Sleevenote - C/D or S/D

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(Warning - this contains a personal admission that may cause distress to those of a nervous disposition).

The lost art of writing sleevenotes seemed to die around the late 60s and I was wondering if anyone out there had any particular favourites they'd like to share? What makes a good sleevenote anyway? Is it total hyperbole (see any early Beatles LP) or total nonsense (see "John Wesley Harding") that appeals? Why did they stop in the late 60s anyway? Why were the Warner Bros people so good at writing over-the-top stuff (anyone read Larry Woronker's note on the Beau Brummel's "Bradley's Barn" or any early 70s inner sleeve advert...)

Which brings me to my second question. CBS Inner Sleeves of the 70s. I was at an Andy Williams concert this weekend feeling actually very young and enjoyed it so much that I went back and played a whole load of his albums from the peak late 60s / early 70s era. And each LP has a CBS custom Inner Sleeve where they try to interest you in other CBS records. Like someone who owns an Andy Williams LP will buy "There's a riot goin' on" or "Live Evil" (both advertised on "Can't help falling in love"). These 'Inner Sleeves' contained complete nonsense about all kinds of forgotten CBS artists and are wonderful period pieces. Does anyone else have any choice items like this?

Yeah, you're gonna ignore me now aren't you?

― Rob M, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Whoops, forget the s at the end so it looks like I'm asking about a band called Sleevenote. Hey, good name for a band anyway.

New answers please etc.

― Rob M, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I couldn't find any 'distressing' admissions in the qn Rob :-)

Yeah, those inner sleeves. I remember a Geoff Love & His Orchestra record, a "Hammond Party Time" LP and other cheesy albums from the late 60s/early 70s that my parents bought that had ads for other products on the label printed on the inner sleeves. Some classic- looking LPs were on there, many long-since deleted sadly. I remember Virgin and Island used to do this too right up until the early 80s, with equally incongruous results. And CBS did it with their "Nice Price" reissue series even later than that.

― Jeff W, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I remember adverts for a WWF 'Save the Panda' LP or something like that.

― PJ Miller, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The WWF one was called 'Nothing's Gonna Change Our World' - The Beatles' Across The Universe was recorded for it. Hahaha - it's funny seeing those inner sleeves again & again...& then finaaly chancing upon the actual records...they always look almost too colourful in comparison with the b/w thumbnail. MFP was the classic label for this.

― Jez, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

yeah & also the american Warner/Reprise inner sleeves from the '70s are good, you know with those ads for those weird loss-leader compilations that would go from like T. Rex to Tiny Tim to like Beefheart or whatever, has anyone here got any of those albums?

― unknown or illegal user, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

MFP! That was the label I was thinking of. (Also, before mark s calls me on the use of the c****y word, I wasn't referring to the music obv.)

― Jeff W, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Some of those Warner/Reprise loss-leaders are now rare as hen's teeth artefacts. For a while in the early 70s CBS did something similar - a 'singles club' where they sent you an EP of stuff you might not be interested in for a couple of dollars a year. Turns out there was a rare unreleased early Springsteen song on one of the EPs and the price of that has sky-rocketed.

I've got a Golden Hour Kinks LP from the early 70s with bizarre little pictures of other 'Golden Hour' LPs I might like, Donovan, Lizst, the Seekers...

I'm going to have to dig out some of these CBS inner sleeves and write up one of the 'hypes' and see if you can guess the album it's talking about.

― Rob M, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The Golden Hour albums are great - I can only assume that they acquired the rights to a (genuinely!) Best Of... collection when the artists were considered slightly out of vogue...which means that the Kinks etc. & my superb Francoise Hardy collection have become definitive albums. I've also got a fantastic Chris Montez collection on MFP, clearly created in the same way.

― Jez, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I've got the Straight/Bizarre sampler called Zapped (accent grave on the e) that Warner's released for Zappa's side labels. My brother had the original vinyl one. It was re-issued on CD (maybe by Rhino, now owned by WB). I remember those sampler LPs but never owned any. My faves on the sleeve LP pictures was Acker Bilk - an apparently prolific artist whose only exposure to me was on these sleeves.

The distressing admission was owning/enjoying Andy Williams LPs, right? This is ILM, everything is equally OK to like!

― nickn, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I've always been partial to Andrew Loog Oldham's Mod hype jobs on the back of early Stones albums. They truly are a joy to read. Atlantic had some good ones for their various soul jazz releases, too, in the late-1960, early '70's, which, unfortuneately, are sometimes better than the LPs themselves.

As for the inner sleeves, the only one that really stands out in the way yr talking aboot is the one I've got in a Kinks LP that was reissued by Rhino. You'd be shocked at the kind of novelty crap Rhino put out before they hooked up with Warner Bros.

― Vic Funk, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

hey have you noticed in that famous loog oldham liner note - "Out Of Our Heads" i think? - in amongst the "clockwork orange" speak is a Molesworth bit? that "'....' says keith who have a great wit".

― , Thursday, 4 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"You'd be shocked at the kind of novelty crap Rhino put out before they hooked up with Warner Bros. "
no i wouldnt, i still think of them as that stupid "Fish Heads" label.

― , Thursday, 4 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

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