This 1961 album by the R&B pianist and singer has a cover to die for: Here’s the whole damn album in the YouTube playlist format: Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: The Fabulous Ivory Joe Hunter
I’m on record as not being a heavy metal fan. BUT I’m a sucker for “longtime band member quits and writes a book” stories. A Guardian article about former Judas Priest co-lead guitarist KK Downing’s memoirs led me to select … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Screaming For Vengeance
John Coltrane was already a budding jazz legend when he recorded Blue Train in 1957. It was the album that sealed the deal. I think the brooding cover photo by Francis Wolff had a lot to do with clinching Trane’s status … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Blue Train
I’m not a Queens of the Stone Age fan but I love the cover of 2007’s Era Vulgaris, which was inspired by product ads aimed at kids. These products are really, really bad for you. Here’s the cover from the … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Era Vulgaris
The Velvet Underground & Nico was born in controversy. There have been lawsuits up the wazoo over the years as well as Andy Warhol’s laughable claim to have produced the record. He knew nothing about the recording process so the … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: The Velvet Underground & Nico
Doug Sahm was a musical force of nature. He was one of the creators of the Austin music scene and one of the most respected musicians to emerge from the 1960’s. His eclecticism prevented him from being a big star. … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Honkey Blues
The Dramatics are an anomalous soul group for their time and place. They came out of Detroit but had to go to Memphis based Volt records to hit it big. The title track of this 1971 album put them over … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get
I used to have vivid, deeply weird dreams. I rarely have them any more but I had one the other night. It was neither a sweet dream nor a nightmare. All I can recall is a voice saying the name … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Bread, Love and Cha Cha Cha
I’ve never been much of a Led Zeppelin fan. Their music is pretty good but I’ve never cared for the vibe surrounding them. It’s rooted in my memories of their infamous 1973 gig at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. In … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Led Zeppelin
The late Shel Silverstein was best known as an author/illustrator of children’s books. He also had a lively side hustle as a singer-songwriter. He was one talented dude. Here’s a selection of album covers, presented in chronological order. Oddly enough, … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Shel Silverstein
Sometimes the best album covers are the simplest. That’s the case with Iggy Pop’s first solo album, The Idiot. It’s also the album cover that answers the eternal question: does Iggy own any shirts? The Idiot was co-produced by David … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: The Idiot
Patti Smith has some interesting friends. One of whom was the late Robert Mapplethorpe whose photograph adorns the cover of Smith’s 1975 debut album, Horses. A close-up from the same photo shoot was on the cover of the Gloria single: … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Horses
I’m about to break a rule and perhaps even set a new precedent for this feature. Bootzilla was the first single from Bootsy Collins and the Rubber Band’s 1978 debut album Bootsy? Player of the Year. The album cover is somewhat … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Bootzilla
The Resurrection Of Pigboy Crabshaw is one of the best album titles ever. Pigboy Crabshaw was the nickname/alter ego of Elvin Bishop. Why anyone would want to be called Pigboy is beyond me, but I’m not from rural America like … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: The Resurrection Of Pigboy Crabshaw
I hadn’t planned to do three consecutive Motown album covers in this space but that’s how it worked out. The cover is by painter James Meese who is best known for his pulp fiction paperback covers. As you can see, … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Reach Out
This Marvin Gaye compilation was released in 1970 by a record company hungry for product. Marvin shrugged it off and went back to work on his greatest album What’s Going On. I’m uncertain as to what Marvin thought of Carl Owens’ cover art but who wouldn’t want to be depicted as a super hero of soul? I rarely post a YouTube playlist in this space BUT this one is so good that I’m breaking my own rule. Book me, Danno. Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Marvin Gaye Super Hits
Are you ready for an art nouveau Motown cover? That’s the best description of this 1969 cover for the Supremes 16th studio album. I wasn’t able to learn who designed and executed it, which is a pity since it’s pretty … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Let The Sunshine In
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 … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Food Glorious Food
It’s been an eventful week in New Orleans. The city celebrated its 300th anniversary and inaugurated our first woman mayor. I expressed my reservations about Mayor LaToya Cantrell on ye olde tweeter tube:
Cantrell ran a great campaign. Her transition was terrible despite the extra time. I hope her administration is more like the former but today's sloganeering make me dubious. I hope I'm wrong about that. 🤞🤞
— Shecky (@Adrastosno) May 7, 2018
The slogans included “We are woke” and “We will be intentional.” I’m uncertain if that’s intentional grounding or an intentional walk. I dislike the latter baseball tactic as much as exclamation points. I still wish the new mayor well. Her propensity to mangle the language is good for the satire business, and there’s no business like giving a politician the business. I believe in taking care of business, every day, every way.
This week’s theme song, In The Still Of The Night, was written by Cole Porter in 1937 for the MGM movie musical, Rosalie. It was first sung by Nelson Eddy who was in a shit ton of hokey costume movie operettas with Jeanette MacDonald. I am not a fan of the duo but I am a die-hard Cole Porter fan as evinced by the frequent appearance of his work as Odds & Sods theme songs. I considered counting them but I’m feeling as lazy as the president* today. Where did all my executive time go?
We have two versions of the Porter classic for your entertainment. First, the elegant jazz-pop baritone Billy Eckstine aka the Voice of God.
Second, the Neville Brothers featuring some gorgeous sax playing by Charles Neville. He was an acquaintance of mine. Charles died recently at the age of 79. He was a lovely man with a kind word for everyone he met.
It’s time for a journey to Disambiguation City. Fred Parris wrote *his* In The Still Of The Night for his doo-wop group The Five Satins in 1956.
Yeah, I know, Boyz II Men also had a hit with the Parrisian song but I’m not going there. Instead, let’s jump to the break. Now where the hell did I put my parachute?
Continue reading “Saturday Odds & Sods: In The Still Of The Night”
The Victor Hot Jazz Series were essentially the original box sets. RCA Victor Records assembled 78s of various artists and released them in the 1940’s. I stumbled into three of the releases, two of which came from New Orleans artists, … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: The Victor Hot Jazz Series
Along with Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman, Gram Parsons invented country-rock. After Sweetheart of the Rodeo, Parsons and Hillman left the Byrds and formed the Flying Burrito Brothers. Their debut album The Gilded Palace Of Sin has a great title … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: The Gilded Palace Of Sin
Iron Butterfly had an odd career. They were sui generis: one-hit FM radio wonders. Their droning, very long song In-A-Gadda-Da Vida was an underground sensation. They broke up in 1971 and reformed to make Scorching Beauty with only one original … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Scorching Beauty
Rough Mix is a 1977 collaboration between Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane of the Faces. Pete was originally supposed to produce a solo Ronnie record but it ended being a joint project. There were guest stars aplenty including Eric Clapton … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Rough Mix
It may come as a surprise to those who only know the Bee Gees from the disco era, but they began life as a Beatles influenced pop-rock group. The influence extended to the cover of Bee Gees’ 1st, which was … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Bee Gees’ 1st
The avant-garde jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk was almost as eccentric as Sun Ra. That’s why Columbia Records art director John Berg came up with this oddball cover for Monk’s 1968 LP, Underground. Here’s how Berg described it:  “On … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Underground
Rumor has it that I’m a sucker for puns. It’s true, especially when they’re attached to some fine cover art. That’s the case with the 1976 Kansas album, Leftoverture. And, yes, it was inspired by the Carrey On Wayward Son … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Leftoverture
This 1989 cover by David Scheinmann is a perfect distillation of Tears For Fears’ music: grandiose, overstuffed, and glorious. The full album isn’t on YouTube so we have videos: Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: The Seeds Of Love
In the Trump era, we’re in desperate need of fun. What pop star has ever been more fun than Cyndi Lauper? She’s So Unusual was Cyndi’s debut album. It was a monster hit because of the monster hits Time After … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: She’s So Unusual
Jackie Gleason meets Salvador Dali. Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Lonesome Echo
In addition to being a world-class jazz musician, Sun Ra was a world-class eccentric. He claimed to be an alien from Saturn, his album covers reflected that as well as his fascination with ancient Egypt. Are you ready to space … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Sun Ra