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Thread: Fascinating article on the Aqualung cover artist

  1. #1
    Insect Overlord Progatron's Avatar
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    Fascinating article on the Aqualung cover artist

    https://theoutline.com/post/4490/jet...=2&zi=ti2drrnl

    Too big to post here, but I found this most interesting. For one thing, I had never seen the original band photos used as the basis for the gatefold artwork, and the letter from Ian was rather interesting as well.
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  2. #2
    That is a good read, and nice to see stuff not seen before. As usual, Anderson comes off as a pompous, egotistical ass, but that's to be expected at this point. I say that as a fan of much of his music so though it sounds harsh maybe, it's not really meant as any sort of insult. Whatever sort of person he is, is what got him to this point and what helped him create such wonderful music. It's worth noting that, at the time, the artist in question was actually paid quite well for his work and if he had wanted licensing and royalties in perpetuity, he should have negotiated for them. Sad, in a way, but just the way it is. It's good to know that he's gone on to become a well respected artist whose received plenty of praise and awards for his art and isn't going to die in poverty because of lack of money from one album cover he did early in his career.

  3. #3
    Jazzbo manqué Mister Triscuits's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by infandous View Post
    As usual, Anderson comes off as a pompous, egotistical ass, but that's to be expected at this point.
    I love the way he justifies Silverman's payment by pointing out that he cheaped out on the Crest of a Knave cover art.

    It's worth noting that, at the time, the artist in question was actually paid quite well for his work and if he had wanted licensing and royalties in perpetuity, he should have negotiated for them.
    Agreed. It was absolutely a work for hire, and legally, that should be the end of it. Any cut that Silverman might get at this point would be in the nature of a handout.

    And the claim that the cover character was not in any way modeled on Anderson? Pull the other one.
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  4. #4
    随缘 SRS's Avatar
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    Good article - thanks for posting! The lyrics to Judas Unrepentant come to mind:

    "He’s painting revenge

    Expressing contempt
    For greedy dealers
    Getting rich
    At the artist’s expense"



    As mentioned above Anderson does come off very poorly here in that letter - basically saying "I screwed the Crest of a Knave artist even worse than you got screwed so you should be happy". However I too doubt the claim that the Aqualung character is modeled after the artist and not Anderson. I don't think the job was to make an album cover and put yourself on it! They do look somewhat alike now though.

    Hopefully Burton hasn't spent too much time being bitter about this. It a fantastic work he should be rightly proud of. He was probably happy about the pay at the time but when it became as iconic as it has that feeling went away. I wish he could have some part of the royalties from t-shirt sales and the like but could he also have found ways to profit off it in other ways over the years by perhaps making a series of paintings using the same character and publishing a book?

    My Grandfather was instrumental in designing and creating a new form of artificial flavoring at his job as a scientist at a timber company in the 60's. Besides his salary he got $1 extra for the patent. The formula went on to be widely used in candy and chocolate bars to this day. He was never bitter that he didn't get more than a middle class salary and took pride in the fact that he created something knowing that it was part of the job. I'm sure lots of scientists, researchers and developers are in the same position today.

  5. #5
    Member Man In The Mountain's Avatar
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    It was a work for hire. The fact it became an iconic painting had zero to do with the artwork itself. It ONLY has to do with the music it represents. Whatever cover the band/label chose to put on the cover by any artist would have the same effect, even if the cover was just a paper bag.

    Speaking as a professional album cover artist, the way you parlay a popular cover you did is to get more work & higher fees from your notoriety. I would never think of going back to send a band another bill for the artwork years after all was said and done. (Even though I sometimes felt underpaid afterwards.) When I did the cover for The Keith Emerson band I was offered a flat rate or royalties, and I easily took the flat rate because I knew this album wasn't going to be Emerson's next Brain Salad Surgery. But personally, the money was the LEAST important thing to me about doing the cover. The experience has been absolutely thrilling and rewarding. But there have been other cases where I turned down the work because the offer was too low.

    I also notice on the annual on-line polls like DPRP, that the album covers that win "best album cover of the year" awards are always the covers gracing the fronts of the most popular new albums of the year. Nobody ever votes for the cover of an album that was just OK or not very good. And that's reflective of the Aqualung cover, which is only popular because the album itself is so popular. Incidentally, I agree with Ian Anderson, the cover isn't that great and he was paid quite well for it. I didn't think Ian was being an ass.

    The dude could have been freaking happy that he painted an album cover for an iconic album, that's seen everywhere, yet he chose to be bitter because he felt he wasn't paid enough. Won't be me, thank you.
    Last edited by Man In The Mountain; 05-11-2018 at 01:53 PM.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Man In The Mountain View Post
    It was a work for hire. The fact it became an iconic painting had zero to do with the artwork itself. It ONLY has to do with the music it represents. Whatever cover the band/label chose to put on the cover by any artist would have the same effect, even if the cover was just a paper bag.

    Speaking as a professional album cover artist, the way you parlay a popular cover you did is to get more work & higher fees from your notoriety. I would never think of going back to send a band another bill for the artwork years after all was said and done. (Even though I sometimes felt underpaid afterwards.) When I did the cover for The Keith Emerson band I was offered a flat rate or royalties, and I easily took the flat rate because I knew this album wasn't going to be Emerson's next Brain Salad Surgery. But personally, the money was the LEAST important thing to me about doing the cover. The experience has been absolutely thrilling and rewarding. But there have been other cases where I turned down the work because the offer was too low.

    I also notice on the annual on-line polls like DPRP, that the album covers that win "best album cover of the year" awards are always the covers gracing the fronts of the most popular new albums of the year. Nobody ever votes for the cover of an album that was just OK or not very good. And that's reflective of the Aqualung cover, which is only popular because the album itself is so popular. Incidentally, I agree with Ian Anderson, the cover isn't that great and he was paid quite well for it. I didn't think Ian was being an ass.

    The dude could have been freaking happy that he painted an album cover for an iconic album, that's seen everywhere, yet he chose to be bitter because he felt he wasn't paid enough. Won't be me, thank you.
    Great post. 100% with you.

  7. #7
    Well, I think the fact that his work since has gotten accolades and made him a more than decent living is perhaps part of why he feels like he got screwed. I get the sense that even he feels he did much better work since then. He obviously wasn't trying to be an album cover artist and just took the job for the money.

    I still think Ian comes off seeming like an ass, but that's normal for Ian (and I love his work)

  8. #8
    Member moecurlythanu's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by infandous View Post
    I still think Ian comes off seeming like an ass, but that's normal for Ian (and I love his work)
    It's been reported that even his salmon thought he was a dick.

  9. #9
    Member chalkpie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by moecurlythanu View Post
    It's been reported that even his salmon thought he was a dick.
    Well when I met and chatted with the man, he was most certainly not a dick - far from it. Life is all experiences from our own perspectives. I personally don't see the issue here, but I am not a copyright attorney, so I don't know the law(s).
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    An interesting read, certainly one point-of-view in the recounting of the history and what exactly transpired/was agreed to is something we’ll never know.
    That said, while I agree that if it was a work-for-hire and he’d have no case to go back for additional funds regardless of how much the album sold, (and to the post noting that he should have negotiated better...that’s armchair/amateur lawyering with 20/20 hindsight...not entirely fair particularly in the context of what was at that time a relatively new set of business arrangements around album artwork) he DOES have a case if the work-for-hire was solely for album artwork. Any use of that art for Merch, tour programs, posters etc is above and beyond what was agreed-upon and he deserves to be compensated for that separately. To that point, most modern record contracts contain clauses that call for royalty payments to the artist that encompass (and I’m paraphrasing here) “any and all formats currently existing or may be developed in the future” so that musicians can’t claim they deserve additional or new royalty rates if some new format comes into existence down the road. And we often run into issues around use of album artwork outside the promotion/marketing of the album itself...we don’t have the rights to just take any album cover and put it on a t-shirt, coffee mug or skateboard and then go sell it. In most cases, a new deal with the album cover artist (or photographer) would need to be done. So it’s not quite black and white here, and the notion that “he should just be happy he’s part of such an iconic piece of rock history and it was his own personal responsibility to take better legal care of things” is a gross over-simplification of a complex issue.
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    Member Steve F.'s Avatar
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    It was very interesting to read. Thanks for posting.

    It was a work made for hire. I’m sorry a obviously talented person is haunted by what went down 45 years ago, but that doesn’t change the legalities of it all. It’s just yet one more example of ‘life is a bitch and then you die’....
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  12. #12
    Member mellotron storm's Avatar
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    This story was in the liner notes of the 2011 remaster that Steven Wilson did. Interesting story.
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  13. #13
    Member Guitarplyrjvb's Avatar
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    I find it to be one of the great album covers. It really fits with the music and adds to the mystique of the whole album.

  14. #14
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    Yes, it is a great album cover, and the gatefold equally so. Definitely added a magical dimension to the surreal atmosphere of the music, at least to this impressionable 13-year old all those years ago.

    As for the artist, the guy owns a brownstone on the upper west side, fer chrissakes, probably worth 50 times what he paid for it! Some activities and investments pay off big time, others, not so much. He's doing ok!

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