For the Record: The Life and Work of Alex Steinweiss [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Jennifer McKnight-Trontz (Author), Alex Steinweiss (Author), Steven Heller (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 20, 2000

Before Alex Steinweiss invented the album cover in 1938, at the age of 23, all albums came in plain brown wrappers. Steinweiss's idea to create a package that would protect the record and that had something visual on the outside to lure the consumer was a huge success; sales of the record "Smash Song Hits by Rodgers and Hart" soared. That simple idea revolutionized the record business and spawned an entire new field of illustration-album cover art-that is now inseparable from the product it announces. Steinweiss's covers are still regarded as icons of the genre. He designed them as miniature posters, with eye-catching graphics, distinctive and vivid colrs, and creative, even playful, typography, often incorporating his much-imitated "Steinweiss scrawl" lettering. The Steinwiess style went hand in hand with the golden age of jazz, classical, and popular music dominated by Columbia, RCA, Decca, Victor, and London Records. This book collects over 125 of the most famous and original graphics created by Steinweiss, including cover designs for Benny Goodman, Xavier Cugat, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Cole Porter, Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, Leonard Bernstein, Dizzy Gillespie, Esquivel, and many others. Designed at the same size as a 45 rpm record, this chunky book is not only a feast of graphic design, but also offers an illustrated history of music in the '30s, '40s, '50s, and '60s. Anecdotes on musicians? history of album cover design? Brief essays by Steven Heller and Jennifer McKnight-Trontz discuss Steinweiss's career and the indelible mark he has left on the graphic design and music industries. A must-have for music fans and designers alike.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jennifer McKnight-Trontz is a writer and designer living in south Florida whose books include Hang in There!, How to Be Popular, Yes You Can, and The Good Citizen's Handbook.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; 1 edition (September 20, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568982240
• ISBN-13: 978-1568982243
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 6.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,339,061 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Steinweiss did NOT invent the illustrated record cover, May 21, 2009

By 

MJB - See all my reviews

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This review is from: For the Record: The Life and Work of Alex Steinweiss (Paperback)

I wish there was some way to stop Steven Heller from repeating the falsehood that Steinweiss "invented" the illustrated album cover. He has taken the fact of when Steinweiss did HIS first illustrated cover and taken it to mean that it was THE first illustrated cover. There had been a series of nearly 100 illustrated album covers on Decca Records for nearly six years BEFORE Steinweiss's first cover. And even before that, Show Boat and Blackbirds of 1928 on Brunswick had illustrated covers. Other companies had used illustrated album covers. RCA Bluebird had children's albums with illustrated covers, the Bubble Books were completely illustrated children's record albums going back to the World War One era, and many other examples I can name and show. Calling Steinweiss the "inventor" of the modern illustrated album cover is a factual error, but Stephen Heller just keeps on and on and on publishing new books and articles repeating this falsehood, convincing people who have no first-hand knowledge of record albums that this is a fact. Steinweiss is a talented, wonderful, inventive artist, but all he did was convince Columbia to compete with the well established, long running series of illustrated album covers that Decca had been using for many years. He did not "invent" the concept of the illustrated album cover, he did not create the first illustrated record album, he just changed the attitude of HIS company, and then created some wonderful art. Isn't that good enough? This is a beautiful book, but is flawed because of the overreaching claim of priority that seems to have overwhelmed the other reviewers.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The master of record album graphic design, May 7, 2010

By 

Slasher "Fifth Continent Music Classics" (Australia) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: For the Record: The Life and Work of Alex Steinweiss (Paperback)

I would happily have awarded this marvellous book 5-stars were it not for the fact that most of the album cover images have been badly cropped. 'Nuff said.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great man, great book., December 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: For the Record: The Life and Work of Alex Steinweiss (Paperback)

This book does credit to a great man. Steinweiss was a true artist and a pioneer. The man created the concept of album cover as art. McKnight-Trontz does a masterful job of celebrating the artist through dazzling illustrations and informative, entertaining narrative. The casual reader will enjoy this book, as will the academic: it's all there between the brilliant covers (Steinweiss design - of course); it is the individual reader's choice as to how deep he or she wants to delve into this fascinating subject of a true twentieth-century art form.