Alternative Album Covers

[Michael Hagerty]

I thought the Ticket to Ride album cover, and also the back cover photo, were perfect. They looked like brother and sister, in a beautiful setting. I can't figure out why A&M didn't see that and continue in that direction.

I think it's still too couple-y.

The photograph in my mind for a first cover---put a photographer on a 24-foot ladder in the studio....shooting down at an angle so faces can be seen.

Karen is at the drums, Richard at the piano. They're the only people in the studio. They're not looking at us. They're either playing or talking to each other. If they're talking to each other, Richard has a pen in his hand on the sheet music. Karen's holding drumsticks.

Maybe it's black and white, maybe it's color.

This is the back cover image, accompanied by Herb's original Offering liner notes and the track listing:



Never let it get cuter than that and I think you've fixed the image issue.

 

[byline]

This is the back cover image, accompanied by Herb's original Offering liner notes and the track listing:



Never let it get cuter than that and I think you've fixed the image issue.

I do agree that focusing more on them as musicians, rather than trying to package them as a couple, would have been vastly superior to what they got. But I also have a feeling that marketing people didn't get that. They were more focused on trying to create an image, but they couldn't imagine what that image would be for a male/female duo. All they could come up with was "couple" ... which led to countless disastrous photo shoots for a pair of siblings, not a couple who were romantically involved. Clearly no progress had been made by the time Donnie and Marie came along, because they suffered a similar fate.

Part of the reason I like the Ticket to Ride cover is that Karen and Richard look so relaxed, like they're just hanging out on a sailboat and having fun, but with nothing there suggesting romance. The fact that Karen and Richard liked it, and actually wanted that to be the Close to You album cover, tells me it's one of those rare times that A&M got it right.

 

[Michael Hagerty]

I do agree that focusing more on them as musicians, rather than trying to package them as a couple, would have been vastly superior to what they got. But I also have a feeling that marketing people didn't get that. They were more focused on trying to create an image, but they couldn't imagine what that image would be for a male/female duo. All they could come up with was "couple" ... which led to countless disastrous photo shoots for a pair of siblings, not a couple who were romantically involved. Clearly no progress had been made by the time Donnie and Marie came along, because they suffered a similar fate.

Part of the reason I like the Ticket to Ride cover is that Karen and Richard look so relaxed, like they're just hanging out on a sailboat and having fun, but with nothing there suggesting romance. The fact that Karen and Richard liked it, and actually wanted that to be the Close to You album cover, tells me it's one of those rare times that A&M got it right.

Clearly marketing didn’t get that. Criminal given that A&M was an artist-focused label.

I’m 55 years late, but the image is that this brother and sister are both incredibly talented musicians. The album covers could and should have been used to reinforce that. Instead, they put them everywhere except in a musical or creative setting.

 

[Mark-T]

I always thought one like this but without the smiles would have been good.

 

[Jack A.]

I guess my profile pic gives away that I personally like the "coupley" photos.

 

[STEVE@ENGLAND]

It's well-known that A&M's promo department just didn't know how to promote the Carpenters. A brother-sister act was not a common thing. So all they could think of was, pose them in some nice scenery. The next album, they probably said "I dunno... the logo is cool, just stick the logo on the front and self-title it."

I

I think it's still too couple-y.

The photograph in my mind for a first cover---put a photographer on a 24-foot ladder in the studio....shooting down at an angle so faces can be seen.

Karen is at the drums, Richard at the piano. They're the only people in the studio. They're not looking at us. They're either playing or talking to each other. If they're talking to each other, Richard has a pen in his hand on the sheet music. Karen's holding drumsticks.

Maybe it's black and white, maybe it's color.

This is the back cover image, accompanied by Herb's original Offering liner notes and the track listing:



Never let it get cuter than that and I think you've fixed the image issue.

I think you've just fixed the "image issue", Michael.

The photo isn't at all "cutesy pie" or "goody-four-shoes" ... Karen & Richard
even "exude" (Is that too strong a word?) an air of moodiness.

Challenge: For any computer-savvy person on this forum, can you produce an image
of what you would present to Karen/Richard as an alternative cover to the Close to You
album? (Maybe something that could attract rock fans into departing with their 'hard-
earned' cash? Maybe this should be a different thread???)

 

[STEVE@ENGLAND]

I always thought one like this but without the smiles would have been good.

Great photo, Mark ... with (or without) the smiles.

 

[Michael Hagerty]

I

I think you've just fixed the "image issue", Michael.

The photo isn't at all "cutesy pie" or "goody-four-shoes" ... Karen & Richard
even "exude" (Is that too strong a word?) an air of moodiness.

I don't think it's "moody" so much as it is "serious professional musicians". Immediately sets in stone an image. Let Herb's liner notes reveal that they're brother and sister, next album maybe the cover is Richard at the console with Karen through the glass singing---again, seriously----and after that, the logo is ready and can carry the weight for a few albums.

 

[Harry]

I think you've just fixed the "image issue", Michael.

The photo isn't at all "cutesy pie" or "goody-four-shoes" ... Karen & Richard
even "exude" (Is that too strong a word?) an air of moodiness.

Challenge: For any computer-savvy person on this forum, can you produce an image
of what you would present to Karen/Richard as an alternative cover to the Close to You
album? (Maybe something that could attract rock fans into departing with their 'hard-
earned' cash? Maybe this should be a different thread???)

The front title could be OFFERING, and/or the rear could be TICKET TO RIDE, but you get the idea. The background of the cover would need to be airbrushed to remove the band-member from the picture, but you get the idea.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

It probably isn't possible to come up with a good "album cover" using existing stock pictures.... for a front album cover you want something that looks planned, not a snapshot-type picture. The problem is, almost every picture of the Carpenters that exists is either a snapshot-type thing, or a smiley cutesy prom-dress side-by-side toothpaste ad type shot.

The back cover can be a little more loose. Harry's proposed Offering cover up there looks great.

I'd say, how about a plain background with a grand piano, Richard playing it, and Karen standing behind the piano, microphone nearby. (Maybe one of those really cool giant old fashioned microphones.) She's smiling and he isn't. Maybe she's sort-of "grooving" to the beat. That way they are together in the picture but they aren't embracing, leaning on each other, etc.

They could have titled the album something besides Close To You, too. It wasn't mandatory to have an album titled after your hit single. Common, but not a requirement.

There are plenty of horrible-looking album covers that got all kinds of acclaim. I hated the famous Velvet Underground "banana" cover, for example, but it's one of the most famous covers ever.

 

[STEVE@ENGLAND]

I'd say, how about a plain background with a grand piano, Richard playing it, and Karen standing behind the piano, microphone nearby.

What about having a dark background ... similar to that of Karen/Richard performing
Sometimes (Carpenters' at the BBC 1971) - at, or around, the 30:57 mark: Richard's
on keyboards; Karen's (to his left) singing (into the microphone; deep in concentration)?

Plain, simple, serious (Nothing lovey-dovey, fluffy, or what have you.)

If I knew how to send you the image, I'd do so (but I don't.)

Even classical music albums, back in the day, though unimaginative, had a certain
gravitas about them (a good quality image of the conductor and orchestra) - and that's
what Carpenters' album covers lacked, in general.

I'm still mulling over what you said (a couple of days ago) about some A & M acts
recording 5, 6 or 7 albums and still NOT having a hit.

Based on what you said, you can probably see why I asked if it would have been
such a bad thing, after all (image-wise), if the Close to You single had flopped -
for, presumably (even if the album, too, had flopped), they'd have been given,
more likely than not, further chances (Well, that's what I like to believe.)

I realise there are some very BIG if's, here.

 

[Jack A.]

This cracked me up Look closer...

 

[Michael Hagerty]

The front title could be OFFERING, and/or the rear could be TICKET TO RIDE, but you get the idea. The background of the cover would need to be airbrushed to remove the band-member from the picture, but you get the idea.

VERY nice work, Harry!

What I had in mind would ditch the "frame" format for the front cover and just let the picture (described in an earlier post) be the cover, with artist and title superimposed. Non-posed photos of K&R in a recording studio setting are rare, so I can't illustrate what I mean---but that's also key. I would not use a facing the camera, smiling, obviously posed shot on any of the album covers.

I'd also avoid stage costumes in any cover shot (frankly, I'd avoid them on stage, too, but that's back to the "If You Were Carpenters' Management" thread).

What works for me about the back cover is the authenticity. This is how they showed up to the studio. It conveniently makes them look a lot more like their contemporaries, which erases boundaries between them and the beholder.

 

[Harry]

While we're playing with fantasy covers, suppose, just suppose, that A&M had decided to adopt the CTi-type of artwork for some Carpenters releases. After all, Jack Daugherty even had his own JD logo which could go where the CTi logo was placed. (You'll find that on both CARPENTERS and A SONG FOR YOU.)

This is what I came up with. I kept the "heart" theme, but made it a little more abstract. And I'm not fond of how small the Carpenters logo appears on the front, so that could probably be reworked.

 

[STEVE@ENGLAND]

This cracked me up Look closer...

Maybe A & M could have got Richard to dress as a vagrant, tap Karen on the shoulder,
and, exclaim, in a cheesy bubble caption (above his head):

"I'm sorry, miss, but you can't sit THERE ...That place is taken", or ...

"What's a girl like you doing on a rock like that?", or (And wait for it - this is even worse) ...
"Say darlin', can I buy ya a drink? Love your nails. You must be a Libra. Your place or mine?".

 

[newvillefan]

This cracked me up as well. I’ve just looked at it again and I burst out laughing again

It reminds me of the story Richard told BBC Radio about the photoshoot:

“It was overcast, the waves were crashing over the rocks, Karen's hair was damp, frizzing...and I saw a couple of amateur photographers…I remember this very well. And they were taking the very same picture like, 50 feet away from us. But they were amateurs!”

Richard looks like one of those photographers

 

[newvillefan]

^^^ I’ve also just noticed the album title, which makes it even funnier!

 

[Mark-T]

I played a bit with mixing an older photo with the Carpenters logo...

 

[newvillefan]

I always hated those terrible haircuts they had. They look awful in any photo and did their image no good whatsoever. Who else looked as square them at that time?

 

[STEVE@ENGLAND]

I always hated those terrible haircuts they had. They look awful in any photo and did their image no good whatsoever. Who else looked as square them at that time?

Karen's haircut isn't too bad ... As for Richard's, well, it looks like he's got a mop on his head.

 

[Jack A.]

I wanted to put this in a new thread since we're starting to diverge from the topic of the other one.

But, continuing with the idea of creating different covers of our own that could have been used for the Close to You album, here's my idea for a cover that could have worked for the "Tan" album. It includes one of those "non-couple-y" photos, as some people were talking about, which just so happens to tie into one of the songs on this album.

(Sorry this doesn't look better - I'm not the sharpest tack in the box when it comes to photoshopping.)

 

[goodjeans]

Maybe A & M could have got Richard to dress as a vagrant, tap Karen on the shoulder,
and, exclaim, in a cheesy bubble caption (above his head):

"I'm sorry, miss, but you can't sit THERE ...That place is taken", or ...

"What's a girl like you doing on a rock like that?", or (And wait for it - this is even worse) ...
"Say darlin', can I buy ya a drink? Love your nails. You must be a Libra. Your place or mine?".

OK. This is hilarious.

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

I did these some time ago. I've always disliked...well...everything about "Made in America" but the cover was the first indication that something was deeply wrong. I attempted a couple of fixes and I think this is the better of the two.

Ed

P.S.: Just seeing that it lacks the release number. The Photoshop files are long gone so can't add it convincingly where it should go.

 

[Harry]

[Moved stuff from the CLOSE TO YOU thread relating to alternate covers. Unfortunately the original "thread starter" is now in the middle of the pack.]

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

[Moved stuff from the CLOSE TO YOU thread relating to alternate covers. Unfortunately the original "thread starter" is now in the middle of the pack.]

No worries. "Surely time will lose these bitter memories and I'll find that there is someone to believe in and to live for." I think I heard that somewhere...

Ed