A&M Album Covers Over The Years

[nightcat]

I've followed A&M from since around 1965. Like most of us, I was a big fan of the music the A&M label produced. In addition to the great sound of the label, were the excellent album covers. It was evident that a lot of thought went into creating the covers. Great photography combined with creative designs and cool fonts were the the trademarks of A&M jackets. Then suddenly at some point in the very early 70s, there was a major change in album cover design. Gone was the thought and preparation. The covers suddenly lacked the imagination and creativity that the earlier ones had. And things seemed to get even worse in the 80s. Recently I looked at 2 Sergio Mendes lps from the early 80s. One just called "Sergio Mendes" and "Confetti", The covers looked like they were hastily put together by someone with no artistic ability. Now compare these covers with "Equinox" or "Fool On The Hill", and you'll see what I mean. Now, I'm sure there are some examples of decent A&M covers after the early seventies and even into the eighties, but in general, I see a huge decline in quality. Did A&M have make a change in the art director or the graphic designer around 1970? And was a similar change made in the early 1980s? Also, I'm curious if anyone else concurs with my viewpoint?

 

[Dave]

Seems as though that is also something I've also noticed in the Man's Best Friend: Music inner-sleeve... (Now, even the title/theme of that seems to be a declining creative contrast, compared to the I/H-series of the older inner sleeves when the company begin) showing some of the LP covers, a bit dul,, dreary, and an after-thought, compared to how more exciting & more on point, the earlier A&M Records records were like...

(Though, there would be exceptions: Something like Lee Michaels Carnival Of Life, onward--Meh! And the Herb Alpert discs--those always seemed to make a strong and accurate statement, through the years!)


-- Dave

 

[Rudy]

I think they were just changing with the times--there are still some artistic covers in later years. And yes, there were some duds. The main thing is that the album cover needed to help sell the product, so it had to stand out among similar product on the shelves back then, artistic or not. They were also releasing a lot more albums per year in the 70s and 80s, and I would think many of them chose (or created) their own album cover art and (as long as it were approved) the label released it.

 

[Acapulco 1922]

I always got freaked-out by Claudine Longet's eyes on the COLOURS album cover (4163). The way the photo is like a sepia-tinted Daguerreotype makes her look like a zombie with Medusa hair!

 

[Bobberman]

All through A&M's history there have always been Good and bad album covers and everybody has their personal favorites and preferences. But to me what mattered first and foremost. Was and still is The Music inside. However i always liked the way the Early albums were designed The First decade of A&M was truly full of memorable gems indeed.

 

[LPJim]

Don't forget Herb & the TJB's album that held the #1 spot the longest had what amounted to a leftover photo. WHAT NOW MY LOVE's cover looks so much like SOUTH OF THE BORDER's they had to have been from the same shoot.

What I regret most is I never ordered one of the "full color" catalogs that were advertised on many early albums. Cover shots of LPs that never got released were rumored to have been featured. I'd sure like to see those.

JB

 

[Bobberman]

Don't forget Herb & the TJB's album that held the #1 spot the longest had what amounted to a leftover photo. WHAT NOW MY LOVE's cover looks so much like SOUTH OF THE BORDER's they had to have been from the same shoot.

What I regret most is I never ordered one of the "full color" catalogs that were advertised on many early albums. Cover shots of LPs that never got released were rumored to have been featured. I'd sure like to see those.

JB

Me too and i noticed the similarites between the SOTB and WNML covers same ideas different locations but same people in the photos.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

One just called "Sergio Mendes" and "Confetti", The covers looked like they were hastily put together by someone with no artistic ability. Now compare these covers with "Equinox" or "Fool On The Hill", and you'll see what I mean.

I dunno, I always thought Confetti was one of Sergio's cooler-looking covers. I never really understood why that album was called Confetti though... it doesn't really fit the music.

Equinox, while a great cover, is really just the group standing there - the best thing about that cover is the logo, I think. Fool on the Hill is probably the all-around best cover of the ones mentioned here -- it's a gatefold, it's got that sexy cover shot. Although my favorite Sergio cover of all time is Stillness. Another gatefold, the artwork and design fits the theme of the album, and it's just got a cool vibe to it. I think Sergio's worst cover of all time (including post-A&M material) is Vintage 74. Of his A&M output, I'd have to give "least favorite" honors to Brasil '86.