Whipped Cream & Other Memories
What are the coolest album covers of all time? That's a question we've set out to answer in a story that will appear in American Photo — and in an expanded survey on this website — later this fall. While taking an unscientific poll, we've found no shortage of opinions about which album covers are the best and why. Just as music is a matter of personal taste, so is cover art. But everyone seems to agree that a handful of covers are True Classics. One of these is the image at left, from the 1965 album Whipped Cream & Other Delights, by Herb Alpert & the Tiajuana Brass.
The album came out in 1965, when sexy, frothy pictures on LP sleeves were already commonplace, but this one takes the cake. It was shot by photographer Jerry Wharf. We were delighted to discover a newspaper story on the lovely model, Dolores Erickson, now a 71-year-old painter in Longview, Washington. For the '65 photo shoot, she wore a sheet slathered with shaving cream (real whipped cream couldn't withstand the heat of studio lights); she recalled that she was pregnant at the time, which made her look more curvy and luminous. "I thought, 'Just another job,'" recalled Erickson, who posed for 17 other album covers and countless beauty ads, as well as landing acting parts.
The actual merit of the Whipped Cream album is debatable. Doubtless helped by the sexy cover, it was one of the top-selling albums of the 1960s and spent eight weeks at #1, according to CNN.com. Based on a food motif, the record's cheesy, lite-jazz, latin pop — typified by the title song, which entered the Velveeta hall of fame as theme for The Dating Game — was palatable but hardly substantive. In a 1989 tribute to the cover art, Esquire admitted the songs "were sappy enough to break the Dork-O-Meter," adding that "we bought this album for the album cover. For here is what lust looked like in 1966."
Indeed, the picture has taken a throne in music iconography, spawning some inspired parody versions, among other things (above right).
A couple of years ago, the album's 40th anniversary was honored with a remastered CD re-release that tried (and failed) to outdo the original cover with a shot of model Bree Condon wearing a whipped-cream bikini (left).
As part of the festivities, Dolores Erickson (below) made some cameo appearances and even set up a website called whippedcreamlady.com. 
"They said it was the biggest turnout they've ever had at [Seattle's] Experience Music Project," Erickson told music writer David Menconi of one gig. "And I came around to thinking, 'Gosh, this is neat.' And then I looked at it again and thought, 'Gosh, that is a good cover.' "
Gosh indeed. Oh yeah, we've been checking out many other great moments in album-cover art — just stay tuned. — Jack Crager
I vote for the Beatles Abby Road Album cover (Beatles crossing the street) as the coolest album of all time!
Posted by: teddi cherry | August 27, 2008 at 12:41 PM
Nope, gotta be the Blind Faith cover with the preteen chick and the plane. In that time, nobody had the guts to buy the album but we sure check out the play-list alot!
Posted by: 2P | August 28, 2008 at 09:30 AM
Well, I don't know about Abbey Road as a memorable cover, sure it was good, but "best?"
However, the Red Hot Chili Peppers reprise of that cover which has them crossing a street in just their socks (You know!) has to rank among the best album cover parodies ever!
Posted by: SamCN2 | August 28, 2008 at 09:32 AM
The Beatles' Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Posted by: David Lewis | August 28, 2008 at 09:47 AM
I recently had the pleasure of meeting Tom O'Neal, the photographer who shot the iconic cover for Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's Deja Vu album back in the late 60s. A remarkable guy with remarkable talent - and what he went through technically to get that shot is quite a story. Check out his work, www.tgophoto.com. My vote goes to this cover.
Posted by: Steven Shepard | August 28, 2008 at 09:54 AM
Has anyone seen Cream's Disreali Gears? Or The Cars"Candy-O"? Or The Rolling Stones"Some Girls"? The list could go on and on.
Posted by: bilb | August 28, 2008 at 10:28 AM
Has anyone seen Cream's Disreali Gears? Or The Cars"Candy-O"? Or The Rolling Stones"Some Girls"? The list could go on and on.
Posted by: bilb | August 28, 2008 at 10:28 AM
My favorite album cover, no contest, is the Rolling Stones album "December's Children (and Everyone's).
Posted by: Mike Boland | August 28, 2008 at 10:50 AM
I remember rummaging through my mom's LP's as a kid, and she had this album. Thanks for rekindling the childhood memories. :)
Posted by: Penni | August 28, 2008 at 11:13 AM
Trivia Note - the pre-teen girl on the cover of the Blind Faith album was supposedly Ginger Baker's daughter.
As for a great album cover shot, "Winelight" from James Ingram and Quincy Jones has my vote.
Posted by: John Williams | August 28, 2008 at 01:42 PM
The Blind Faith cover model was an 11-year-old British girl named Mariora Goschen. Her parents approved the session with photographer Bob Seideman and she later said she was "thrilled to bits" to have been part of the famous cover. But the picture still generates tremendous controversy, with many calling it subliminal kiddie porn.
Posted by: Jack | August 29, 2008 at 02:31 PM
That "Poco" cover with the horse by Phil Hartman. Just a couple brushstrokes on a white background. Very nice.
Posted by: bettyn | August 30, 2008 at 05:28 PM
I always liked the Yes covers by Roger Dean, especially 'Close To the Edge' and 'Tales from Topographic Oceans'.
Posted by: philmusic | September 02, 2008 at 03:41 PM