The Whining Stranger on Music: The Whining Stranger Digs Classic Album Covers, Part 1

I know I'll seem like an old grump in writing this, but I do long for a time when records (a word I use in talking to undergraduates at times, to raised eyebrows and general confusion) were bigger, and their sleeves gave them a real objet d'art feel. I like the shine of the compact disc, true; I dig the portability of the mp3 (after venturing around NYC with my girlfriend's mp3 player in my pocket, I'm sold on the new technology--finally), but aesthetically I just can't get past the grandeur of the long-ago album sleeve. Here are five noteworthy covers:

1. The Beatles by The Beatles [aka "the White Album"].



This cover is so zen in its simplicity. Maybe I'm especially inclined toward this one because its my favorite of their recordings--so diverse, so chaotically lovely--but I admit I've always been mesmerized by the slightly crooked setting of their name.

2. Porgy and Bess by Miles Davis



An elegant record with a saucy cover. What's with the flash of knee? What's with the not-so-demure feminine hand hooked around the trumpet? Meow.

3. The Hissing of Summer Lawns by Joni Mitchell



Joni's covers--usually painted by herself--are always amazing. This one has a certain baroque charm in the intricate pattern on the snake's belly. All that greenspace is hypnotic too, befitting one of the greatest album titles in pop music history.

4. Bookends by Simon and Garfunkel



I dig san serif fonts on album covers. I dig candid photos. Paul and Artie look so wide-eyed here. I know the inticmacy is staged, but even if its a performative candor it's so suitable for the music you hear within.

5. Gettin' Around by Dexter Gordon



The recently released Van Gelder Edition of this album is in frequent rotation on my stereo right now. But the cover! I could compile a list of fifty favorite album covers just by sorting through Reid Miles's designs for Blue Note Records back in the 50s and 60s alone. I love the use of space. I love the bicycles. And look--another san serif font! Brilliant.