# What was the first album with psychedelic cover art?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-album-with-psychedelic-cover-art/953421
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** arts-crafts
**Created:** [October 28, 2021, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-album-with-psychedelic-cover-art/953421 "2021-10-28T23:10:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2021, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-album-with-psychedelic-cover-art/953421/1 "2021-10-28T23:10:08Z")
Somehow inspired by this thread:
> [@Great album / awful cover art!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-album-awful-cover-art/953160):
>
> Your submissions, please, for awful album covers gracing (or, rather, defacing) a great album!
I’m not asking about the first musically psychedelic album, but the one with the first typically psychedelic art style that prevailed for a few years between 1966 and 1970 (yeah, and after, but more rarely). But maybe it’s one and the same album, as I’ll later expand on. I think of albums like “Sergeant Pepper’s”. “Disreali Gears” or “Piper At The Gates Of Dawn”.
To get back on that thought, I think there is a case for the Byrds’ “Fifth Dimension” being the first psychedelic album as well as the first with psychedelic artwork. About the music there can be no doubt, but the Byrds sitting on a flying carpet? And the artwork of the “Byrds” name? It’s kinda trippy, isn’t it?
[ ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6b/5DCover.jpg)
So, is there an earlier instance?
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2021, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-album-with-psychedelic-cover-art/953421/2 "2021-10-28T23:23:13Z")
The cover of Rubber Soul pioneered the psychedelic typeface used throughout the rest of the 60’s
> “The distinctive lettering was created by illustrator [Charles Front](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Front), who recalled that his inspiration was the album’s title: “If you tap into a [rubber tree](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_tree) then you get a sort of globule, so I started thinking of creating a shape that represented that, starting narrow and filling out.” The rounded letters used on the sleeve established a style that became ubiquitous in [psychedelic designs]
> ([Psychedelic art - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychedelic_art)) and, according to journalist Lisa Bachelor, “a staple of poster art for the [flower power](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower_power) generation”.”
> **[Rubber Soul](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_Soul?wprov=sfla1)**
>
> Rubber Soul is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on 3 December 1965 in the United Kingdom on EMI's Parlophone label, accompanied by the non-album double A-side single "Day Tripper" / "We Can Work It Out". The original North American release, issued by Capitol Records, contains ten of the fourteen songs and two tracks withheld from the band's Help! album. Rubber Soul was described as an important artistic achievement by the band, meeting a highly favou...
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### Author:  [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2021, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-album-with-psychedelic-cover-art/953421/3 "2021-10-28T23:23:40Z")
What year was that Byrds album?
The Beatles’ “Rubber Soul” (1965) isn’t full blown psychedelic, but hey you gotta start somewhere. There’s definitely something trippy about the photo and the lettering.
ETA: Ninja’ed!
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### Author:  [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2021, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-album-with-psychedelic-cover-art/953421/4 "2021-10-28T23:24:17Z")
> [@Shoeless](#):
>
> What year was that Byrds album?
July 1966.
And yeah, I see that the lettering of “Rubber Soul” leads to that direction.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2021, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-album-with-psychedelic-cover-art/953421/5 "2021-10-28T23:32:11Z")
When I think of psychedelic cover art my mind immediately goes to Cream’s Disraeli Gears, which is so iconic that it’s in MOMA.
> **[Disraeli Gears](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disraeli_Gears)**
>
> Pages for logged out editors learn more
>
>
>
> Disraeli Gears is the second studio album by the British rock band Cream. It was released in November 1967 and reached No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart., and No. 1 on the Swedish and Finnish charts. The album was also No. 1 for two weeks on the Australian album chart and was listed as the No. 1 album of 1968 by Cash Box in the year-end album chart in the United States. The album features the singles "Strange Brew" and "Sunshine of Your Love", as ...
That’s 1967, though. And the earlier examples here are more proto-psychedelic than full-fledged. I’d give an edge to 1966’s The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators.
> **[The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Psychedelic_Sounds_of_the_13th_Floor_Elevators)**
>
> Pages for logged out editors learn more
>
> The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators is the debut studio album by the 13th Floor Elevators. The album's sound, featuring elements of psychedelia, hard rock, garage rock, folk, and blues, is notable for its use of the electric jug, as featured on the band's only hit, "You're Gonna Miss Me", which reached number 55 on the Billboard Charts with "Tried to Hide" as a B-side. Another single from the album, "Reverberation (Doubt)", reached ...
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2021, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-album-with-psychedelic-cover-art/953421/6 "2021-10-28T23:32:41Z")
The _13th Floor Elevators_ were the first to call their music “psychedelic” and their 1966 debut album shows it.
[ ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ab/13th_Floor_Elevators-The_Psychedelic_Sounds_of_the_13th_Floor_Elevators_%28album_cover%29.jpg)
Ninja’d by 30 seconds! Damn you, Rodriguez!
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2021, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-album-with-psychedelic-cover-art/953421/7 "2021-10-28T23:33:20Z")
A lot of acid-addled minds have pondered this question, and after being distracted by how…beautiful our toaster is, I conclude that the psychedelic-inspired debut album of LOVE with Arthur Lee (released March 1966) has trippy cover art.
[ ](https://i.discogs.com/Lj1tLmwxQ82g9h3kvK6J8RwyyXBGn89IPCB1NI-Ec9c/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTEwODg1/MjQtMTE5MTE1NzA2/OC5qcGVn.jpeg)
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2021, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-album-with-psychedelic-cover-art/953421/8 "2021-10-29T00:50:24Z")
Donovan’s psychedelic lettering beat The Beatles by six weeks.
[ ](https://altrockchick.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/donovan-fairytale-lprecord-460798.jpg)
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### Author:  [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2021, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-album-with-psychedelic-cover-art/953421/9 "2021-10-29T01:09:40Z")
1965: Mr Acker Bilk and Bent Fabric together:
[https://www.ebay.com/itm/333845932360](https://www.ebay.com/itm/333845932360)
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2021, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-album-with-psychedelic-cover-art/953421/10 "2021-10-29T01:18:27Z")
Hand lettering isn’t the same as psychedelic.
> **[Bird and Diz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_and_Diz)**
>
> Pages for logged out editors learn more
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> Bird and Diz is a studio album by jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. It was recorded primarily on June 6, 1950, in New York City. Two tracks featured on the original pressing, "Passport" and "Visa", were recorded by Parker, without Gillespie and with different personnel than the other tracks, in March and May 1949. The album was originally issued in 1952 in 10" format as a collection of 78 rpm singles on the Verve subsi...
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### Author:  [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2021, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-album-with-psychedelic-cover-art/953421/11 "2021-10-29T02:27:06Z")
[quote=“Fear\_Itself, post:2, topic:953421”]
The cover of Rubber Soul pioneered the psychedelic typeface used throughout the rest of the 60’s
> “The distinctive lettering was created by illustrator [Charles Front](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Front)…[/quote]
Fun trivia sidetrack: Charles Front’s daughter Rebecca played Chief Superintendent Innocent in **Lewis**.
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### Author:  [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2021, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-album-with-psychedelic-cover-art/953421/12 "2021-10-29T03:40:32Z")
Not a direct answer to your question, but Vox links the psychedelic esthetic to Art Nouveau.
> **[Where the 1960s "psychedelic" look came from](https://www.vox.com/videos/2019/11/14/20965321/psychedelic-rock-posters)**
>
> The hippie aesthetic owes a lot to Art Nouveau.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2021, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-album-with-psychedelic-cover-art/953421/13 "2021-10-29T15:46:14Z")
The cover art on the 1966 Kinks album _Face To Face_ is more psychedelic than any of their actual music.
[ ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/21/Face_to_Face_%28The_Kinks_album%29_coverart.jpg)
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### Author:  [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2021, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-album-with-psychedelic-cover-art/953421/14 "2021-10-29T16:21:20Z")
The only psychedelic song (everything that sounded Indian in 1966 was psychedelic) from “Face To Face” is “Fancy”:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZYdKw7H3UM)
But the Kinks had some more psychedelic songs, for instance “Phenomenal Cat” from “Village Green” or “Lazy Old Sun” from “Something Else”. But yes, I agree, all in all they weren’t famous for their psychedelia.
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### Author:  [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2021, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-album-with-psychedelic-cover-art/953421/15 "2021-10-29T18:25:26Z")
This is a tricky question, because there’s no clear boundary between various schools of design that could be called “far out” (lots of jazz records in the 50s went in that direction, and we know those people took drugs), the Pop Art explosion, graphic art from advertising that delighted in repurposing images cribbed from old sources, avant-garde filmmaking, Beat culture, Mad magazine, comic books and other forms of “low” media including TV; all set the stage, and those San Francisco posters, the ones that could turn a Muddy Waters show into a freak scene, really caught the public imagination.
But, first psychedelic album cover? I don’t have an answer, but it’s only a matter of time before some stoner says “gotta be Floyd”.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2021, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-album-with-psychedelic-cover-art/953421/16 "2021-10-29T18:35:25Z")
The face looks like something out of Yellow Submarine, two years later. Does anyone know who did the cover art?
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### Author:  [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2021, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-album-with-psychedelic-cover-art/953421/17 "2021-10-29T19:03:15Z")
Looks very Peter Max-ish to me.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2021, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-album-with-psychedelic-cover-art/953421/18 "2021-10-29T19:56:10Z")
Hmm, I did an image search of Peter Max art and nothing at all resembled that face. Nor was he ever involved with Yellow Submarine stuff.
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### Author:  [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2021, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-album-with-psychedelic-cover-art/953421/19 "2021-10-29T21:53:35Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#):
>
> “Phenomenal Cat”
To my ears, it sounds more like a childrens song than a psychedelic one. In any event, it’s a masterpiece.
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### Author:  [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2021, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-album-with-psychedelic-cover-art/953421/20 "2021-10-29T22:35:36Z")
> [@jaycat](#):
>
> To my ears, it sounds more like a childrens song than a psychedelic one. In any event, it’s a masterpiece.
Psychedelic songs and children’s songs were sometimes interchangeable in the second half of the sixties. Think of “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”, and some of Syd Barrett’s songs for “Piper At The Gates Of Dawn”, like “The Gnome”:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLZOrqhSH40)
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