A nice charity shop find, this album cover is far from high art but does present a fun alternative to the slick colour sleeve photographs which were in vogue at Capitol Records in America during the fifties. Instead, probably chasing a younger teenage market, they’ve gone for a stylised 2D comic book style illustration to get across the high school ‘prom party’ atmosphere they were after. The joint is clearly jumping and the guy (who does seem to be drawn a little over scale) is pulling his girl-friend out of the coupé so they can join in the fun. It’s not too hard to imagine this image appearing in Mad magazine or something similar at the time. The illustrator is not credited, but I think those must be their initials J.E. where the car number plate should be. “The weekend’s here… time for Campus Rumpus” exclaims the very short sleeve note on the back.
The album, only Ray’s second (of dozens to come!) was first issued in 1953 as a ten inch disc in one of those Capitol picture-frame type covers, and also as a double 7″ EP set in the same artwork. This edition (a Canadian pressing) is clearly from a bit later on, at a guess the late fifties or even early sixties, reissued as a by then standard 12″ album, which probably accounts for the slightly course half-tone effect on the front.
Ray’s follow up album (which I don’t have) of Dixieland music had a very similar sort of cover, albeit it in a bit more three dimensional style.
