First Draft

Watching Trump’s lawyers lie with the Chief Justice seated behind them makes me want a cocktail. That’s where this 1965 album comes in.

Let’s have a drink with the Iceman:

Here’s the album via the YouTube playlist format. Bottoms up:

I featured Rockpile, the short lived power pop super group, a few weeks ago in the Saturday post. Seconds Of Pleasure is the only album released under that name and it’s a good un.

The playful cover of the original release was done by virtuoso graphic designer Barney Bubbles. Here’s the complete original package beginning with the front and back covers, concluding with the gatefold:

In the mood for some lagniappe? The cover of a 2004 re-release features a picture of the band looking grim.

Finally, the whole damn album in the You Tube playlist format:

I’m feeling terse this morning. It’s time for some Space Age Pop circa 1956:

Here’s the whole damn Sid Bass album:

These covers are for 78’s or 45’s but they’re pure Louis Armstrong. Louis, Dr. A, Paul Drake, and I wish you a Merry Christmas or whatever else floats your boat.

This 1997 compilation cover didn’t make the cut but it has the essential holiday tunes from Louis as well some songs by his friends:

The holidays are full of ritual and repetition so I thought I should show some holiday spirit, The world is full of weird Christmas album covers; it’s my duty to share them with you. Did I  just say duty? I meant pleasure.

To prove that I’m committed to the ritualistic nature of this post, I’m sticking with the side-by-side cover format from last week.

Let’s party like it’s 1976:

Let’s get even more retro with these album covers:

Finally, let’s celebrate the recent trade deal with our neighbors to the north and south:

That last cover makes me want to put on a fake mustache and party like Pancho Villa.

Merry Schiffmas. It’s time for some zany, kooky, and downright weird seasonal album covers. The abundance of kitsch is one of the things I like about Christmas.

Our first combination could be called Hung and the Hampster, which sounds like one of the worst bands ever assembled. It’s whatever the opposite of a super-band is called. A stupor band?

Our second pairing features young men doing weird stuff.

Finally, two artists you’ve actually heard of. It’s something of a cheat because they’re single covers but how could I pass on AC/DC and the Kinks?

Are you ready to rock?

This week we have dogeared  images via Discogs of a 1979 Spinners album. And what’s not to love about an album title that’s a pun on From Here To Eternity?

The front and back covers are hardcore sci-fi images by prolific illustrator Stephen Marchesi. That giant snake is stuff of nightmares.

Here’s the whole damn album via the YouTube playlist format:

I’ve never repeated a post in this space before. It struck me that this post from May 16, 2018  perfect for the day before the most gluttonous day on the calendar. Besides, I’m feeling lazy:

These are dark days because of you know who doing you know what. It calls for comic relief that has bupkis to do with politics. I went in search of comic relief and found some goofy food oriented album covers at a “food culture” web site, Ateriet. That’s right, the food fight theme kinda sorta continues.

Initially, I thought the covers would feature yogurt or cheese since culture was involved. Instead they involve canned goods, Hawaiian food, and a space age weenie roast. Two of the covers are from obscure to me artists and the last one is one of the worst covers from a major band that I can think of. It flat-out sucks.

We begin with a soupy cover from the jazz pianist Roy Meriwether. I’m not sure why the table is set with a knife and fork. I don’t know about you, but I usually eat soup with a spoon. Perhaps jazz soup is different somehow.

The minute I saw the Gerhard Polt album, I nearly did a spit take. It turns out that Herr Polt is a well-known Bavarian satirist, which means that my reaction to the cover was appropriate. I almost made a joke about not knowing that there were German satirists but thought better  of it. What’s funnier than a head on a plate of food, after all?

Finally, Live It Up by CSN. What can I say about this cover? It looks like the Krewe of Spank’s dirty weiner drop game. I bet it was David Crosby’s idea: he’s full of them and it.

ZZ Top are one of the hairiest bands in rock and roll history. They became unlikely superstars in the MTV era but Degeuello predates their rocket to stardom. It was released in 1979 and  is one of many ZZ Top albums to have a Spanish language title.

The album’s Wikipedia entry describes the title as follows:

“Degüello” means “decapitation” or, idiomatically, when something is said to be done “a degüello”, it means “no quarter” (as in “no surrender to be given or accepted—a fight to the death”) in Spanish. It was also the title of a Moorish-origin bugle call used by the Mexican Army at the Battle of the Alamo, Texas, in 1836.

I love it when history and blues rock merge. I nearly lost my head when I saw Bill Narum’s album cover:

If that cover looks familiar to you, it’s because I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide from Deguello was posted here on Monday..

Here’s the whole damn album in the YouTube playlist format:

Ralph Steadman is best known for illustrating Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He also did quite a few album covers over the years.

This Steadman sampler starts off fairly normal, then gets increasingly weird:

You’re probably not surprised to hear that I picked this 1959 Halloween novelty album for its punny title. Bob McFadden was an interesting guy: he was best known as a voice-over actor for cartoons and commercials. He was the voice of Milton the Monster and Frankenberry among many others.

The And Dor on Songs Our Mummy Taught Us was folkie/poet/actor Rod McKuen. It’s unclear as to why McKuen used a pseudonym and I’m not interested enough to research it extensively. My hunch is that he was signed to another record label at the time.

Here’s the whole damn album in the YouTube playlist format:

Sometimes I select an album cover because it’s odd. Hence this 1972 Willie Nelson album with a photograph by Jimmy Moore.

Here’s the title track:

Dr. A and I have been watching, and enjoying, Ken Burns’ County Music. One of the better stories in the film involves Roger Miller and how he decided to give up recording and focus on songwriting. But he gave it one more shot. Hence, the original title of this 1964 album: Roger and Out. It became a hit and was released with a new title: Dang Me.

Here’s the whole consarn album: