Steinweiss (left), Pink Floyd (right)
Alex Steinweiss, who introduced original art to 78rpm record albums, told me in an interview in EYE #76:
… In the 1960s, I would come into an office in my regular business suit and the guys would be sitting around in boots, Levis, long hair, fringed leather jackets, and they looked at me as if I was from Mars. “Who the hell is this guy? He wants to sell work to the record business? No way.” Rock people, who were controlling the record labels, where only interested in sales. They were not interested in anything that you would say was connected with beauty or idealism. These guys were mostly Seventh Avenue salesman who came over to the record business because the kids were getting involved in all this rock stuff. The rock people had their own artists and designers who thought the way they did. It was foreign to me.
The rock people nonetheless clipped a few of the old guy’s ideas.
(Thanks to Linda Eckstein, whose All My Eyes blog is filled with great graphic arcana, for finding this “Separated After Birth” artifact).
If you missed Saturday’s Wedding Exclusive go here.