Guilty of Judging an Album by its Cover!

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

This was and still is my favorite Martha & The Vandellas album cover [[and album.) My memories of this was that I saw it for years only on those inner sleeves of Motown albums. Even just seeing basically a thumbnail of the cover, I loved the color, the typeface of the title and the picture of Martha, Rosalind and Betty, seemingly in an "action" pose! I knew if the cover looked this good, the album HAD to be great too. Years later I finally scored that album. And it did not disappoint. Man, I'd sit and stare at that album cover while the music played. Such a bold look! The Robin Egg Blue cover with the purple "watchout!" and complimentary deep blue "vandellas", both in the same typeface [[California Grotesk is bout the closest I could identify it as)- it was aesthetically even better then I thought it would be. The look Martha has on her face is priceless! Such a powerful image- it even looks like she was singing 'WATCHOUT!" Betty and Rosalind looked like they were having fun singing along. Having the images and titles all at a tilt, that just added to the feeling of excitement. The Motown Art Department nailed it here.

On the flip side, I found out "Ridin' High" was the next album and I saw the cover. It was nice, but it didn't knock me out the way the "watchout!" cover did. When I got the album, I also found I wasn't as happy with the music as I was with "watchout!" I think I must have been looking for "watchout! Pt. 2", which is pretty unfair. After awhile though, I did begin to enjoy playing "Ridin' High"...but it still was never with the fever I had for "watchout!"

[kenneth]

I also love the "Watchout!" album, though "Black Magic" edges it out as my favorite of the Vandellas catalog. Some of the songs on "Watchout" seem almost like solo Martha Reeves performances, and she excels at so much of the material which is unlike the music the group is most well known for, the hard driving uptempo R&B numbers. I love her on "No More Tearstained Makeup," "He Doesn't Love Her Anymore," "Go Ahead and Laugh," and "What Am I Going to Do Without Your Love." The two hit singles are great of course, but to me Reeves really outdoes herself on the balance of the album which shows how she would have been very comfortable singing Jazz or even Blues. It's a great, great underrated piece, IMHO.

[reese]

RIDIN' HIGH and WATCHOUT! were the first two Vandellas albums I ever bought.

Like others, my first exposure to them was seeing the covers reproduced on those inner sleeves that Motown used to have in their albums. Whenever anyone I knew bought a Motown album, I would ask for the inner sleeve. You can imagine how thrilled I was when I discovered my next door neighbor had many of the really early Motown inner sleeves that I had never seen before. With the help of her son, I managed to switch some of my doubles for the ones she had. But I digress...

Re WATCHOUT! and RIDIN' HIGH, I love them both but I give the edge to RIDIN' HIGH. It was the first Vandellas album I bought. On first listen, I fell in love with songs like LEAVE IT IN THE HANDS OF LOVE, I'M IN LOVE [[AND I KNOW IT), FORGET ME NOT, and in particular, SHOW ME THE WAY.

Loving that album so much made me purchase WATCHOUT! when I found it for $.69 in a Woolworth's cutout bin. My faves on that album are I'M READY FOR LOVE, JIMMY MACK, KEEP IT UP, and NO MORE TEARSTAINED MAKE-UP.

[kenneth]

@reese,

I first bought the Vandellas "Greatest Hits," then "Watchout." I think the first album of theirs that came out after I was old enough to buy records was "Black Magic," so I knew most of their material as "oldies."

I used to rely on those inner sleeves to fill in my collection. I too was amazed when I found earlier sleeves which even included a label I didn't know existed [[Workshop Jazz). I never found the earlier LPs until several years later, again like you, in the cut-out bins at stores like Woolworth's. There was a similar discount store called Arlan's in the Detroit area, and once I discovered they had some of these long out-of-print albums, I dragged my friends to every Arlan's in the city and surrounding suburbs on a quest for more of these hard to find albums, and found most of them.

I always wonder which albums I left behind, my budget being what it was at the time. I'm sure I passed over the Gospel Stars and Columbus Mann, and could have saved the $200 or so I paid for those albums years later, had I but known!

[lockhartgary]

I'll say one thing: Martha is W-E-A-R-I-N-G the heck out of that hat on the Ridin' High cover!

[danman869]

I love both of these albums, but I believe I snagged a vinyl copy of "Ridin' High" first, so I always think of it fondly.

Funny... just today[!!] I kind of noticed an a resemblance to an album released about 18 months after "Ridin' High":



I always found it odd that Ross was given that "big head" treatment on the "Cream Of The Crop" album cover, but... apparently the Motown art department used it on Martha first?! Maybe this was Motown's way of trying to convey, "now they're MARTHA REEVES...and The Vandellas!"

[kenneth]

You are right!

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

I love both of these albums, but I believe I snagged a vinyl copy of "Ridin' High" first, so I always think of it fondly.

Funny... just today[!!] I kind of noticed an a resemblance to an album released about 18 months after "Ridin' High":



I always found it odd that Ross was given that "big head" treatment on the "Cream Of The Crop" album cover, but... apparently the Motown art department used it on Martha first?! Maybe this was Motown's way of trying to convey, "now they're MARTHA REEVES...and The Vandellas!"

Oh wow! I NEVER saw the similarities before. This is why it's so good to have so many at the table. Somebody will always bring out something others missed. I gotta say though, on Martha's cover it looks more "natural", like you said, a way of saying Martha IS the star of this outfit and my it's now "Miss Reeves"!

The only thing that really bugged me about the cover is that Lois's cape ain't blowing in the breeze like Rosalind's and Martha's! I think that just got overlooked!

[reese]

The only thing that really bugged me about the cover is that Lois's cape ain't blowing in the breeze like Rosalind's and Martha's! I think that just got overlooked!

Originally the RIDIN' HIGH cover was shot with Betty but she left before the album was released. So they had to redo it with Lois.

Just an FYI: On the original cover photo, Betty's cape doesn't blow in the breeze, either.

[kenneth]

Originally the RIDIN' HIGH cover was shot with Betty but she left before the album was released. So they had to redo it with Lois.

Just an FYI: On the original cover photo, Betty's cape doesn't blow in the breeze, either.

Do you mean there is the same cover pose with Betty in the shop? How did you ever find that? Is it something we can see? How interesting.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Originally the RIDIN' HIGH cover was shot with Betty but she left before the album was released. So they had to redo it with Lois.

Just an FYI: On the original cover photo, Betty's cape doesn't blow in the breeze, either.

Now that's something I never knew. I didn't know Betty had done a photo shoot for this cover. Interesting too that her cape somehow missed the breeze too! Have you seen photos of the original photo session? I had the feeling there were multiple photos taken because in the Anthology booklet, there is another picture of Martha in the same outfit, cape and all, but in a different pose.

Don't you wish someone would do a big coffee table book of Motown color photo sessions?

[reese]

Do you mean there is the same cover pose with Betty in the shop? How did you ever find that? Is it something we can see? How interesting.

It is in the booklet for the 50TH ANNIVERSARY: THE SINGLES COLLECTION 1962-1972. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find it online.

Its the same pose although Martha just seems to be closer to the camera, as opposed to the huge blow-up of her head that is featured on the album.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Well, I'll be...

[Graham Jarvis]

Here's The Big Hat!

Attachment 20381

[carlo]

Wow...I don't think I ever put 2 and 2 together before now, in regards to this photo with Betty being for the Ridin' High album cover. Thanks guys!

[Boogiedown]

I love both of these albums, but I believe I snagged a vinyl copy of "Ridin' High" first, so I always think of it fondly.

Funny... just today[!!] I kind of noticed an a resemblance to an album released about 18 months after "Ridin' High":



I always found it odd that Ross was given that "big head" …..

whats always been amazing to
me is how much Diana Ross looks like that middle Supreme ….

[danman869]

Reese, thanks for pointing that out. Although I own the 50th Anniversary set [and probably saw the photo included with Betty "ridin' high" with Roz and Martha], I'd forgotten about it!

Two things I'm noting here about these photos:

1. I doubt there was a fan blowing in the studio, but rather, any "blowing scarves" are likely just pinned up out of camera range. The scarves don't look natural at all--either in the album cover or in the outtake pix. Not horrible, of course, but... maybe a fan blowing on the ladies might have risked a "wig malfunction"? LOL

2. I wonder whether the original photo session with Betty was from 1966? Betty was sporting that short wig and by the time of her departure in the fall of 1967, I believe she'd been wearing bigger, 'chunkier' wigs for a while. Maybe I'm wrong, but... maybe I'm not?

[kenneth]

whats always been amazing to
me is how much Diana Ross looks like that middle Supreme ….

Leave it to you!

[kenneth]

Wow...I don't think I ever put 2 and 2 together before now, in regards to this photo with Betty being for the Ridin' High album cover. Thanks guys!

Yes, thanks! Such a fun discovery.

[Boogiedown]

Hee hee …..hi Kenny !

[kenneth]

Hee hee …..hi Kenny !

You know, the funny thing about that Ross [[and Ross and the Supremes) cover is that even as a kid, I thought it was kind of hideous. I mean the photo of the three girls is great but by blowing up Diane's face shot just made it seem weird. In addition, the way her eye makeup is applied makes her face look kind of ghoulish. Finally, in Detroit, the buzz on the street was that Ross was already being hyped so much there was kind of a backlash against her as she was primed for her solo career.

The other thing about it that I just realized is that, at least in my opinion, Ross really doesn't look good with an Afro. I mean, she's a stunning woman, but to me the Afro just doesn't suit her. The only other time I can recall her wearing such a hair style was in "The Wiz" and I don't think it suited her any better then. I'm no expert on such things, maybe that's what would be considered a "modified" Afro, or maybe I'm just used to seeing her with big, big hair, but I don't think that's really her style.

[Boogiedown]

You know, the funny thing about that Ross [[and Ross and the Supremes) cover is that even as a kid, I thought it was kind of hideous. I mean the photo of the three girls is great but by blowing up Diane's face shot just made it seem weird. In addition, the way her eye makeup is applied makes her face look kind of ghoulish. Finally, in Detroit, the buzz on the street was that Ross was already being hyped so much there was kind of a backlash against her as she was primed for her solo career.

The other thing about it that I just realized is that, at least in my opinion, Ross really doesn't look good with an Afro. I mean, she's a stunning woman, but to me the Afro just doesn't suit her. The only other time I can recall her wearing such a hair style was in "The Wiz" and I don't think it suited her any better then. I'm no expert on such things, maybe that's what would be considered a "modified" Afro, or maybe I'm just used to seeing her with big, big hair, but I don't think that's really her style.

I
know, That make up seems rushed. In this photo it’s not quite an Afro, more like a furry bathing cap.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Reese, thanks for pointing that out.

Two things I'm noting here about these photos:

1. I doubt there was a fan blowing in the studio, but rather, any "blowing scarves" are likely just pinned up out of camera range. The scarves don't look natural at all--either in the album cover or in the outtake pix. Not horrible, of course, but... maybe a fan blowing on the ladies might have risked a "wig malfunction"? LOL

I had thought about the same thing years ago in my youth, obsessing about the details. I figured someone was holding up the scarves out of camera range because you just wouldn't get such perfect placement on both scarves if you used a fan. But it's just so weird that in BOTH photo shoots, only two of the ladies' scarves are "blowin' in the wind."

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

2. I wonder whether the original photo session with Betty was from 1966? Betty was sporting that short wig and by the time of her departure in the fall of 1967, I believe she'd been wearing bigger, 'chunkier' wigs for a while. Maybe I'm wrong, but... maybe I'm not?

PS, I HATED when Betty and Rosalind wore those tight, short pixie wigs. Yeah I'm just nitpicking now.

[PeaceNHarmony]

... so I listened to, for the first time, Dionne's '72 WB debut. It's just about as 'good' as is the squatting-on-hay-in-a-butch-wig and and outfit that would have been too masculine for Billie Jean King and thinking, yeah, go ahead and judge a book ...

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

... so I listened to, for the first time, Dionne's '72 WB debut. It's just about as 'good' as is the squatting-on-hay-in-a-butch-wig and and outfit that would have been too masculine for Billie Jean King and thinking, yeah, go ahead and judge a book ...

I think I just woke the dead...
Lots of Loud, Involuntary Laughing

[gman]

Martha and the group had some of the worst LP covers....I have the first one....can't tell if its a bootleg, or a 80's Motown early reissue using the orig Gordy label and issue #, cover is 80's very thin laminate cardboard....can it be a short run was issued on Gordy before being switched to standard all 80's reissues blue Motown? I have seen the same type thing with a Jr. Walker LP and a Isley Brothers LP...

Back to covers....the first one was the teddy bear blue tint...no cover photo, Heat Wave the flames def overtook the small full length shot of the group, and Dance Party was the pretty awful painting....and all the companies early greatest hits LP's had horrible grey/tan/brown shade background color and just text...the exception being the nice deep blue for the Tempts one, and the orange for the first Marvelettes cover issue...

[daviddesper]

... so I listened to, for the first time, Dionne's '72 WB debut. It's just about as 'good' as is the squatting-on-hay-in-a-butch-wig and and outfit that would have been too masculine for Billie Jean King and thinking, yeah, go ahead and judge a book ...

I know we are discussing cover art at the moment, but do you seriously mean that you disliked that album? Say it isn't so!!! For me it was one of her finer WB albums and contained some great socially-conscious songs.

[Motown Eddie]

WatchingWaiting.. sure picked a good one by it's cover with Watchout!. From the energetic "I'm Ready For Love" & "One Way Out" to the ballads "No More Tearstained Makeup" & "Go Ahead And Laugh", Watchout! does have some of Martha & The Vandellas very best songs. And I'm not forgetting "Jimmy Mack"' even though it was originally recorded back in 1964, was influenced by The Supremes' breakout hit, "Where Did Our Love Go" and was left on the shelf until 1967 [thanks to Motown's Quality Control], it's still one of Martha & The Vandellas best performances. Also, Watchout! would be the last album that Motown released by the group before the departures of Writers/Producers H-D-H & William 'Mickey' Stevenson.

PS: And Watchout! does have one of the best LP covers that Motown released during the '60s.

[reese]

Martha and the group had some of the worst LP covers....I have the first one....can't tell if its a bootleg, or a 80's Motown early reissue using the orig Gordy label and issue #, cover is 80's very thin laminate cardboard....can it be a short run was issued on Gordy before being switched to standard all 80's reissues blue Motown? I have seen the same type thing with a Jr. Walker LP and a Isley Brothers LP...

Back in the late 90s or early 2000s, I remember going to used record stores and seeing newly-produced copies of the COME AND GET THESE MEMORIES and THE FABULOUS MIRACLES. I don't think they were bootlegs but I could be wrong. These weren't part of the 80s reissue line. Unlike those, these featured the original Tamla and Gordy logos and catalog numbers.

[kenneth]

Back in the late 90s or early 2000s, I remember going to used record stores and seeing newly-produced copies of the COME AND GET THESE MEMORIES and THE FABULOUS MIRACLES. I don't think they were bootlegs but I could be wrong. These weren't part of the 80s reissue line. Unlike those, these featured the original Tamla and Gordy logos and catalog numbers.

I don’t remember the Miracles album, but there was definitely a batch of odd titles that came out including the “Earl of Funk” album, one of the LPs by the Undisputed Truth, and a few others. I bought “Memories” hoping it might be in Stereo. I’ll have to dig it out. At the moment I don’t remember if it was or not. I always wondered about the origin of those titles but I always assumed they were bootlegs because as you say, they replicated the original issues catalogue numbers and there was nothing on them to date them as recent reissues.

[arr&bee]

My favorite martha cover is the nice one from[come and get these memories].

[motony]

my fave Martha & the Vandellas album covers is "Heat Wave" & "Watchout".

[gman]

I never owned the LP....but the BLACK MAGIC cover is "bewitching".....Very nice...

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

WatchingWaiting.. sure picked a good one by it's cover with Watchout!. From the energetic "I'm Ready For Love" & "One Way Out" to the ballads "No More Tearstained Makeup" & "Go Ahead And Laugh", Watchout! does have some of Martha & The Vandellas very best songs. And I'm not forgetting "Jimmy Mack"' even though it was originally recorded back in 1964, was influenced by The Supremes' breakout hit, "Where Did Our Love Go" and was left on the shelf until 1967 [thanks to Motown's Quality Control], it's still one of Martha & The Vandellas best performances. Also, Watchout! would be the last album that Motown released by the group before the departures of Writers/Producers H-D-H & William 'Mickey' Stevenson.

PS: And Watchout! does have one of the best LP covers that Motown released during the '60s.

Glad to have another vote for "Watchout!"! It's a pretty solid album from start to finish and one where there's not a song you'd say "oh, I'd leave that one off."

[gman]

just thought of this....Didn't Gladys Knight get a big head photo cover as well on a Soul label LP?...

[reese]

just thought of this....Didn't Gladys Knight get a big head photo cover as well on a Soul label LP?...

Yes, she did, on their STANDING OVATION album. It is one of my favorite album covers for that group.

In a similar vein, for the Pips' ALL IN A KNIGHT'S WORK album cover, the illustration of Gladys is three or four times the size of the Pips. Also, Claudette Robinson towers over the remaining Miracles on their ONE DOZEN ROSES album cover.

[BayouMotownMan]

Apparently it was cheaper to just lay a photo of Lois over Betty rather than do a whole new shoot. If you look closely you can see from Roz's wig that she is superimposed over Lois in the spot Betty was in.

It is particularly noticeable on the back cover where Roz and Lois are pointing to each other. The backdrop behind Lois is a slightly different shade. You can easily tell these were two different photos pasted together. I thought this odd in 1968, clearly both ladies did not pose together.

This is all very curious since the original photos with Betty had to have been taken during the summer of 1967, or sooner, since Betty was discharged around July of that year, yet the lp, with Lois pasted on, was issued in late Spring 1968, almost a year later.

Again, I guess it was cheaper to do the pasting rather than take new shots.

[Philles/Motown Gary]

My favorite Martha & The Vandellas album cover is "Watchout!" and "Sugar & Spice", of which the latter us also Martha's favorite cover.

[gman]

I've seen Euro copies of Dance Party LP issued with a nice stage shot...title may have been changed to Dancing In The Street....Pickwick also issued a abridged version called Dancing In The Street....minus Mobile Lil and another track I cant recall [[Jerk?)...but that cover featured 2 couples dancing and not the group...

[reese]

I've seen Euro copies of Dance Party LP issued with a nice stage shot...title may have been changed to Dancing In The Street....Pickwick also issued a abridged version called Dancing In The Street....minus Mobile Lil and another track I cant recall [[Jerk?)...but that cover featured 2 couples dancing and not the group...

The European copies I've seen of DANCE PARTY feature a shot from the group's appearance on the Ready Steady Go! Motown special.

Re the Pickwick reissues, they usually left off at least two tracks from the original album. Not sure why but I've seen it on their Supremes and Pips reissues as well.

[PeaceNHarmony]

The European copies I've seen of DANCE PARTY feature a shot from the group's appearance on the Ready Steady Go! Motown special.

Re the Pickwick reissues, they usually left off at least two tracks from the original album. Not sure why but I've seen it on their Supremes and Pips reissues as well.

I've heard 2 versions of Pickwick's famous, abbreviated issues. One version is that they [[Pickwick) paid lower licensing fees for fewer cuts, and the other version is that by modifying cover art and omitting cuts the label was able to skirt licensing fees entirely by saying that their issue was an 'original' product.

[kenneth]

The European copies I've seen of DANCE PARTY feature a shot from the group's appearance on the Ready Steady Go! Motown special.

Re the Pickwick reissues, they usually left off at least two tracks from the original album. Not sure why but I've seen it on their Supremes and Pips reissues as well.

Generally the budget albums have fewer tracks to save paying royalties. Supposedly that's one of the reasons they can offer the album for a lower price. I knew a guy who had worked for United Artists in the 70s, I believe, and ran a record store in the 90s, and he used to say that some budget albums sold close to a million copies and that leaving off one or two songs would make a huge difference in terms of what they had to pay out for the material.

I always wondered why the budget LPs didn't usually include a portrait of the artist. I often wondered if it was just to get out a cheapie generic cover quickly or if there was some contractual limitation that didn't allow contemporary photos of the artists. I know it's not true all the time, but seems to be the case quite often.

[Motown Eddie]

I always wondered why the budget LPs didn't usually include a portrait of the artist. I often wondered if it was just to get out a cheapie generic cover quickly or if there was some contractual limitation that didn't allow contemporary photos of the artists. I know it's not true all the time, but seems to be the case quite often.

I guess it's for the same reason that budget album reissues left off songs their releases, to save money. It probably costs the company releasing the album far less to come up with a generic album cover than use the original LP's artwork [and as kenneth pointed out, there's likely contractual reasons for this as well] .

[kenneth]

I guess it's for the same reason that budget album reissues left off songs their releases, to save money. It probably costs the company releasing the album far less to come up with a generic album cover than use the original LP's artwork [and as kenneth pointed out, there's likely contractual reasons for this as well] .

I remember once seeing a budget Mary Wells album [[forget which label), and on the back it said something like "The photo on the cover is not intended to be a photo of the artist today," and the front cover had a photograph of a sunset! Go figure!

[reese]

Generally the budget albums have fewer tracks to save paying royalties. Supposedly that's one of the reasons they can offer the album for a lower price. I knew a guy who had worked for United Artists in the 70s, I believe, and ran a record store in the 90s, and he used to say that some budget albums sold close to a million copies and that leaving off one or two songs would make a huge difference in terms of what they had to pay out for the material.

I always wondered why the budget LPs didn't usually include a portrait of the artist. I often wondered if it was just to get out a cheapie generic cover quickly or if there was some contractual limitation that didn't allow contemporary photos of the artists. I know it's not true all the time, but seems to be the case quite often.

Thanks for the info re cheap reissues, guys.

The Pickwicks that I bought generally did well with the cover photos, like with their released by the Supremes. Although their reissue of the Copa album had a Cindy-era photo on the front.

And of of course, there were all of those Pickwick, Trip and Springboard International reissues of Gladys Knight and the Pips that had 70s era photos matched with pre-Motown 60s material.