#98 - The Divine Miss M: Bette Midler (1972)

So, here’s our first one that really brings out the art history student in me. In particular, this one just screams Alphonse Mucha and Art Nouveau. Do you see it? 

 

I’m afraid Mucha doesn’t get any credit for it in discogs though. Instead, that goes to Richard Amsel.

It was one of his first works, and came about from a mutual friendship between him and Barry Manilow, and between Manilow and Midler. Amsel would get 18 more album cover credits, but would be mostly known for movie posters and TV Guide covers. 

  

He would die tragically young, at age 37, of AIDS.Among Amsel’s other credits, there are a few more for Midler, as well as some for music as wide-ranging as Leonard Cohen, Kenny Rogers, Mozart, and Eddy Arnold (and with a ton of movie soundtracks).

The Divine Miss M was actually Midler’s debut. It’s also something of a greatest hits album as well – "Do You Want to Dance?," "Chapel of Love," "Hello in There," "Friends," "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" … Interestingly, it also includes “Delta Dawn” and “Leader of the Pack.” In fact, they were all covers.

Indeed, Midler was much better known for her performances and unique stage presence than as a singer/songwriter. And that may be why I’ve never been much of a fan. Oh, that and her associations with disco of course.

That said, she is a very popular entertainer, having supplemented her musical career with a second one on stage and screen. Over the years, she has won “three Grammy Awards, four Golden Globes, three Emmy Awards, and two Tony Awards. She has sold over 30 million records worldwide, and has received four Gold, three Platinum, and three Multiplatinum albums by RIAA” (Wikipedia).

The only other two Midler covers I care for:

 

Let's end this post with a look at Bette in her younger days, looking particularly hot (and very 70s-ish):

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#99 - Deja Vu: Crosby, Still, Nash & Young (1970)

I don’t know that this makes it on a lot of best album cover lists. It’s always been on of my favorites though.

I’m a huge history buff, and I just thought this cover did a wonderful job capturing the past – the Gothic lettering, the little pipes to either side of that, the sepia, that incredible pic.

That last bit kind of reminds me of those dress-up photo booths at amusement parks with an ol’ timey or Wild West theme. Stephen Stills and David Crosby are absolutely perfect. The haircut on the guy on the right though (Dallas Taylor, the drummer), is definitely a little too 20th Century for me though. 

The artist was Gary Burden, who also did CSN’s first album, as well stuff for the Mamas and the Papas, Steppenwolf, the Eagles, America, and many more. 

You’ll be seeing him again here. In the interim, here’s a couple of other faves. 

The photographer was Tom O'Neal, who was then known as Tom Gundelfinger (can't imagine why he changed it).

He's got only 11 album credits to his name, with most of them being lame-o shots of John Denver. He did do a cool one of John Phillips though:

The location was David Crosby’s back yard. Hard to believe, but the tree is still there.  

The idea was all Stephen Stills’. A native Southerner, he was a big Civil War buff. He actually had O’Neal take the photo using an old wooden box camera with a with a glass plate negative. The band had to hold their poses for a full 2 minutes. The dog just wandered in from nowhere, becoming immortal in the process.

Not a bad album at all. “Teach Your Children,” “Woodstock,” ”Our House” … I'm pretty sure there’s a copy of it up in my attic somewhere.

Probably the best super group of all time. No other really great album covers though. This is probably my fave (tho really rather tame): 

It does convey an excellent feel for their trademark classic harmonies though.

Hey, here are our first parodies:

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#100 - Mother's Milk: Red Hot Chili Peppers (1989)

It’s a little on the silly side, but there’s something about it that I really like. Perhaps it’s the color palette – the rich black and white, with just a hint of rose.

You know, it may simply be the hot cover model, one Dawn Alane. You’ll be happy to know that Dawn still looks great, and that she’s now making a living as a pretty talented sculptor and artist.

Not too surprisingly, the cover caused a bit of a stir, with a much more tame redo for certain sensitive markets:

Not sure what those folks would have thought of the poster:

Interestingly, Dawn had no idea that would be part of the deal, and would sue, winning $50,000.

Wish I could have found the designer on this one. :^(

Oh, the band? I always saw them as kind of a loud, gonzo rock band with a hint of punk and funk. Sounds like this one was their first big hit. According to one critic, the album "turned the tide and transformed the band from underground funk-rocking rappers to mainstream bad boys with seemingly very little effort.” It was their first gold album, and would eventually go platinum. Interestingly, there are a couple of covers on it, including Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground” and three by Hendrix. Definitely not my cuppa, though “Pretty Little Ditty” is nicely out of character.

Couple more cool Peppers’ albums (they had more than a few):

One of the tamer images of these guys:

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Honorable Mention

Man, that was hard. There are tons of great albums out there. In fact, here’s a book that didn’t even bother with a mere 100, but went with ten times as much:

I could have fit so many more covers in this blog. Here are 10 worthies that didn’t quite make it:


10.  The Who: The Who Sell Out (1967)

Design:  Roger Law, David King
Photography:  David Montgomery
Interesting tidbit:  Law will be back here again for another Who album

9.  Frank Zappa: Ship Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch (1982)

Artist:  Roger Price
Interesting tidbit:  This is actually one of Price’s “droodles,” from a syndicated cartoon of his published in the ‘50s (and collected in the book Droodles).

8.  Elton John: Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975)

Artist:  Alan Aldridge 
Interesting tidbit:  Aldridge’s inspiration was Hieronymus Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights

7.  Bob Dylan: Slow Train Coming (1979)

Artist:  Catherine Kanner  
Interesting tidbit:  Dylan’s first record after becoming a born-again Christian

6.  The Grateful Dead: Live Dead (1969)

Artist:  Bob Thomas
Interesting tidbit:  I couldn’t find out a darn thing about this guy

5.  Wings: Greatest (1978)

Artist: Hipgnosis
Idea:  Linda McCartney
Interesting tidbit:  The statue, which was owned by Linda, was flown to the Alps for maximum effect

4.  Traffic: The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys (1971)

Artist:  Tony Wright
Interesting tidbit:  One of the few hexagonal albums out there

3.  Steely Dan: Aja (1977)

Photographer:  Hideki Fujii
Interesting tidbit:  There’s a rumor that comedian Phil Hartman designed this one. Though he was originally a graphic designer and did design a few album covers (including ones for Poco and America), this was not one of them.

2.  Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band: Trout Mask Replica (1969)

Artist:  Ed Caraeff
Interesting tidbit:  Ed has 369 album credits, including work for Three Dog Night, Frank Zappa, Neil Diamond, The Stooges, Gladys Knight, Dolly Parton, and many, many more. 

1.  Arcade Fire: Funeral (2004)

Artist:  Tray Maurice
Interesting tidbit:  Another dude I could find next to nothing on

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