help me when creating a composition for my piece.

these were;

*Deep south
(colours, attitude, culture)

*River
(wide, important,floods)

*Racism
(it was basically horrible back then)

*Plantations
(slavery, low wages, poverty clashing with wealth)

*Dispair
(sadness, depression)

*Sorrow
(can be represented with colour)

*Soul trade
(desperation, awesome)

*Satan
(awesome power, deceit, symbolism)

*Evil/Scary
(colours, imagery, symbolism)

*Midnight
(dark, moon, stars, colours)

*Gibson
(gibson L1 flattop, tattered, old)

*Vast
(open flat land, horizon)

*Workers
(black, poor, hardworking, under-appreciated)

*Field clothes
(rough spun, tatty, hats)

I know have an organised and categorised abundance of buzzwords to refer to and help me. I can now research all of the elements I wish to express with finer detail, I will grant myself the ability to achieve a higher level of authenticity with the piece, and hopefully will create a well grounded believable composition to flow through my project.

King of the Delta Blues Singers - Robert Johnson

King of the Delta Blues Singers - Robert Johnson

I'm currently listening to the chosen album for my brief, Robert Johnson's - King of the Delta Blues Singers >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TdJmkv9lyI

Whilst listening to the album, probably over and over again till the day is done... I'm going to use this time to search the internet for some research on Robert and the actual album itself, I'm going to watch documentaries, read an abundance of articles and compare them till I come out with some general basic true life journey of Johnson, (as most of his history is lost and has been pieced together by people who knew him, and knew of him). Once I've squeezed enough juice out of my internet lemon, I'll make an organised lemonade from it and move onto the library for some book history.

"The thing about Robert Johnson was that he only existed on his records. He was pure legend."

—Martin Scorsese, Love In Vain: A Vision of Robert Johnson

The Album (A Brief bit of Info)
KOTDBS* (king of the delta blues singers)

The album was released in 1961 by Columbia Records as a mono LP. At the time of the release very little was known about Robert Johnson's life, and the only two known photographs of him where not found until over ten years later in 1973. The cover painting on the album depicts a faceless musician in field clothes playing a guitar.
 King of the Delta Blues was reissued on September 15, 1998 by the Legacy Records label of the Sony Corporation, with a new discovered alternate take on "Traveling Riverside Blues" as a bonus track.
 The Wall Street Journal wrote that "when this album king of the delta blues singers made its delated way to England in the mid 1960's, it energised a generation of musicians". And it really did, Eric clapton has said that KOTDBS* and its second volume, where of huge importance as early inspiration in his music career. In 1980, it was the first album to be inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.


Tracklist:
Side 1

1.	November 27, 1936	unreleased alternate take	1961	Cross Road Blues	2:29
2.	November 23, 1936	Vocalion 3416	1937	Terraplane Blues	3:01
3.	November 23, 1936	unreleased alternate take	1961	Come On in My Kitchen	2:52
4.	November 27, 1936	Vocalion 3601	1937	Walkin' Blues	2:30
5.	November 27, 1936	Vocalion 3445	1937	Last Fair Deal Gone Down	2:39
6.	November 26, 1936	Vocalion 3445	1937	32-20 Blues	2:50
7.	November 23, 1936	Vocalion 3416	1937	Kind Hearted Woman Blues	2:51
8.	November 27, 1936	previously unreleased	1961	If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day	2:36

Side 2

1.	November 27, 1936	Vocalion 4630	1939	Preachin' Blues	2:52
2.	November 23, 1936	previously unreleased	1961	When You Got a Good Friend	2:56
3.	November 23, 1936	unreleased alternate take	1961	Ramblin' On My Mind	2:52
4.	June 19, 1937	Vocalion 3723	1937	Stones in My Passway	2:28
5.	June 20, 1937	previously unreleased	1961	Traveling Riverside Blues	2:47
6.	June 20, 1937	unreleased alternate take	1961	Milkcow's Calf Blues	2:17
7.	June 20, 1937	unreleased alternate take	1961	Me and the Devil Blues	2:34
8.	June 20, 1937	Vocalion 3623	1937	Hellhound on My Trail	2:37