MANDRILL IN L.A.

They say a good antidote to depression is activity and I’ve been trying to keep busy this weekend by working on a series of small stories about LP covers shot in Los Angeles. This will all post to KCET’s ArtBound series, beginning in a week or less. (The first two covers I research are Art Pepper’s Meets the Rhythm Section and N.W.A.’s “Panic Zone” 12″.)

My second column includes an investigation into Mandrill’s 1973 LP, Just Outside of Town.1 As I discuss, though the group was still based out of NYC at the time, they shot the cover in Los Angeles, in Century City. One of the things I learned from Ric Wilson in the process of researching the story was that Mandrill convinced Polydor to let them include a 8-page booklet inside that featured full-color photos of each member, also set in various L.A. locations.

What’s funny is that I’ve owned this LP for years but I never thought to look inside for a booklet and after I got off the phone with Ric, I ran to pull this out and lo and behold: yup, the booklet was there. Very cool stuff. It was a compromise with Polydor because the label wouldn’t let Mandrill produce a gatefold cover, unlike their previous LPs.

Here’s a couple of examples from the booklet:

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(According to Ric, Fudgie’s picture was taken off the side of the road on the way to the Griffith Observatory.)

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(Ric, looking mackalicious, by the Astronomers Monument at the Observatory)

And for your convenience (if your LP doesn’t have the booklet or if you’re a buster who bought this on CD), here’s the entire booklet.

When my series goes live, I’ll let readers know. I dedicated the first column to Matthew Africa. I think he would have liked the stories.

  1. Thanks to DJ Frane for linking me up with Ric and thanks to Adam Mansbach for suggesting this LP for the series.