What the hell is this
Yes, whuckfistle, it’s the notorious butcher-baby Beatles cover. One of the dumbest ideas in rock. It was not ahead of it’s time. Just really dumb.
there was that UK new wave band from the early 80’s that had a nude photo of their (14,15?) year old singer on the cover in an imitation of a impressionist painting. Now that would get you arrested nowdays. Anyone jog my failing memory?
Yes, the album was See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang, Yeah, City All Over! Go Ape Crazy! by the one-hit wonder band Bow Wow Wow. The cover art parodied Monet’s painting Lunch on the Grass (which itself was controversial when created, apparently.)
Of course, all of these are pretty tame compared to the original cover for Virgin Killer by the Scorpions (Not a direct link – click on “Virgin Killer : original cover” to see it.)
I think it’s pretty funny. Just proves that dead baby jokes have inspired some of the greatest artistic minds of all time.
Actually, I’ve always thought that the band cover was much nicer than the nude cover. (And I assure you, I have nothing against nudity, whether on album covers, in movies, or in real life.) I always thought the original cover was kind of ugly–the colors are exaggerated and garish, the girl has a creepy, vacant expression on her face, and that airplane does look like a chromium dildo. The design of the band cover, with the faux-sepia effect, had a nice, old-fashioned, rootsy look (similar to the roughly contemporary second album by the Band) that is much more appropriate to the sound of the album, IMHO.
It was one of the first albums I ever bought, by the way. And the Menlo Market (a grocery store in San Diego that had a rack of LPs) in 1969 did not stock the naughty version…
[nitpick]Bow Wow Wow had ten hits on the British charts, while nothing of theirs ever reached the Top 40 in the U.S. Whatever they were, one-hit wonder doesn’t describe them[/nitpick]
Oops. I was trying to draw your attention more to the story than the picture, but, well, there it is.
Sorry about that.
I bought this album ages back, in vinyl form.
Always wondered about that cover.
It’s easy enough to find out who designed the cover and who took the pic, but I cant find anything on the girl herself.
p.s Shame about ‘Do what you like’…Ginger Baker definately goin’ too far.
From the story by the photographer:
Well, if he says so. I think she’s a rather pouty and sort of funny-looking kid. I would hazard a guess that she was not particularly stunning as an adult woman. Still, that very fact makes for an eye catching image - more so than if he had found a “cute” girl.
I listened to that album a lot back when it first came out - I don’t think I ever owned it on vinyl - I taped it off a friend’s copy. Until I bought a CD copy a couple years ago, I wasn’t even aware of this cover, having only ever seen the original album as issued in the US with the band on the cover.
This discussion shows how ridiculous we can get about this “porn” thing. Yes, it shows a girl on the cusp of puberty’s naked torso. However, it is so clearly “art” and not “pornography” that Barnes and Noble, where I bought the CD, had no trouble with having it on their shelves, and I have to believe that even in today’s climate, any “child porn” charges some misguided soul might bring against you for having it would get tossed out of court in about a minute flat.
Don’t know of this was linked to above but according to the site below it was Ginger Baker’s 11 year old daughter (Nettie?).
http://www.borderlinebooks.com/uk6070s/tapestry.html?http://www.borderlinebooks.com/uk6070s/b9z.html
Great find funneefarmer
That would make sense, thinking in particular of the family hair colour.
Solved me thinks.
Solved? I don’t think so.
I did find several fan sites that say this, but I couldn’t find any mention of it on any Ginger Baker biography, although he does have a daughter named Nettie. I couldn’t find any information on her, even her age, in a quick search.
The problem is that this directly contradicts aubries link which is a report from the actual photographer.
I think we need a better source to confirm this.
Agreed, case still open.
I missed that link.
My bad.
It may be tough finding info on his family, from Life magazine…
http://www.life.com/Life/rocknroll/classic/baker.html
“In his incarnation as Ginger Baker, Pete posed with his mother outside her house in Bexley, southeast of London, but, characteristically, refused to talk about his family.”
You can check out the site promoting Ginger’s son’s (Kofi) band (‘The Church of Rock and Roll Band’ ). Perhaps an email asking for info may get you an answer.
http://www.popsweatshop.com/churchofrock.html
“Liz & Ginger Baker (Cream, Blind Faith) had three children - Nettie, Kofi & Lita. … Nettie now looks back on the past with much humour and balanced cynicism …”
I don’t know how this guy would know, but here’s somebody who gives a name and doesn’t contradict the photographer’s account:
From http://www.treefort.org/~bobbieg/volume16.htm
For it to be Baker’s kid, the arithmetic would be a bit tight. If the girl was 11 in 1969 when the album was made, she was born in 1958. Ginger Baker was 19 in 1958, so it’s possible, but if he had fathered a child at that age, something tells me he would not have still been married to the mother, given the turbulency of the times and his early lifestyle. Bio’s mention his marriage and a child (with another on the way) at the time he was playing in The Graham Bond Organisation, which formed in 1963. I’m guessing that Baker’s daughter was a few years younger than 11 in 1969.
No problem, Aubries. I did something stupid – clicking the link at work. Initially it came up with just text. Then when the picture started to appear, I realized what it was and hit alt f4.
Interesting. aubries’s link says that the artist entitled the coverwork, and the band name was derived from that.
I have a Cream songbook–just pulled it out a couple of days ago to relearn “Badge,” as a matter of fact–which contains a lovely photo of Baker, apparently at home, playing guitar (yes, guitar) for a small blonde child. If that’s Nettie, and given that the picture must date from around 1967 or '68, there’s no way she’d be old enough to be the Blind Faith cover girl a year or two later.