... I hope that I can find something about Burton Silverman that is interesting, and this just might be it...
aqualung-mygod.blogspot.dk/2014/02/burton-silverman-exclusive-interview.htmlBURTON SILVERMAN-AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW.
Burton Silverman (1928, Brooklyn) has been exhibiting his paintings for over 60 years. He has had solo shows worldwide , including cities such as New York , Boston, Philadelphia, or Washington. He has won 37 major prizes in the world of art and his paintings have been exhibited in such famous venues such as the New Britain Museum or the National Museum of American Art. But for many people mr Silverman is recognized as the author of one of the most famous record covers in the history of Rock: Jethro Tull´s Aqualung.
Silverman made three paintings ( front, back and inside folder) to the famous record, becoming one of the covers most admired in contemporary popular music.
With great kindness , Mr. Silverman agreed to an exclusive interview to Aqualung My God to tell us in great detail everything about those months back in 1971 , when Ian Anderson masterpiece was released.
Are you aware of being the architect of one of
the most famous album covers in the history of contemporary popular
music?
The short answer is no and I am somewhat taken aback by that particular characterization. I guess it’s in part because I am totally abysmally ignorant of the history of contemporary pop and of succeeding albums and bands that would have overshadowed them.. I did get occasional glimpses of the extraordinary survival of the album when I met people twenty or thirty years my junior who would exclaim, “ YOU did the Aqualung cover.??” Or when I was accompanying my daughter on her tour of colleges, and while briefly checking out the dorms at Yale I saw a huge blowup of the painting on a student’s wall. My daughter said in very even tone.. “My dad painted that” Leaving the dorms we were suddenly accosted by the student, blowup print and pen and hand and sheepishly asking for it to be autographed.
Or the time years ago when a panel truck went by with the Cover painted on it’s side. And then with my daughter staying in London after a graduation world trip she sent back a playing card from a rock and roll quiz game with the question “ who painted the cover of Jethro Tull’s album Aqualung” So yeah, I was not completely unaware of rhe incredible longevity of the album.. Of course the appearance of audio tapes and the CD’s enhanced that awareness but also led me to seek compensation for usage rights outside the terms of the original commission
Which segues into this question:
you had problems because of the royalties that
caused the merchandising. Got paid for it?
I tracked down Chrysalis which had become Warner Records ( check that out ) somewhere around the mid nineties and it became a contest because it was a handshake arrangement . I couldn’t prove that it was only to be a vinyl dust jacket and they couldn’t prove otherwise, ( No paper trail.) I decided to write to Anderson and ask his help , assuming that the champion of the powerless and the dispossessed would jump at the chance to actually do the right thing… The reply came back with 3 different corporate logos on it*; the letter indignant, at my being so self important as to have had any role in the albums endurance and indifferent to my assertion of “rights” and saying after all that it was his face on the Aqualung figure was what made the album so long lasting. I let it drop ; a lesson in the pretenses of songwriting and pop stars
* I have the letter somewhere in my unbelievably disorganized files; maybe I can find it
So let me backtrack because this accounts some of my frustration at the time
How did you get the job? who contacted you?
Tull’s manager and guiding light was Terry Ellis, who became a music mogul of sorts as he guided the early relatively unknown Tull into the light particularly with this album. He had looked for American Illustrators to do the cover because at that point in time it was the dominant art in print publishing almost world wide ( except for , of course the Cold War divide) He had seen my work in Esquire and the New Yorker and also had seen my paintings in a gallery in NY. It was a nice gig as you folks would say. a paid for trip to London with a stay at a rather nice hotel ( as I recall) and $1500 for the album. ( This was 1970 dollars BTW so extrapolate to today and it would now be around $10 K ) The point was to have me see the guys in the group , do sketches and listen in on a rehearsal. ( this was a trip and half – the sound coming out of huge stacked speakers, amplified like I’d never heard, literally blew me out of the studios.. So We shook hands in my studio in NY .and I left 3 weeks later.
Did you work on an
idea from Ian Anderson himself?
No , a loud NO
Terry left the whole thing in my hands.. what the illustrations would consist of and whatever design I had in mind The only criteria would be his final OK.. I met Anderson very briefly but did a whole bunch of drawings at the rehearsal boom boxes aside. One of them turned into a Watercolor painting a (attached here) and is in someone’s private collection . I then went back to the hotel and with photographs of the group for reference I started to fiddle with ideas.
Ian Anderson posed for you? Was it an
portrait or, as Ian Anderson said, you worked on an photograph? It was
a self portrait of Anderson?. Did you really wanted to capture Ian's
face in the painting itself?
The huddled figure is a just an imaginative gamble with what I thought a homeless man with a malevolent stare might look like . I actually used my own facial grimaces to make the portrait. I had him pictured against a doorway almost cornered but still menacing ( this seemed to be much of the content in a couple of the songs in the album .and because it was a particularly cold December in London with icycle winds coming off he Thames, I decide to use the skiing poster as a mildly ironic contrast to this fringe person who would usually be ignored in the street. Anderson was not my model for him , but the hair and the outlier look was a reference to his performance persona.
Ian Anderson always said that he never
liked it, really. What do you think about it?
Well Anderson certainly has that right, but the album comes to life with that painting of mine. He so disliked it as tosell prints of the painting and autographed them to make a bit of lunch money I suspect.. ( I was told that years later kids on Long Island in New York made their Halloween costumes based on that painting
in the inner folder of the album we can see a painting of the band playing in a Chapel, did you suggest the idea?
What did you mean on the back cover painting of the album with the tramp sitting next to his dog? was it your idea or request?
As I said, no one directed me as to the kind of images I was to paint.. The inside cover painting of him in his antic stage dance was from a photo as were the others in a madcap concert inside a church. As far as I can recall, that was my idea. The back cover was an afterthought, since I was running out of time to meet the publishing deadline and also fighting a nasty cold that got worse in my often chilly room. I figured the back of the album was the other side of this creature’s rant at the world, the hopeless side as he sat alone in he dark and with only a stray dog, as a a companion.
I shook hands with Terry in his office in London where I gave him the 3 finished paintings. Our agreement was that he would keep the art. I left London just before the Xmas holiday
Have you seen Ian
Anderson again from 1971? Have you talked about it?
Never saw Anderson or the band again, and as written above have had only that one exchange of letters
is true that the original paintings were stolen from a hotel room?
NOW that’s a whole other chapter in this little story .
This is from a letter I sent to Terry Ellis having tracked him down by accident…
“I got your e mail address from Malcolm Comb at Classic Rock Presents Prog magazine where they are doing a feature on the Aqualung album. I was contacted for a background story on the painting.
There is an extraordinary history that has evolved from that album, which needs no recall from me at this time
But there is another story not at all well known
An intriguing event took place a couple of years ago. I was contacted by a man living in Georgia (USA)who asked if i was interested in buying back the original paintings for the album!!..i was initially taken aback since I thought you would still have had the originals as part of the Jethro Tull saga..I pretended casual interest because I felt there was a lot more at stake had I been able to get those back.. I also felt there was something unsavory going on..”
The letter goes on to describe my dealings with this guy but all of them came to a dead end.. In brief he was an American who claimed that his mother worked as a maid in a London hotel, found the at work and liked it so much she just carted back here . Now that’s like believing in Santa Claus.. He then changed this story to say that his mother got them as a gift. He only had the front and backakbum art for sale. At any rate The story ends this way
“Negotiations for the purchase fell apart and ended when i threatened to post the items on the web as "stolen" and to warn off any buyers .. The last i heard about the alleged art was that he was trying to peddle them with various small auction houses for $5K(USD) “
I’ve attached a copy of the letter to Ellis.. He wrote back to explain with some regret that he never took good care of the art ( the centerfold was hanging in his office but it disappeared ,,maybe staff copped it. )He too did not fully anticipate what would happen with the art work….So
In retrospect is it one
of your best work? You has been
awarded several times for your work but is Aqualung your most
representative or most famous painting?
Quite honestly it is just a nice illustration that happened to connect with a very good bunch of songs and that fit the spirit of our social and political climate back then and perhaps continuosly that calls for a new empathy and a new struggle for social justice. I have had and continue to have a modest reputation as a painter, which is to tell my “story” rather than some one else’s.. and that is of importance to me.. But I have to smile at this curious “fame” that I have acquired and that sometimes the unexpected moment , the one casually embarked on as being of no significance, can get one a greater reputation that one’s lifelong commitments.
What do you think about
Aqualung musically?. Have you heard it? Do you like it? Do you
understand the Lyrics? Are you agree to what Anderson meant?
I haven’t listened to it for a very long time… One of my students gave me a CD of the recording when they heard about my tussle with Anderson but I’ve not played it even now.. Maybe I’m still offended by this arrogance and his hypocrisy.. bu I recall liking it when I was doing the paintings, these many , many years ago.
Maybe you could ask if anyone knows about the originals. Have they turned up for sale anywhere ? Can you do that on your blog? It’s also possible the painting were copies… t But hey are still the property of Terry Ellis and he would love to have them back….
I forgot to send this photo of the painting I did of Anderson based on my drawing done at the rehearsal session in London.. It's not a terrific resembalnce , of course, but it indicates my interest in this musician as a performer and the idea of making music that used an old fashioned insgtrument . the contrat with the wild hair made this painting quite inteesting for me.
While i remain a little bit less than 'affectionate" towards Anderson, I am, I confess, secretly very pleased to be associated with this rather incredible album and it perseverance in the music world. In the end, I think after all my talk about my "serious" work as a painter, that it might just be the one painting I will be noted for. But that's for my kids to think about....
Best regards,
Burt
Copy of a letter sent to Terry Ellis on January 2011
Dear Terry Ellis,
I am Burt Silverman who, I trust you recall, is the artist who painted the cover for still amazingly popular Aqualung album. I got your e-mail address from Malcolm Comb at Classic Rock Presents Program magazine where they are doing a feature on the Aqualung album. I was contacted for a background story on the painting.
There is an extraordinary history that has evolved from that album, which needs no recall from meat this time
But there is another story not at all well known
An intriguing event took place a couple of years ago. I was contacted by a man living in Georgia (USA) who asked if I was interested in buying back the original paintings for the album! I was initially taken aback since I thought you would still have had the originals as part of your important association with the Jethro Tull saga. I pretended casual interest because I felt there was a lot more at stake were I been able to get those back. I also felt there was something unsavory going on.
Now here's the key to this mystery. . Aside from wanting to authenticate the paintings as mine, I wanted to know how this man acquired the work. He said "that his mother found them in a London hotel room where she was staying and liked them enough to make them her own "!! This struck me as absurd. I played along asking to have the work sent to me make sure they were actually mine... (The fellow indicated that he had the painting of the back cover as well, but couldn't access t it immediately (the cover story for this was equally dubious) That aside. this guy also changed his story when I spoke with him on several occasions after the original conversation when I asked again sort of casually, "to remind me again how you got a hold of these paintings”, He then said that his mother received them as a present. I asked him from whom and he said he didn't recall...
Negotiations for the purchase fell apart and ended when I threatened to post the items on the web as "stolen" and to warn off any buyers. The last I heard about the alleged art was that he was trying to peddle them with various small auction houses for $5K(USD)
So can you at all unravel this for me?
I assumed that the work would have been very important memorabilia for you given the arc of your career with Jethro Tull and that if they had been lost or left behind in a hotel room that you would have made very strong efforts to retrieve them
But I now assume nothing more about these events. So any clarification from you would materially help to:
a) Discover the truth about the art
b) Try to take steps to get them back for you if somehow they we taken illegally
I hope this story has intrigued you
And most eagerly look forward to a reply
Best regards\ Burt Silverman
But probably best in Humor, Games and Fun Thanks for sharing.
Mar 18, 2024 13:20:17 GMT
But probably best in Humor, Games and Fun Thanks for sharing.
Mar 18, 2024 13:20:17 GMT
. Anyone else? I know of one other 
Apr 20, 2024 13:37:57 GMT
. Anyone else? I know of one other 
Apr 20, 2024 13:37:57 GMT