In the Groove: Vintage Record Graphics 1940-1960 (Paperback)

by Eric Kohler (Author), Tony Bennett (Introduction) "It's hard to imagine today's recording industry without the driving force of marketing..." (more)
Key Phrases: New York, Los Angeles, Frank Sinatra

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Whaddya know--turns out size does matter. In this stunning collection of album cover art from 1940 to 1960, it is instantly apparent that despite the advantages CDs may have in the technology or convenience departments, vinyl albums--even based on their sheer proportions--have always been way cooler. This is especially true for this particular era, when cover art was truly an art form, with talented designers handcrafting individualized jackets influenced by surrealism, cubism, and modern artists of the day. And as Tony Bennett says in his preface, "they were large enough to make you feel like you were taking home your very own work of art."

Author Eric Kohler, a graphic designer and album cover artist himself, selected these 250 gorgeous covers from his own collection of over 3,000. He offers a captivating history of the early record industry, addressing the invention of the phonograph in 1877, the near demise of the industry due to competition with radio, and the rejuvenating introduction of the jukebox in 1935. Prior to Columbia Records' release of the 33 rpm vinyl LP in 1948, music fans were restricted to 78s--easily breakable, shellac-based records that could only hold four minutes' worth of music on each side. Victor Records made a competitive strike with the 45 (hence turntables with 33, 45, and 78 options), but its success was limited. Until the 1980s, the LP ruled the land with its roomy cardboard cover--a perfect canvas for artists.

Kohler's focus is on the graphic artists themselves--revolutionaries of the industry. Previously, albums had plain covers that advertised phonograph and record companies rather than performers. But when designer Alex Steinweiss entered the scene in 1939 (at the tender age of 23) he changed the business of cover art forever. Kohler illustrates the styles of eight such prominent cover artists--Steinweiss's trademark curly-scrawl script, Jim Flora's cartoonish images recalling Joan Miró and Paul Klee--with such accuracy that readers are able to immediately recognize and differentiate their work. Although the sun shone on these artists for only a brief time (the advent of photographic covers in the late 1950s all but obliterated their influence), these 20 years paint a fascinating portrait of popular music, modern art, and even business development. Best of all, Kohler serves up page after glorious, glossy page of big, beautiful album covers. --Brangien Davis

Review

Reviews from: THE NEW YORKER

PULSE!

During the post-Swing record boom of the forties and fifties, young illustrators with a love of jazz, pop, and classical music invented the ultimate dream job: designing album covers for the likes of Xavier Cugat, Harry Owens and his Royal Hawaiians, and the Andre Kostelanetz orchestra. This arresting guide includes the best work of such designers as Alex Steinweiss, who was the first to put art on both 78s and LPs; the frenetic, Rivera-inspired Jim Flora; and Erik Nitsche, who brought cool Swiss design to record jackets before the onslaught of rock and roll.

by David Greenberger
Any look at a 20-year period of record covers will be subject to the taste of your guide. In the Groove: Vintage Record Graphics, 1940-1960 is blessed with an excellent shepherd—Eric Kohler is both knowledgeable about the era, and he exhibits uniformly excellent taste. The book features hundreds of covers, all in color. One chapter covers the '40s and three of its leading designers; another chapter handles the '50s and five of its pivotal practitioners (it was a growing field). From Jim Flora's humorous inventions to David Stone Martin's moody evocations of jazz, this book is filled with images that have become part of our culture's visual language. Erik Nitsche's work in the classical-music to look like. Compare his riveting work to classical-music field likewise set the tone for what we understand orchestral music to look like. Compare his riveting work to classical music's other art direction trend of simply obtaining the rights to a famous painting and plopping it in a border into the middle of the cover. This book should be in the hands of every music fan and every record-label art department. While we shouldn't try to relive the past, it's essential to remember its important lessons and inventions.

Any look at a 20-year period of record covers will be subject to the taste of your guide. In the Groove: Vintage Record Graphics, 1940-1960 is blessed with an excellent shepherd-Eric Kohler is both knowledgeable about the era, and he exhibits uniformly excellent taste. The book features hundreds of covers, all in color. One chapter covers the '40s and three of its leading designers; another chapter handles the '50s and five of its pivotal practitioners (it was a growing field). From Jim Flora's humorous inventions to David Stone Martin's moody evocations of jazz, this book is filled with images that have become part of our culture's visual language. Erik Nitsche's work in the classical-music to look like. Compare his riveting work to classical-music field likewise set the tone for what we understand orchestral music to look like. Compare his riveting work to classical music's other art direction trend of simply obtaining the rights to a famous painting and plopping it in a border into the middle of the cover. This book should be in the hands of every music fan and every record-label art department. While we shouldn't try to relive the past, it's essential to remember its important lessons and inventions. -- Pulse

The advent of the compact disk improved sound quality, but brought an end to great album art and sophisticated liner notes. IN THE GROOVE: Vintage Record Graphics, 1940-1960, Eric Kohler's lovingly produced collection of 250 album covers, traces the beginning of this graphic design to 1947, when a young designer named Alex Steinweiss folded a thin cardboard sheet in half to create what would become the standard LP jacket for the next four decades. Early jackets by artists like Jim Flora relied heavily on graphics and hand-lettered typefaces rather than photography; the mild-mannered, bow-tied Flora's polymorphous caricatures of Bix Beiderbecke and Gene Krupa are as nutty as any underground cartoonist's work today. Some high points are Neil Fujita's cover of a pensive, red-lighted Miles Davis for "Round About Midnight" and David Stone Martin's iconic freehand logo of the Blue Note trumpet player, still in use half a century later. Delightful rarities include a Picassoesque line drawing for a 1958 Kenny Burrell album by a young Andy Warhol. The text is studded with tasty tidbits: younger vinylphiles may be surprised that the first "concept" album to structure songs around a theme was Frank Sinatra's "Songs for Swingin' Lovers." Although rock 'n' roll revitalized record sales in the 1950's, it had little impact on album cover design until the Beatles era, because songs were released as singles. -- Eric P. Nash- New York Times Book Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 132 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books; First Edition edition (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811821218
• ISBN-13: 978-0811821216
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 9.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #314,692 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Long, lost days of style., July 31, 2001

By	"ramen_freak" (Rutherford, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

As a graphic designer, I get so flustered when I see the same old CD covers now: a photo of the artist or band, and their name scribbled on top, or a really un-inspired text treatment, most likely using some wretched Photoshop tool like, alien skin or eye candy- blech! Perhaps modern day CD's skimp on the design work of the covers because they are so much smaller now. But back in the days of LP's and 45's art was generously splashed on covers. Full-colored, stylized and oh, so hip! Each one fit to be framed and displayed. "In the Groove: Vintage Record Graphics, 1940-1960" effectively chronicles the history of this long, lost art-form in a picture-book style. I say picture-book, because of the lack of background information on many of the pieces, in fact there are quite a few pieces that are listed as "unknown designer", how unfortunate! Some poor old designer dedicated his or her life to creating some stunning art to attract music lovers' eyes to this or that particular record, and now they're the "unknown designer". Eric Kohler did his best grouping together styles of record graphics, so seeing the evolution of style was very nicely mapped-out. Nice quality paper, nice printing... would've been nicer in hardback. Still, this is one of my favorite books!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cool Collection of overlooked medium, February 21, 2001

By	A. Whitney (Silicon Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I liked this book so much that I bought a copy for my record-collecting boyfriend and a DJ friend with a varied and ecclectic vinyl collection.

When I thought of record cover art, I thought of those fantasy-styled "YES" covers, or the metal band covers of the 80's. I had no idea about how many cool vintage record covers were out there.

The book focuses on covers from 1940-1960. You'll find many jazz, swing and vocalists represented here. The reproductions are excellent and the variety is impressive. While most covers are reproduced in 3x3inches, quite a few are refresented as full pages which is about a 9-inch square. It is organized by artist and record company, showing you how the artist's style influenced the cover.

I highly recommend it for record collectors, vintage enthusiasts, graphic designers/illustrators and those who love old things. It made me miss the 12-inch vinyl covers all the more and has inspired me to track specific albums down. CDs can never match the emotional connection that vinyl did.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sound pictures., December 13, 2002

By	Robin Benson - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Mr Kohler presents two hundred and fifty covers (from his large collection) which he rightly thinks show the best of album design in the early years of the LP. He features eight artist/designers who created some of the most distinctive work in cover art. Two of them are my favorites, David Stone Martin who gave Norman Granz's Clef label some beautiful cover illustrations (twenty are shown) and Reid Miles who created the east coast look to Blue Note Records. Unfortunately only four of his covers are shown but you can see dozens more in the two books by Graham Marsh: The Cover Art of Blue Note Records and The Cover Art of Blue Note Records, Vol.2. The other six designers range from the unique illustrations of RCA's Jim Flora to the work of Swiss born designer Erik Nitsche and his semi abstract work for Decca. Record companies are also featured and you can see the beginnings of the Capitol Records house style, I think they were the only major company to produce consistently well designed covers with excellent photography and typography.

Though all these covers are interesting to look at I don't think too many work as complete design units, that is image and text complement each other, mostly they are images with text added later. One cover that I like is on page eighty-one, it shows a file-card box and the albums title, 'Guide to Jazz' is typed on a card which is resting against the box, the tabs of the other cards have musical instruments on them, a simple creative idea that works. Strangely the designer is unknown.

I doubt you will see as good a coverage of the early years of the LP as this (well produced) book but have a look at this title that concentrates on jazz covers from the fifties and sixties, Jazz West Coast: Artwork of Pacific Jazz Records. It has dozens of examples of creativity on paper twelve inches square, somehow CD covers just can't compete with that.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer image' under the cover.