#89 - McCartney: Paul McCartney (1970)

Get ready for a bunch of Beatle albums. I am a certified Beatlemaniac. My first record ever was a 45 of “Michelle,” when I was all of 5 years old. At one time, I had every album they ever made, as well as a number of bootlegs.

John was always my favorite. But, hey, Paul wasn’t too far behind. I had most of his solo and Wings albums as well.  One of the greatest popular composers of all time.

This particular photo really doesn’t say a lot, but is a fascinating study of some very basic colors. It’s a photo of Linda McCartney’s, who was quite a decent photographer. 

Here’s her shot that was used for the back of  the album:

As well as several of the photos of rock stars that she was well-known for.

 

She, of course, played and sang on many of the albums as well.

And they make a pretty cute couple too:

The album itself? McCartney’s first effort after the Beatles is not that bad. “Maybe I’m Amazed” (which is, of course, all about Linda) is probably the only huge hit on it, but all the songs are pretty good. He also recorded the whole thing by himself. It was always a real favorite of mine. Pretty sure I’ve got a cassette of it around here somewhere.

Here are some other covers from Paul’s solo albums that I like:

Interestingly, there’s one homage out there, by the band Apples and Oranges.

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#90 - The Slider: T Rex (1972)

On the face of it, it’s almost too simple. That, however, is probably the attraction. 

Remember, this is years before all those punk album covers. That kind of simplicity was quite the statement back in 1972.

Hard to believe, but credit for this one goes to Ringo Starr. He was filming a documentary about the band at the time, called Born to Boogie.

There is, however, a little controversy about that. Producer Tony Visconti claims that he took the shot instead. Visconti’s not known for any other album covers, but he did produce tons of David Bowie’s stuff, as well as albums by The Moody Blues, Morrisey, the Kaiser Chiefs, and others.

T. Rex is a little on the obscure side these days, but were quite popular in their time, especially in the UK. You probably remember “Get It On,” if nothing else. They were basically part of the glam rock scene. That said, they also had a huge influence on people such as Joy Division, Kate Bush, The Smiths, The Pixies, the New York Dolls, and even KISS.

The Slider is probably their second-best album, after Electric Warrior. The big hits on it include “Metal Guru” and “Telegram Sam” (neither of which really sounds all that great today).

The band would not last long after front man Marc Bolan would die in a car crash, two weeks before he turned 30.

Bill Legend, Mickey Finn, Marc, Steve Currie

As you can see from the back cover, Marc is actually wearing a stovepipe hat, and not a bucket, on his head:

Most of their other albums were just weird:

And, yes, there are parodies out there as well:

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#91 - News of the World: Queen (1977)

Everyone likes Queen. I mean, at least a little bit, right?

This album represented a slight departure for this devotedly prog rock band. Reacting to the advent of punk, the band tried to be “rootsier,” a little more rock n roll. And I guess you could say that of the album’s two hits, “We Are the Champions” and “We Will Rock You.” I don’t know though. It’s still just arena rock to me.

The cover was designed by Frank Kelly Freas. 

It was originally a cover for sci-fi magazine Astounding Science Fiction, way back in 1953.

Freas updated the cover for the band and did something brand new for the inside.

Freas was actually one of the more famous sci-fi artists of all time. He would, in fact, win 11 Hugos, 4 Focuses, 3 Chesleys, and many more (all of which I’ve never heard of).

Looks like he would do a fair amount of cheesecake as well:

As well as a couple of Mad magazine covers to boot and eight other albums too:

The robot would eventually acquire a name (Frank), go on tour, and star in an episode of Family Guy.

None of Queen’s other covers were anywhere near as good, though these are not all that bad.

This one’s definitely famous enough for some parodies:

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#92 - Playing Possum: Carly Simon (1975)

Another portrait cover, but golly it sure is a nice one. Those portrait covers sure do make a lot of sense when you’re such a complete babe.

Indeed, they were a real theme for this genuine looker. No Secrets and Anticipation are two of my faves:

Carly Simon was also a pretty darn good singer-songwriter as well. So many hits, though my favorite has always been “That's the Way I Always Heard it Should Be” (odd choice for a 12-year-old, the year it came out).

Playing Possum maybe not so much. It did, however, get a Grammy nomination for “Best Album Package.”  And Rolling Stone ranked it #20 all time (the cover, that is).

The photographer was Norman Seeff.

He’s done more than his fair share of covers, including ones for Carly’s ex James Taylor, Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles, Zappa, Johnny Cash, the Rolling Stones (you’ll see that particular one later), and many, many more. 

He’s probably more famous, though, for his straight-up photos of rock stars, actors, entertainers, artists and other celebrities:

Recognize any of these people?

I found one parody out there. It's pretty tasteless, but pretty funny too:

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#93 - Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run (1975)

I usually don’t go for simple portraits of the artist, but there are some that are pretty iconic. I’m also not a big Springsteen fan, but this cover does capture him well, is classically simple, and has some real visual interest.

As for the last bit, notice how Bruce is not looking at the camera and is almost out of the frame. I also like the contrapposto of his body vs. the guitar, with the arm linking the two. I’m sorry. Did I mention that I had an art history minor?

The picture was taken by Eric Meola during a 3-hour, 900-frame photo shoot. 

Meola has not quite 50 albums to his credit, with several more Springsteens: 

There’s some other interesting stuff, mostly for bands I’ve never heard of before.  If you can’t tell, Meola’s pretty well known for his nature and travel stuff.

Don’t know if I need to say much of anything about this Springsteen guy. Or this album – it’s got some real hits on it. In fact, I actually love the title track (though I prefer the Emmylou Harris version).

You will be seeing a couple more of the Boss’s album covers here, including one that is not of him (!?!?).

Indeed, all-Bruce-all-the-time was definitely his preferred pattern (do you think it means he’s vain?). Here are a couple other of that ilk that I like:

The Born to Run cover has become quite iconic, by the way. In fact, parodies (a sure sign of iconic status) have been done by Cheap Trick, Tom and Ray Maggliozi (of Car Talk), and even Sesame Street.

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