Who Was Harvey?
October 28, 2017 7:22 AM   Subscribe

A mysterious artist who signed his art "Harvey" painted almost 200 album covers for Savoy Records and its subsidiaries in the 1960s. Most were gospel, but some jazz and blues covers have turned up. Producers at Savoy never knew his identity; they sent concepts to an address in New York, he sent his painting, and they paid him in cash. If you know who Harvey was, please contact site administrators.
posted by goatdog (12 comments total) 31 users marked this as a favorite
 
This is very cool and weird.
posted by latkes at 8:10 AM on October 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


This is so cool! I don't collect records but I've been searching for this one particular gospel album (long story) and I know I've seen some Harvey's in the thrift store bins I paw through. Looks like I'll have to start picking up Harvey's when I find them now, too.
posted by Hey Dean Yeager! at 9:29 AM on October 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


I love efforts to document and discover lost bits of modern history like this, thanks!

I don't collect records .... Looks like I'll have to start picking up Harvey's when I find them now, too.

And now you're a record collector. One of us, one of us!
posted by filthy light thief at 9:41 AM on October 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


This reminds me too much of the book White Tears and now I'm scared. Very appropriate for Halloween weekend.
posted by tofu_crouton at 10:09 AM on October 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


I'm sure I have some of these, it's a gold mine of weird old gospel records around here. But I'm the kind of collector that never gives this kind of thing a second thought. I think that's called a hoarder.
posted by bongo_x at 10:16 AM on October 28, 2017


Some of these seem positively Daliesque. They also remind me of some SF paperback covers of the era, only with a cross being the center of the composition rather than a rocket, alien, planet, etc.
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:56 AM on October 28, 2017


Yeah, I checked the Internet Speculative Fiction Database but didn't find anyone with Harvey as a first or last name who signed art the way this Harvey did.
posted by goatdog at 11:23 AM on October 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


those pictures are super creepy
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 11:34 AM on October 28, 2017


This is what the internet was made for. Terrifying.
posted by bonobothegreat at 7:42 PM on October 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


James Stewart's pal, maybe?
posted by rongorongo at 11:40 PM on October 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


He further stated; "A professional artist did analyze these pictures and determined they were not done by a professional artist but by a male over the age of 65 years old."
Some things people say really aren't worth repeating.

But, everything else about this is very cool!
posted by eotvos at 12:41 PM on October 29, 2017 [1 favorite]


Two commenters on this article claim to be his sister and son. If they're telling the truth, his surname was Williams.
posted by Perodicticus potto at 6:56 AM on November 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


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