I then needed to find a band and was introduced to Satyr by a mutual friend. Having no interest in the corporate world, I chose to work with a rock band, and it took some persistence to get the school’s approval on my proposal.
#ZZ TOP GREATEST HITS COVER MODELS SERIES#
There was a term-long project that was part of the Art Center’s curriculum called the “Industrial Book.” The school assignment was about picking a company and creating a book, with the intent being to give students an introduction to developing relationships and experience working with a business while creating a cohesive series of images that reflected the culture of the company. He was in the very first band – a popular-but-unsigned LA Prog band called Satyr – that I shot for a school project when I was attending Art Center College of Design in 1977. I thought I would get in and out, but I ended up as their creative director, producing the original art assets and directing the videos.Ĭhuck has been one of my closest friends of over 35 years. Glen Wexler, photographer – Chuck Wright, who was the bassist on the album, recommended me for the Heaven & Earth band shoot and the album cover. I’m excited to help tell the story behind this great cover, so let’s get started…Can you tell me how and when you first met Heaven & Earth? Did you meet them directly, or through their management or record label? Had you worked with any of them before? Mike Goldstein, Curator, Album Cover Hall of – Glen, thanks so much for working with me on this interview. Interview with the photographer, Glen Wexler (conducted via email June, 2014) – In today’s interview, we hear about this project’s details from “the master” himself, as well as his take on how/whether today’s album cover art is done in such a way as it will stand “the test of time”…. – has followed that of the time-honored traditions used by past masters, with the results just as impressive. In today’s example – the cover for Heaven & Earth’s Dig, done by designer/photographer Glen Wexler – it seems clear that the work he produced for his client came as the result of a concept whose time had finally come, simply being the perfect time for the application of ideas he’d developed over several years and preceding projects.īeing as it is that the band’s music is, in itself, a more up-to-date iteration of classic “arena rock” from a long-ago era (rebuilt using vintage instrumental layers and modern production techniques), I think that you’ll find Glen’s approach to the creation of this album package – the cover, along with the stylish imagery featured on the LP sleeve, booklet, etc. In many cases, it’s certain that most good album cover artists are constantly building upon what they’ve learned via the execution of previous cover art commissions. The results of efforts taken by forensic scientists have produced results that, in some cases, have flown in the face of the assumptions and determinations made by art experts (as exemplified by the aforementioned daVinci and a similar episode featuring a work supposedly by Jackson Pollock), while in others, we’ve been able to gain a better understanding of the processes followed by great artists as they experimented with ideas prior to the execution of a masterwork.Īs it’s my goal as a journalist (and fan of album cover art) to present you with stories about “the making of” popular album cover images via the interviews I do with the creative talent behind them, I always try and get a better understanding of just how a great image came to life. I’ve always been fascinated by the work of art historians and scientists who’ve developed and deployed technologies that have allowed them to look beneath the surface of centuries-old paintings to find either earlier versions of those same works or, in the case of 2007 investigation of a Renaissance portrait of a young woman that, after digitally peeling back the layers of oil paints, a work that turned out to be an undiscovered (and incredibly-valuable) masterpiece by Leonardo daVinci (watch this episode of Nova on PBS for the complete story – ). Today’s Interview Topic – the making of the album cover artwork for Heaven & Earth’s Dig, a 2013 release on Quarto Valley Records.
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