The BEST Cover Art Of All Time!

Inspired by Ger Rijff's "THEM DAMN BOOTLEGS" topic ...

All votes for 1956's Elvis Presley aside, this is the BEST cover art I have ever seen on ANY Presley album:



Simple, graceful, cool and right to the point.

And it's one of the best-ever bootleg LPs ever released, to, uh, boot!

If someone has a better scan, please post it.

Your thoughts?

DJC

Very cool.

based on the I Need Your Love Tonight pic sleeve from '59
and the JHR motif.




Incidentally, we have Picture Section here for such an image,
and a different section if you want to "chat" about the image.

I'm still partial to the Rockin' New Year's Eve LP. Not only because it's the first boot I ever owned, but the entire packaging was great.

Very cool cover though, Doc. It's in my top five.

That is a very good one Doc! I have that Memory CD that also uses the same title "The Jailhouse Rock Sessions", and think it is pretty good as well, but yours is better.


JEFF d
EP fan

Last edited by JEFF d on Fri May 12, 2006 6:41 am, edited 1 time in total.

A great cover. It is inspired by the movie one sheet but improved upon with a very cool image of the man among other details like background color or tint. Imo there are a few covers that could compete with this, but I can see why it could be a favorite for others.

Inspired by Ger Rijff's "THEM DAMN BOOTLEGS" topic ...

All votes for 1956's Elvis Presley aside, this is the BEST cover art I have ever seen on ANY Presley album:
Your thoughts?

DJC

Hi Doc there's no doubt the cover you picked and like the most was well
done, however to say that it is the best might be stretching it a bit....

But hey that's your opinion and it should be respected......

If we are just talking early Boot material for Album art,
here are some of the ones I liked....

Not necessary in any order either......



But if I did have to chose I would go with the "Little Rock" Album art....
out of the ones I picked......as the picture of Elvis says Rock n Roll all the way.....and even tho the "Last farewell" album has no Elvis picture, still a cool looking Album in my opinion with just having a picture of the tickets on the cover with back ground being black, says it all.....as the Title does that as well too.

Anyway for some of the earlier Boot albums, a few certainly did have some thought put into them......which really worked...

PEP

If you have never seen a copy of the Laurel Records Jailhouse Rock LP in person, it is really hard to appreciate how beautiful the cover really is.

It deserves to be in a frame.

(All of the REAL Laurel LP's, (there were not many more) were of beautiful design, and top-notch sound quality.)

Coming in a very close second for LP boots (IMO) was the cover of the 12" Bilko EP Black Star. Once again, only a real copy can reveal how beautiful the cover picture, color scheme, and overall design is. I actually have my copy in one of those LP frames. (You can get these at Michaels in the US)

hmmm....Laurel...Bilko.............Bilko...Laurel.....Same guys? It really doesn't matter anymore. One thing is for sure.....anything on either label, was pretty much a must have, sight unseen and sound unheard.

Yes, Doc..this cover beats the most..it`s awesome.

I think speaking of packaging live shows..the New Year`s Eve has spot 1.

... Hmmm... Jailhouse Rock Sessions, Sold Out, Little Rock... How nice

to wake up in the morning, with a strong pot of coffee, and 3 of my

babies facing me... Designing the album covers, isnt against the law,

so all compliments accepted

Jeff, had you noticed, the JR Sessions CD, is a montage, of 2 different

photos!? look at the original RCA ep, and you will see, a different head,

was pasted over the original! Why go thru all the trouble, when the

original 57 publicity shot is better?! In South Africa, long ago, the

oriiginal ep [ extended play] art was used on a RCA album [legit]

Together, with The JR Sessions, them, is making a nic pair

Ok, since you asked. My thoughts: Great use of color. Good pic of Elvis. Overall a really nice cover.
What I would change: The cover looks a little too "busy" to my eye. Put Elvis's name in the upper right corner. Put "The Jailhouse Rock Sessions" in the bottom left and get rid of the "Guitar and Bars" graphic. I like it but it's too large. Maybe put it on the back cover. Drop the Laurel Records emblem to the bottom right corner. One more thing, they cropped half of Elvis's head off. Drop him down a bit to show his full head which would also eliminate the MGM lettering on the chair which adds to the "busy" look. There, even more simple, graceful and cool. A perfect cover!

... John, I think I will go back to bed again!

Maybe, you have a few suggestions, for re- aranging van Goghs Sunflowers,

or Rembrandts The Nightwatch! Them was pretty crowded to!

There are a lot of what I would call classic covers. Elvis' first album along with the golden records volume 2 would certainly fall into this catagory.

But for the the all-time coolest Album art work has to be the bootleg
"hawaii benefit show 1961". My favorite hands down.

Your thoughts?

Simple, graceful, cool and right to the point.

Regarding bootleg covers I think the recent One Night Only! is probably my candidate. Very sophisticated. Actually it seems like somebody really thought before making the cover/artwork this time.

Your Jailhouse Rock Sessions cover remembered me of what is probably my favorite FTD cover/artwork:

Doc´s "JAILHOUSE ROCK SESSIONS" is awesome: simple and very effective. But my all times favourite remains the one used for "FROM ELVIS IN MEMPHIS". And the LP itself was/is/will always be a masterpiece.

... Jeanno, may Brasil win this years world cup!

And Ronaldinio, is the greatest football player, in the world, today!

And Brasilian girls have great butts! What else...?

well i'll throw in my 2 cents worth and add:_
1. the ledgend lives on
2.command performance
3.rockin new years eve

All votes for 1956's Elvis Presley aside, this is the BEST cover art I have ever seen on ANY Presley album:
Your thoughts?

I assume you mean apart from the Elvis Presley album [hope so]!

Your example is very nicely done, what with the carefully lit, elgantly posed publicity stills in glorious colour and all, but no cover has ever captured the raw excitement that is the very essence of our boy like that '56 cover:



That green & pink lettering on the b & w action pic inspired a generation !

My favorite has always been the cover of Gold Records, Vol. 2.

That Jailhouse rock cover is cool, but I'd prefer the Laurel Records label at the bottom.
Still it looks great.
I love the NYE 76 cover but generally Elvis covers have been lousy, especially the official ones
rick

Some cool choices here, but I still prefer this:



Keep 'em comin', kids...........

Some cool choices here, but I still prefer this:



Keep 'em comin', kids...........

what is wrong with the guitar on this cover? They made the hole too small.

I think Greg pointed this out a while back. That is just bad CD artwork.

Some cool choices here, but I still prefer this:



Keep 'em comin', kids...........

what is wrong with the guitar on this cover? They made the hole too small.

Or, they made the guitar too big. I have always loved the simple, bold style of this cover.

I think Greg pointed this out a while back. That is just bad CD artwork.

Huh? I love the covers of "Back In Memphis" and "Tomorrow Is a Long Time." You might be thinking of my minor dig of the movie-era shot of Elvis on the back of "From Elvis in Memphis,"....

I love this subject and yes, Doc and especially Ger, that JRS LP is a beaut.

We've cover this on a couple of killer threads ,but that search function can drive you batty. Here's at least one related one on more post-'77 RCA covers:

http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/v ... =cover+art