Warholcovers had the brilliant idea of contacting members of Literature to find out more about their approach to making the album cover. Warholcovers has given me permission to publish the interview here, so tah other lovers of record cover art may read it. So here is the interview:

“Curious to find out more about one of the most recent Warhol related covers, I was able to track down Literature and ask them a few questions about their “Arab Spring” record cover.

WC: How did you come up with the decision for the cover art for your debut record, “Arab Spring”?

Nathaniel (Cardaci, vocals/guitar – recordart’s note): Sometime after recording ” Arab Spring” I found myself at the Menil collection in Houston. They had a Warhol room at the time and as I walked in I saw Ten Foot Flowers on the far wall everything about it screamed POP and I knew at that point that I wanted to try to use some amalgamation of the image for the record cover.

WC: Did you have any interaction with the estates of Andy Warhol or Patricia Caulfield, the photographer of the original flower image?

Kevin (Attics, guitar/vocals – recordart’s note): We did not attempt to contact them fearing that it might result in a legal obstruction that would push back the release of the record or disallow us from using the cover.

WC: Was the image used an original Warhol image, or was it manipulated to avoid copyright issues?

Kevin: The artist Jordan Shade and I worked to create a new cover using the same techniques employed in the original series. I think that the flowers’ shapes might be cut from the original series but they were overlaid onto a new screen of grass and colored by us.

WC: Does the work of Andy Warhol have any special meaning to any of you in the band?

Kevin: Nathaniel and I have an abiding fondness for NYC Culture running from the late 60′s to the mid-80′s. That period is obviously indebted to Andy. That we are influenced by bands he showed a great enthusiasm for might be why we felt his work was a great visual complement to our music.

Thanks to Literature for taking the time to answer these questions.”

So, as we surmised the album art is not a Warhol picture at all, but a new montage of four hibiscus flowers on a new background of grass by Jordan Shade and Kevin Attics to resemble Warhol’s famous “Flowers” painting – a true homage to great art!.

Here’s a photo of my copy of record 1 of this two record set. Record 2 is on its way, too. Considering the record sleeve is only relatively thin paper, the cover is in great shape. No tears or writing, although it is rather faded.I also have the original 1953 book “Magic Key to Spanish” which has many more Warhol drawings than are on the record sleeve.

The list of record covers bearing Warhol art is continually increasing thanks to two Warhol cover detectives Frank Edwards and Kevin Kinney. The latest addition which I feel has to be added to my http://www.rateyourmusic.com Warhol cover art list is yet another Velvet Underground bootleg entitled “Orange Disaster”. The rear cover bears a photo of an upturned car used by Andy Warhol in his “Death and Disaster” series of screenprints.

So, there are probably many more covers that use press photos later used by Andy Warhol is his art; the photo Warhol used was a stock photo of the electric chair in New York State’s Sing Sing prison. I have thus far been unable to find details of who the photographer was.

The latest addition to my collection of record covers illustrated or designed by Andy Warhol is

the RCA Red Seal recording of Vladimir Horowitz “Piano Music of Mendelssohn & Liszt”. I have another on order – Margarita Madrigal’s “Madrigal’s Magic Key to Spanish, Vol 1”, and after that there are only three or four left to find, unfortunately all very expensive! These are The Madrigal Volume 2, Arthur Fiedler & The Boston Pops “Latin Rhythms”, Johann Strauss Jr “Waltzes” and the Ultra Violet LP.