Thursday, April 16, 2015

the Black Keys put out a cd album cover... that makes no sense to me. It's title El Camino, but has minivans. Wth?





anyone know why? Or is this some yuppie hipster artist musician thing that we're supposed to appreciate because it's too ironic to be understood?

A comment from Jinglebuddy and link sent me to an answer in the New York Times:

The cover art turns out to be part of an elaborate extended joke to promote the record.

According to various published interviews with Mr. Auerbach and Mr. Carney, the album art came about when they glanced out a window on the road and spotted an El Camino: Chevrolet’s half-car, half-pickup, built from 1959 through 1987.

The musicians liked the name and thought it would serve as a fitting title for their next record. But Michael Carney, the band’s art director and the brother of Mr. Carney, whose previous efforts won him a Grammy for packaging, chose to place a battered, woodgrain-sided, first-generation Chrysler minivan on the cover.

El Camino, of course, also means “the road” in Spanish, and the road is where the band’s reputation was forged. Before the product placements and television appearances, the duo toured for many years in a 1994 Plymouth Grand Voyager.

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/for-a-chart-topping-rock-group-a-fixation-with-the-humblest-of-band-vans/?_r=1


 Pat harks back to past days and band mythology when he and Dan drove around the USA in a cheap van, a 1994 Plymouth Grand Voyager as it turns out.

One of the first trips they made as a new band was also with Pat’s brother, Michael. Michael Carney is, of course, responsible for all The Black Keys’ art direction.

http://theblackkeysfanlounge.com/2011/10/el-camino-the-black-keys-and-that-van/

3 comments:

  1. http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/for-a-chart-topping-rock-group-a-fixation-with-the-humblest-of-band-vans/?_r=0

    No, I don't buy it either.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. well, damn! Thanks Jinglebuddy! I'll add the explanation to the post

      Delete
    2. Hi Jesse, you are welcome! I've been really really really enjoying your site, Thank you!

      Delete