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Author Topic: Brian's New Album Cover  (Read 27544 times)
brianc
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« Reply #75 on: July 16, 2008, 08:21:18 PM »

To take things back to the topic of album design, I think it is indeed right to point out that design for Brian Wilson solo has been largely directionless.

I don't want to dive too deeply back into where the Beach Boys fit into this, only to say that they almost uniformely fit into the graphic design modes of the time, up through the early '80s, for better or for worse.

The "Pet Sounds" and "Smile" covers are iconic for more reasons than just great music. The Cooper font used on "Pet Sounds" is a bold serif, and has become a sort of signature font for Brian's artistry... i.e. when he is choosing to be artistic. The "Pet Sounds" album cover has a very distinct graphic design, in that, front-and-back, "Pet Sounds" is sort of a surmising statement of where the Beach Boys came, and also where they were at present. There are four fonts used on "Pet Sounds," not including the record company logotypes. Clearly the wood-work type on the back, outlining the song titles, is more of a '50s style font, and has a Smokey the Bear quality to it. But no matter what, having the Cooper font as large as it is on the front, and set atop a straight green backdrop... it's the perfect setting for what could have been a jumbled mess of an album jacket. Alas, the font and coloring of the top border of "Pet Sounds" allows the picture on the front cover to sort of stand there in all of its odd glory. The back cover is another Mondrian style design, much like the "All Summer Long" album jacket.

Only once did the Beach Boys ever go full-on Modernism and employ Helvetica, and that was the 1963 "Little Deuce Coupe" album jacket. Oddly enough, that was also the only album pre-dating "Smile" that doesn't feature the band on the front cover. "All Summer Long," again, went with a Mondrian style design, but was also much, much busier than your typical Modernist graphic designer would have liked. The storyline of that cover harkens back to the '50s... it is very busy... and the way it was all put together was very much in the vein of L.A.'s assemblage art movement. All of that was about to change with the advent and popularity of Ed Ruscha. His impact, as well as that of hardcore Modernism in '60s graphic design (and advertising), was the major influence on the Beach Boys' "Today!" sleeve. Itself a failure, mostly because of the use of that red font, but the Beach Boys' picture and the framing is a beautiful thing to behold. The "Summer Days" album jacket is a bit slapdash and confused... lots of space for a big, bold font, but it's a serif font, sort of pushing it back to the old world, which I suppose fits the contents perfectly. The minimalism of "Summer Means New Love" and the intro to "California Girls" are not the rule on that album. So it was that "Pet Sounds" sort of stood as their defining '60s design.

That is, unless you love the wide-ranging styles that psychedelia inferred, and therefore, "Smile" takes the cake. I think "Smile" is beautiful for that reason alone. It employs a hand-drawn font. Mark London later isolated the beauty of that font for BWPS. The interior gatefold was way busy, but that's assemblage art for you, and he doesn't apologize for that. I certainly encouraged assemblage in Mark's graphic design for "Dumb Angel #4: All Summer Long." But I was really, really inspired by Wallace Berman and Ed Kienholz at the time, as well as pop-art, so we went for the gusto and made that issue all pop.

Anyway, I don't think the "Smile" font or graphic design really hold the weight that the actual Frank Holmes drawing does. It's a very evocative drawing, and it sort of calls an end to graphic design on Beach Boys packages, as much as it called an end to putting a picture of the band on the cover. It was neither like the "Little Deuce Coupe" album jacket, nor like the eight or so other LP jackets that came before it. It was something different. Which is why it's the one that sort of stands out across generations, for people who are truly into the more modern and (dare I say) alternative side of rock and pop music.

That Brian Wilson has probably never had as great a design as "Pet Sounds" or 'Smile" since speaks volumes to the notion of autonomy in his work. I hate to say it, but it's the only way I can think to put it. That's why the "Pet Sounds Live" sleeve seems so slapdash and unimportant. It's as though Brian's past is being pasted onto his present, in an effort to say, "He's back!" In the 2000s, however, the Brian Is Back campaign didn't promise a return to hitmaking, as much as it promised a return to serious artistry. Thus far, it hasn't delivered. And maybe that's why we feel disappointed with the TSOL album jacket artwork. An autonomous Brian piece of music seems to demand more graphically.
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shelter
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« Reply #76 on: July 17, 2008, 12:11:45 AM »

I personally don't think that the "Pet Sounds" cover is that great by itself. I think it probably became good because of the music that we associate it with. If it would've been the cover of a really bad album, I don't think anyone would ever have even noticed anything good about the cover... It's like with the name 'The Beatles' - it's basically a really bad name, but we like it because of what we've been associating it with for decades.
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brianc
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« Reply #77 on: July 17, 2008, 09:11:14 AM »

I don't think "Pet Sounds" is a great cover either. I DO think that there are some design elements that ALLOW it to be iconic. The music certainly guides it to its "classic" status, and while the cover is VERY busy on the back, and somewhat marginal on the front, the Cooper font and the strong green background sort of invite its name to stand out. Therefore, since the music delivered in such a huge way, the boldness of that font has sort of become emblematic of Brian Wilson when he is creating serious music.
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cerro azul
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« Reply #78 on: July 17, 2008, 09:54:03 AM »

You said:
Only once did the Beach Boys ever go full-on Modernism and employ Helvetica, and that was the 1963 "Little Deuce Coupe" album jacket. Oddly enough, that was also the only album pre-dating "Smile" that doesn't feature the band on the front cover.

When in fact, "Surfin' U.S.A." also does not feature the band on the front cover.
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Roger Ryan
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« Reply #79 on: July 17, 2008, 10:14:48 AM »

The "log" typeface on the original PET SOUNDS backside is ghastly and completely wrong for the album. I think from SMiLE through IN CONCERT you have some very good album covers. I dislike the FRIENDS cover which looks like something you'd find on the cover of an in-flight airline magazine circa '68 (the back cover does too, but at least it's a pretty picture). SMILEY SMILE's cover is excellent, better than the album really. SURF'S UP and HOLLAND are probably the best. During this period, PET SOUNDS was reissued with the superior backside featuring the subtler (Times Roman?) font style and that great photo of the spilled bag of peanuts (the perfect compliment to the front cover).

From 15 Big Ones on, all of the Beach Boys album covers were mediocre to horrible. Compared to these, Brian's solo album cover art has been an improvement.

For those who wonder whether anyone was doing great cover art in the 80s, check out the work of Peter Saville; I'd be happy to hang prints of most of his work on my wall (I know I derailed the thread again, but thought I included enough on-topic content to justify it).
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brianc
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« Reply #80 on: July 17, 2008, 10:20:26 AM »

When in fact, "Surfin' U.S.A." also does not feature the band on the front cover.

Ha! Not sure what I was thinking! I grabbed all of the LPs and had them sitting next to my desk when I wrote that. I must have just glossed over the whole lot up to "Smile" and only noticed the "Little Deuce Coupe" LP.
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brianc
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« Reply #81 on: July 17, 2008, 10:27:31 AM »

The "log" typeface on the original PET SOUNDS backside is ghastly and completely wrong for the album.

Ghastly is one way of putting it. I wouldn't praise it, by any means. But I can dissect it and know what the designers were trying to do. The problem is that it was Capitol in-house, and the designers were likely '50s fuddy-duddy designers. Some good ideas, but certainly not cutting-edge.

I think from SMiLE through IN CONCERT you have some very good album covers. I dislike the FRIENDS cover which looks like something you'd find on the cover of an in-flight airline magazine circa '68 (the back cover does too, but at least it's a pretty picture). SMILEY SMILE's cover is excellent, better than the album really.

I agree. SS, WH and Friends all employed a painting, like Smile had, and it worked in cememnting those albums as more personal statements than the hardcore Capitol hit albums of the early-to-mid-'60s.

SURF'S UP and HOLLAND are probably the best. During this period, PET SOUNDS was reissued with the superior backside featuring the subtler (Times Roman?) font style and that great photo of the spilled bag of peanuts (the perfect compliment to the front cover).

I like the Cooper font better, and the green backdrop. But that's just me.

From 15 Big Ones on, all of the Beach Boys album covers were mediocre to horrible. Compared to these, Brian's solo album cover art has been an improvement.

Hmmm. I rather like Dean Torrence's design for "Love You." The sleeve for "MIU" still has that hippy-surf feel to it, though the sun is fading quickly on the Beach Boys' relevance. People were still (barely) giving them a chance at that time. Everything after that... blech.

I'm glad someone is indulging me in this design argument.
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shelter
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« Reply #82 on: July 17, 2008, 11:18:15 AM »

From 15 Big Ones on, all of the Beach Boys album covers were mediocre to horrible. Compared to these, Brian's solo album cover art has been an improvement.

I like the "LA (Light Album)" cover. Twelve postcards by twelve different artists, one for each song, one for the band name and one for the album title. That's a pretty cool concept.
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shelter
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« Reply #83 on: July 17, 2008, 11:21:40 AM »

I always thought that the "Wild Honey" cover could've been really cool if they would've used a cartoon style drawing of that same design with brighter colors... Instead of that somewhat pale photograph... And the typography is obviously rubbish.

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brianc
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« Reply #84 on: July 17, 2008, 11:28:18 AM »

I like the "LA (Light Album)" cover. Twelve postcards by twelve different artists, one for each song, one for the band name and one for the album title. That's a pretty cool concept.

I like the concept more than the actual execution. The postcard for "Love Surrounds Me" is awesome, though.
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brianc
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« Reply #85 on: July 17, 2008, 11:38:31 AM »

I always thought that the "Wild Honey" cover could've been really cool if they would've used a cartoon style drawing of that same design with brighter colors... Instead of that somewhat pale photograph... And the typography is obviously rubbish.

I've thought about that cover a lot myself. Without sounding too prententious, I know this about "Wild Honey." The stained-glass was done by Arnie Geller, Brian Wilson's cousin by marriage. The image on the cover of "Wild Honey" is a photograph of one section of that stained-glass pattern. It was handed in to Capitol Records and given over to their young in-house designer, the recently-hired John Van Hamersveld. One of Van Hamersveld's first jobs for Capitol was to lay the "Magical Mystery Tour" EP onto the dot-pattern clouds for the LP version. He also created the first Hearts & Flowers album jacket. Van Hamersveld was a student at the Chouinard Institute, which was L.A.'s most experimental art school at the time (later became Cal Arts). He cut his teeth as a designer for "Surfer" magazine, then "Surf Guide," from 1962-65. His crowning achievement in surf design was the poster for Bruce Brown's "The Endless Summer." That poster still stands as sort of like the American flag of Southern California. You can ride your bike through neighborhoods in San Diego, Orange County and L.A., and you see the poster pinned-up in so many two-car garages.

Anyway, I think the hand-drawn font of "Wild Honey" was one of Van Hamersvled's first steps away from using Swiss typography in the '60s. A school of psychedelic poster artists was emerging, and successfully rejecting everything that Modernism had implied. Van Hamersveld got much, much better at psychedelic lettering after "Wild Honey," when he started the Pinnacle Poster Company, and (along with Rick Griffin and Victor Moscoso) created some of the best psych posters of the era.

But I agree, "Wild Honey" seems like a quickie design. Maybe that's the way it was meant to be, though. It kind of has the same off-the-cuff feeling that the music itself does.
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shelter
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« Reply #86 on: July 17, 2008, 12:18:31 PM »

I like the concept more than the actual execution. The postcard for "Love Surrounds Me" is awesome, though.

I like the one with the band name a lot (top left). That image was used for the cover of the Italian "Here Comes the Night" 45. It looks pretty great as a single cover.
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TdHabib
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« Reply #87 on: July 17, 2008, 01:03:21 PM »

From 15 Big Ones on, all of the Beach Boys album covers were mediocre to horrible. Compared to these, Brian's solo album cover art has been an improvement.
I love the art for the Beach Boys Love You album, personally.
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lance
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« Reply #88 on: July 17, 2008, 01:19:15 PM »

I just wanna say I LOVE the cover of Wild Honey, more than Smiley Smile, even. I think it's their best cover, followed by Holland, Surf's Up and Smiley Smile.
Worst: 15 Big ONes.
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Compost
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« Reply #89 on: July 17, 2008, 01:26:40 PM »

I like the concept more than the actual execution. The postcard for "Love Surrounds Me" is awesome, though.

I like the one with the band name a lot (top left). That image was used for the cover of the Italian "Here Comes the Night" 45. It looks pretty great as a single cover.

I like this cover too, and the album sleeve.  It's one of those covers you can pore over.




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Compost
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« Reply #90 on: July 17, 2008, 01:28:46 PM »

I love the look Dennis is giving a super-square looking Mike in this shot:
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Aegir
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« Reply #91 on: July 17, 2008, 02:31:33 PM »

That picture of Brian playing bass is so cool.

I can't believe no one's said anything about the KTSA cover yet.
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Dancing Bear
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« Reply #92 on: July 17, 2008, 02:33:15 PM »

I don't think LA works like a cover. No hierarchy or strong elements.
And most of the postcards are hideous anyway. What's with "Baby Blue", Night of the Living Dead?
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John
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« Reply #93 on: July 17, 2008, 02:47:27 PM »

I like Good Timin' - even though it's chintzy - and Full Sail the best.
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BiNNS
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« Reply #94 on: July 17, 2008, 04:21:05 PM »

My girlfriend got quite the kick out of the Love Surrounds Me postcard on the LA Light insert. (After it took her a couple of seconds).
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Roger Ryan
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« Reply #95 on: July 17, 2008, 06:33:49 PM »

My girlfriend got quite the kick out of the Love Surrounds Me postcard on the LA Light insert. (After it took her a couple of seconds).

 That's it exactly - the image would be perfect for "All I Want To Do", but cactus as penis cheapens a really beautiful song. Sumahama and Angel Come Home are appealing, but too many of the illustrations look like someone in a high school art class knocked them off in a weekend.
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shelter
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« Reply #96 on: July 18, 2008, 10:44:24 AM »

I can't believe no one's said anything about the KTSA cover yet.

The opposite of the LA Light album cover: good execution, terrible concept.
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shelter
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« Reply #97 on: July 18, 2008, 10:46:48 AM »

I like this cover too, and the album sleeve.  It's one of those covers you can pore over.

I've got a picture disc LP of this album. It's got the top right image (the one with the album title) on one side and the photos of the band members from the inner sleeve of the regular LP on the other side.
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brianc
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« Reply #98 on: July 18, 2008, 11:03:25 AM »

the image would be perfect for "All I Want To Do", but cactus as penis cheapens a really beautiful song.

Ah. It's funny. Jeez. The sexuality thing belongs to Dennis, in the Beach Boys world, and has been sorely missing since his death. John Stamos was no replacement for Dennis Wilson.
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Roger Ryan
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« Reply #99 on: July 18, 2008, 11:14:43 AM »

the image would be perfect for "All I Want To Do", but cactus as penis cheapens a really beautiful song.

Ah. It's funny. Jeez. The sexuality thing belongs to Dennis, in the Beach Boys world, and has been sorely missing since his death. John Stamos was no replacement for Dennis Wilson.

I've got no problem with sexuality (or humor); the postcard image would be fine if associated with "Wild Situation" or "Time For Bed" (to name two songs of the same vintage), but "Love Surrounds Me" is such an emotional composition that the illustration comes off as an insult to the sincerity of the song. I feel the same way about the "Good Timin'" postcard!
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