First Draft

After the Bearles broke up, Ringo Starr wanted a hit album. In 1973, he got one with the help of producer Richard Perry and his former bandmates.

Here’s the whole damn album via Spotify:

Inspired by the last Saturday Odds & Sods, I slid John Hiatt’s Stolen Moments into the CD player for first time in several years. I hadn’t forgotten how good the album is but I’d forgotten who did the cover photography, Robert Frank.

Frank was a legendary photographer and filmmaker who came to national attention in 1958 with his book, The Americans. It was a photo essay with text by Jack Kerouac. The book became an instant classic.

I’m not sure how Frank wound up shooting pictures of John Hiatt in 1990, but the originals are now in the Robert Frank collection at the National Gallery of Art. In a word: fancy.

Here’s the whole damn album via Spotify:

I’m on the record as not caring for most Christmas music. One Christmas album I *do* like has a bad title and a cheesy cover but the contents are damn good: Merry Christmas…Have A Nice Life by Cyndi Lauper. I refuse to include the happy face but I forgive her for it.

Not only is Ms. Lauper one of the finest singers in creation, she wrote a bunch of swell songs for this 1998 album. I wonder, however, if her Santa is sober. You never can tell.

 Here’s the whole damn album via Spotify:

Even though I prefer CDs to vinyl, I rarely post a CD cover in this space. The best thing about LPs are the covers. This 2006 album by the great funk bassist Bootsy Collins is an exception to the rule. I live for exceptions to the rule. I find them exceptional.

The whole package is swell but I’m sticking to the Bootsy in a snow globe cover because I’m feeling lazy. For the rest, get thee to Discogs.

Here’s the whole damn album via the YouTube:

A Very Special Christmas was released in 1987. It’s the first of a series of holiday albums benefitting the Special Olympics. It’s noteworthy for cover art by the late, great Keith Haring.

Here’s the whole damn album.

Yeah, I know. This is a single cover but it’s the Kinks, dammit. I’m still trying to uphold my blogger’s creed: there’s a Kinks song for every occasion.

I wasn’t able to find out who did the artwork but it’s pretty darn swell:

Here’s the single in two videos:

The B-Side rocks almost as hard:

I usually like to post food-related album covers the day before Thanksgiving. I went searching and wound up having breakfast with Jason & the Scorchers. I passed on the petrol.

Here’s the whole damn album via Spotify:

I began this journey with the post in which I published an old letter to the editor by Linda Coney. I used Three Dog Night’s version of Mama Told Me Not To Come as a framing device. The song comes from It Ain’t Easy; its cover features a gaudy Sixties room with gaudy wallpaper. I was hooked and decided to use it in this space.

Little did I know that the original album artwork had been rejected because it was so controversial. Three Dog Night? Controversial? Who knew?

It Ain’t Easy was supposed to be The Wizards Of Orange. The cover featured Three Dog Night naked but with the naughty bits obscured. The original cover later resurfaced on a CD reissue.

I’d never heard of this mishigas. Obviously, I need to brush up on my pop-rock trivia.

We begin with the gaudy room cover:

Here’s the naked cover:

That’s so orange that I want a mimosa. Chuck Negron naked has driven me to drink but not a Negroni.

The album is not quite as juicy as that story but it’s a good one. Here it is via Spotify:

Buffalo Springfield were like a comet: briefly sighted, never forgotten. 1968’s Last Time Around is their last official studio album before Stills, Young, Furay, and Messina went on to other projects and greater glory.

I’ve always loved this cover because it perfectly captures Neil Young’s restless spirit. He’s always looking for the next challenge, which is what makes him a difficult band mate and a great solo artist.

I couldn’t find any artwork credits but suffice it to say that it’s swell:

Thanks to Sgt. Pepper and We’re Only In It For The Money, everyone in those days was into photo montages. This one was on the back cover:

Here’s the whole damn album:

Dinah Washington née Ruth Lee Jones had a short, tragic life.  She was married 8 time and was a prolific recording artist until her death in 1963 at the age of 39. Sounds like a blues singer to me, y’all.

I’ve picked two album covers from 1962 and 1963 respectively that depict two sides of The Queen:

Here’s Back To The Blues via Spotify:

The album title is somewhat ironic. Guitarist Larry Coryell and Drummer Alphonse Mouzon played together in The Eleventh House, which broke up a mere two years earlier. This 1977 album is Jazz fusion at its brashest and loudest.

The cover was designed by Bob Defrin who was then the design honcho at Atlantic Records. He went on to work with AC/DC for many years designing their album covers and stage sets. Talk about brash and loud.

I almost eggspected Vincent Price as Egghead to show up.

Here’s the whole damn album via Spotify.

I’ve always thought that the Flying Burrito Brothers had one of the worst band names ever. But their 1969 debut album has one of the best titles ever: The Gilded Palace Of Sin. Not a bad short-term trade-off. I do, however, like burritos.

Gram Parsons was the Pied Piper of Country Rock. When he left the Byrds, Chris Hillman soon followed. As his subsequent career proved.  Hillman was more of a country guy than a rocker. Parsons was always restless and left the Flying Burrito Brothers  after only recording two albums with them. I told you he was restless. A restless guy in a Nudie suit.

The Gilded Palace Of Sin was where it all began:

Here’s the whole damn album via Spotify:

Other than the opening track being Johnny Mercer’s I’m An Old Cowhand, I have no idea why photographer William Claxton had Jazz sax great Sonny Rollins pose in cowboy mufti. Sonny *was* something of a musical gunslinger. Otherwise the cover of this 1957 album makes no sense whatsoever. Of course, some of the best and worst things in life make no sense.

Here’s the whole damn album: