Exploring the album covers designed by Salvador Dalí
The bizarre, surrealist world of Salvador Dalí has been relentlessly documented and rightfully celebrated over the years. Dalí is undoubtedly among the most prolific and iconic artists of the 20th century, as is represented by the incredibly enduring nature of his legacy. Even today, the many paintings and artworks created by the Spaniard are beloved by millions, but the surrealist nature of his work is nothing compared to the bizarre nature of the man himself. Endlessly creative, Dalí flirted with a variety of mediums throughout his career, but his work with album covers is far too often overlooked.
Over the years, Dalí worked on a variety of projects, from film to painting to performance and even music. The artist clearly took a lot of inspiration from the musical world, often designing sets and scenery for various operas and theatre productions – notably Bacchanale in 1939 and Mariana Pineda in 1927. However, the surrealist painter’s musical exploits were certainly not limited exclusively to the stage.
During the mid-20th century, as musical artists and record company executives alike began to place more importance on album artwork, Dalí got the chance to create some truly pioneering album covers. In the years prior, album covers had merely existed as a means of protecting the vinyl encased within, but it was records like Jackie Gleason’s Lonely Echo in 1955 that began to alter those perceptions, establishing the world of album cover art as a medium in itself.
Lonely Echo featured stunning artwork supplied by Salvador Dalí, complete with the desert landscape and shadows that characterised some of his most popular masterpieces – the likes of The Persistence of Memory, for instance. It marked the first time that Dalí supplied artwork for an album cover, and it is certainly among his finest efforts within the music sphere. The album itself is a particularly atmospheric exploit into easy listening music, suiting the idyllic yet surreal scene portrayed by Dalí’s cover.
While Lonely Echo might be the most prominent example of Dalí’s flirts with album artwork, it certainly was not his last. Perhaps the most sought-after examples, by vinyl junkies and Dalí obsessives alike, comes with the 1957 release Rock ’N Roll. Only released in France as a promo meant to promote Dalí’s perfume range of the same name, the album features striking red and black artwork, completely different to Dalí’s famous painting, which is confusingly also entitled (Dance) Rock and Roll.
Dalí continued to produce album artwork throughout the 1960s and ’70s, with some other records utilising pre-existing work created by the artist – as was the case for the 1960 reissue of Strauss’ Don Quixote. It is so often the case within music that the album cover is much cooler than the actual music contained on the grooves (just look at every single progressive rock album ever released). That is certainly the case with Dalí’s album covers, particularly 1971’s l’apothéose du dollar racontée par salvador dalí.
The release was only ever a flexi-disc single, featuring a recording Dalí had made as an advert for the French bank Crédit Commercial de France. Yes, the record is as dull as it sounds, and it certainly does not seem to be in keeping with the artistic principles of Dalí. Nevertheless, like every release mentioned thus far, it is worth collecting if only for the stunning surrealist artwork which adorns the cover.
