Album Articulation #8: Smash Hits By Rodgers & Hart
Where it all started: the birth of the album cover!
Though not a single word was spoken I could tell you knew
That unfelt clasp of hands told me so well you knew
I never lived at all until the thrill of that moment when
My heart stood still
My Heart Stood Still from Thou Swell by Rodgers & Hart
Articulation #8
Artist: Rodgers & Hart
Album: Smash Hits By Rodgers & Hart
Released: 1940
Genre: Jazz, Pop, Stage & Screen
Notable Songs
My Heart Stood Still from Thou Swell
Luscious musings of falling in love through swooning sweeping melodies.
With a Song In My Heart from Yours Sincerely
An iconic sweet tune covered by many great performers (Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, The Supremes, etc.). Even I’ve performed this when I started my vocal performance journey!
Personal Note
We can always look to the beginnings of things and admire how they began and evolved into what they are today, and so we will take a look at Alex Steinweiss’ cover for this Rodgers and Hart album. Before his influence, records were sold in plain brown sleeves with little visual appeal. Hired as Columbia Records’ first art director in 1939, Steinweiss revolutionized the industry by introducing illustrated album covers, beginning with this album. His idea to add artistic and eye-catching designs to album covers not only transformed the music industry but also set a new standard for the visual presentation of recorded music.
Vibes
Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and Lorenz Hart (1895–1943) produced numerous Broadway classics and timeless songs during their partnership.
They wanted to elevate musical theater integrating greater artistic and emotional depth.
One of the ways they did this was by adapting literary works into musicals, such as A Connecticut Yankee (1927), based on Mark Twain's novel, and The Boys from Syracuse (1938), inspired by Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors.
Music has sophistication, elegance, and emotional range.
Lyrics are witty and often melancholic, filled with intricate rhymes and sharp turns of phrase.
Melodies are inventive and expressive, sometimes unexpected, soaring high and allowing the singer to demonstrate the lyrical meanings.
Jazz artists and cabaret singers performed many of their works, with the swinging lilts and themes matching the jazz mood.
Following Hart’s passing in 1943, Rodgers formed a new partnership with Oscar Hammerstein II, leading to more groundbreaking musicals.
Album Cover Connections
Steinweiss studied at the Parsons School of Design and was influenced by modernist movements like the Bauhaus and the bold styles of Works Progress Administration (WPA) posters during the Great Depression.
Steinweiss believed that an album’s cover could reflect the music inside and create a stronger emotional connection with buyers.
His vision was that album covers should be visually striking, like how a film poster advertises a movie.
For this cover, Steinweiss wanted to create a visually compelling image that would be attention-grabbing.
He took a nighttime photograph of the Imperial Theatre’s marquee in New York City, which was briefly changed to display the album’s title.
The glowing lights of the marquee made it stand out among the dull, brown-packaged albums of the time.
The bold orange grooves and 'sticker’ very directly shows the onlooker that this is a vinyl album.
It is interesting to note that both Rodgers and Hart and Steinweiss wanted to elevate their respective ideals, one with music and one with visual presentation of music!
The effect was immediate—the album had amazing sales! This proved that album covers could be an essential part of the marketing process, leading Columbia and other record labels to adopt this new approach.
Steinweiss’ pioneering work established album art as a key part of the music experience, influencing generations of designers and artists.
As designer Paula Scher, who worked at Columbia in the 1970s, put it: “When you look at your music collection today…you are looking at Alex Steinweiss’s big idea.”