Record sleeve
HMV
Category
Musical instruments, devices and recordings
Date
31 Jul 1955 - 31 Jan 1956
Materials
Cardboard record sleeve
Measurements
313 x 313 mm
Collection
Sudbury Hall Museum of Childhood, Derbyshire
NT 672670.2
Summary
A cardboard sleeve for a vinyl record, the album Rock 'n' Roll by Elvis Presley. The front of the sleeve features a black and white photograph of Elvis Presley playing an acoustic guitar, with his name printed in pink (Elvis) and green (Presley) capital letters to the left and bottom of the sleeve. In the front top right corner there is a logo for His Master's Voice. The rear of the sleeve is white and has printed text about Elvis Presley, Rock 'n' Roll music and the songs on the record written by Bob Dawbarn. Underneath this text there is a list of the songs on each side of the record. The records catalogue number (CLP1093) is printed in the rear top right corner and the album title and artists name are printed on the spine. The photograph on the front cover was taken at Fort Homer Hesterly Armory in Tampa, Florida on 31st July 1955. For many years it was believed to have been taken by William ‘Popsie’ Randolph but in 2002 Joseph A. Tunzi, an American author considered to be an expert on Presley stated that the image was in fact taken by William V. Robertson. The design and typeface of the cover was later copied for the front cover of the album London Calling released by the English punk band The Clash in 1980.
Provenance
Cardboard sleeve for a vinyl record, the album Rock ‘n Roll recorded by Elvis Presley and released in the UK on the HMV record label on March 23rd 1956 with sleeve photograph believed to have been taken by William V. Robertson on 31st July 1955. Purchased by the National Trust Museum of Childhood via Discogs on 13th March 2020 as part of the Collecting Cultures Exploring Childhoods project.
Makers and roles
HMV , record label