Sam painted the “Friends” cover, Part 3.

Part 3 (of 4) [Part 1, Part 2, Part 4]
 

As far as I know, Friends was the only use of Sam Steinberg’s paintings in a commercial marketplace. I suppose that was reflective of the way many non-Columbia students reacted to the art.

Almost everyone hated the cover. 

Marc, our non-Columbia friends, critics, everyone. No one thought it was appropriate for such a serious album. Distributors said we’d never sell albums with covers like this one, and, in the end, they were kind of right. Even though it was reviewed as the “electronic jazz record of the year” (no one called it “fusion” yet, thank goodness), there was a sense that putting a “cartoon” on the cover didn’t do the music justice.

Tom and I felt we were being as pioneering in the cover design as the music deserved. Art critic Peter Frank called Sam part of Jean Dubuffet’s art brut movement (it’s called “outsider art” today) and we agreed, it was groundbreaking.

We were sorry for Sam, as well as Marc. Our judgment wasn’t in sync with the market.

Ah well, as someone once said, “Pioneers are the ones with arrows in their backs.”

(More in Parts 1, 2 & 4)