The Styrous® Viewfinder: John Coltrane

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December 31, 2022

20,000 vinyl LPs 329: Jimi Hendrix ~ Band of Gypsies

vinyl LP front cover

cover photo by Jan Blom

photo of album cover by Styrous®

Fifty-three years ago today, on New Year's Eve, December 31, 1969, Jimi Hendrix introduced his group Band of Gypsies at a show at the Fillmore East in New York. Parts of that show and the following show on January 1 were recorded and later released as this live album, Band of Gypsys.

Jimi Hendrix ~ Band of Gypsies

vinyl LP back cover

cover photos by Jan Blom

photo of album cover by Styrous®

It the first and only album without his original group, the Jimi Hendrix Experience and featured Billy Cox on bass and Buddy Miles on drums. Some of the songs represent a change in Hendrix's music from his Experience repertoire and became the basis of funk rock. Band of Gypsies contains previously unreleased songs and was the last full-length Hendrix album released before his death.

Jimi Hendrix ~ Band of Gypsies

vinyl LP label, side 1

photo by Styrous®

According to Sean Westergaard of AllMusic, Band of Gypsies is one of the best live albums of all time and an important recording for Hendrix.

Jimi Hendrix ~ Band of Gypsies

vinyl LP label, side 2

photo by Styrous®

Sputnikmusic's Hernan M. Campbell believed Machine Gun is one of Hendrix's most captivating performances. Miles Davis commented about the song that "Jimi liked what I had done with Kind of Blue and some other stuff and wanted to add more jazz elements to what he was doing. He liked the way Coltrane played with all those sheets of sound, and played his guitar in a similar way. Machine Gun is as much about the late 1960s American race riots as the war in Vietnam. Guitarist Vernon Reid describes it as "like a movie about war without the visuals. In many commentaries about Band of Gypsies, Machine Gun is singled out as the highlight of the album.

What a way to end the year!

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 Who Knows 9:34
A2 Machine Gun 12:38

Side 2:

B1        Changes - Written by B. Miles* 5:11
B2        Power To Love    6:55
B3        Message Of Love    5:24
B4        We Gotta Live Together, written by B. Miles* 5:51

Companies, etc.

    Manufactured By – Capitol Records, Inc.
    Mastered At – Sterling Sound
    Published By – Bella Godiva Music, Inc.
    Published By – Miles Ahead Music Inc.

Credits:

    Design – Victor Kahn (2), Victor Kahn (2)
    Lacquer Cut By – RL*, LH*
    Performer – Billy Cox, Buddy Miles, Jimi Hendrix
    Photography By – Jan Blom (2)
    Producer – Heaven Research
    Recorded By [Live] – Wally Heider
    Supervised By [Remixing & Engineering Supervision] – Eddie Kramer
    Written-By – B. Miles* (tracks: B1, B4), J. Hendrix* (tracks: A1, A2, B2, B3)

Notes:

Recorded Live-New Year's Eve 69-70 At Fillmore East New York City
Green Capitol labels. Labels with Capitol™, not Capitol ® as shown on other green labels.

Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Matrix / Runout (Side A runout (Variant 1)): STAO-1-472-A Z5#1 LH Sterling RL
    Matrix / Runout (Side B runout (Variant 1)): STAO-2-472-B Z5#1 LH Sterling RL
    Matrix / Runout (Side A runout (Variant 2) ): STAO-1-472 X1#1 STERLING RL
    Matrix / Runout (Side B runout (Variant 2)): STAO-2-472 X1#1 STERLING RL
    Matrix / Runout (Side A label): STAO 1-472
    Matrix / Runout (Side B label): STAO 2-472
    Rights Society: ASCAP
    Matrix / Runout (Side 1 (Variant 3)): STAO-1-472 X1#2 STERLING RL 0
    Matrix / Runout (Side 2 (Variant 3)): STAO-2-472 X1#3 STERLING RL 0

Jimi Hendrix* – Band Of Gypsys
Label:    Capitol Records – STAO-472
Format:    Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold
Country:    US
Released:    1970
Genre:    Rock
Style:    Blues Rock, Psychedelic Rock

Viewfinder links:

John Coltrane

Billy Cox

Miles Davis

Jimi Hendrix

Buddy Miles

Net links:

YouTube links:

Changes

Machine Gun

Message Of Love

Power To Love

We Gotta Live Together

Who Knows

Styrous® ~ Saturday, December 31, 2022

20,000 Vinyl LPs Archive
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July 27, 2021

Loring Eutemey ~ vinyl LP illustrator/designer

Bar-Kays ~ Soul Finger

vinyl LP album cover detail

illustration by Loring Eutemey

detail photo of album cover by Styrous®

The number of vinyl LPs I have purchased simply because of the album cover design is probably in the thousands! Loring Eutemey is one of the designers/illustrators responsible for that.

The number and variety of musicians he has designed covers for is truly amazing. At the top of the list, for me, is Iron Butterfly for their second album, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (link below). He designed the cover for My Favorite Things by John Coltrane. Then there was Wild Thing by the Troggs (originally called the Troglodytes); Sam Kinison did an absolutely hilarious send up of the song and the mood completely fits my first impression of it (link below).

The Troggs - Aug. 5, 1970

photo: KEYSTONE Pictures USA

One of my very favorite records is the second album by Bette Midler; Richard Amsel did the illustration, Eutemey did the design. I had never heard of Midler but when I saw the album cover, I bought it and loved the range of music on it (link below). Needless to say, I was not disappointed!

Bette Midler ~ Bette Midler

vinyl LP album cover detail

illustration by Richard Amsel

design by Loring Eutemey

detail photo of album cover by Styrous®

Eutemey did the cover design for the album of the Off-Broadway show, The Golden Screw by Tom Sankey. A brilliant project but unfortunately, one few people know of (link below).

The list of the artists he has worked with goes on and on. Archie Bell & the Drells, The Young Rascals (later known as The Rascals), Otis Redding, Ray Charles, Ike Turner, Ben E. King, Herbie Mann, The Coasters, João Gilberto, Mel Torme, Acker Bilk, Solomon Burke, Esther Phillips, Leslie Uggams, Joe Tex, Eddie Harris, Donny Hathaway, Ornette Coleman, The Slow Slushy Boys, a French rock, soul, and R&B band that's been active on the underground scene from the early 90's (I love this group simply for the name) and dozens more.

The Slow Slushy Boys ~ Love & Afffection

vinyl LP album cover

illustration by Loring Eutemey

photo of album cover by Styrous®

Eutemey has done over four hundred album covers. Unfortunately, I do need to keep the list of the artists under control as it would be endless.

He also designed covers for books; in particular, the 1963 edition of The Black Jacobins by C. L. R. James published by Vintage Books (link below).

I could not find the date of his birth nor an image of him but he grew up at Revere Place in Brooklyn, and graduated from Samuel J. Tilden High School. After graduating from Cooper Union, where he trained as a graphic designer, he began his career at Push Pin Studios during its early days. Later he became a freelance illustrator and graphic designer, widely recognized for his distinctive album cover designs for Atlantic Records.

After a short illness, Loring Eutemey died in 2013 on the 22nd of September, in his apartment in Manhattan. He was 82 years old.

Viewfinder links:

Acker Bilk
Ray Charles

The Coasters

Ornette Coleman

John Coltrane

Loring Eutemey

The Golden Screw

Iron Butterfly
Ben E. King

Lerner & Loewe

Alan Jay Lerner

Frederick Loewe