Old A&M/CTi Album Cover Design (and old RCA logo) on new album

[Michael Hagerty]

Cage The Elephant's "Unpeeled" comes out on July 28th. Here's the cover:

 

[Bobberman]

Now that is Familiar Yet unique. I always liked the Way the A&M /CTI albums were designed I hope This artist has the decency to credit their inspiration to the people who originally designed them it would be nice as well as a nice tribute as well

 

[Michael Hagerty]

Now that is Familiar Yet unique. I always liked the Way the A&M /CTI albums were designed I hope This artist has the decency to credit their inspiration to the people who originally designed them it would be nice as well as a nice tribute as well

I hope so, too, Bobberman. Sam Antupit's been dead for 14 years. If they credit him, they get a lot of respect in my book. The album's supposed to be released on July 28, but it's already on Spotify. Of course, that doesn't get you any look at the packaging other than the front cover. Wonder if it'll carry over onto the back, whether it will be a gatefold and whether they'd continue the tribute?

As for the album itself, it looks like they modeled it (in terms of color and logo placement) on Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Tide", which actually was a Creed Taylor produced A&M LP without the CTi imprint:

 

[Bobberman]

True I have this jobim album on a verve reissue cd but I give universal credit for being true to the original as well as reproducing the vintage A&M ochre label but yes Michael I Agree with you.

 

[Mr Bill]

So what kind of music is this "Cage the Elephant"??? If I use the cover to judge I would assume it is very "out there." Maybe I should just youtube it...

--Mr Bill

 

[Mr Bill]

Hmmm. A cross between" .R.E.M." and "Deathcab for Cutie," I'd say...

 

[Michael Hagerty]

Apparently it's a double LP---on orange-colored and orange-scented vinyl:

What I can't tell is whether it's a gatefold cover and if so, whether the A&M/CTi theme carries over on the inside.

 

[RichardWarner]

Tip of the hat to the late Sam Antupit, who did the original design. Samuel N. Antupit, 71; Designed Magazines

 

[Michael Hagerty]

Looks like we might have to wait to find out if there's a gatefold and if the inside carries over the Sam Antupit design. While the CD and digital download dropped yesterday, the vinyl apparently isn't available until August 27.

 

[Harry]

Rear cover of the CD from an eBay ad:

 

[Michael Hagerty]

Okay...now it's down to the gatefold if there is one.

 

[Bobberman]

Looks very promising if it's a gatefold then this qualifies as a Bona-fide tribute in my opinion almost.

 

[Michael Hagerty]

Yes, it does! They didn't copy the technique of carrying over the image front-to-back, but close. Really hoping they acknowledge Sam Antupit.

 

[Bobberman]

Yes, it does! They didn't copy the technique of carrying over the image front-to-back, but close. Really hoping they acknowledge Sam Antupit.

I hope so too The work Sam Antupit deserves to be recognized as its what the cover art is influenced and inspired by

 

[Michael Hagerty]

True. It's also not the first time it's been done. Jimac51 noted here at the Corner 14 years ago that he'd discovered a Don Sebesky album from 1984 on GNC Crescendo that mimicked the Sam Antupit design:

 

[Michael Hagerty]

No one's shown us a shot of the gatefold for the vinyl, but it appears the CD version of UNPEELED has a gatefold package, and it's reasonable to assume this is what they've done on the inside of the LP jacket as well:

Cage the Elephant Autographed Unpeeled Stereo CD | eBay

So---no credit to Sam Antupit. Sad, but then it would appear Don Sebesky's FULL CYCLE neglected that as well.

 

[Rudy]

If I'm not mistaken, Tide was one of a small handful where the background color was not white. But instead, had a thin white border around the photo.

Here's another CTi with a slightly different layout:

 

[Michael Hagerty]

Rudy: True. The others that didn't do the standard white jacket:

SP 3010: Richard Barbary: SOUL MACHINE

SP 3016: J&K (Kai Winding & JJ Johnson): BETWIXT AND BETWEEN

SP 3018: Walter Wanderley Set: WHEN IT WAS DONE (first pressings were reflective silver, later ones flat grey)

Then, Milton Nascimento's COURAGE, followed by SP 3020: George Benson: TELL IT LIKE IT IS

Beyond that, there were the borderless covers of Quincy Jones' WALKING IN SPACE and GULA MATARI and Antonio Carlos Jobim's TIDE (the album that spurred the thread).

 

[Bobberman]

Rudy: True. The others that didn't do the standard white jacket:

SP 3010: Richard Barbary: SOUL MACHINE

SP 3016: J&K (Kai Winding & JJ Johnson): BETWIXT AND BETWEEN

SP 3018: Walter Wanderley Set: WHEN IT WAS DONE (first pressings were reflective silver, later ones flat grey)

Then, Milton Nascimento's COURAGE, followed by SP 3020: George Benson: TELL IT LIKE IT IS

Beyond that, there were the borderless covers of Quincy Jones' WALKING IN SPACE and GULA MATARI and Antonio Carlos Jobim's TIDE (the album that spurred the thread).

It's seems A&M were trying to to the CTI Album designs differently over time but by the end of the Day it appears they were trying to break away from the usual album designs . Just my opinion of course

 

[Michael Hagerty]

It (and the independent CTi) was the last gasp of corporate album art---it really kind of overlapped with the beginning of the era of the recording artist having control over the packaging, with the label logo shrunken and then moved to the back cover.

 

[Rudy]

CTi still had a lot of nice album cover designs post-A&M. If I had time I'd paste a few here.

 

[RichardWarner]

And of course, we can always dream about what 3019 might have looked like.

https://awareforce.box.com/s/nmnwn406e64uc1yh6tvdxguflqcxzqqg