FAVORITE COVER FROM MY LIST AND WHY I LOVE IT

Tough one,I'll have to go with the one that got me interested in art, type design and ink.That would be Santana's self titled debut lp with the Lee Conklin (lion woman) cover.The hidden faces and the primitive strength of the black ink hooked me.It had a great impact on young Stevie's work. I realized there was more to art than the green faced witches and Suzuki dirt bikes I was drawing in front of the t.v. every evening. The "AOXOMOXOA" cover that Griffin did for the Grateful Dead is the only cover that moved me nearly as much.
Griffin demonstrated a fresh way to use color while Conklin reminded me of the possibilities and strength of black and white. Though I've never had the pleasure of meeting Lee, I was able to bother Rick with a slew of fan boy questions and share a pizza with him in the early '90's when I was introduced to him by Jacaeber Kastor at "Psychedelic Solution, where Kastor was kind enough to employ me on my first week in NYC.

10 WORST ALBUM COVERS

1. Rush "Grace Under Pressure"....just plain hideous, I even hated it as a 15 year old Rush fan.
2. Led Zeppelin "4" or "Zoso"....depressing and brownish grey.I wish Plant stayed home to brush his hair the day they conceptualized that poopy pile of an image. No band name on the cover either?...wheew,how fiendishly outlandish!
3. Elvis Costello and the Attractions "Armed Forces"...obvious what they were shooting for and obvious that they missed.
4. Iron Maiden "Somewhere in Time"...most of their covers make me cringe but this one gives me douche chills.
5. Yes " Tales from Topographic Oceans"...fish flying instead of swimming? How did Roger Dean ever come up with such a concept? Why, doesn't he know fish don't fly? Very pedestrian for a Dean.
6. Return to Forever "Romantic Warrior"...The name of the band and the record title were embarrassing enough without adding imagery of a knight, a dove and a castle on the cover. Sadly, I think it's one of the great prog’ records.

MOST OVERRATED COVER AND WHY

I know everyone thinks they invented water and the air we breathe but my vote goes to "Velvet Underground with Nico." debut lp.
I love Warhol (especially when he drew) and I'm not blaming him for the cover. On it's own , the image is typically and magically Warhol's own but in the hands of the VU ,it became some sort of pretentious and sophomoric attempt at nihilism. I believe that Lou Reed owns the patent on pretension so it probably shouldn’t surprise me.

10 BEST POSTER ARTISTS
in no particular order

1. Rick Griffin
2. Lee Conklin
3. Ben Shahn
4. Gary Panter
5. David Singer
6. Mark Dancey
7. Art Chantry
8. Frank Kozik
9. (old)Peter Max
10. Victor Moscoso
11. Storm Thurgerson of Hipgnosis


FAVORITE POSTERS OF ALL TIME?

1. Everything by Rick Griffin, especially the Grateful Dead's "AOXOMOXOA" promo/tour poster
2. Anything by Lee Conklin
3. "Guided by Voices" The Whiskey,May 9-10 1998 by David Fremont
4. “Coltrane” by Mark Dancey
5. "Closing of the Fillmore West" by David Singer

THE ALBUM THAT CHANGED YOUR LIFE (BECAUSE OF ART, MUSIC OR BOTH)

A coin toss between "Captain Beefheart and the Magic band" Trout Mask Replica and The Residents "Duckstab". They've continuously rearranged my molecules for 20 years or more. Both records eclipse any of the so called "psychedelic" records created before or after in my world..
Trout Mask has the reckless ferociousness of a Cecil Taylor with a structural intensity that would embarrass Zappa.Beautiful lysergic field hollers. Had it on lp since '82 and I still haven't memorized all of the lyrics or begun to find
my way through the time signatures.
The Residents' album is a "sneaky" masterpiece. Its soundscapes, creeping jingles and cryptic lyrics make a perfectly trippy atmosphere. Seemingly minimal but I can attest to the fact that it stands up after 20 years of constant rotation. .
Both records are lyrically and musically reinventions of the wheel and are seemingly beyond human logic and ability. Both are poetically loaded and almost threatening in their perfection. The covers allude to the intensity of the music inside. The covers were executed by Cal Shenkel (Troutmask Replica) and Poreknow Graphics (Duckstab) who in my book have never done anything short of amazing to this day.

WHAT ARTIST SHOULD HAVE DONE ALBUM COVER OR POSTER ART?

Dr. Seuss.... He was a true visionary in every sense, aside from his almost laughable precautionary business sense. His bio mentions that he attempted to stop production on the animated "Grinch" film because he sensed it would be an embarrassing failure. He even resisted the merchandising of his characters. I have to assume if he was offered cover designs or posters he would have declined, sadly.

CD's OR VINYL AND WHY?

Cd's are convenient and might be more archival but I still love the pops and crackles of vinyl. It reminds me of huddling over my Realistic brand stereo trying to decipher Monkee lyrics when I was 6 or 7. I don't mind a skip now and then either.

ARE COVERS AS COOL NOW AS THEY USED TO BE AND WHY?

The industry standard went from the gatefold to what is ultimately a glorified matchbook cover. "Cool" cover art has lost out to lame industry imagery thrown together to save time and money by pro-active catch phrase slinging office boys. Budgets have dwindled in reverse proportion to the amount "nobody loves me -neo neo punk -I have a very scarey skull tattoo -rap -shit -metal" music released. To find good graphics and music you have to look to the tiny labels. They're doing it out of devotion; they're not spending whatever change there is left to be had on S.U.V. leases and the newest nostril hair trimmer from the Sharper Image catalog.
Look at the magic that the designers at Blue Note performed with their incredibly tiny budgets in the 50’s and 60’s. My opinion is that no one has done a series that beautiful since, in jazz or rock.


ARE ROCK POSTERS AS COOL AS THEY USED TO BE AND WHY?

The old stuff had limited or zero budget and the limited press colors forced a higher level of planning and color utilization. I love hand laid and hand drawn type too. It’s gonna be really hard to beat what David Singer, Lee Conklin and Griffin did in my humble opinion but I like to think that the infinite variety of styles and approaches right now is pushing the form ahead. No one hangs them on the street anymore though and I think that's sad.

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