Thursday, June 23, 2022

Music Album Covers with Elephants on Them

Mosaic of 25 album covers with elephants on them.
A mosaic of 25 music album covers with elephants on them.


Here’s a tribute to the large existing land animal, the elephant. These 25 music album covers feature elephants on them. Some covers are fantastical – as in Osibisa’s* two covers, some feature elephants on the march – as in the Allman Brothers and Elvis Costello covers, and some feature elephants in precarious positions – as in Hannibal and the Flower Kings’ covers. We also include two albums with Ganesha, the Hindu deity represented with an elephant head. Genesha is featured on MC Yogi’s 2008 “Elephant Power” and the 2008 soundtrack “Sita Sings the Blues”. The latter album is really an interesting listening experience.

* There can be a blog post just on Osibisa's elephant-themed album covers. 

Three living species of elephant are currently recognized: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They say to distinguish between African and Asian elephants you can look at the ears. African elephants have larger ears that have the shape more or less of the African continent, while Asian elephants have smaller, round ears. Figuring out which elephant is featured on the albums covers is left as an exercise to the reader.  Part II with more elephants is here: Music Album Covers with Elephants on Them – Part II.

1968 The Band – Music from Big Pink
1971 Osibisa – Osibisa
1972 Osibisa – Heads
1975 Hannibal and the Sunrise Orchestra - Hannibal
1979 Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Armed Forces

1979 Khaliq Al-Rouf & Salaam - Elephant Trot Dance
1979 Herbie Hancock – Directstep
1979 Khaliq Al-Rouf & Salaam - Elephant Trot Dance
1980 Elephant - On My Feet Again
1983 Elephant – Elephant

1990 Victoria Williams – Swing the Statue!
1990 World Party – Goodbye Dumbo
1998 Clutch - The Elephant Riders
2003 The Allman Brothers – Hittin' the Note
2004 Jami Sieber – Hidden Sky

2005 Mina – Bula Bula
2005 Various Artists - Late Night Tales: The Flaming Lips
2008 Various Artists - Sita Sings the Blues – Original Soundtrack
2008 MC Yogi – Elephant Power
2011 The Sea and Cake – The Moonlight Butterfly

2013 Béla Fleck, Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Giancarlo Guerrero, Brooklyn Rider - The Imposter
2014 Nico & Vinz - Black Star Elephant
2017 Degiheugi – Bagatelle
2018 Ichiro Fujiya, Takeshi Kurihara - Elephant and a barbar
2019 The Flower Kings – Waiting for Miracles


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