With a pink planet above and a neon-colored mosque behind him,
Mick Jagger is sitting Indian-style, wearing a black Merlin hat and
a Middle-Eastern silk robe, and forming an “X” with his
forearms, palms facing himself. He’s also displaying a
transfixed facial expression.
Jagger must no doubt be confused about the quirkiness of his
band’s album cover, created by Michael Cooper in 1967 for The
Rolling Stones’ “Their Satanic Majesties
Request.” This hologram is not only distorted around the
edges, but the image as a whole is also distorted; it’s
psychedelic.
A variety of original 12-inch album covers is currently on
display at the Hollywood Entertainment Museum through April 11. The
exhibit “That’s Psychedelic: Rock Music’s
Greatest Album Covers” features works by design firms and
artists such as Hipgnosis, Roger Dean and Mouse Studios.
The highlights of the exhibit are the rarities (Who hasn’t
seen Led Zeppelin’s “Houses of the Holy” or Pink
Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here”?). True gems of the
collection include Roger Dean’s drawing of an octopus trapped
in a jar (Gentle Giant’s “Octopus”), Bob
Cato’s surreal depiction of giant grapes on a beach (Moby
Grape’s “Wow”), and Barry Godber’s visceral
close-up of a face in fright (King Crimson’s “In the
Court of the Crimson King”), reminiscent of “The
Scream” by Norwegian Symbolist/Expressionist painter Edvard
Munch.
Although the mainstream notion of the impetus behind such
outlandish artwork has been that of mind-altering drugs, according
to curator Chris Horak, artists were also hired to create
eye-catching covers for commercial purposes, hence the neon colors
and eccentricity.
The exhibit gives well-deserved attention to the artists, many
of whom were not originally credited. Showcased here is the artwork
in its original format: individual pieces of art rather
than the minimized CD-cover versions music fans are most
attuned to viewing. The simple, black frames leave all the focus
squarely on the bright, anomalous artwork.
Other works include David King and Roger Law’s cover for
Jimi Hendrix’s “Axis: Bold as Love,” in which an
animated version of Hendrix resembles an Indian god with 14 arms,
and Martin Sharp’s cover for Cream’s “Disraeli
Gears,” an eruption of orange, yellow, pink, green, and blue
colors and flowers, clearly indicative of the psychedelic era.
-Angela Lu