The 20 Greatest Soundtracks Of All-Time - The Cover Art

Here’s the cover art for my latest mix – The 20 Greatest Soundtracks Of All-Time. The image below was NOT photoshopped or digitally contrived* – it was shot on December 5, 2008 at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland, CA. A huge thanks to photographers Ronny Knight and Mark Adams, who brought the image to life. No suprise there, as these are the same guys who shot the Hip-Hop Sgt Pepper’s cover for me, among other photos.

I also have to thank the proprietors of the Grand Lake Theater. I imagined the scene for this cover taking place on their marquee, and frankly no other theater would have done. For the last several years, theater owner Alan Michaan has dedicated one of his marquees to messages regarding the state of the political world, repeatedly calling out Bush and Cheney for their evil misdeeds (you can see the entire set of politically-oriented marquees here). These marquees helped keep me sane during the darkest hours of the Bush administration. My thanks to Mr Michaan and Audrey Marr for coordinating their people on my behalf. Special thanks also to the Grand Lake Theater’s Sam O’Dell (on ladder) and Jeremy Kearney (holding ladder) for being cooperative and good-natured enough to hold the pose below for several takes over a two hour span on a cold December evening.

Because my favorite movie director is Alfred Hitchcock, I decided to make a cameo appearance in this album cover. That’s me holding the sign to the left of the gatefold (*the lettering on which is the only thing manipulated in this picture) and not cutting nearly as interesting a profile as Hitch. My jowls need some work…

Ronny and Mark provided dozens of photos that would have worked perfectly for this cover, but I ended up using only three of them. I’ve included some of the outtakes beneath the track listing below.

Thanks again to everyone who was involved in making this happen…

Here’s the front gatefold:

Here’s the inside gatefold:

[read the complete liner notes here]

Here’s the back inside:

Here’s the back:

Here’s the track listing:

Creation * Making Time (from the movie Rushmore)
Bobby Freeman * Do You Wanna Dance (American Graffiti)
Prince & The Revolution * Let’s Go Crazy (Purple Rain)
Jimmy Cliff * The Harder They Come (The Harder They Come)
The Soggy Bottom Boys * I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow (O’ Brother Where Art Thou?)
Air * Playground Love (Virgin Suicides)
Curtis Mayfield * Superfly (Superfly)
Circle Jerks * When The Shit Hits The Fan (Repo Man)
Grandmaster Caz * South Bronx Subway Rap (Wild Style)
Alice In Chains * Would? (Singles)
The Bee Gees * Stayin’ Alive (Saturday Night Fever)
The Band * It Makes No Difference (The Last Waltz)
Joy Division * Love Will Tear Us Apart (24 Hour Party People)
Ben Charest * Belleville Rendez-Vous (The Triplets Of Belleville)
Rose Royce * I Wanna Get Next To You (Car Wash)
Talking Heads * Sax And Violins (Until The End Of The World)
Jerry Garcia * Love Scene Improvisations (Version 1) (Zabriskie Point)
David Boeddinghaus & Craig Ventresco * Harlem Strut (Crumb)
Rufus Thomas * Do The Funky Chicken (Wattstax)
Richie Havens * Freedom (Woodstock)

And here are some photo outtakes:

About these ads

Tags: Alan Michaan, Alfred Hitchcock, Audrey Marr, Grand Lake Theater, Jeremy Kearney, Mark Adams, Ronny Knight, Sam O'Dell, Soundtracks, The 20 Greatest Soundtracks Of All-Time