Asaoka Ruriko, Kokoro No Uramado, 1969
 
In late December I did a post about the fantastic rock posters of the Japanese pop art master Tadanori Yokoo. Even though I referred to a couple of his album covers, I didn’t know that his work in that medium was every bit as extensive. As with the posters, the bulk of his album cover art was in the 1970s, but he dabbled in album covers in the 1980s and 1990s as well.

Artists include Santana, Miles Davis, John Cale, and Earth, Wind, and Fire as well as a panoply of musicians with whom I’m not as familiar, some of them Japanese.

All of these images are a feast for the eyes, something about the genre of rock art unleashed Yokoo’s inner insane collagist. His 1960s pop art work is admirably restrained from a formal perspective. I find these covers fascinating, I can look at them endlessly. The album art for Santana’s Amigos is a particular treat. Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Santana, Lotus, 1974
 

 

 

 

Miles Davis, Agharta, 1975
 

 

 

 

Santana, Amigos, 1976
 

 

Tomita, The Bermuda Triangle, 1978
 

Gastunk, Under the Sun, 1987
 

Loudness, s/t, 1992
 

Earth, Wind, and Fire, Millennium, 1993
 

John Cale and Bob Neuwirth, Last Day on Earth, 1994
 

 

Love, Peace, and Trance, s/t, 1995
 

Third Rail, South Delta Space Age, 1995
 

Pharoah Sanders, Save Our Children, 1998
 
via {feuilleton}

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Tadanori Yokoo’s awesome 1970s rock posters