The Psychedelic Record Cover Art of Abdul Mati Klarwein

Ya really gotta collect ’em all.

Now and again I’ll have the good fortune to see an uber-cool vinyl record cover arrangement gracing a wall in the living space of record collector friends and acquaintances. Each time I have this good fortune, it always makes me say to myself:

Self, you really oughta do something like that!

If ever I do decide to create such an arrangement to grace the wall in my own living space, Abdul Mati Klarwein would be my record cover artist of choice. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, this Israeli-born painter was the number one go-to guy for musicians desiring to have psychedelic art visions on the front of their albums.

Today, Klarwein’s senses-shattering creations make up the fronts (and also backs) of a great many album recordings produced during this era.

Perhaps the very best-known of them is Miles Davis’ iconic Bitches Brew (1970).

The images featured below represent the Klarwein gems that would make up my own record cover wall display. Each is such an incredible conversation piece in its own right that I’m quite surprised that I haven’t yet seen it done already.