Album "Slicks"

Album "slicks" are the printed album covers before they get affixed to the cardboard album jacket that holds the actual record. Before the final artwork could be printed, the art director, marketing personnel, the artist, and others within label management had to sign off on each aspect of the design. Many times, approval was a mere formality, but occasionally an objection could derail the entire process and delay an album's release until new a cover could be created by the art director. When singer Frederick Knight saw art director Ron Gorden's original "graveyard" cover concept for his sole Stax LP, I've Been Lonely for So Long, he objected because he did not want his fans to think he had died. Gorden redesigned the album cover, deciding on an image of Knight wearing a modern, yet distinguished, fur-and-leather jacket.

Click on an album label below to view the album slicks in that collection...