[78-L] Steinweiss and illustrated album covers

[Michael Biel]

From: "David Weiner" <djwein at earthlink.net>
> Any idea who designed the gorgeous cover for the Brunswick
> BLACKBIRDS OF 1928 set? 

Right! I was confusing this with Show Boat! (See, I'm not perfect!) That
set was 1932 and I think it was based on the sheet music cover.  Miles
Kreuger showed me his copy which was used as the basis of the Columbia
LP reissue he produced in the 60s, but if I remember correctly, on the
reissue he changed the typeface of the title to match what had been on
the sheet music, because it was different on the Brunswick.  Anybody
have that 78 set so we can figure this out?

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com 



From: David Lennick <dlennick at sympatico.ca>
> > What the....!?
> > "Steinweiss claims to have invented the LP cover, which first appeared
in 1948."
> > From http://78rpmalbums.gramophile.com/
> > If he's taking credit for the tombstone, he can have it. dl

This blogger has some of the facts confused even from the mistakes in
the Steven Heller original. The form of the Lp cover that Steinweiss
claims credit for is the slick glued onto a folded chipboard support
which has the rear notes already glued on. He does NOT claim anything
about the tombstone Lp cover. However, I think that Decca was once
again the inventor of the slick-on-chipboard cover because I think they
were using them prior to Columbia using them. 

And as for the word "tombstone", one of the things that IS a possible
statement in Heller's histories is that this was the term that was used
for the pre-illustrated albums made by Columbia in the 30s. You know,
the plain cover with the text in an outlined box. It might also have
been applied to the covers that Columbia used in the Royal Blue era
where they had the text put on silver stickers on the front and top
spine of the albums. So the use of the term "tombstone" might have
predated those Lp sleeves.

Mike Biel mbiel at mbiel.com