Record Covers From the PHoM Vault: A Visual Journey
By Jocelyn Marcia Ng
March 2023PHOTO ESSAY
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THE USE OF album cover art was credited to Columbia art director, Alex Steinweiss, who introduced the concept in 1938, replacing the generic covers used before. These covers, made from folded paperboard, also display information such as album title, artist name, record label and catalogue number. The back sleeve cover sometimes included information about the artist, songwriters and/or lyrics. Besides protecting the album covers, it became a way to make a visual impression.Prior to album covers, early 78 rpm shellac...
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