Command RS805 – not my copies

I have never seen Command RS805 in person, Enoch Light The Private Life of a Private Eye. I don’t know who designed it. It does not look like any of the designers I am familiar with. The reissue was called Paperback Ballet, the design is by S Neil Fujita, who did the famous Time Out by Dave Brubeck on Columbia.

Command Records 801, 802, 803, 804

The company used Josef Albers for RS 800, 1959, and achieved mind-boggling success. Millions of copies sold of an lp of music that does not move me at all. Of course, musical tastes differ. For the next few releases, they relied on some of the designers they had worked with when they were Grand Award. Seeing the success of the Albers lp, they redesigned the covers of these other early lps to make them match the graphic approach of the Albers. By 1961 they had a uniform graphic presence.

I don’t have Command 803. According to http://www.bsnpubs.com/abc/command.html 803SD (stereo) is the same album as 804 monophonic.

some Command Records packaging

Some Command packaging. A few early sampler albums, showing the different things they were attempting to reinvent themselves. An inner sleeve. I don’t know who did their logo, but it is a large step upwards in branding from what they had as Grand Award or Waldorf Music Hall records.

Command Records, 1959, and Josef Albers

Josef Albers, famous painter, was hired by a cheapo label to change their status among record companies. This move was a total success. The label was once known as Waldorf Music Hall, then as Grand Award. I will go back and show those eventually. Right now, I begin with the splash that the company began with, in 1959. They brought out a new label: Command, and hired Albers to give them a new presence. Eventually the owners were able to sell the company to a larger company. Since their taste in music did not change, the success of the company must have been due to graphic arts.

alex steinweiss scheherazade designs

Scheherazade covers by Alex Steinweiss. One is a Darrill Connelly, but the pale blue background is Steinweiss, according to Connelly when I spoke with him.

repost: Scheherazade by Curt John Witt

It is fun to see the same graphic used over and over.

repost of my favorite Scheherazade, RCA

I posted these long ago when doing the 78 rpm records. Here they are with the Scheherazades. Unsigned, possibly Frank Decker design. The 78 rpm original is the best, but the reuse of the drawing on the lp and 45 rpm sets are still nice.

almost the last scheherazade covers

I especially like the one that reads “I dig Rimsky-Korsakov”. The last gasp of the middle-brow American taste, an attempt to make classical hip for the 60s generation. I will probably post the 78 rpm Scheherazades next, even though I posted them 3 years ago.

still more scheherazade covers, reaching the end

the coollest one of these is the one on 16 rpm on Vox. It is the only 16 rpm record I have ever seen. Same music as four lps, I think.

a few more Scheherazade covers

Tops was a budget label, not very well pressed records sold at rock bottom prices. The Australian one is insane, the main themes from numerous classical recordings.