[78-L] Alex Steinweiss article

[David Lennick]

Which is why I'm not even going to waste any energy on this issue..it's of 
interest to US, and it would be nice if the truth came out, but that's about 
it.  A couple of weeks ago a competent film critic reviewed "Me and Orson 
Welles" (or Orson and Me or whatever it is) for the Toronto Star and questioned 
whether Welles actually used ambulances to get between studios in New York in 
the late 30s. My response and my relating the story that Welles actually missed 
the opening of a broadcast in Toronto in 1942 went nowhere. Over the weekend I 
bumped into an old school buddy who was enthusiastic about having found a 
device that will enable him to play his dad's old 78s into the computer, and 
one of them is probably really rare coz it's only recorded on one side and it's 
Caruso singing "Vesti La Giubba".

Life is too short.

dl

Rodger Holtin wrote:
> I did a display of old phonography for the local public library some 15 years or so ago, and in the process met a fellow doing his masters thesis work on album cover art.  We traded a lot of information.  (He had a book about Steinweiss which was even then about five years old.  It, too, implied A.S. was the inventor of album art.)  It was a fascinating education for me to hear his dissection of the
> Steinweiss covers as they related to the musical content of some of the
> albums.  There is little argument that Steinweiss revolutionized the
> styles of art used in music packaging, he just didn't invent its use.  
> 
> Anyway, a couple years later, the library invited me to do another display and I got the guy with his newly minted Masters of Fine Art to help me as he had a nice collection from the vinyl and jewel case eras.  Owing to my competent helper, this was a really nice display and the local NPR station picked it up and did a story on it.
> 
> My point in telling this story here is that in spite of our telling it much like it really was (Decca etc) as part of the display and our verbal interviews, the Steinweiss stuff was so impressive to the reporter who did the radio story that his audio version came out just like the article you linked.  We spoon-fed him the truth and it still came out as though Steinweiss invented all forms of album art.  Either he heard what he wanted to hear and reported it that way or found it more convenient for a ten minute report to edit all the minor stuff and that's the way it came out.
> 
> Rodger
> 
> 
> 
> For Best Results use Victor Needles.
> 
> 
> 
> .
> 
> --- On Mon, 12/28/09, Cary Ginell <soundthink at live.com> wrote:
> 
> From: Cary Ginell <soundthink at live.com>
> Subject: Re: [78-L] Alex Steinweiss article
> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> Date: Monday, December 28, 2009, 12:27 AM
> 
> 
> Well, it won't do any good if you don't write. At least I said something and maybe...MAYBE the writer will do more research the next time. I write reviews for a local paper and I get very few letters from people. But when I do, I take notice, unless it's some crackpot from some obscure organization with a bone to pick....hey, wait. That's me.
> 
> Cary Ginell
> 
>> Date: Sun, 27 Dec 2009 23:34:55 -0500
>> From: dlennick at sympatico.ca
>> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
>> Subject: Re: [78-L] Alex Steinweiss article
>>
>> Think it'll do any good? I don't. Writers with no frame of reference grab 
>> whatever they can find, and we've been arguing this matter (as well as 
>> Steinweiss not being the first to come up with illustrated album covers) as 
>> long as I've been on this list. I didn't realize Steinweiss was still alive. 
>> Someone should tell HIM to clarify these matters, don't you think? Or is he 
>> beyond the point of giving credible interviews?
>>
>> Here's another example of misinformation becoming permanent. Earlier today I 
>> was looking for links to a Heritage LP of Alan Jay Lerner songs, since someone 
>> had said it contained the only uncensored recording of "My Mother's Wedding 
>> Day" with its original lyrics. It doesn't contain that song, as it happens. But 
>> every link to that LP that I checked misquoted the catalog number, including 
>> one that showed the album cover which has the correct number on it, H-0060. One 
>> person listed it as H-0600 and everyone else copied it. Amazing.
>>
>> dl
>>
>> Cary Ginell wrote:
>>> The Los Angeles Times-and-Throwaway had another article perpetuating the myth that Alex Steinweiss "invented" album cover art. It's plain that the author of the article knew nothing about the subject, saying that before Steinweiss came along, albums "were packaged in plain brown paper sleeves with no lyrics or credits." If we can bombard her with complaints about her article, maybe a clarification will be printed. Her name is Liesl Bradner and she can be reached directly at liesl.bradner at latimes.com. Be polite. She know not what she hath wrought. I've already written to her.
>>>
>>> http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/12/alex-steinweiss-father-of-album-art.html
>>>
>>> Cary Ginell
>>>