canada.gif

gb.gif

de.gif

us.gif
Neil Young's new release ""World Record" w/ Crazy Horse is now available for pre-order. Order here
(Please shop locally & independently. But if you can't, we appreciate your supporting Thrasher's Wheat by clicking this link or YOUR COUNTRY's FLAG. Thank you!!!)
ADVERTISEMENT
<-Older Posts Blog Home Newer Posts->

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Neil Young's Decade: The Images Behind The Album Cover


Uncropped Image for Neil Young's Decade
by Tom Wilkes
(Click photo to enlarge)

As we reported earlier this week, Neil Young’s Decade album -- long out of print -- will be re-released on Record Store Day, April 22.

As evidenced by the comments here on Thrasher's Wheat, Neil Young’s Decade album is much beloved by longtime fans and -- for many -- served as the gateway album to Neil's musical catalog.

Now what about that cover image?

Designed by Tom Wilkes, he served as the art director, album cover designer, and photographer for the Decade album, as well as, other Neil Young albums such as “Harvest”.

And who is in the image on the cover behind the guitar case? The long time story has been that it was Neil's girlfriend Carrie Snodgrass out in the desert. However, upon closer look below, it does not appear to be Carrie at all.


Alternate Image for Neil Young's Decade
by Tom Wilkes
(Click photo to enlarge)

Upon doing a little more research, from "Shakey" by Jimmy McDonough: "The packaging was great - wry notes on each song handwritten by Young himself, and a cover photo obscure even by Young's standards - the girlfriend of art director Tom Wilkes standing out in the desert, balancing a well-traveled guitar case on her back."

From Mr Music Head (Thanks Mother Nature on the Run!):
Tom Wilkes was an art director, album cover designer, and photographer who blazed a graphic trail throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s, creating high concept visual statements that have become iconic cultural artifacts. A graduate of Art Center, he got his start pinstriping hot rods and motorcycles in the 50s before opening his own design studio in Long Beach and moving into record company work with an album for The Coasters. His covers include “Flowers” and “Beggars’ Banquet” for the Stones, the stairwell albums for the Beatles, “All Things Must Pass” and “Living In The Material World” for George Harrison, “Harvest” and “Decade” for Neil Young, the whiteface album for Ike & Tina Turner, and many, many more.

In 1967, as art director for the Monterey Pop Festival, Tom was given a painting by The Beatles, a work that has since become known as “The Dead Sea Scroll Of Rock And Roll.” In the late-70s, he became friends with John and Toni Lilly who introduced him to the concept of dolphin intelligence. After several profound encounters, Tom created Project Interspeak and spent the rest of his life trying to mount a global concert on behalf of the dolphin nation…with the Beatles’ artwork a possible funding source.

He lived a highly adventurous life filled with wild times and beautiful women, and is celebrated in the memory of those who knew him as one of the great rebellious spirits, and artists, of his time.

Alternate Image for Neil Young's Decade
by Tom Wilkes
(Click photo to enlarge)


David Fricke, a senior writer at Rolling Stone magazine said of Wilkes work that:
"He was able to capture a certain essence of what was on the record and the person who made it.

"You look at something like Neil Young's 'Harvest,' the texture of the cover and that very simple, almost antique lettering, and you get a feel of what Neil was trying to do in that record, the honesty and the grit and the deep Americana of what that record represents now."

tom-wilkes.jpg
Tom Wilkes: 1939 - 2009


R.I.P. Tom. We've always admired your work.

Labels: , , ,


7 Comments:

At 3/24/2017 11:16:00 AM, Blogger downbutnotout said...

Yes great album/artwork,at the time a comprehensive introduction to Neil's back catalogue.
If you hadn't heard any of his back catalogue,Decade vinyl for the sleeve, was and still is a great starting point.
I'd rather own this than the bold archive box.

 
At 3/24/2017 08:39:00 PM, Blogger Alan said...

Maybe someone can confirm (as I've lost my vinyl copy of Decade in our last house move), but is one of the stickers on the guitar case from Edinburgh Playhouse? Can't blow the picture upclearly enough to see and can't make it out on the CD cover. Cheers:)

 
At 3/25/2017 11:49:00 AM, Blogger mrtew said...

"Standing"???? ..."standing out in the desert, balancing a well-traveled guitar case on her back"??? I could tell that she was sitting in the desert even as a little kid looking at the cover in my cool teenage cousin Laura's bedroom. Sure is nice to see the other picture where she turned around and faced the camera! When I was a kid I had no idea who he was and assumed it was him with his guitar in the photo! And Alan, there is an Edinburgh sticker but it says North British Station Hotel. Some of them are hard to read even on the original cover though so maybe there is!

 
At 3/25/2017 12:17:00 PM, Blogger mrtew said...

The description of the Harvest cover as having almost antique lettering for title font is so true. And seeing it in an article about the Decade cover really made me aware of how opposite its font is! Back in the 70's that kind of typography was mind blowingly futuristicly modem. Couldn't be more opposite from Harvest. After the Goldrush was a whole other story, what was that all about??? I'd like someone who knows all about type and NY to write a whole site or blog or something about each album! The design of his latest album tells me he couldn't care less about covers or fonts anymore at all. Or am I missing something?

 
At 3/25/2017 09:14:00 PM, Blogger Alan said...

Thanks mrtew. That's the Edinburgh sticker I was thinking of. The North British Hotel sticker intrigues me (now the Balmoral btw on Princes Street), as I'm sure Neil hadn't played Edinburgh (I'm an Edinburgher:)) by the time Decade came out. Could be wrong, and it could be a random guitar case from a fellow artist who had played there?? Doubt Mr Young himself would remember:)

 
At 5/03/2020 10:55:00 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

Your right. Me too. I want to know more.

 
At 10/28/2021 10:33:00 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

The only one i can see from Edinburgh is the "NORTH BRITISH STATION HOTEL"

 

Post a Comment

<< Home

<-Older Posts Blog Home Newer Posts->

Willie for a Nobel!
#Willie4Nobel

Willie Nelson for Nobel Peace Prize
for Farm Aid and his work on
alternative fuels, and world peace initiatives.

farm-aid-logo.gif
Farm Aid

Go Farmers Markets!


"In the >field< of opportunity
It's plowin' time again."

SUPPORTER
logo
Silverline Communications

(Home of the FarmAidians)
Tecumseh, Ontario, Canada
(519) 737-7979



This blog supports free speech!


Demand justice for Aaron:
Support "Aaron's Law" and inquiry into his prosecution

(... he didn't kill himself either...) #AaronDidntKillHimself

Induct Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame



Please Help Support Independent Media &
Non-Corporate Advertising
This Blog's For You!


The Hypocrisy of the Mainstream Media

It's Been Called The
"Missing Link" in the Ditch Trilogy

time-fades-away-banner2a

Sign the Release "Time Fades Away" Petition
Join The 10,000+ Who Have Already Signed


broken-arrow-mag-new-logo.gif

Neil Young Appreciation Society


sugar-mtn-logo.jpg
Sugar Mountain

Neil Young Setlists
rust-radio-new
Rust Radio


bumpersticker-neil-concert.jpg


i-l-ove-neil-young-sm.jpg
Bands Covering Neil Young songs


bumper-sticker-live-music-better-sm.jpg
LIVE MUSIC IS BETTER


ny-times-logo.jpg
Official Neil Young News Site

bridgeschool_logo
The Bridge School


The Bridge School Concerts
25th Anniversary Edition

**100% of Proceeds to Benefit Bridge School***

linda-eastman-neil-young-sugar-mtn-sm.jpg
The Essential Neil Young

neil-young-sleeveless.jpg
Fans Favorite Neil Albums

neil-young-heart-of-gold-film-still
Top 50 MP3
Neil Young Song Downloads


Top 10 Best Selling Neil Albums Today
amazon-neil-store.GIF
Support Thrasher's Wheat
via Purchases from:
United States - Amazon.com us.gif
Canada - Amazon.ca canada.gif
United Kingdom - Amazon.uk gb.gif
Germany - Amazon.de de.gif



Neil Young Songbook Project

In the fields of wheat

"Children of Destiny" will NOT be harvested
However, the chaff will be burned by unquenchable fire

Neil Young + Promise of the Real

Europe 2016 Tour Dates



2015 Rebel Content Tour


Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Alchemy Concert Tour Reviews

Fall 2012 N. America Tour
Spring 2013 Australia/New Zealand Tour
Summer 2013 Europe Tour

Europe Summer 2014 Concert Tour
Neil Young & Crazy Horse

Thrasher's Wheat Radio Supporters Go To Europe

jttp-film-poster-sm.jpg
Neil Young Films

musicares-neil-young-2010.jpg
2010 MusiCares Honors Neil Young

Features Elvis Costello, Crosby Stills & Nash, Sheryl Crow, Josh Groban, Ben Harper, Elton John, Norah Jones, Lady Antebellum, Dave Matthews, James Taylor, Keith Urban, and others.
Proceeds from sales go to MusiCares,
which helps musicians in need of
financial and medical assistance.

live-rust-promo-poster.jpg


"There's more to the picture
Than meets the eye"

#BigShift

trans-promo



Neil Young FAQ:
Everything Left to Know About the Iconic and Mercurial Rocker
"an indispensable reference"

paul-neil-bridge2004-sat-sfc-kkomenich-sm.jpg
Paul McCartney and Neil Young

woodstock-poster.jpg


"You can make a difference
If you really a try"

lennon_peace_liberty
John Lennon and Neil Young


"hailed by fans as a wonderful read"

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young:
csny-1974-poster.jpg
The Supergroup of the 20th Century



Director Jonathan Demme's Exquisite film "Heart of Gold"

eddie & neil
Eddie Vedder and Neil Young

buffalo-springfield-poster.jpg
Revisiting The Significance of
The Buffalo Springfield


"The revolution will not be televised"
... it will be blogged, streamed,
tweeted, shared and liked
The Embarrassment of Mainstream Media

Turn Off Your TV & Have A Life


"Everything Is Bullshit" +
"Turn Off The News"
Turn Off the News (Build a Garden)


Neil Young 2016 Year in Review:
The Year of The Wheat

Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain and Neil Young

Neil Young's Feedback:
An Acquired Taste?

Young Neil: The Sugar Mountain Years
by Rustie Sharry "Keepin' Jive Alive in T.O." Wilson

"the definitive source of Neil Young's formative childhood years in Canada"

neil & joni
Joni Mitchell & Neil Young

europe 1987.jpg


dylan-young-crop
Bob and Neil

weld
So Who Really Was "The Godfather of Grunge"?


Four Dead in Ohio
kent state
So What Really Happened at Kent State?


The Four Dead in Ohio



May The FOUR Be With You #MayThe4thBeWithYou

concert-pass-europe-2003-solo.jpg


dissent is not treason
Dissent is the highest form of patriotism

Rockin' In The Free World



Sing Truth to Power!
When Neil Young Speaks Truth To Power,
The World Listens

emmylou-harris-neil-young-0305-crop
Emmylou Harris and Neil Young

wilco-062305-wide-background.jpg
Wilco and Neil Young

bluenotes-pass-young88crewlam-sm.jpg

bruce-springsteen-neil-young-bridge-oct-1986.jpg
Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young

europe87concertpass


elton-john-neil-young-crop-sm.jpg
Elton John and Neil Young

ronnie-vanzant-neil.jpg
Lynyrd Skynyrd and Neil Young

+

The Meaning of "Sweet Home Alabama" Lyrics


Neil Young Nation -
"The definitive Neil Young fan book"

powderfinger
"Powderfinger"
What does the song mean?

Random Neil Young Link of the Moment
neil-sad.jpg

Bonnie Raitt and Neil Young

Wisconsin-solidarity.jpg
I'm Proud to Be A Union Man

UNITED WE STAND/DIVIDED WE FALL


When Neil Young is Playing,
You Shut the Fuck Up


Class War:
They Started It and We'll Finish It...
peacefully

A battle raged on the open page...
No Fear, No Surrender. Courage
WE WON'T BACK DOWN. NEVER STAND DOWN.

"What if Al Qaeda blew up the levees?"
Full Disclousre Now


"I've Got The Revolution Blues"

Willie Nelson & Neil Young
Willie Nelson for Nobel Peace Prize



John Mellencamp:
Why Willie Deserves a Nobel

willie_picnic_poster_070503


BOYCOTT HATE

Love and Only Love

"Thinking about what a friend had said,
I was hoping it was a lie"


We're All On
A Journey Through the Past

Neil Young's Moon Songs
Tell Us The F'n TRUTH
(we can handle it... try us)

Freedom:
freedom-video
Does Anything Else Really Matter?

"Nobody's free until everybody's free."
~~ Fannie Lou Hamer

Here Comes "The Big Shift"
#BigShift

Maybe everything you think you know is wrong? NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMS
"It's all illusion anyway."

Propaganda = Mind Control
NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMS
Guess what?
"Symbols Rule the World, not Words or Laws."
... and symbolism will be their downfall...

Brighter Planet's 350 Challenge
Be The Rain, Be The Change

csny2k-plate.jpg
the truth will set you free
This Machine Kills Fascists


"Children of Destiny" - THE Part of THE Solution

(Frame from Official Music Video)

war is not the answer
yet we are
Still Living With War

"greed is NOT good"
Hey Big Brother!
Stop Spying On Us!
Civic Duty Is Not Terrorism

The Achilles Heel
#NullifyNSA
Orwell (and Grandpa) Was Right
“Emancipate yourself from mental slavery.”
~~ Bob Marley

The Essence of "The Doubters"



Yes, There's Definitely A Hole in The Sky


Even Though The Music Died 50+ Years Ago
,
Open Up the "Tired Eyes" & Wake up!
"consciousness is near"
What's So Funny About
Peace, Love, & Understanding & Music?

churchsign

Show Me A Sign

"Who is John Galt?"
To ask the question is to know the answer

"Whosoever shall give up his liberty for a temporary security
deserves neither liberty nor safety."

~~ Benjamin Franklin

Words

(Between the lines of age)


And in the end, the love you take
Is equal to the love you make

~~ John & Paul

the zen of neil
the power of rust
the karma of the wheat

~Om-Shanti.

Namaste