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:

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

(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.