Teaser // The Beach Boys: THE ALBUM ART - Jokermen

Summary5 min read

Episode Overview

Theme:
This episode of Jokermen dives deep into the surprisingly rich and contentious waters of Beach Boys album artwork. True to Jokermen tradition, the hosts present a ranked list—from worst to best—of the group’s album covers, discussing what works, what falls flat, and why art direction matters, even for a band not necessarily famed for its visual identity. Fans are invited to reconsider the impact of these visual pieces, often overlooked in discussions about classic records.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Ranking Setup: Worst to Best

Format: The hosts rank all Beach Boys album covers from worst to best, a gimmick they first used with Bob Dylan's discography and have now turned into a recurring segment across their artist deep-dives.
[01:10] Host 1: “The best. Well, the worst to the best ranked. That's right. That's right. Everyone's favorite gimmick here on Jokerman Podcast.”
Visual Aid Mentioned: Recognizing the limitations of an “audio-only medium” for a visual topic, Host 1 offers to post visuals for Patreon members to help them follow along.
[00:55] Host 1: “Maybe I'll put out a little supplementary post… a visual aid for everyone to just have on their screen as they hear us.”

The Importance (or Not) of Beach Boys Album Art

Album Art’s Place in the Canon: While not the first thing people think of with the Beach Boys, both hosts agree some covers are surprisingly iconic, while others are egregious failures—sometimes in forgettable ways.
[01:48] Host 2: “Especially for a group where that isn’t really the first thing you think about.”
Comparisons to Other Artists: References are made to iconic album covers from other acts (e.g., Pink Floyd’s "Dark Side of the Moon," Bob Dylan’s "Empire Burlesque") as examples where visual identity is inseparable from the music.
[01:48] Host 2: “There’s specific records that definitely are inseparable from their album cover. I’m talking about Dark Side of the Moon, Empire Burlesque. These are the covers.”

Methodology and Differences in Taste

Synchronicity in Rankings: The hosts find their choices eerily aligned, with the same bottom four in the exact order and the same top four (albeit in different orders).
[03:07] Host 1: “We actually had the identical top four in different order… and the same bottom four also.”
[04:11] Host 1: “The same spirit. Exactly. The same auditory spirits that are haunting Brian Wilson…”
On Subjectivity in Art: Despite a shared affinity, the hosts joke about “unseen forces” guiding their mysterious but deeply felt preferences—sometimes inexplicable, sometimes visceral.
[03:41] Host 2: “…the reasons why I put certain ones where I did… were really mysterious even to me…”
“Objective” Bad Album Art: A playful assertion that bad album art may not be as subjective as bad music.
[04:43] Host 2: “Art is always subjective, but maybe album art isn’t… maybe there are certain things where it’s just like the body itself is repelled…”
[04:55] Host 1: “Yes.”

The Beach Boys’ Unique Album Art Trajectory

Contrast to Bob Dylan: The hosts believe the Beach Boys’ worst covers hit lower lows than Dylan’s.
[05:56] Host 1: “I think the worst Beach Boys cover art… is much, to me, is much worse than like the worst Bob cover art…”
The Best of the Beach Boys: The best Beach Boys covers, however, hold up with anyone’s.
[06:27] Host 1: “…the best of the Boys album covers are as good as just about anyone else’s best…”

Deep Dive Into the Worst Cover: "Stars and Stripes, Vol. 1"

Unanimous Worst: Both hosts pick "Stars and Stripes, Vol. 1" as the absolute nadir.
[06:54] Host 2: “We both chose it. Very bottom. I'm glad that we're on the same page here. Stars and Stripes, Volume one.”
Why It Fails:
- The cover art is described as a confusing, folk-art-style barn framed in thick, oppressive wood—neither visually appealing nor thematically appropriate.
- The framing makes it hard to decipher what's actually being depicted; it's “very brown” despite the patriotic title.
- The few visual references to Americana (the flag) are obscured or incomplete.
- It barely appears on official Beach Boys streaming channels, a tacit acknowledgment of its poor reception.
[07:48] Host 2: “If anyone doesn’t remember… this was the country music compilation or stars of country music doing Beach Boys songs…”
Memorable Quotes:
- [08:29] Host 1: “God, the Beach Boys. The way the Beach Boys is written…”
- [08:36] Host 2: “Thick, horrendous, very thick wooden frame, which does no favors to this… picture… looks just like a circuit board almost… It’s very brown somehow…”
- [09:21] Host 1: “Yeah. For an album called Stars and Stripes, there are very few stripes, and there’s almost no stars.”

Other Noteworthy Bad Covers

Next-Worst Ranked:
The countdown continues with “That’s Why God Made the Radio” as the next lowest. Host 1 expresses surprise at its low placement considering previous discussions.
[10:40] Host 1: “This is place 32… second worst. We both agreed on this as well, which I’m a little bit surprised that you had this one down so low…”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Mysterious Rankings:
[03:48] Host 2: “The reasons why I put certain ones where I did… were really mysterious even to me. But I just knew I had to put certain ones in certain areas of the ranking.”
On Terrible Art:
[06:13] Host 1: “Yeah. It just sucks on its face. And there’s like not even a contrarian kind of take… It just is shitty.”
On Hidden Lowlights:
[07:22] Host 1: “Which someone in the Beach Boys camp might have willingly been like, yeah, let's not have this one show up on the Beach Boys list.”
On the Physical CD:
[10:30] Host 2: “Even the CD itself is ugly. It’s got, like, a fake leather wood pattern on it, that awful font.”

Key Timestamps

00:39 – Introduction to the Beach Boys album art ranking episode
01:10 – Explanation of worst-to-best ranking tradition
03:07 – Hosts discover their ranking synchronicity
04:43 – Debate: is bad album art objective?
06:54–10:40 – Deep analysis of the worst cover: "Stars and Stripes, Vol. 1" and segueing into the next-worst

Tone & Language

The hosts maintain their signature irreverent, witty banter, combining genuine affection for the Beach Boys with sharp, occasionally savage humor about misfires in their visual catalog. There is a playfulness in poking at odd design choices, balanced with respect for the high points.

Summary

This episode is a smart, funny, and unexpectedly thoughtful look at how album art matters, even for bands not remembered for iconic visuals. The hosts’ highly synchronized ranking reflects a shared critical sensibility—and an open-minded sense of fun—as they rip apart the worst covers and make a case for the genre-defining highs of the Beach Boys’ best artwork.

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Transcript61 lines

[00:00]
Host 1
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[00:40]
Host 2
Welcome back to Jokerman. All fans of images who listen to this audio only medium, get ready because we're going to be talking about stuff you can't see, but you can follow along with us.
[00:55]
Host 1
Maybe I'll put out a little supplementary post on for the Patreon members at least, you know, a visual aid for everyone to just have on their screen in front of them as they hear us. Countdown.
[01:06]
Host 2
Yes, the album covers of the Beach Boys.
[01:10]
Host 1
The best. Well, the worst to the best ranked. That's right. That's right. Everyone's favorite gimmick here on Jokerman Podcast. I think this is good. I like that. I think when we came up with this concept for Bob, we were just kind of trying to stretch the show as long as we could because we didn't know what we were gonna do once we were done with Bomb. But it feels like a tradition now. And honestly, I think that it's a worthy one because it's fun to talk about and album art is worth commenting upon. And I feel like oftentimes it gets short shrift or forgotten about when discussing some of these landmark albums.
[01:48]
Host 2
Yeah. Especially for a group where that isn't really the first thing you think about. There's ban. There's specific records that definitely are inseparable from their album cover. I'm talking about Dark side of the Moon, Empire Burlesque. Dark side of the Moon, Empire Burlesque. These are the covers.
[02:10]
Host 1
Classic dorm room type album covers.
[02:12]
Host 2
Everyone's got a big blacklight poster of Empire Burlesque. Burlesque, yeah.
[02:19]
Host 1
Anyway, album art, Beach Boys. Here we go.
[02:23]
Host 2
We're going from worst to best.
[02:24]
Host 1
Worst to best. That's right. I think we have 33. 33, yes. You missed a couple.
[02:33]
Host 2
So, yeah, I thought I maybe did. Well, there's some that aren't on Spotify. I was kind of just using Spotify to make a playlist of every album and then I could, like, easily move them around. I say as I ranked them. But yeah, of course, certain gems aren't on there. See. Or don't see, rather. Summer in Paradise.
[02:59]
Host 1
That's right, yes. Although you were sure to have Summer in Paradise on your list. In sort of a surprising position to me.
[03:06]
Host 2
Yeah. Well, hey, we'll get there.
[03:08]
Host 1
We'll get there. Yeah. In general, I think we had a lot of overlap. We actually had the identical top four in different order. It wasn't. It was. You know, my top four were in one order and your top four were another order. But it's the same four.
[03:22]
Host 2
Well, we can. At the end, we can give our. Our own top four.
[03:25]
Host 1
Yeah.
[03:26]
Host 2
Or I mean, our own top 10. So people know our slight differences. But overall, I was pretty astonished at how much they lined up and I especially surprising. Well, maybe it shouldn't be surprising at this point because you and I don't disagree that often about stuff matters Beach Boys, Ian. But the choices, the reasons why I put certain ones where I did on the ranking list were really mysterious even to me. But I just knew I had to put certain ones in certain areas of the ranking. And it is pretty interesting that you seem to have been guided by similar unseen forces.
[04:11]
Host 1
The same spirit. Exactly. The same auditory spirits that are haunting Brian Wilson and telling him that they're the devil and they're coming to kill him. They are. They are guiding both of us when we're determining which are the best. And actually, even the worst album art. We have the same letters. We had the same bottom four also.
[04:31]
Host 2
No way.
[04:31]
Host 1
The bottom four were actually in identical order. So even though the top four. It's the same four, but in different order, we had the same exact 1, 2, 3, 4, bottom four worst. So our cycles are aligned here.
[04:44]
Host 2
You know, art is always subjective, but maybe album art isn't. Maybe album art. There are certain things where it's just like the body itself is repelled in increasing levels.
[04:56]
Host 1
Yes.
[04:56]
Host 2
Yeah.
[04:57]
Host 1
I think that the Beach Boys album art is interesting because. Well, I think the best of the Beach Boys album art is fantastic and unique and I mean, we'll see when we get there our top four. But I think the worst beach, like, the worst Beach Boys cover art, album art is much, to me is much worse than like the worst Bob cover art, if that makes sense. Because, like, I think when we were ranking our Bob Dylan album covers, we. We would have had what we would had, like Fallen Angels towards the bottom. We would have had Knocked Out, Loaded down towards the bottom. I think we probably would have had, like, we actually. I think we had saved worst of all of them initially.
[05:35]
Host 2
That's ridiculous.
[05:36]
Host 1
Terrible call on our part. Yeah. But like, I think even then when we didn't understand the beauty of the saved album cover, the original saved album cover, the painting, the hands touching painting, not Bob blowing the harp on stage. The follow up version of the album art. Even then I think we would have recognized there's something going on here. And there's like, this is cool and it's weird and it's fucked up and it might be ugly to us again. It's beautiful now, but there's still something kind of interesting happening. And to me, the stuff at the bottom of this Beach Boys list is just.
[06:12]
Host 2
It's repellent.
[06:14]
Host 1
Yeah. It just sucks on its face. And there's like not even a contrarian kind of take or an interesting way to interrogate it. It just is shitty.
[06:21]
Host 2
It's depressing. Like, it's just kind of like bums you out to look at certain things.
[06:27]
Host 1
But it gets much better as you go on, obviously. And towards the top, I would maintain, I would submit that the best of the Boys album covers are as good as just about anyone else's best album covers. A couple in particular. But let's get started because we got a lot to count down. Worst of the Beach Boys album covers. We both chose it. Very bottom. I'm glad that we're on the same page here. Stars and Stripes, Volume one.
[06:55]
Host 2
Yeah. Well, this one is one that most people are spared because it doesn't really exist in any sort of. Nobody knows about this, first of all. I mean, and even if you do, it's not readily streaming everywhere anyway. I'm sure there's.
[07:13]
Host 1
I think it actually is streaming on Spotify, but it's not, is it?
[07:16]
Host 2
It's just listed as a.
[07:18]
Host 1
Various artists. Various artists, exactly. So it's not like on the Beach Boys page.
[07:22]
Host 2
Yeah.
[07:22]
Host 1
Which someone in the Beach Boys camp might have willingly been like, yeah, let's not have this one show up on the Beach Boys list. Let's just have this on the various artists page.
[07:30]
Host 2
We talked about this one at length in the episode about it, but I
[07:33]
Host 1
think that was what we spent most of the episode talking about because there was so little to talk about in terms of the.
[07:38]
Host 2
That and those interminable liner notes.
[07:41]
Host 1
The liner notes. Oh, God, yeah. That was fun. Yeah. I mean, it's just. It's terrible. I, like, I don't. I still don't. I'm looking at it again right now. I don't really even understand what the Concept is here. It's just like a. A weird, like, barn facade.
[07:56]
Host 2
Yeah, it's this. This folk art barn.
[08:00]
Host 1
Is this real? Is this a real thing or is this, like a draw? I don't even. I can't even tell. Is this like a drawing or is this, like a picture of a real thing?
[08:07]
Host 2
I. I don't know. I mean, it seems so specific. I hope it's real in a way, because the idea of somebody painting this meticulously is like a place I don't want to go. And mentally in my mind so much, but it exists. And boy, is it ugly.
[08:30]
Host 1
God, the Beach Boys. The way the Beach Boys is written
[08:33]
Host 2
up top in this frame. Like a wooden frame.
[08:36]
Host 1
Wooden frame.
[08:37]
Host 2
Thick, horrendous, very thick wooden frame, which does no favors to this, like, quite detailed picture because, say, this was the thing you wanted to have on the COVID At least make it, like, big enough that you can make out what it is. But because it's small, because of this thick frame visual device that they've put on here, it's even harder to tell what's going on. It looks just like a circuit board almost. It's just kind of like convoluted geometry. And it's very brown somehow. I mean, why couldn't they have made this just like, red, white, and blue?
[09:22]
Host 1
Yeah. For an album called Stars and Stripes, there are very few stripes, and there's almost no stars.
[09:28]
Host 2
You see a flag, but it's. The flag's cut off. Like, you don't even see all of Old Glory.
[09:33]
Host 1
That's right.
[09:34]
Host 2
Hanging.
[09:36]
Host 1
It just doesn't. It does not look like a Beach Boys album cover. And that, frankly, is maybe appropriate for the album because it isn't really a Beach Boys album, but it shows up on the official list, and so we gotta rank it somewhere, and it's here at the bottom. Yeah.
[09:49]
Host 2
If anyone doesn't remember what it was, this was the country music compilation or stars of country music doing Beach Boys songs. You got, you know, Toby Keith and a bunch of other Toby Keith and
[10:06]
Host 1
Willie Nelson and then just a bunch of completely forgotten nobodies that we were naming to each other on the podcast and just laughing just based at the names. Doug.
[10:18]
Host 2
Doug.
[10:18]
Host 1
Super na.
[10:19]
Host 2
Yeah, well, maybe he's somebody to his loved ones.
[10:25]
Host 1
Kathy Tricoli. Yeah. All right. Don't need to revisit that one anymore. Next one.
[10:31]
Host 2
Even the. The CD itself is ugly. It's got, like, a fake leather wood pattern on it, that awful font. Okay, moving on.
[10:41]
Host 1
Next one. 30. So this is place 32 on our list of 33 second worst. We both agreed on this as well, which I'm a little bit surprised that you had this one down so low, because I feel like I remember you speaking semi approvingly of it in the recent episode we had about it. That's why God Made the Radio.