Announcing the 2020 inductees into the Album Cover Hall of Fame: Chicago, IL-based organization announces its latest class of honorees in the 6 major categories – as voted on by a world-wide panel of music, art and marketing experts in the area of album cover art & packaging – which represents a “who’s who” of creative and production talent, including many recognized names of craftspeople working in the worlds of fine art, graphic design and photography. Since officially launching the site in 2012, we’ve previously enshrined eight classes of Inductees based on the results from the group’s yearly surveys, with the voting panel considering the creative output of all producers active any time since 1960. Dozens of additional biographies were added for consideration by the esteemed panel of writers, curators of galleries (retail and online) that focus on album cover imagery, art/design museum curators and music marketing experts.
New Orleans, LA | Tipitina’s Announces Exclusive Record Club Highlighting New Orleans, Gulf South Music: The iconic New Orleans venue Tipitina’s has announced Tipitina’s Record Club, its latest venture aimed at amplifying the music of New Orleans and the Gulf South. Beginning in February 2021, members of the club will receive exclusive releases on a bi-monthly basis. Owned and operated by the band Galactic, Tipitina’s has fallen on hard times as a result of the pandemic like virtually every other live music venue. The iconic location has since launched its own Tipitina’s TV streaming series and hosted the Save Tip’s virtual fundraiser earlier this month featuring Galactic, Willie Nelson, Widespread Panic, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and many more. Starting in February, Tipitina’s Record Club will deliver high-quality, 180-gram pressings of previously-unheard or long out-of-print vinyl six times a year to subscribers. First up is the first-ever release of Professor Longhair‘s Fess At Home ’73 which showcases the singer-pianist in a unique and intimate setting. Also set for release through the club is The Radiators’ Kung Pow!! Live At Tipitina’s – 05/01/97, James Booker’s Live At Tipitina’s, and the 25th-anniversary Deluxe Edition of Galactic’s landmark 1996 debut album, Coolin’ Off.
Meet the man with more than 2,600 copies of The Beatles’ White Album: The stark beauty found on the cover of the Beatles’ 1968 self-titled album has captivated many fans, but artist Rutherford Chang likes it when the LP’s famous all-white design takes on some wear and tear. Chang has been acquiring copies of the White Album from all over the world, in any condition, for years. He prefers first-edition copies – later pressings removed the serial number and the embossed “The Beatles” on the cover – and those that aren’t in mint condition. For Chang, the more owners have decorated the bare white cover with their own artwork, the better. Various stains are okay, too. “I was interested in the different ways that the covers aged,” he told The New York Times. “Being an all-white cover, the changes are apparent. The serial numbers made collecting them seem natural, and the more I got, the more interesting it became. As you see, many of them are written on, and each has a story. The accumulation of the stories is part of it. But it’s also about how the physical object — the record — just doesn’t exist anymore.”
Sir Elton John has huge record collection: Sir Elton John owns more than 120,000 CDs and 15,000 vinyl records, and they’re all accessible to him at all times. Sir Elton John owns more than 100,000 CDs. The 73-year-old singer is an avid record collector and though his collection is huge, none of it has been placed into storage so he can always access whatever it is he wants to listen to. He admitted: “I have over 120,000 CDs and 15,000 pieces of vinyl. They are stored in my home shelves so I can access whatever I want, whenever I want… I definitely prefer LPs.” While the ‘Candle in the Wind’ hitmaker feels “lucky” to have had such a long and glittering career, he’s the most content he’s ever been thanks to his husband David Furnish and their two sons, Zachary, nine, and seven-year-old Elijah.
