A&M Album Covers - Part Deux

It looks like Summertime has had a few releases over the years--I have our old tan-label version, and also the Audio Master Plus release from the 80s.

Yeah, the label on mine denotes a mid-to-late 70's press. It would have surfaced originally in ochre I'm sure. The one I have sounds great though.

Ed
 
If you ever find one of those releases in the Audio Master Plus series, and it looks pristine, buy it! My Jobim Wave plays back dead quiet and sounds excellent. They used the KC600 vinyl on these. I wish I had bought more of these when they were released though. I have maybe four or five of these out of the series. They were numbered as SP-9-3003, for instance. A bonus is that their covers do not seem to yellow like the originals did.
 
BTW @ThaFunkyFakeTation, I'm diggin' the blank record labels. There are a few that I could probably scan and send your way one of these days.

Cool! Most of those came from a guy on SHtv named "Grant". When the SmugMug site these were originally posted on went away, "Grant" had preserved many of them and set them off to me. Of course, I'd added to what "Grant" sent me (quite a bit - especially the 45 sleeves) but "Grant" got that whole thing started. Glad you like them and I'd love to post what you've got!

Ed
 
I like that Desmond cover you posted you did an excellent job on it you could have worked at A&M or any record label back in the day doing this kind of thing Very well done again Ed
 
Cool! Most of those came from a guy on SHtv named "Grant". When the SmugMug site these were originally posted on went away, "Grant" had preserved many of them and set them off to me. Of course, I'd added to what "Grant" sent me (quite a bit - especially the 45 sleeves) but "Grant" got that whole thing started. Glad you like them and I'd love to post what you've got!
I was wondering where that site went! I'm glad it's been preserved. :thumbsup: I've been making watch faces for my LG Urbane and used a few from that site to get started.

I know I have two IRS Records labels that you could add (the white/rainbow border label, plus the silver/maroon version), and there was even an A&M variation with an IRS logo on it, if I'm not mistaken. (Thinking Oingo Boingo for that one.) There are two variations on the A&M Audiophile label as well. Plus I have a couple of RCA variations--the classic Living Stereo "shaded dog" Red Seal, plus I'm pretty sure there is a "modern" RCA variation (vertical logo) that says "Red Seal" rather than Victor. There was also a black "Extended Play" 45RPM label from the early 50s, same as the two you have now with the pair of horizontal lines, but it's black and does not say "Red Seal." Some of the old RCAs don't scan well since they use silver ink. There was another run of RCA labels where the silver text was replaced with a fatter white font, and I have that in both the popular and classical Red Seal versions as well.
 
I still wonder if this had an inner sleeve at some point. Much info is missing so it makes sense that it'd have one. There's no listing of the musicians anywhere.

I'll bet it did, now that I see what you've got and can compare it to the CD release. The CD booklet is filled with the lyrics to each song, with musicians credited below each song. I'd guess that on the LP, these were printed on a glossy innersleeve with the same right-angular color design for a background. Here's a sample page:

scan0001.jpg

My guess is that one side of the innersleeve had the aqua and yellow colors and one had the fuschia and yellow. Lyrics may have been spread across both sides or perhaps on just one.
 
I'll bet it did, now that I see what you've got and can compare it to the CD release. The CD booklet is filled with the lyrics to each song, with musicians credited below each song. I'd guess that on the LP, these were printed on a glossy innersleeve with the same right-angular color design for a background. Here's a sample page:

scan0001.jpg

My guess is that one side of the innersleeve had the aqua and yellow colors and one had the fuschia and yellow. Lyrics may have been spread across both sides or perhaps on just one.

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too. Mine might be a little later in the run when they realized that the record had bombed and they cut out the inner sleeve to save a buck.

Ed
 
I still wonder if this had an inner sleeve at some point. Much info is missing so it makes sense that it'd have one. There's no listing of the musicians anywhere.
I purchased this LP within a month of its release, and mine just has the standard A&M inner sleeve (paper with plastic lining). Mine was pressed by A&M Canada if that makes any difference.
 
I purchased this LP within a month of its release, and mine just has the standard A&M inner sleeve (paper with plastic lining). Mine was pressed by A&M Canada if that makes any difference.

Hmm. Interesting. If yours doesn't have an inner sleeve, maybe it really didn't have one. I was of the same mind as Harry and just assumed it did and that mine didn't.

Thanks for the information!

Ed
 
Original pressing is definitely Ochre. Either had a white sleeve, or the A&M period catalog sleeve when new. I've seen the LP with both inner sleeves.
 
I had the hardest time renewing the space for Vinyl Album Covers. I've been at it for about a month and I could never get the renewal to process. It finally has now. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Ed
 
Yep, our Summertime certainly did have the ochre and the stock A&M innersleeve. The CTi association lasted until 1969 or 1970, and I don't think the white/silver/tan label showed up until 1973. (I first saw it on Herb's You Smile record.) I think years ago I may have asked here at what point (which catalog number) A&M made the change to the new label.
 
Yep, our Summertime certainly did have the ochre and the stock A&M innersleeve. The CTi association lasted until 1969 or 1970, and I don't think the white/silver/tan label showed up until 1973. (I first saw it on Herb's You Smile record.) I think years ago I may have asked here at what point (which catalog number) A&M made the change to the new label.

Rudy:

The last A&M album with a CTi imprint on the cover was George Benson's THE OTHER SIDE OF ABBEY ROAD, which appears to have been released in April of 1970. There were two more Creed Taylor productions to follow that summer, Quincy Jones' GULA MATARI and Antonio Carlos Jobim's TIDE, but while Creed was credited, the CTi logo was absent.

The launch of CTI as a stand-alone label is reported in a story in the February 28, 1970 issue of Billboard, which says the first two albums (Kathy McCord and Hubert Laws) were introduced that week).

The switch to the silver label for A&M releases came in June of 1973. FRAMPTON'S CAMEL (SP-4389) was the first (making SP 4388, Michael Murphey's COSMIC COWBOY SOUVENIR, the last of the ochres). Probably the first time most people saw the silver label was Carpenters' THE SINGLES 1969-73, a number one album. A&M had a series of stiffs for its album output in the last half of '73. The only other big seller was Cat Stevens' FOREIGNER (which peaked at #3). It was one of the first releases after the change in labels, but it had its own custom label.

And while we're on that line of thinking, the last ochre label A&M album that found its way into a lot of homes was Cat Stevens' CATCH BULL AT FOUR eight months before the label change.

As for singles, A&M was erratic about use of the silver label for 45s during 1973 with Paul Williams' "Inspriation" in November being the first use I can find. Beginning with its first single release of 1974, Nino Tempo & 5th Avenue Sax's "Roll It", the singles were all on the silver label and promo copies had their white labels redesigned with a small original A&M logo at the six o'clock position.
 
the last ochre label A&M album that found its way into a lot of homes was Cat Stevens' CATCH BULL AT FOUR eight months before the label change.

CATCH BULL AT FOUR also had custom labels. That's the way mine is, anyway.
R-892301-1523615335-8920.jpeg.jpg
 
CATCH BULL AT FOUR also had custom labels. That's the way mine is, anyway.
R-892301-1523615335-8920.jpeg.jpg

You're right. I'd forgotten.

Besides that, I was also wrong...the last big-selling A&M album prior to the silver label change wasn't CATCH BULL AT FOUR---it was Carpenters' NOW AND THEN, which I'd somehow skipped over.
 
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