Desire by Bob Dylan

"I guess I like it because I played that album at least a thousand times in my teens and remember loving all the documentary style photos, symbolism and general mash up of illustration and collage, and the homemade aspect of it.

It's very much of it's time. Once you've heard each track so many times you know every word the back cover stills remains a bit mysterious." Alex Gravenstein (pictured with his copy)

The collage theme seems to echo the chaotic circus feel of the early sessions for the album and the subsequent Rolling Thunder Revue. As a 2012 Mojo magazine piece on the album noted, for early sessions there were often over 20 musicians were playing at once. The frustation caused Eric Clapton, one of five guitarists, to walk out, apparently muttering, "Zimmy's gone crazy". It also mirrors the accidental nature of how the album fell together (it was pure serendipity that violinist Scarlet Rivera was spotted crossing the road with her violin case and asked by Dylan to attend the sessions).

As Billboard wrote in their glowing 1976 review, "Another plus factor is packaging, with its striking cover shot and liner photos. Also the inside liner notes are by Allen Ginsberg, and they reflect the mood of the recent Rolling Thunder Revue tour of the Northeast."

John Berg designed the album art, with the back cover collage by Carl Barile (whose only other album credit seems to be a Lester Young album on Verve) and collage photos by Ruth Bernal (who also shot covers for Harry Chaplin).

Remain In Light by Talking Heads

"My first encounter with Talking Heads was probably aged about 10 or so when I saw the video for "Once In A Lifetime". Very strange, I loved the music but couldn't work it out, and for some reason I thought David Byrne was Japanese. It was a cursory moment on Top of the Pops and unfortunately at that age I soon lost track of them. But on re-discovering the song some time later I sought out the album. The cover was as indecipherable to me as the video had been. Why the halloween faces, and what were those planes about ? Kamikaze ? I took the plunge and dived in.

Talking Heads have been a favorite band ever since and of all the bands I've listened to I'm grateful to them more than any. They made me curious of all music far beyond the pigeon holes I was used to. On More Songs About Buildings and Food is the song "The Big County" which is one of my favorites. It was is probably the first time I appreciated the slide guitar which as it fades away has an almost ethereal quality. And the reverse cover seems the image of the song, a hovering luminescent snapshot of America."

Words by Pete Finbow, who kindly suggested this album. It turns out to be a back cover about which a substantial amount has been written.

Talking Heads used the working title Melody Attack throughout the initial sessions for the album (after watching a Japanese game show of the same name). This is said to have been the inspiration behind the warplanes motif, which was originally intended to grace the front cover. After the working title was dropped in favour of Remain In Light, the warplanes were relegated to the back and the computer-defaced band member images used for the front instead.

Not for the first time (see Loaded), the credits on the reverse side of Remain In Light also caused interband tension, with no individual band members other than David Byrne listed. The only other indivudal credit went to the producer, Brian Eno (who had also wanted to be featured alongside the band on the front).

The above draws on This Must Be the Place: The Adventures of Talking Heads in the Twentieth Century by David Bowman.

Lubbock (On Everything) by Terry Allen

"I don't know why Terry's records aren't more popular because I think they're the greatest. Terry writes really good lyrics, very direct and funny and moving, but his songs fall between the cracks of all established formats. His music isn't quite country and it's not quite rock, but the themes he deals with-- family, love, religion, violence-- are so universal it seems like anybody could relate to them." So said David Byrne of Talking Heads (as quoted in a 1998 Perfect Sound Forever interview with Allen).

 

Allen and Byrne worked togther on the latter's True Stories film soundtrack. In the same interview Allen said of their friendship: "We're friends and we work very different from one another, the way we write songs, the nature of our curiosities. But the real common denominator is that neither of us particularly give a hang about high art, fine art, pop culture or popular art. I think it's about what inspires you, what moves you, what makes you laugh, whatever it is. The information is the same. I just think HOW we get it is very different and how it presents itself."

I hadn't even heard of Terry Allen until I interviewed M C Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger. He chose it as a favourite back cover. "A picture of him covering his face with his hands, wearing a hat. It's an evocative image" and one Taylor has recently echoed in press shots such is the impact it's clearly had on him. The photo was taken by Allen's wife, Jo Harvey Allen.

In his review for Allmusic, Stewart Mason provided heavy praise. "Although it's all but unknown outside of a devoted cult following, Terry Allen's second album, 1979's, is one of the finest country albums of all time, a progenitor of what would eventually be called alt-country. This is country music with a wink and a dry-as-West-Texas-dust sense of humor, but at heart, Lubbock (On Everything) is a thoughtful meditation on Allen's hometown." He concluded, "Lubbock (On Everything) is essential listening for anyone with an interest in the outer fringes of country music."

Interview with Daytrotter

As his Twitter bio states, Sean Moeller "started Daytrotter in 2006 and that's what I continue to do every day."

The idea is that touring bands pop into Daytrotter's Horseshack studio in Rock Island, Illinois as they pass by on the way to their next show. The ethos is to keep-it-simple so that what the bands leave behind is "four absolutely collectible songs that often impart on whomever listens to them the true intensity that these musicians put into their art, sometimes with more clarity than they do when they have months to tinker with overdubs and experiments. These songs are them as they are on that particular day, on that particular tour – dirty and alive."

Johnnie Cluney  is Daytrotter's illustrator-in-chief ("I play and write songs under American Dust.  I like music, food, bad tv and art."), producing one-off band portraits for each seesion.

I traded emails with them both this week.

The Turnaround: With your distinctive band portraits, artwork is clearly important to Daytrotter. How did they come about?

Johnnie Cluney: well Sean had the idea for Daytrotter and asked me to do the illustrations. They have changed a bit over the years, but I think they have always had a consistent look, and that's what I go for. I was a bit freaked out at first since I only worked with two colors at a time for my fliers and show posters, but here I am working with color, and I'm loving every minute of it.

Johnnie Cluney illustration for Woods session (Oct 2009)

The Turnaround: Do you have a favourite of all the ones done over the years?

JC: Its probably impossible to have one favorite, but... I do like the Woods session quite a bit.

The Turnaround: Any thoughts on favourite album back covers and why?

JC: My favorite back cover to an album is the Walmart version of In Utero. When I was a kid I noticed that all the little fetus babies were turtles on my CD, and that the song "Rape Me" was actually "Waif Me". I found out that Nirvana had released a censored version for Walmart. Major bummer. This back cover made me question morals as an artist, and showed me that Nirvana was not so punk after all.

Sean Moeller: I'm impossible when it comes to favorites.

My current favorite back cover though is Johnny Paycheck's "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" album. It's basically the same as the front cover, just with some credits and the song titles. The reason I like this back cover so much is because I like the front cover so much. It's iconic in as much of a way as Paycheck should be and it's a perfect photograph to represent the songs that he writes.

Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East

The stories of those who surround a band can sometimes be as interesting as those of the band members themselves…this is also the first contribution from a reader (thanks Dad!).

The Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East, often viewed as one of the truly great live albums, was recorded by Tom Dowd at the height of the band's power on 12th and 13th March 1971 and before guitarist Duane Allman's death in 1973. It resulted in a classic double album with a very distinctive cover featuring black & white photographs taken by Jim Marshall of the band posing casually with their cased equipment which had been piled up against a brick wall. Duane was always appreciative of the band's road crew and insisted that the back cover of the album should replicate the front but with the band replaced by their roadies. So, the same setting was used to depict (from left to right) Joseph ("Red Dog") Campbell, Kim Payne, Joe Dan Petty, Mike Callaghan and Willie Perkins. Red Dog, Kim and Joe Dan are holding cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer which, in view of the album's success, was probably as good an advertising campaign as the brewers could have devised themselves. The beer was provided by the photographer as a reward to the roadies for lugging out and stacking the band's heavy equipment for the photo shoot. None of the pictures of the band for the cover were actually taken at the Fillmore East but near the band's headquarters in Macon, Georgia.

"Red Dog" was a red-haired Vietnam veteran and Kim Payne had only just been checked out of a hospital after recovering from being shot by a policeman. He had been stopped for speeding 3 days after the Fillmore concerts. Kim was also the co-writer of one of the band's well-known numbers - "Midnight Rider". Joe Dan played bass in one of Dickey Betts earlier bands - "The Jokers" and Mike Callaghan was a soundman and bus driver for "The Roemans", the backing band for Tommy Roe. Willie Perkins had a degree in business management and had been brought in to replace the band's Tour Manager, Twiggs Lyndon, who was in jail awaiting trial for murder. One of his responsibilities was to look after the books and it wasn't long before he found that the finances were in a mess and that, even as a roadie, he was making more money than anyone else in the band.

At "Red Dog's" suggestion, the back cover also acknowledges Twiggs' absence by having a separate photo of him superimposed on the brick wall beside the track listing.

Words by John Seaton, drawing on Scott Freeman's Midnight Riders - The Story of The Allman Brothers Band and Skydog - The Duane Allman Story by Randy Poe.

Jim Marshall took countless iconic photographs of musicians, from early 1960s images of Bob Dylan in Greenwich Village through to Woodstock, where he was chief photographer (not the first Woodstock photographer mentioned on these pages. Henry Diltz features in the Buffalo Springfield Again entry. Diltz is also described as the official photographer (as, I have discovered, was Elliott Landy), so I guess you are allowed more than one). Marshall also famously photographed Jimi Hendrix setting his guitar on fire at the Monterey Pop Festival, and Johnny Cash at San Quentin. For more visit www.jimmarshallphotographyllc.com

Interview with M C Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger

This week I have had the good fortune to trade emails with M C Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger, whose Poor Moon was an early album to feature on The Turnaround. He kindly shared his thoughts on the importance of album art and introduced me to the recordings of Terry Allen.

M C Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger (Paradise of Bachelors)

The Turnaround: How important is the imagery you use on your album covers and how involved do you get in the designs? 

M C Taylor: It's pretty important. I need to feel that there is a connection between the imagery on the album cover and the music, even if nobody else does. I've been fortunate thus far to be able to actualize the ideas I have in my head with the help of Brendan Greaves, who has done the design and layout for all of the HGM covers except the very first one. I think good artwork can be rendered ineffective if it isn't properly laid out. I was also very lucky to have Alex Jako do the line drawings for Poor Moon, her work is unparalleled.

The Turnaround: I read somwhere that you specifically wanted to reference the Nonesuch Explorer Series on the Poor Moon album art. What appeals to you about those designs?

M C Taylor: I like their starkness. They feel classic to me. They feel connected to the music and to other albums in the series. There is an obvious effort to frame the drawings that appear on those covers using a lot of open space, and there is an clear attention to (and affection for) font.


Example from the Nonesuch Explorer Series (www.computeraudiophile.com)

The Turnaround: Did re-recording versions of songs for Poor Moon that originally appeared on Bad Debt change the way you felt about them?

M C Taylor: Not really, no.

The Turnaround: Any thoughts on a favorute piece of back cover art?

You asked this question and I was thinking of the back cover of Terry Allen's Lubbock (On Everything). It's a picture of him covering his face with his hands, wearing a hat. It's an evocative image.

Hiss Golden Messenger have just announced a split 7" with Micah Elephant, released on Paradise of Bachelors, and are working on a new album.

Expect Lubbock (On Everything) to feature here at a future date.


M C Taylor in the studio working on the new album (Paradise of Bachelors)



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