dsockel Posted May 29, 2009 Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 Thought I'd pass on a bit of information from another forum (http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=152823) "I received e-mail from Orrin Keepnews today (!) in which he explained the rationale for changing the artwork on the two albums in question. Here is what he wrote: Nick Phillips has passed on to me your questions about the repackaging of the first two Riverside Monk albums. Since I usually enjoy turning back in mind to the time period you're asking about, I am happy to respond. Our basic intention in both cases was the same: a couple of years after those albums were initially issued, there had been a dramatic upsurge in Thelonious's acceptance by the jazz public -- and also in the general acceptance of Riverside as a leading jazz label. These two factors led us to make some upgrading moves designed to further improve our image and increase sales. Those earliest Monk albums belonged to our initial period as a struggling, underfinanced newcomer; both seemed likely to benefit from more aggressive marketing. So we replaced the original Monk/Ellington cover (an at-the-piano photo taken at the Van Gelder Studio) with a full-color reproduction of a French Impressionist painting. Our new cover for the second album was even more adventurous -- our newly-hired staff publicist had come up with the idea of creating an imitation postage stamp featuring an antiqued profile of Thelonious. I don't think we did any other up-graded repackaging, but the general idea of switching from black-and-white to full color on just about all albums had begun for us with the multiple-Monk photograph used on our third Monk album, Brilliant Corners. I hope this recap answers your questions; if not, feel free to make use of my email address to ask more. Orrin Keepnews" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted May 29, 2009 Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 Thanks for posting that! My copy of Thelonious In Action had a cartoon drawing of Monk flying in the air (as I recall with a cape, etc.) like Superman. I believe that it was issued after Riverside went under, before ABC bought the catalogue. It was stolen when shipped UPS, and I've never seen another copy of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrdlu Posted May 29, 2009 Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 Wasn't that pic of Monk as a pilot on one of his Columbia albums? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted May 29, 2009 Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 Thanks Dave, pretty interesting. I'm only familiar with the first In Action cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted May 29, 2009 Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 Shrdlu, if you're referring to my post, it was a different drawing. Like I said, flying like Superman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted May 29, 2009 Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 The first copy of Brilliant Corners I owned was on the British London American label where a single image of Monk, taken from the multiple-image Riverside version, was superimposed on a colour photo of a nightime city street corner, with blurred taillights and traffic lights. It suffered the same fate as G S Russell's album - stolen (clearly, there WAS a "dramatic upsurge in Thelonious's acceptance by the jazz public") and I replaced it with the familiar multi-image Riverside version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clunky Posted May 29, 2009 Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 London Uk version of The Unique Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clunky Posted May 29, 2009 Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 (edited) and Himself, no idea if there ever was a Riverside cover like this. This is the first UK issue of this recording AFAIK Edited May 29, 2009 by Clunky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michel1969 Posted June 9, 2009 Report Share Posted June 9, 2009 with a full-color reproduction of a French Impressionist painting. I don't think we did any other up-graded repackaging, but the general idea of switching from black-and-white to full color on just about all albums had begun for us with the multiple-Monk photograph used on our third Monk album, Brilliant Corners. "French impressionist" : not exactly. Henri Rousseau aka Le douanier : "le repas du lion" Other riverside upgrade exist, for example : Kelly Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted June 9, 2009 Report Share Posted June 9, 2009 .... and the first Bill Evans Riverside LP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted June 9, 2009 Report Share Posted June 9, 2009 and Himself, no idea if there ever was a Riverside cover like this. This is the first UK issue of this recording AFAIK London only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted June 9, 2009 Report Share Posted June 9, 2009 .... and the first Bill Evans Riverside LP. The original photo cover was much better than the later "art" cover. Fantasy made the right choice when reissuing this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michel1969 Posted June 10, 2009 Report Share Posted June 10, 2009 .... and the first Bill Evans Riverside LP. The original photo cover was much better than the later "art" cover. Fantasy made the right choice when reissuing this one. Definitely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Dryden Posted June 10, 2009 Report Share Posted June 10, 2009 There are a couple of CDs that had quick cover changes. Dave Brubeck's Moscow Night originally had a daytime photo of Moscow, but when the label learned of Chris Brubeck's striking night time photo of the pianist, they switched to it. Brubeck told me only the first couple of hundred copies had the older photo. The Dick Hyman Trio: Cheek to Cheek featured a sketch of the pianist by Rossie Newson, but Hyman didn't like it and it was removed. Other than promo copies and possibly a few early sales, it is fairly rare. Mat Domber of Arbors shared this information with me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted June 11, 2009 Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 FWIW: here's another Europe only Bill Evans cover: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.