Bob's album covers
Glynne Walley
>From: Dennis J Green <deng...@IX.NETCOM.COM>
>Subject: Worst Bob Dylan Clbum Cover artwork/design
>
>Eye nominate Shot of Love as the most inane of all his album covers.
>If you can't come up with something good, give me a current photo of
>Bob, is my way of thinking
>
>The Saved album cover was just a little too over the top (and was
>replaced for a while) the CD release brought back the original cover (I
>think) Was there any other album cover changed besides Saved. Just
>inquiring.
>
>A discussion of album cover art/graphics/subjects/etc would be
>interesting and different on rmd.
Thoughts on Bob's album covers (apologies to longtime readers, who may
remember me making similar comments before):
1. Basically all of Bob's albums sport a picture of him on the front,
usually a photo, usually a close-up. Frankly, I've always thought this to
be a little boring. Sure it's standard practice, but it's so predictable.
I guess it's Bob's way of saying, "it's the music, stupid."
2. Overall packaging is usually minimal, too. A few albums have liner
notes (some of these have been dropped from CD releases, a crime against
humanity if ever there was one), and a very few have lyrics included, but in
general it's safe to say that the Columbia art department wasn't working
overtime on any of these, with the exception of the Bootleg Series 1-4 (4
should get a Grammy for packaging if there is one). Again, this is probably
Bob's doing, downplaying the whole idea of a new Dylan album.
3. Although I find the album cover concepts to be monotonous, several of
the covers are pretty damn cool in spite of this. I think my favorite is
probably the World Gone Wrong cover. An incredibly atmospheric shot, and
the painting on the wall behind him kind of reminds me of the cover of
Self-Portrait, which I've always taken (maybe unjustified) as a reference to
that earlier (half-hearted) attempt of Bob's to find himself in old covers.
I also like the cover of Under The Red Sky, as much for the wonderful
texture of the black and white photo as anything else.
4. Some of the covers, on the other hand, are really forgettable. The
first album, for example, and Good As I Been To You, and the front cover of
TOOM, even (although the inside picture, the unfocused one on the left, I
love).
5. I'm not a real fan of Bob's drawing and painting. The Self Portrait and
Planet Waves covers don't do anything for me, although I think the SP one is
effective if meant to be as much of a joke as the songs were ("yeah, like
this is really a serious self portrait").
6. There are so few non-Bob-mugshot covers that I originally wondered if he
took that road when he had something special to say. For example, I think
it was no accident that originally all three "born-again" albums had
something else on the front instead of Bob. I figured he was trying to get
buyers to focus on the message instead of the messenger. (I kind of like
the Shot Of Love cover in a Roy Lichtensteinish sort of way.) This theory
works for Before The Flood, too--the crowd shot suggests that the real story
was the whole event of the tour, not just the music played. But then I
remembered the covers of Knocked Out Loaded and Oh Mercy, and I can't think
of any reason for them not to sport Bob mugshots--most likely there was no
reason, and he just felt like having something else on the cover. Fine by
me.
7. Apropos the Oh Mercy and Knocked Out Loaded covers, I seem to recall
reading back in '89 that the Oh Mercy one was actually a mural that Bob saw
on a wall in N'Awlins while recording the album, and he liked it so much
that he decided to use it. So it is an example of a pre-existing picture
that Bob decided to use. Anybody know the story on the Knocked Out Loaded
pic? It looks almost like a movie poster--does anybody know if it was
especially commissioned for the album or not?
8. I would seriously hope that any remasters would be incredibly lavish in
terms of packaging. Maybe not a 50 page booklet for each album, but
definitely a knowledgeable essay including session notes, track credits,
extra photos, as well as all original packaging. Just my own druthers.
Glynne
np: Rolling Stones: mix '68-'70
DerekKTR
>first album, for example, and Good As I Been To You,
I always kinda looked on this as a great concept.
What, concept ? who ? where ?
The whole 'Bob Dylan' and 'Good as I been to you' thing.
It's a circle. Bob starts off with his folky cap, fresh face and old songs.
Then thirty odd years later, he's unshaven, hardened and wisened, but still the
same old songs.
Not exactly the same, but you know what I mean.
The albums have exactly the same concept. They're refreshing the old songs.
Good as I been to YOU.....think about it.
Great photo, 1993 I think, very flattering to jowly Bob.
Amazing what they can do with lighting these days :-)
Derek Keogh
(Blind...@edlis.org)
Smoking a Cheap cigar in Dublin, Ireland at
http://members.aol.com/BlindDerek/private/home/
Max Ferguson
> I think my favorite is
>probably the World Gone Wrong cover. An incredibly atmospheric shot, and
>the painting on the wall behind him kind of reminds me of the cover of
>Self-Portrait, which I've always taken (maybe unjustified) as a reference to
>that earlier (half-hearted) attempt of Bob's to find himself in old covers.
anybody else notice a similarity (family resemblence) between the clown up
on the wall on the cover of "bringing it all back home" and self portrait?
hey, that'd make a good song title: "Self Portrait Of The Clown Up On The
Wall"...
Zoner13
The liner notes, too, are worth the price of admission.
Oh Mercy! Is really great, too.
Blonde On Blonde is my all-time favortie.
No title. No name. (LP version.) Just that picture of Dylan, slightly out of
focus, in those fall clothes, and that scarf, staring at us. This album always
reminds me of fall, for some reason, and, though it doesn't make any sense, the
picture just SOUNDS like that wild mercury thing we've all grown to love.
Suzanne McKane
Zoner13 wrote in message <19981128153307...@ng-fr1.aol.com>...
>I've always loved the World Gone Wrong cover, too. Those colors!
>The liner notes, too, are worth the price of admission.
Got to agree with you there. I love everything about that album especially
those liner notes which continue to fascinate me!
Suzanne
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