The Spotnicks are a Swedish rock band that I’d never heard of until yesterday.  They’ve been around since the early Sixties, which was when they first donned cheesy space suits. What’s not to love about a band whose name is … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: The Spotnicks

All the talk about Donald Trump and the Russians led me to play Google bingo this week. The Russians are known for their classical composers so I searched for those covers. This Rimsky-Korsakoff cover from 1952 was the coolest image that … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Scheherazade

Chuck Berry is 90: Hail, Hail Rock-n-Roll. Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Chuck Berry

You’ll be shocked to learn that I like puns. You’re not? I can never fool you lot. The title of Blodwyn Pig’s 1969 debut LP Ahead Rings Out was, uh, ahead of its time. Not really but I cannot help myself. … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Ahead Rings Out

After the fake Pencian folksiness in the Veep debate, it’s time for a Country music album cover. This 1967 LP proclaimed Kitty Wells the Queen Of Honky Tonk Street. It’s hard to argue with that. The album has never been re-issued … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Queen Of Honky Tonk Street

Jimmy Rushing was a short, stout man with a big voice. His nickname was Mister Five-by-Five. He was the sort of guy Donald Trump would fat shame but Jimmy would have laughed it off. He’s best known for his time with … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Jimmy Rushing

Gentle Giant were one of the quirkiest prog-rock bands ever. They never quite broke through commercially like their fellow Brits ELP, Yes, Pink Floyd, Genesis, or Tull but they made a lot of memorable records at their peak during prog’s … Continue reading Album Cover Art: Octopus

I had no idea Canned Heat was still around. I’m not surprised: bands that played at Woodstock have a long shelf life. Canned Heat was your basic blooze-rock boogie band, Southern California style. They weren’t known for their cover art … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Future Blues

In which Adrastos poses the eternal question: who can it be now? Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Men At Work

It’s concept album time again here at First Draft. The Pretty Things started off as a standard issue British blooze rock/R&B band. Then came Sgt. Pepper and, like so many others, they went all psychedelic and conceptual. This 1968 rock opera tells … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: S.F. Sorrow

The Clash were one of the most political bands in rock history. Their second album, 1978’s Give ‘Em Enough Rope, is full of fire and passion. More importantly, it flat-out rocks. Here’s how the album’s Wikipedia entry describes the cover art and its … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Give ‘Em Enough Rope

I’ve been watching wall-to-wall DNC coverage so I decided to post something simple and classic in this space. One Step Beyond was the 1979 debut album by the British ska-rockers Madness. It was a huge hit in the UK; hitting number … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: One Step Beyond

Last Days and Time was released in 1972. It was Earth, Wind & Fire’s musically ambitious third studio album. It helped mark them as rising stars. The spectacular cover art was taken from a painting by Mati Klarwein who’s also known for the … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Last Days and Time

The late Bo Diddley’s music was always about fun. No deep philosophical lyrics or thoughts, Bo just wanted to rock. His album covers reflected that as well as the man’s antic sense of humor. I chortled upon seeing the cover for 1960’s … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Have Guitar Will Travel

Dave Mason’s exit from Traffic remains acrimonious to this day. Alone Together was his first solo effort and it puts the rock in rock. Literally.  I thought of this album cover whilst driving through the a part of Virginia that … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Alone Together

The first time I heard John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra my jaw dropped. Birds Of Fire was my introduction to the fast, elegant playing of McLaughlin, Billy Cobham, Jerry Goodman, Jan Hammer, and Rick Laird. We won’t see or … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Birds Of Fire

Peter Green meets Maxwell Armfield. Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Then Play On

Todd time continues here at First Draft as we feature the album from whence  last Saturday’s Odds & Sods theme song came. Nearly Human was released in 1989 and is one of my favorite Rundgren albums. That’s saying a lot … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Nearly Human

No, I’m not shushing the obnoxious Dudebros, of both the left and right, who are making Campaign 2016 so annoying. I’m talking about Ten Years After’s 1969 album of that name. I’ve never been much of a fan of TYA’s music, … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: SSSSH

The Incredible String Band out of Scotland were one of the quirkiest bands in music history. Naturally, I like them. ISB is usually described as folk-rock but I’d add psychedelic and gypsy to the description as well. ISB has a … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: The Incredible String Band

I spent a fair amount of time last Saturday telling an Adrastos-Zelig story about meeting Jazz great Stan Kenton. It only seemed right to feature a Kentonian (Stannish?) cover in this space. I usually don’t do compilations for ACAW, but … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Encores