ABSOLUT ALBUM COVERS

The Artists, The Art and The Albums

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In the late 60's and 70's, cover art became more elaborate; Major artists such as René Magritte, whose Visions painting was utilized on the eponymous cover for Gladys Knight and The Pips, and Andy Warhol, who painted legendary portraits of Aretha Franklin for Aretha and Diana Ross for Silk Electric, in addition to The Velvet Underground and Nico, put their mark on the music scene.

ABSOLUT ALBUM COVERS. ABSOLUT MILES.
Bitches Brew, 1970
Few recordings in any musical genre had both the immediate impact and far reaching effects of Bitches Brew. With this sprawling masterwork, Miles Davis jump-started the fusion jazz era by combining jazz solos with rock rhythms.

Although he had begun using elements of R&B and rock in earlier recordings, Bitches Brew was a radical departure even for Davis and the expansive nature of the project set the tone for his innovative recordings of the 1970's. In a 1970 article in Rolling Stone, Langdon Winner wrote, "The record is yet another step in the unceasing process of evolution Miles has undergone since the Forties. Driven forward by a creative élan unequaled in the history of American music, he incorporates each successive triumph into the next leap forward."

"This music," added Winner, "is so rich in its form and substance that it permits and even encourages flights of imagination by anyone who listens…Miles is an invaluable companion for those long journeys you take into your imagination." Graphic designer John Berg and painter Mati Klarwein echo Davis' novel approach to music on the record's distinctive sleeve.

Davis encountered the studio of Mati Klarwein, a friend and protégé of Ferdinand Leger and Salvador Dalí in 1969 and became a fan of his surrealist paintings. Though he was well known among artists such as Carlos Santana, Timothy Leary and Jimmy Hendrix, Klarwein was brought into the mainstream when Carlos Santana chose one of his paintings for the cover of his LP, Abraxas. Soon after, Davis selected one of Klarwein's psychedelic paintings for the cover of Bitches Brew. Like many of his contemporaries, Davis saw Klarwin's paintings to be the visual embodiment of his musical expression.

Throughout his career, John Berg was responsible for the design of more than 5,000 album sleeves for legendary artists such as Aerosmith, Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, Chicago, Bruce Springsteen, Bessie Smith and Miles Davis, among other. A 1998 article written about Berg for the East Hampton Star said of his covers, "They bring back the past almost as clearly as the music itself, and together with the comforting heft of those warm, black vinyl disks - they are satisfying as collectible objects in a way that CDs will never be."

"The best covers grab the attention and stay on the mind, I tell stories. I'm almost always telling a story... The art is to tell the story legibly," John Berg, 1998.