Part of the fun of collecting is comparing and classifying the objects collected—best of its type, worst of its type, etc.

With album covers, I’ve found the best and the worst to be the most interesting to me. I don’t mean to judge these things and I don’t mean “worst” in a disparaging way. If an object stands out to me as being amateurish or cheesy, well, at least it stands out! In a world where conforming, mind-numbing mediocrity reigns supreme, that is saying something.

And it should be remembered that these album covers were not created as “art,” they were created to sell records—to sit on the shelf and vibrate until you picked them up. The James Brown and the Velvetones covers shown here do that extremely well, even if they look somewhat cheesy. I contend they have a terrific charm that would probably be lost if they were “better.”

See also my other records page for more album covers, ones that are collectible for very different reasons than those shown here.

Last, and probably least, check out the crass commercialization of the ’60s youth culture shown here in Kiddie Au Go-Go and in the packaged hippies dubbed “The Love Generation.” Ever wonder where the values and grand hopes of the 1960s went? These two covers should give you a clue.