After three years in storage, I have at last brought my collection of Andy Warhol’s record covers home and managed to go through the collection. I am happy to say that none of the records or sleeves seems to have suffered any damage. Now I know what covers I have managed to accumulate and which are missing. The next step will be to photograph all the covers that I have not previously photographed. Many covers need new plastic protective sleeves, so that will also have to be attended to.
The picture above only includes my long playing albums, twelve inch singles and EPs together with a few compact discs. I have saved the seven inch singles and EPs together with the majority of CDs in another cupboard.
Going through the collection has been a treat. I have some lovely covers in my collection and it is great now to be able to botanise among them. I find that I have some covers I thought I was missing, such as the first Kenny Burrell LP the original BLP 1543
Kenny Burrell BLP 1543.
Blue Note pressing as well as the Liberty Records re-issue in fake stereo that I knew I had.
I could photograph both volumes of Margarita Madrigal’ “Magic Key to Spanish” LPs together, too.
Margarita Madrigal Records 1 & 2.
Just being able to check that every record was still in good condition was a relief. I could also sort them into some kind of order and replace worn or dirty plastic protective sleeves.
I must have gone bonkers! I have wasted a couple of days compiling a list of seven inch 45 RPM EPs on the RCA Camden label. “Why?”, I hear you ask. Well, Andy Warhol designed covers for a couple of them and some collectors have submitted some other Camden EP covers, wondering whether they could also be by Warhol – usually they are not. So, I began to go through all the RCA Camden EPs that I could find to see if there could be any so far unrecognised Warhol covers among them.
The RCA Camden label was/is a budget subsidiary of the Radio Company of America (RCA, to you.) RCA invented the seven inch 45 RPM format and tried to introduce it as an alternative to 78 RPM discs in about 1949 – the year after Columbia Records introduced the LP. Ultimately, RCA was also forced to adopt the LP format, but continued to release seven inch EPs throughout the 1950s and 1960s. As far as I can ascertain Camden EPs were given catologue numbers starting at CAE 100 and the last that I have been able to identify is CAE 448.
I have scoured Discogs and Ebay and made Internet searches and I have thus far been able to find and list 105 Camden EPs and will continue to add more as I find them. I have been able to find pictures of the majority of their covers, too. But so far no new Warhol designs. But, not wishing to waste my hard work, I will share my list with you here.
Cat No—–Artist———————–Title—————————————–
CAE 100 The Cosmopolitan Orchestra – World Wide Favorites
CAE 101 Warwick Symphony Orchestra – Sibelius: Finlandia / Wagner: Die Walküre
CAE 104 Festival Concert Orchestra – Vienna Jubilee
CAE 106 Festival Concert Orchestra – Johann Strauss, Jr. / Josef Strauss – Loves of the Poet Waltz, Opus 38.
CAE 108 Kenny Baker – Beloved Songs
CAE 110 The Goldman Band – Sousa Marches
CAE 113 Ray Kinney & His Coral Islanders – Blue Hawaii
CAE 114 Texas Jim Robertson – Home on the Range
CAE 115 Joe Reichman with Rhythm Accompaniments – Make Believe Piano Moods
CAE 118 Capitol City Four – Let’s Harmonize (Barber Shop Ballads)
CAE 124 Caroleers & Yuletide Choristers Caroleers & Yuletide Choristers
CAE 125 Carollers & Yuletide Choristers Christmas Day
CAE 126 Lew White – Christmas Time
CAE 127 Richard Crooks with Orchestra – Vintage Blue Ribbons
CAE 131 Harold Coates & His Orchestra – Waltzes You Love
CAE 133 Donald Dame Lonesome – That’s All / A Little Love, a Little Kiss / Kathleen Mavourneen / I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen
CAE 135 Festival Concert Orchestra – World Wide Favorites
CAE 142 Festival Concert Orchestra – Favorite Encores
CAE 143 Lew White – Organ Cameos
CAE 151 Festival Concert Orchestra – Aïda Ballet Suite/ Coppelia Ballet Suite
CAE 158 Johann Strauss Jr – Waltzes by Johann Strauss Jr
CAE 159 Harold Coates’ Orchestra – Top Show Tunes
CAE 162 Festival Concert Orchestra – Viennese Concert Waltzes
CAE 163 George M. Cohan / Harold Coates Orchestra – George M. Cohan Hits
CAE 164 Ray Kinney & His Coral Islanders – Hawaiian Favorites
CAE 166 The Goldman Band – Manhattan Beach / Semper Fidelus / Fairest of the Fair / High School Cadets
CAE 172 Harold Coates’ Orchestra, Chorus & Soloists – Song Hits from Frank Loesser’s Guys & Dolls. Vol 1
CAE 179 Globe Symphony Orchestra – Handel: The Faithful Shepherd Suite
CAE 185 Richard Crooks – Songs of Faith
CAE 187 Warwick Symphony Orchestra – Tchaikovsy: Dances from the Nutcracker Suite
CAE 188 Warwick Symphony Orchestra – Debussy: Clair de Lune / Sibelius: Valse Triste / Schubert: Moment Musical
CAE 193 Lew White & His Orchestra – Melodic Magic
CAE 208 Richard Crooks – Christmas Songs
CAE 209 Charles M. Courboin – Ave Maria / Ave Verum / Silent Night / Holy God, We Praise Thy Name
CAE 214 Festival Concert Orchestra – Strauss Encores
CAE 223 Cosmopolitan Orchestra / Harian Ramsey – Latin Rhythms for Dancing
CAE 224 Mindy Carson with Orchestra – The Touch of Your Lips / Together / The Best Things in Life Are Free / You Are the Cream in My Coffee
CAE 244 William Primrose – Encores by William Primrose
CAE 225 Don Cornell with Orchestra – Don Cornell Sings
CAE 227 Morton Downey – Sings
CAE 229 Harold Coates Orchestra – Show Tunes That Linger, Vol 1
CAE 231 Dick Liebert – Musical Dreams
CAE 251 William Primrose William – Primrose Plays
CAE 256 Warwick Symphony Orchestra – Eight Russian Folk Songs
CAE 259 Xavier Cugat – That Latin Beat!
CAE 260 Johnny Desmond with The Page Cavanagh Trio – Guilty / I’ll Close My Eyes / Just Plain Love / If It’s True
CAE 263 Snooky Larson with Johnny Guarnieri & His Orchestra – Earth Angel / Sincerely / Tweedle Dee / Unsuspecting Heart
CAE 265 Guy Lombardo & His Canadians – Guy Lombardo Plays
CAE 268 Tommy Dorsey – Plays, Vol 1
CAE 271 Sammy Kaye & His Orchestra – Easter Parade / Baby Face / Begin the Beguine/ Pretty Baby
CAE 279 Frank Parker – Sings for You
CAE 280 Lena Horne – St. Louis Blues
CAE 284 Frank Parker – Great Religious Songs
CAE 285 Jack Haskell / Jeannie McKeon with Johnnny Guarnieri – Today’s Hits
CAE 288 Fran Warren – Sings Harold Arlen Songs
CAE 289 Giselle MacKenzie – Today’s Hits
CAE 291 Paul Wing – Favorite Stories for Children
CAE 299 Kukla, Fran & Ollie – Here We Are
CAE 301 Charlie Spivak & His Orchestra, Honey Drippers & Audrey Morris – Today’s Hits
CAE 304 Bob Carroll with Alvy West & His Orchestra – Today’s Hits
CAE 305 Jack Haskell / Jose Melis &His Trio – Today’s Hits
CAE 308 Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians – Guy Lombardo Favorites
CAE 310 Jesse Crawford – Plays for You
CAE 312 Wayne King – The Waltz King
CAE 315 Frank Parker – Sings Songs of Easter
CAE 320 Freddy Martin & His Orchestra Dance – Party with Freddy Martin & His Orchestra
CAE 321 Wayne King – Let’s Dance!
CAE 323 Chopin – Josef Lhevinne Plays Chopin
CAE 327 Wayne King – The Wayne King Style
CAE 329 Tex Beneke & His Orchestra – Today’s Hits
CAE 330 Earl Sheldon The Honey Dreamers
CAE 332 Polly Stevens – Today’s Hits
CAE 337 Johnny Guarnieri & His Group with The Townsmen – Friendly Persuasion / The Bus Stop Song / Just Walking in the Rain / Blueberry Hill
CAE 345 Xavier Cugat & His Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra – That Latin Bea!
CAE 346 Tony Mottola & His All-Stars – Cocktail Time
CAE 348 Henri René & His Orchestra – Pretend
CAE 350 The Delta Rhythm Boys – Dry Bones / September Song / My Blue Heaven / St. Louis Blues
CAE 352 Freddy Martin & His Orchestra – Make Believe
CAE 354 Tex Beneke & His Orchestra – Star Dust / Lazy Bones / Georgia On My Mind / Rockin’ Chair
CAE 354 Dick Liebert at the Organ – Musical Reflections
CAE 358 Ralph Flanagan & His Orchestra – Dancing Down Broadway
CAE 372 Domenico Savino & The Rome Festival Orchestra – O Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fidelis)
CAE 375 Jack Say & His Orchestra – The Best from Frank Loesser’s The Most Happy Fella
CAE 376 Dinah Shore – Dinah Shore
CAE 377 Tex Beneke & His Orchestra – Swinging Marches
CAE 380 Lena Horne – Lena Horne Sings The Blues
CAE 388 Vaughn Monroe & His Orchestra – Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland
CAE 400 Tex Beneke & His Orchestra – Petticoats of Portugal / Hey! Jealous Lover / Singing the Blues /
Tra La La
CAE 403 George de Witt – Today’s Hits
CAE 410 Perry Como – Dream Along With Me
CAE 411 Little Richard – Every Hour / I Brought It on Myself / Ain’t Nothin’ Happenin’ / Why Did You Leave Me?
CAE 416 Little Richard – Little Richard
CAE 417 Red Callender – The Red Callender Sextet
CAE 419 Art Tatum – Art Tatum
CAE 423 Buddy Morrow & His Orchestra – Let’s Have a Dance Party!
CAE 429 Shep Fields & His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra – Ripplin’ Rhythm
CAE 431 Johnny Guarnieri & His Group – Side by Side
CAE 433 George de Witt /Earl Sheldon & Orchestra – Young Blood / Love Letters in the Sand / Bye Bye Love / White
Sports Coat
CAE 434 Peter Ricardo & His Calypso – Take Her to Jamaica
CAE 441 Lionel Hampton & His Orchestra – Jivin’ the Vibres / Drum Stomp / Piano Stomp / Muskrat Ramble
CAE 442 Al Goodman – South Pacific
CAE 443 Perry Como – Perry Como
CAE 446 Little Richard – Little Richard Rocks!
CAE 448 Dave Martin & His Group with The Strollers – The Stroll
————————————————————————————————————-
To date, only two Camden EPs have been identified that have cover art by Andy Warhol. These are: CAE 158 “Waltzes by Johann Strauss, Jr.” and CAE 193, Lew White – “Melodic Magic”. The “Waltzes” EP has already been included in Paul Maréchal’s cataogue raisonné öover Warhol’s record covers and the Lew White will appear in the second edition, which will be published in 2015.
Currently, there is a copy of CAE 188 “Debussy – Clair de Lune / Sibelius – Valse Triste / Schubert – Moment Musical” on Ebay as a possible Warhol cover at an asking price $199. It is obviously NOT by Warhol. CAE 214 “Strauss Encores” has also been suggested to have been illustrated by Warhol, but combined expertise has concluded that while the shoes and boots are very much in the Warhol style, the heels are not right.
Camden CAE 158 – Waltzes by Johann Strauss, Jr.
I wish readers much joy from this list – although I cannot imagine why anyone would be interested! Merry Christmas to all my readers
I thought my collection of Klaus Voormann’s record covers was complete until I read that he was responsible for the covers of a couple of albums released in Germany in 1981. One by Heinz Rudolf Kunze entitled “Reine Nervensache”, and the other by Marius Müller-Westernhagen entitled “Stinker”. There was even a single, “von Drüben / Dicke” with similar cover art released from the album. Somehow I had missed these covers.
Heinz Rudolf Kunze’s “Reine Nervensache” LP
Luckily, there were several reasonably priced copies of both albums and the single for sale at various sites, so obtaining them was relatively easy.
I knew that Klaus Voormann’s own album “A Sideman’s Journey” was released in a limited edition box but, as I had already bought the album on vinyl, which included a limited edition poster of the cover art, I felt I didn’t need the box set as well. However, I saw a description of the box which mentioned that the poster included was signed by Klaus but I felt the £120-£140 cost, was excessive. A month ago, though, I saw a secondhand, almost mint copy for sale for less than half that price, so I jumped at the opportunity.
The box set of “A Sideman’s Journey”
The box contains a book, a CD, a DVD in addition to the signed poster. A nice addition to my collection.
Everyone knows that Klaus Voormann is a close friend of The Beatles. He designed the cover of their “Revolver” album, for which he received a Grammy in 1967. Klaus was also a member of The Plastic Ono Band and played on the “Live Peace in Toronto” album from 1969.
A few months ago I was offered one of Klaus Voormann’s rare prints. An image of John Lennon and Paul McCartney in the canteen at Abbey Road during the recording of The Beatles’ “Revolver” album. This was an edition of 40 all signed and numbered in pencil by Klaus Voormann. Mine is number 33. This print joins the one I already have of “An Evening with the Music of John Lennon”, which I received when I sold my record collection in May 2013.
Poster for “An Evening with the Music of John Lennon”.
I know that Klaus has also produced a print of Paul McCartney. I still have to find that one.
The first commercial record cover that Klaus Voormann designed was for The Typhoons’ single “Walk, Don’t Run / Parisian Heiress”only released in Germany on the Heliodor label in 1960. I once saw a copy of the cover with no record sell on Ebay for over $100! I have made my own copy of the cover and now I have found a copy of the record to put inside it.
Cover of The Typhoons’ single “Walk Don’t Run”.The Typhoons’ original Heliodor single in an alternative sleeve.
So, now I wonder if there are any more Klaus Voormann record covers out there still to be found.
Karin Andersson (born 28th February 1962 in Luleå in northern Sweden) is a Swedish painter who has achieved international acclaim. Her paintings sell for megabucks. As far as I can find out she has previously not been responsible for any record cover art. She began using the nickname “Mamma” in 1992 at an exhibition from the Swedish Kungliga Konstakademin and the name has stuck. Mattias Alkberg (born 8th January 1969) is a poet and musician from Luleå, Sweden. He came to prominence in the cult band The Bear Quartet and has since fronted several constellations, the latest being Mattias Alkbergs Begravning (Mattias Alkberg’s Funeral.) For Record Store Day 2014 Mattias Alkberg produced a 12-inch, four-track EP entitled “Epitafium”. The EP was released in extremely limited quantities. It was packaged in a fold-out poster cover painted by Karin “Mamma” Andersson.
I had read about this record in a design magazine and decided I really had to try to get hold of a copy. But two months had past since Record Store Day and I was not too hopeful. However, there are four record shops in my part of Stockholm, so I tried those first. No luck – and one shop owner told me how limited the release was that I would not be able to find a copy, unless I found one on Ebay. I wouldn’t take that as gospel and took the underground to Pet Sounds – Stockholm’s best record shop. Of course they had several copies on the shelf. But I only needed one. Thank you, Pet Sounds. Mission accomplished.
I’m not the jealous type. I really don’t need any more stuff. But sometimes when I’m doing some Ebay searches I come across something that arouses desire within my normally cool and collected breast. This time I was looking through some books by the art critic Rainer Crone as a friend had expressed an interest in his book of Andy Warhol’s early art, entitled “A Picture Show by the Artist – Early Works 1942-1962”.
Imagine my surprise – and excitement – to see that the book was not only signed but dedicated – and to ME! Well, not actually to ME but to my namesake. “Thou shalt not covet…” says the Commandment. But, i’m sorry ti have to admit that I do. I wonder if the seller would accept an offer of $45.00?
Most of my posts on this blog have been about Andy Warhol’s record cover art. However, I also collect record cover art by other designers. Currently these include Sir Peter Blake, Klaus Voormann and Damien Hirst and Banksy. I have sold my collection of Vaughan Oliver/V23 and most of my Martin Kann collection to be able to concentrate on these five designers, who have one thing in common – their production is fairly limited, which makes collecting all the record covers designed by each of them possible. Thus Andy Warhol is known to have designed almost 100 covers – although many records and CD use Andy Warhol’s art on their covers in addition to the ones he had a hand in. Klaus Voormann has thus far designed or illustrated sixty-two commercially released covers. Banksy has designed twenty covers and a further twenty-nine have used his images without his authorisation. Sir Peter Blake has thus far produced only 23 covers and Damien Hirst has just passed this total with twenty-four covers.
This month I completed both my Klaus Voormann and Damien Hirst collections. I found that when I sold my record collection one year ago I parted with my copy of Harry Nilsson’s “Sandman” LP which has Klaus Voormann’s maritime drawing on its inner spread.
I found a replacement copy for SEK 80 (about USD 11) at a record store a short bus ride from my home. Accross the road was another secondhand record shop where I found a copy of Billy Squire’s “Emotions in Motion” single with cover design that uses a detail of Andy Warhol’s Squier portrait (for SEK 10, or about USD 1.50). So now I have all of Klaus Voormann’s sixty-two commercially released covers. I recommend readers to view his official site (www.voormann.com) to see some covers that he designed for his own amusement.)
I know I should have bought it when it first came out in 2011, but I didn’t; so I have been looking for a copy of Red Hot Chili Pepper’s album “I’m With You” and various record shops in Stockholm have told me that it no longer available. But Stefan at Pet Sounds said he could order me a copy and promptly did so. It cost me SEK 450 (USD 62) but I had to have it to complete my Damien Hirst collection. It is one of Hirst’s best covers, combining his love of pharmaceuticals with his early fixation with death and decay. The front of this gatefold cover pictures a house fly (Musca domestica) resting on a coloured medicine capsule.
The record labels have the fly feeding on a blue tablet (on two labels), and the fly on a white tablet (on one) and (on the fourth label) the fly lies on its back, apparently dead. The inner spread shows only a very faint splodge on the right hand side, that suggests where the fly had been swatted. I like this cover!
This week I returned to Stockholm’s Spritmuseum to revisit the ArtPop exhibition and took my camera with me. There is a wall of Damien Hirst’s record covers including Babyshambles’ “Sequel to the Prequel” LP, a couple of singles by The Hours and Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros’ “Art Pop & the X-ray Style” album together with Dave Stewart’s “Heart of Stone” 12″ single cover.
Damien Hirst in August 2008. Photo by David Bailey.
On October 25th 2013 Damien Hirst’s 22nd record cover for Babyshambles’ “Fall From Grace”, the band’s second single from their “Sequel to the Prequel” album was released on September 2nd 2013. The album cover as well as both singles had cover design by Hirst, who with this latest cover passed the number of covers designed by Sir Peter Blake. Depending a little on how one defines a Peter Blake cover, Blake has produced 21 covers in the 47 years since Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was released in 1967. This cover was, of course, designed by Blake and his then wife Jann Haworth – and so should be regarded as a joint effort. The cover for Madness’ limited edition CD version of “Oui, Oui, Si, Si, Ja, Ja, Da, Da” has him pictured on the cover, but the design is by Paul Agar with photography by Perou.
I do not suppose many would argue with me if I suggest that much of Damien Hirst’s art is ugly. Dissected animals or fish in formalin tanks, skulls (even when encrusted with diamonds) do not appear beautiful to these eyes. And Damien Hirst’s record covers fit the mould. His first record cover art was for Dave Stewart’s “Greetings From the Gutter” released in 1994. Hirst’s first covers are really unremarkable – the six variously coloured gas tubes with tubing attached on the Dave Stewart album and the dissection of an egg by two rubber-gloved hands on the “Heart of Stone” single from Stewart’s album are hardly design masterpieces. These are followed by Hirst’s ugliest covers; the CD for Fat Les’ “Vindaloo” with foldout poster and “Yalla Yalla” the single from Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros’ album “Rock Art & The X-ray Style” from 1999. For the album, Hirst drew a series of matchstick men reminiscent of stone-age cave paintings or aboriginal art and these figures appeared on the “Bankrobber 99” promotional single as well. Joe Strummer & The Meascaleros’ “Rock Art & the X-ray Style” LP cover.
In 2006, Hirst became manager for the band The Hours and designed the covers for their first album “Narcissus Road” and the singles taken from it; “Ali in the Jungle” and “Back When You Were Good”. These were released on the A & M label.
Hirst made a limited edition of 210 spin-painted skulls as holders for the CD retailing at a cool £4,500 each! Damien Hirst’s spin-painted skull holder for The Hours’ “Narcissus Road” CD.
Hirst then started his own record label “Is Good” and The Hours’ second album “See the Light” was released on the label, again with cover art by him. The album was released on gatefold vinyl and a double 12″ single “See the Light” was also released. And, as had been for the singles from “Narcissus Road”, each was decorated with more of Hirst’s skull designs.
In February 2008 the cover of TAR Magazine used Damien Hirst’s portrait of Kate Moss where the right side of her face was dissected down to the muscles. The following year, Hirst released a white vinyl, one-sided 12″ single with the same image on the cover. Hirst’s given name was misspelt on the record label: “Damian”. The single was released in a numbered edition of 666 copies and is currently very sought after. Damien Hirst’s portrait of Kate Moss from TAR Magazine to his “Use Money, Cheat Death” 12″ single cover.
Hirst’s next cover “I’m With You” for The Red Hot Chili Peppers (2011) revisited two of his earlier subjects, drugs represented by a coloured capsule and decay, represented by a single fly on the capsule. Red Hot Chili Peppers’ album “I’m With You”.
Hirst designed the cover for the band 30 Seconds to Mars’ fourth album “Love Lust Faith & Dreams” in May 2013 and used his polka dot pattern. The album was released on CD and vinyl and in a limited edition boxed set with the LP, a double CD, a book and four prints. 30 Seconds to Mars’ super de luxe promo box set of Love, Lust & Faith
Later the same year Hirst designed the covers for Babyshambles’ “Sequel to the Prequel” album and the two singles released from it that autumn; “Nothing Comes From Nothing” and “Fall From Grace”. According to Babyshambles’ bassist Drew McConnell reported in NME: “It happened kind of naturally and in the spirit you’d hope for. We asked Damien to suggest someone to put something together, then to our amazement he offered to do it himself. The fact that he used a pic taken by Pennie Smith, who shot all those iconic photos of The Clash (Damien’s old pal Joe Strummer’s band), just makes it make even more sense.”
So those are Damien Hirst’s first 22 covers from his first twenty years of record cover design 1994 – 2013.
And, as is my wont, I’ll list one cover ascribed to Damien Hirst that is not by him. According to Wikipedia Hirst did prepare a design for the cover for the Band Aid 20 single “Do They Know It’a Christmas?”. His design showing the grim reaper and a starving child was considered too scary and was dropped. Mat Maitland at Big Active, a designer in his own right who has designed covers for Michael Jackson and others was commissioned to design the replacement. Rumour has it that Hirst released a limited edition print of his design for the cover. But I have, thus far, not been able to find one.
Most of my posts have been about record covers bearing Andy Warhol’s art. But, just as a reminder, I also collect record cover art by four other artists. I have an almost complete collection of Damien Hirst’s record covers, including the highly collectible “Use Money, Cheat Death” one-sided single released on his own label.
This image first appeared on the cover of the February 2008 number of TAR Magazine. The record was released on white vinyl in a numbered edition of 666 copies. Damien Hirst’s most recent covers are for the British band Babyshambles’ 2013 releases “Sequel to the Prequel” (LP) and (so far) the two vinyl singles from the album “Nothing Comes from Nothing” and “Fall From Grace”:
These covers all show examples of Damien Hirst’s spin paintings.
My friend Daniel Brant at the A and D Gallery in London, knows I collect Klaus Voormann’s record cover art and he recently induced me to buy a poster by Klaus Voormann that I had never seen before. It is a print of a drawing of Paul McCartney and John Lennon in the canteen at Abbey Road during the recording of “Revolver”:
While on the subject of Klaus Voormann – I have a 12″ single of George Harrison’s single “When We Was Fab” from 1988. And just a few days ago I stumbled on the promotional issue of this release which comes in a limited edition box with a poster and a card, which I had not seen before, so I snapped it up! The illustration of the front of the box, and on the single itself, is another fine Voormann drawing – somewhat in the “Revolver” style.
Fellow Warhol Cover Collectors Club member Kevin Kinney suggested I get hold of Lady Gaga’s 2013 album “ArtPop”, whose cover was designed and photgraphed by Jeff Koons. Now I do not collect Koons’ covers but – because of the ArtPop exhibition currently on show in Stockholm – I decided I would buy this album.
This is the cover’s inner spread with photographer Koons photographing Lady Gaga.
In a previous post, I promised a continuation of my list of 45 rpm discs with Andy Warhol cover art. Well, I’m still working on the list, which continues to grow as I do more research.
The Rolling Stones released their “Sticky Fingers” LP with cover photography by Andy Warhol and package design by Craig Braun on 23rd April 1971. The cover art and packaging received a Grammy nomination in 1972 – but did not win. However, the album cover was later voted No 1 in VH1’s list of the best record sleeves of all time.
The design concept was by Andy Warhol and many credit him with the photography, which according to others, was by Factory associate Billy Name. Sticky Fingers was the first LP released on the Rolling Stones own record label.
Here I will only discuss the various versions of The Rolling Stones’ “Brown Sugar” single and EP with Warhol cover art. There are many issues from all over the world with either generic company covers or alternative cover art.
The original single was released in the UK on 16th April 1971, one week prior to the Sticky Fingers LP, as a three-track single with “Brown Sugar” coupled with “Bitch” and “Let It Rock”. The covers for the UK and US singles used a photograph by American photographer David Montgomery (thank you Guy Minnebach for this information.) The rear cover used the same photo as the “Sticky Fingers” LP with a jeans-clad posterior. Interestingly, the German version of the single had the Montgomery photograph reversed on the front – that is with Jagger apparently standing at far left instead of at far right as on the UK and US versions.
In addition to the standard single, there was a shaped picture disc (SUGAR1).
“Brown Sugar” was released in Mexico both as a single (coupled with “Perdida” (Bitch)) and as an EP (coupled with “Caballos salvajes” (“Wild Horses”) and “Ecos de mi onda” (“Can’t You Hear Me Knocking”)) both had a fold-over covers that bore the “Sticky Fingers” artwork on the front.
The “Brown Sugar” single was re-issued in it’s original cover for Record Store Day in 2011 as a numbered edition of 10,000 copies. My copy has number 7385.
Klaus Voormann’s designs for the 20 volume series of Coral EPs from 1960. These EPs, apart from numbers 1 & 2 (Louis Armstrong) have become quite rare and it has taken me several years to collect all twenty, so I’m particularly proud of this set.
