Original Vinyl Covers
Ah, albums covers. They say so much; or at times so little about an album. There are some amazing original covers still out there. When you’re lucky you find them intact and with few tears and dings.
Vinyl covers comes in a huge array of flavors:
Well Known: My copy of this Dead vinyl is so beat up. I don’t think any of the sides connect anymore. It’s been well-played and loved. What I need to do is find a cleaner copy and then frame my old one.
VERY Well Known: Would you say the most well known cover in the world? I might go there. Got another idea; let me know.
Beautiful: I’m not a huge Judy Collins fan. Her voice is amazing but it’s no secret I don’t love cover songs — of which she does many. I like her better when she writes her own; such as Since You Asked, a beautiful song on this album. Still, like her or not this is one of the most beautiful covers in my collection. Oddly my copy is far more out of focus — I can’t tell if it’s because it’s so old or if they started to release this cover a tad more in focus. On my copy she’s ghostlike. To really appreciate this cover you have to hold it. Close up. The flowers almost jump out at you.
Tacky: I love this record from a musical standpoint but it’s one of my least favorite covers ever. Nothing about it is cool to me. What do you think?
Terrifying: I have no idea why. Since I was a kid this cover frightened me. Like the album, but I don’t leave the cover lying around. It must be the mask.
Multi-functional: Who has this Jefferson Airplane album? Or, I should ask who has this intact? It’s rare if you do. I inherited mine from a parent (which parent is questionable). I love it. It hasn’t been messed with and if you have it you know that this cover actually turns into a functional cigar box.
Very nice; but that means everyone on the planet messed with their copy. Thus if you find an original with the cover in good shape count yourself lucky. It’s always been one of my favorites on an originality scale. If you’ve got this gem you know what’s hiding on the bottom of the cigar box — if you don’t have it, I’ll let you work that imagination.
What are some well known — or not well known vinyl covers that you like?
Tags: American-Beauty, Beatles, billy-joel, cigar_box, cover_songs, jefferson_airplane, judy_collins, originality, steely-dan, the-stranger, vinyl-cover-art, vinyl-covers, wildflowersRelated Stories
POSTED IN: 60s Music, 70s Music, Albums, Art, Vinyl, Vinyl Art
5 opinions for Original Vinyl Covers
Lauren
Jul 28, 2007 at 10:53 pm
Great question! I have many fond memories of trawling through my Dad’s extensive vinyl collection when I was younger. Probably my favorites though are Uriah Heep’s “The Magician’s Birthday” (cover art that blew my mind) and Poco’s “Legend” album (so simple but just beautiful).
I’d also challenge you that while “Abbey Road” is iconic, I think Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” is more well known. Controversial ;-).
Jennifer
Jul 29, 2007 at 12:14 am
Hmmm, you know you got me thinking so I went and typed in different stuff to the search engine; most famous cover art, popular vinyl art, etc a bunch of different ways. You know what keeps popping up?
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band… Which I guess may be true but it was always one of my least favorite album covers. So I didn’t even consider it. I have a feeling that without a world wide survey we’ll never know for sure. You may be correct about PF though? I’m going to have to research this further. Or start a poll.
Lauren
Jul 29, 2007 at 1:00 am
Sgt Peppers is definitely a strong contender too. I agree with you - a poll is in order ;-).
Monika
Aug 24, 2007 at 7:15 am
It is always nice to go through all of the covers and choose a favorite BUT can someone pleeeease help me with some site where I can find some more info about the ideas and the connection to the music when it comes to Pink Floyd’s CD covers
thanx
Jennifer
Aug 25, 2007 at 6:37 pm
I hate to recommend wiki to anyone but in this case that’s a good place to start. There’s a bunch of info on the PF album interpretations available on the various album sites for PF there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Side_of_the_Moon
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