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Title: In the Groove: Vintage Record Graphics, 1940-1960 by Eric Kohler ISBN: 0-8118-2121-8 Publisher: Chronicle Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (5 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Sound pictures.
Comment: Mr Kohler presents two hundred and fifty covers (from his large collection) which he rightly thinks show the best of album design in the early years of the LP. He features eight artist/designers who created some of the most distinctive work in cover art. Two of them are my favorites, David Stone Martin who gave Norman Granz's Clef label some beautiful cover illustrations (twenty are shown) and Reid Miles who created the east coast look to Blue Note Records. Unfortunately only four of his covers are shown but you can see dozens more in the two books by Graham Marsh , 'The Cover Art of Blue Note Records'. The other six designers range from the unique illustrations of RCA's Jim Flora to the work of Swiss born designer Erik Nitsche and his semi abstract work for Decca. Record companies are also featured and you can see the beginnings of the Capitol Records house style, I think they were the only major company to produce consistently well designed covers with excellent photography and typography.
Though all these covers are interesting to look at I don't think too many work as complete design units, that is image and text complement each other, mostly they are images with text added later. One cover that I like is on page eighty-one, it shows a file-card box and the albums title, 'Guide to Jazz' is typed on a card which is resting against the box, the tabs of the other cards have musical instruments on them, a simple creative idea that works. Strangely the designer is unknown.
I doubt you will see as good a coverage of the early years of the LP as this (well produced) book but have a look at two books that concentrate on jazz covers from the fifties and sixties, 'Jazzical Moods' by Naoki Mukoda and 'Jazz West Coast' by William Claxton and Hitoshi Namekata. Both books have dozens of examples of creativity on paper twelve inches square, somehow CD covers just can't compete with that.
Rating: 5
Summary: "Groove"y Covers
Comment: Being a music lover, I've never been partial to one type of music only--I have a passion for everything from rock to classical, pop to country, even from jazz to techno. Something in all of these styles intrigues me. And how intriguing is this incredible book by Eric Kohler. I never thought I'd "get into" a book dedicated solely to album covers from 1940-1960, but I was wrong. The music lover in me kicked in, and I found myself fascinated with the glorious color photos, the revealing and well-researched text, and with the artists themselves. This album cover artistry really has diminished with the advent of the much-smaller compact disc (which is a truly disappointing fact), but Mr. Kohler's book rapturously captures the vividness of the times, the artists, the moods, and the music of those two decades. It took me back to the time when I myself used to stare at the covers of my records for hours while playing them over and over again - this classic book uncovers that wonderful feeling inside you once more. And to top it all off, Mr. Tony Bennett himself writes an introduction that's both classy and sentimental. This is a great book for any music lover with a coffee table -- and an open mind towards how art has influenced music (and vice versa) in so many ways.
Rating: 5
Summary: Long, lost days of style.
Comment: As a graphic designer, I get so flustered when I see the same old CD covers now: a photo of the artist or band, and their name scribbled on top, or a really un-inspired text treatment, most likely using some wretched Photoshop tool like, alien skin or eye candy- blech! Perhaps modern day CD's skimp on the design work of the covers because they are so much smaller now. But back in the days of LP's and 45's art was generously splashed on covers. Full-colored, stylized and oh, so hip! Each one fit to be framed and displayed. "In the Groove: Vintage Record Graphics, 1940-1960" effectively chronicles the history of this long, lost art-form in a picture-book style. I say picture-book, because of the lack of background information on many of the pieces, in fact there are quite a few pieces that are listed as "unknown designer", how unfortunate! Some poor old designer dedicated his or her life to creating some stunning art to attract music lovers' eyes to this or that particular record, and now they're the "unknown designer". Eric Kohler did his best grouping together styles of record graphics, so seeing the evolution of style was very nicely mapped-out. Nice quality paper, nice printing... would've been nicer in hardback. Still, this is one of my favorite books!
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Title: For the Record: The Life and Work of Alex Steinweiss by Alex Steinweiss, Jennifer McKnight-Trontz, Steven Heller ISBN: 1568982240 Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press Pub. Date: 15 June, 2000 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Blue Note: Album Cover Art by Graham Marsh, Glyn Callingham ISBN: 0811836886 Publisher: Chronicle Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Vixens of Vinyl: The Alluring Ladies of Vintage Album Covers by Benjamin Darling ISBN: 0811831345 Publisher: Chronicle Books Pub. Date: June, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: 1000 Record Covers by Michael Ochs ISBN: 3822819786 Publisher: Taschen Pub. Date: September, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.99 |
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Title: Vinyl Hayride: Country Music Album Covers, 1947-1989 by Paul Kingsbury ISBN: 0811835723 Publisher: Chronicle Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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