Comments on: A 12-inch by 12-inch canvas.

A 12-inch by 12-inch canvas.

amyms — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:18:58 -0800

Before Alex Steinweiss invented the album cover in 1938, at the age of 23, all albums came in plain brown wrappers. Steinweiss's idea to create a package that had something visual on the outside to lure the consumer was a huge success. A tribute show for the 90-year-old Steinweiss will be held at the Robert Berman Gallery in Santa Monica, California, until February 23, 2008. More about Steinweiss here and here. First link via.

By: katillathehun

katillathehun — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:35:49 -0800

So, it's Steinweiss I have to thank for Midnite Vultures, eh?

By: amyms

amyms — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:43:28 -0800

Oops, here's the correct "tribute show" link.

By: horseblind

horseblind — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 01:02:41 -0800

One of the best posts ever. (Maybe that's just the avid collector in me that has and still does buy many a record just for the sleeve design.) Thanks so much.

By: three blind mice

three blind mice — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 03:02:57 -0800

Album covers with pentagrams.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 04:04:21 -0800

His stuff is wonderful, I've been a fan for years. Thanks for the great post!

By: johnj

johnj — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 04:12:15 -0800

WOw, these covers are amazing! Great Post.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 04:24:28 -0800

This book of his jackets comes recommended. And those of you who dig Steinweiss' art might also be interested in Jim Flora. Here's an FPP I made on him a while back.

By: Wolfdog

Wolfdog — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 04:24:43 -0800

Back in the early days, people posted the "Worst Plain Brown Wrappers" list to MetaFilter (well it was actually a cork board at the feed shop) a couple times a month at a minimum.

By: Mayor Curley

Mayor Curley — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 05:29:05 -0800

"Before I came along, all cartoon animals did was play the ukulele. I changed all that."

By: StickyCarpet

StickyCarpet — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 05:56:32 -0800

Who came up with the idea of putting JPEGs in torrents?

By: wastelands

wastelands — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 06:31:33 -0800

My music collection consists solely of .flac files now. I don't miss album covers one bit.

By: joseph_elmhurst

joseph_elmhurst — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 08:34:17 -0800

My music collection consists solely of .flac files now. I don't miss album covers one bit. If your music collection is comprised of this then I'd understand your lack of nostalgia.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 08:38:33 -0800

Great post! But is that first album cover from 1938 reproduced anywhere? Kind of odd that everybody talks about how revolutionary it is but doesn't actually show it. (Also, it's annoying that the covers in the first link are presented simply as artworks, with zero information on date or anything else.)