Alternative Album Covers

[STEVE@ENGLAND]

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.)

I'd have removed the red boundary but retained (and enlarged) the photograph
(so that it takes up all the space.)

Then, I'd make the darkness as stark as I could ...

The A & M logo can, instead, be put on the alternative side of the album cover
(alongside the track-listing) ... and ...

Then, l'd put (the) Carpenters logo (in gold) where you've put it.

It's a pity Richard's wearing an old-fashioned sweater, though.

Maybe that can be air-brushed out?

 

[STEVE@ENGLAND]

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.

I've been so many places in my life and time
I've sung a lot of songs
I've made some bad rhymes
I've acted out my life in stages
With ten thousand people watching
But we're alone now
And I'm singing this song to you ...

Apologies for any inconvenience - but I don't know how to include images.

Re: A Song for You - an alternative front cover?

I've gone onto Google & typed in 'Las Vegas images'.

The fourth to the right is labelled 'Las Vegas Strip: The 15 attractions you must see'
and has a brightly-lit sign saying:

"Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada".

Maybe this (or something like it) would have been a better album cover than the
original - plus it ties in with, for instance, the lyrics to Road Ode.

I've been on this lonely road so long
Does anybody know where it goes
I remember the last time
The signs pointed home a month ago ...

Rented cars and empty motel rooms
Lead you everywhere but home
Crowds of people shouting
How they love the show
They don't know ...

I wonder if these feelings ever change
How many times I'll lift this load
Come tomorrow I'll be gone again
Roads of sorrows coming to an end for me ...

If used on the front cover, the proposed image (or something like it) would have
pre-dated a similar one used by (the) Eagles on their Hotel California album four
years later (in 1976) - and may even have been acceptable to rock fans who
(like me) had been repulsed by the A Song for You front cover.

Just imagine if Karen/Richard had got ahead of (the) Eagles, by four years, and
released the classic A Song for You album with such an iconic image!

In short, there's nothing remotely sentimental about the proposed cover sleeve
(no lovey-dovey hearts; no images of Karen in a 'Granny Dress' or Richard
dressed like Liberace; no fluffiness; no ditz; etc.)

The image suggests, to me, at least, only the travails of serious, professional
musicians and the supposed glitz and glamour of the brightly-light Nevada sign
(promising much - as Road Ode alludes to - but betraying, perhaps, a certain
disillusionment/emptiness? Maybe the 'rock 'n' roll' life-style isn't all it's cracked
up to be - suggests the song-writers? And they should know; for Gary Sims &
Danny Woodhams were part of (the) Carpenters' touring group.)

The image also reflects the music/lyrics of the album to a far greater
extent than a heart on a Valentine's Card.

Re: It's Going to Take Some Time

After all the tears we've spent
How could we make amends?
So, it's one more round for experience
And I'm on the road again [emphasis: mine]
And it's going to take some time this time
And I can't make demands ...

Your thoughts?

Another image for consideration?

On You Tube, there's a video (for Road Ode) under the name 'NedNickerson2010'.

It shows a desolate street, late evening.

(Let's face it, a lot of the material on the A Song for You album isn't exactly
upbeat.)

Perfect, perhaps, for the front cover of such a classic (but under-rated)
album?

Your thoughts?