Got You Covered

Still, over the decades, there have been some iconic covers associated with the ever-growing Jewish music industry. And some of those vinyl record jackets are collector’s items today. Who remembers Yigal Calek’s Borchi Nafshi London Pirchei album with the tallis katan and real string “tzitzis” attached to the lower corners? Or the record jacket of Or Chodosh Volume II from 1972, circular in shape and designed to look like a yarmulke?

Actually, says Yossi Toiv, one of the Or Chodosh originals, the round record jacket made sense. “I was thinking of ideas for our second album, and while we were in the studio, we ordered pizza,” Yossi told me. “When the pizza came it suddenly struck me: Why should a round pizza pie come in a square box? You buy a shtreimel and they give you a round box, same with a sheitel. So why does an LP record come in a square box? So I decided to make a round cover, but what should be the theme? I wanted it to be something to do with Yiddishkeit. I figured I could either do shemurah matzah, a shtreimel, or a yarmulke. I opted for the last one, and had somebody knit a giant yarmulke that became the cover of the album. I never dreamed it would become a classic.”

One of the people responsible for making some memorable album covers was Shmuel Kunda a”h. He created dozens of children’s albums (Boruch Learns His Brachos, Boruch Learns about Shabbos) and did the artwork in addition. He also did the artwork for the 613 Torah Avenue albums, creating a niche specialty in making inanimate objects come alive — a crying fire hydrant, and laughing lamp post, a curious mailbox.

One early famous cover was Ani Maamin, the third Pirchei album (1968) — a picture of the Kosel HaMaaravi, drawn by Yisroel Lamm as a Camp Munk banner, way before he was professionally involved in music. Pirchei album innovator Rabbi Eli Teitelbaum a”h loved it and made it a record cover. The original banner is still hanging in the Camp Munk lobby.