The Mule

Red seemed to have more than his fair share of silly covers over the years. What the hell are the vibes doing here?! I'm not sure what's worse, this cover or his shirt...

Somebody call 911!!!!

Shorty Rogers and Tarzan should steer clear of this brother...

uhhh....

Just for the boys of Organissimo:

Never cared much for these animal covers. They're a real turn-off for me...

Okay, is it jazz or folk?

I can't decide if "Shorty Meets Tarzan" is silly or just humiliating....

Yikes! Talk about creepy....

You mean these? ...and then there's:

Found another one!

No kidding. It's especially bizarre with a label like Bethlehem which boasted some beautiful Burt Goldblatt designed covers and then there's all those "We Cut This Album For Bread" stuff....

Might be. I actually have the cd. I'll....er....have to take a closer look when I get home....

..and who IS this guy anyhow?

dammit, Lon! You beat me to it! Couldn't remember the title of that one.... Is it me, or is one a drawing of a photo and the other a photo? Toning it down for the censors?

More in the Savoy "babes" series: ...and then there's this domestic scene from Bethlehem: hmmm...."Australian Jazz"....what should we use for the cover???? "Moody?!" More like: "I'm Going To Stab You In Your Sleep!"

All excellent so far--the Philly Joe and the Curtis Counce were a dead-heat tie for me... The Corea is....well....what can one say? Keep 'em coming!

I have to begin with my favorite: But I think this series of "bad pun" covers from Bethlehem win hands down:

For those of you who live in a city where this has opened (hope it does well enough to go wider), I urge you all to check out AMERICAN SPLENDOR. As a fan of Harvey Pekar's comics over the years, I have to say that I think they brought it to the screen perfectly. Paul Giamatti and Hope Davis are fantastic and, if there's any justice, they'll get Oscar nominations. The filmmakers--documentarians to this point in their careers--take all kinds of chances mixing dramatic narrative, documentary, animation, and comic book art. It works brilliantly. Funny, warm, and ultimately uplifting in a way perpetual crank Pekar would no doubt approve.

I was lucky enough to snag this in the used bins and I think it's a GREAT record. Lancaster's take on "Over the Rainbow" alone makes it worth picking up.

I haven't read that one, although the Len Bias saga is playing out in the background of THE SWEET FOREVER, too...

Here's a sampler of some of this music I picked up several years ago. Fascinating stuff: 1. Die Vögel: Vorspiel - Prolog performed by Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / Lothar Zagrosek - 8:10 2. Between Two Worlds: The World at War - The performed by Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin / John Mauceri - 4:21 3. Der Kaiser Von Atlantis: Wer da? Halt!... performed by Gewandhausorchester Leipzig / Christine Oelze - 6:50 4. Das Wunder Der Heliane: Ich Ging Zu Ihm performed by Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / John Mauceri - 7:15 5. Flammen: Introduzione - Karnevalsnacht performed by RIAS-Kammerchor Berlin / John Mauceri - 8:37 6. Rondeau 'Rue du Rocher' [edit] performed by Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchster Berlin / Berthold Goldschmidt - 4:33 7. Die Gezeichneten: Maskenzug-Was Fliehst du performed by Tamare, Monte Pederson / Lothar Zagrosek - 2:27 8. Deutsche Sinfonie, Op. 50: Präludium performed by Ernst Senff Chor, Berlin / Gewandhausorchester Leipzig - 7:00 9. Der Gewaltige Hahnrei: Zwischenspeil - Du... performed by Martin Petzold / Bruno, Robert Wörle / Roberta Alexander - 10:30 10. String Quartet No. 2 'Z Opic Ích Hor' III: performed by Hawthorne String Quartet - 9:32 11. Jonny Spielt Auf: Ob Er Kommt performed by Leipziger Opernchor / Gewandhausorchester Leipzig - 6:56

For those of you who are fans of HBOs "The Wire" I would strongly recommend the novels of George Pelecanos, who has been on the writing staff of the show this season. Last month I read KING SUCKERMAN and just recently finished it's sequel, THE SWEET FOREVER. I'm about to start the last in the trilogy, SHAME THE DEVIL. These three are all crime novels set in Washington, D.C. in the 70s, 80s, and 90s and follow the exploits of black Vietnam vet/small record store owner Marcus Clay and his Greek-American friend Dimitri Karras. Minor characters in the first three novels are continued in his subsequent books such as RIGHT AS RAIN, HELL TO PAY and SOUL CIRCUS. If you like "The Wire" you can see threads of Pelecanos' work throughout. Although Pelecanos wasn't writing for the show during its first season, you can see characters like Omar have their roots in KING SUCKERMAN. After reading two of his novels now, I'm pretty convinced I can pick out lines of dialogue in "The Wire" that he has written. If you like crime fiction, Pelecanos is a modern master.

Good thread! Coltrane, Miles, Mingus, Duke, Bill Evans, Blakey, & Jackie McLean...

Count me as a Freddie fan. I think DOWN TO EARTH is his best record...