During the last few weeks we have viewed and discussed album covers from Motown, Verve, Impulse and Blue Note Records. Today’s speaker, Ashley Kahn, noted that one of the elements contributing to the success of Blue Note was “the look.” A 1991 review of Blue Note: The Album Cover Art, by Felix Cromey remarked that the album covers and record sleeves offered a glimpse of the artistic innovation for which Blue Note was known, however the album covers did not “begin to open the door to the artistry of the jazz giants but did whet the appetite for future exploration into the Blue Note era of jazz recordings and artists.” There is on-going discourse regarding the viability and relevance of album artwork. What is the importance of the album cover on the music company and on the overall experience of listening to music? Does the artwork add to the music? Does album art have the same place in the American culture as it did during the 1960’s and 1970’s?
First of all, I have to admit that I am old school. I have memories of hearing blues, jazz and Motown in my childhood home but my recollection of those memories are not activated by the music as much as by the images of the album jackets as they 
were filed neatly in the Magnavox record cabinet and record player in the living room. I clearly remember the ritual of my parents carefully removing the album from the jacket and placing it on the turntable. I felt privileged at the opportunity to actually hold and look at the album jacket. I can recall practically every album I owned as a young college student. Those were the days when you put the album on the turn table and listened not to just one “cut” but played the entire album from start to finish. In the process, I discovered many selections I may have ignored. Depending on the album, I may have played it more than once. If you happened to scratch the record, you still kept the album for the cover. I felt great pleasure in looking at and reading the jacket of “Bitches Brew” or Santana or Donald Byrd as I listened to the album. There was an undeniable relationship between the album and the album jacket.
About ten years ago my husband, a jazz drummer and someone who was very hi-tech, transferred all of his music to compact disc and gave all of his albums to a good friend whom he knew would cherish, care for, and, more importantly play and listen to them. I did not give it much thought then or I may have protested. I now listen to my music by locating the individual selections on my IPOD. Does artwork bring a new dimension to the music? As I have sat in class I have fondly visualized music I have bonded with most during my adult life. I can truly say that the “sound of the music was transposed to the album cover.” Fortunately, my mom still has quite a collection and I can’t wait to get home to pull it out.
-- Rose Mary Brown
