3 cover stories in our archive
Behind the Covers' archive includes 3 album covers documented under the "earth tones" design theme, spanning the 1960s, 1970s, 2010s. These covers sit within the r&b, soul, pop, rock, folk tradition and feature work by Solange, Marvin Gaye, The Band. Each entry below includes the cover artwork, the designers and photographers behind it, and a short story about the visual choices that defined the release.
Solange art-directed minimalist photographs in warm earth tones celebrating Black womanhood with quiet dignity — centering natural hair as a statement about beauty standards, matching the album's themes of identity, racial justice, and self-care.
Marvin Gaye's masterpiece broke Motown's visual rules with an intimate portrait showing the artist in a knit cap looking pensively into the distance. The cover's casual, contemplative mood perfectly matched the album's shift from pop to socially conscious soul.
Bob Dylan painted the mysterious abstract artwork for The Band's debut album cover while living with them in Woodstock. The Nobel Prize winner's only album cover art was created in the same pink house where these legendary sessions took place.