EARLIEST example of a record cover in which the band name nor album title apper

1973

The Giger connection got the ol' synapses firin'

1969

http://www.popsike.com/pics/dbwow/20041009/4043189971.jpg

Well, I'll be damned!

http://www.netrhythms.com/images/unhalfbricking.jpg

that's the archie shepp - bill dixon quartet, on savoy, 1962

we have a winner!

geez

http://pink-floyd.ru/albums/atom/cover.jpg

(For those who don't know, this is Pink Floyd's ATOM HEART MOTHER)

Johnny Cash - The Lure of the Grand Canyon, 1961

From the "artist goes 80s" thread:

Undercurrent by Bill Evans and Jim Hall always freaks me out for it's 4AD/hauntology vibe. How many 1962 albums, jazz or otherwise, had *no* text on the cover. Even Vaughn Oliver woulda stuck some Bodoni on there in 1985.

The 1961 Johnny Cash album cited above:

https://i.discogs.com/KVeLsHK_zrlm4IGF8TwunP7webcuRDtuVb10xvh93BM/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:592/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTgxMzc5/MDctMTQ1NjI2NDkw/My02NTcyLmpwZWc.jpeg

Are there any earlier text-less sleeves than these (excellent) examples?

amazing covers, thank you, good revive

there's gotta be SOMETHING from the 50s but idk what

The Musings of Miles, 1955

https://i.discogs.com/tfwnQMW4gorkTOQB4Bh4W7lvBL6U1yg2yvBdAvAhZ6c/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:480/w:478/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTQ1NDI2/OTctMTM5MDA5Mjcz/MS05OTUzLmpwZWc.jpeg

this was from 1965:

https://www.waxpend.com/uploads/item_image/image/6090/main_2dc781c9-ff1a-4a86-ad25-ad94fc2573b6.jpg

Albert Ayler Quintet - Spirits Rejoice

there was a whole string of early ESP Disk releases after that with no text - Henry Grimes, Sonny Simmons, Frank Wright, Charles Tyler etc

not to mention this beautiful one from 1966:

https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/zoom/images1/1/0511/09/patty-waters-college-tour-esp-disk_1_e4a70c0427f6d664bf25ed6ad8c58d9e.jpg

oops:

http://www.espdisk.com/image/cache/catalog/artworks/1055large-450x450.jpg

Patty Waters - College Tour

Prince Lasha / Sonny Simmons / Clifford Jordan / Don Cherry – It Is Revealed, 1963

https://i.discogs.com/EPg39wvhVsda6k_vLcwZ7PZQIoiUcfDbJcIsP8rkrbM/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTI1NzEw/MjItMTU1NTk4MTc5/Ni0yNzgxLmpwZWc.jpeg

Yeah those ESP covers are great:

Sonny Simmons – Staying on the Watch, 1966

https://i.discogs.com/x7G-ra3To8huzYoydrxtfDBnNhxsmpY1SBTza9As7MA/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:599/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTY0ODE2/OTYtMTQyMDI5MDgy/Ni0zOTIzLmpwZWc.jpeg

https://i.ibb.co/wWM8HYn/Screenshot-2024-02-01-215427.jpg

The Norman Luboff Choir – Songs Of The South, 1956

that Johnny Cash one is spooky!

xp That's great! Also this one:

The Norman Luboff Choir – Songs of the West, 1955

https://i.discogs.com/PR6SqG1dD2seeXCUsyZwbHiwEdGIsgBrPtUYruwoiMQ/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:595/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTI0MjA2/NDQtMTY0NzA5ODA2/NS04NzYwLmpwZWc.jpeg

The Norman Luboff Choir – Songs of the Sea, 1957

https://i.discogs.com/c_hO_fHz0r-9YFK9gPyFPF-RE7NPZRgNq31naUa2gqs/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:588/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTk2MjQ1/My0xMzk1NDcwMTEz/LTMyMjEuanBlZw.jpeg

great revive and choices!

not exactly related, but while digging around i discovered this list, created by a disgruntled discogger complaining about users' tendency to treat all the text on the album cover as the official title in discogs. this person actually annotates each choice on the list, lol

https://www.discogs.com/lists/Every-piece-of-text-on-the-cover-is-not-the-Title-or-the-Artist/1262159

Would you be startled if I told you the title was simply 407.45? Is it merely because it's a digital number that we feel compelled to add in a whole bunch of subsidiary text.
Would you be startled if Craig Breedlove was not at all the artist? He runs the car. He. Runs. The. Car.
12/23

https://i.ibb.co/MBpL5DW/Live-at-the-Caf-de-Paris-cover.jpg

Marlene Dietrich - Live At The Cafe de Paris, 1954

dang we have a winner! (so far)

this is pretty fascinating b/c the topic also intersects with the development of record covers/picture sleeves in general, the evolution from generic company sleeves and (in the beginning) records that didn't even list the artist

there was an inflection point where artist/image/cover became self-explanatory, guessing sometime in the 20s/30s?

also even though it does list the artist name I just want to put this beautiful cover here

https://i.discogs.com/d3EuqVOFBk6CINKPHT3lJzL0_2HEGvNbsrowmmvkhBY/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:591/w:591/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTIxODI0/MTktMTMzMDYzODU0/OS5qcGVn.jpeg

https://i.ibb.co/ySNZndp/NS05-NTcx-Lmpw-ZWc.jpg

Johnnie Ray - Johnnie Ray (4 × 10" compilation, 1952)

o wait, this is the regular 10" version, also 1952:

https://i.ibb.co/s5ddjRs/Mi04-NTYz-Lmpw-ZWc.jpg

I only know who johnnie ray is because he was mentioned in the opening line of 'Come On Eileen'. But back then he didn't even have to put his name on the record

the jandek of his time

https://rateyourmusic.com/list/cryptonymus/album-covers-without-text-numbers-or-logos-pre-1970/

ooh blimey!

this one though, insane!

https://i.ibb.co/44M9m96/Mi04-NDYw-Lmpw-ZWc.jpg

Kenny Dorham - Matador, 1962

xps thank you for the rym link... most of the covers listed are amazing.

A lot of incredible photography.

One very ugly one I see quite a lot that isn't on that list, it's from 1965:

https://i.ibb.co/5MM3ng6/My02-Mzky-Lmpw-ZWc-1.jpg

Must be some other political speeches ones similar to that?

I only know who johnnie ray is because he was mentioned in the opening line of 'Come On Eileen'.

I only know who he is because... well, who wants to know?!

I only know who he is because... well, who wants to know?!

― jake morgendorffer core (morrisp)

now i do!

Would you be startled if I told you the title was simply 407.45? Is it merely because it's a digital number that we feel compelled to add in a whole bunch of subsidiary text.
Would you be startled if Craig Breedlove was not at all the artist? He runs the car. He. Runs. The. Car.
12/23

i looked up to see what i could find from breedlove, because a record of a car driving very fast sounds like something i would listen to for fun. i found this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CF2JVqN8e0

now, see, this is why i don't know who breedlove is. every time i watch a video about drag racing, it turns out the guy driving the car is wearing _men's clothing_. guys, dressing like joel hodgson in mystery science theatre 3000 does not count as "drag". fucking hell, if they spent a tenth of as much effort into breedlove's makeup as they do in attaching jet engines to cars or some shit, maybe i'd give a shit about this stuff.

The Beach Boys wrote a song about Breedlove

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKJcA2foaH4

We should go back to the days of the earliest cylinders and a man with a stentorian voice announces the artists, title, and record company before every track.

"spirit of america" definitely sounds like the name of one of those bad late-period beach boys albums that doesn't even have a weird fucked-up brian wilson song on it, the best you get is getting to listen to carl wilson sing

as for the song itself, it sounds something the get happys might have put on one of their early albums