Art Garfunkel wants to have FATE FOR BREAKFAST!

Voted for Duckface Garfunkel (the last one, with the price tags)

A croissant seems like not a bad fate.

I vote #6, with the pout.

always thought he was shooting himself on the 2nd one down. as a kid like. that was the one you saw in the UK. i'm assuming these were alt sleeves for different 'territories'?

As much as the rest of the world sees him as the quintessential second banana, he beats Paul in album-cover design.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9C53IEcg_0

Working as an impressionable young music nerd in training at a used record store at the naive age of nineteen, it was my job to maintain the vinyl stock. The inventory of this used store was fairly large, as it had been the only game in town for at least a decade and a half. The policy was to have two copies of every album in the artist's section, leaving the overstock on the shelves below the main bins. I would just start at at one side of the store and work my way through all of the sections. It took about four months to do a thorough maintenance on the entire store, so by the time I finished, it would be ready for another run-though. The rock section was the bulk of the store. During my hours laboring through the stacks, I encountered bands I had obviously heard before (like The Beatles), bands I had heard about but had never actually heard (like Pink Floyd) and bands that were a complete mystery to me (like Uriah Heep). As an employee, I was allowed to use the store's stock as my own personal library. In those days, I was mainly into jazz and R&B, but every once in a while, I would borrow some albums from the rock section, mostly out of curiosity. I would usually go by how enticing the cover was. I was intrigued by Fate for Breakfast, not only because I was unaware Garfunkel had his own albums past Bridge Over Troubled Water, but because it was the first example I became aware of where an album had multiple covers for the same music. And we had a lot of copies of this album. Multiple copies of all six variations. I thought to myself, "Wow, what a pioneer. This must be a really creative and interesting album if even the cover art has a concept." So, one Friday evening, I borrowed the album, looking forward to a weekend of rewarding listening.

I was wrong.

It was a difficult lesson learned, but it was painful enough to have stuck with me ever since. Cover art means nothing in relation to the music.

This is, without question, one of the worst albums I've ever subjected myself to willingly.

I didn't know about this, I'm guessing the UK didn't get sleeve variations.

I think no2 was the one we got..

Wow, didn't know about this either.

Yeah, as far as I can tell, the US got all the sleeve variations. Cover #2 seems to be the "default" cover for most territories (including the UK) although in other countries they opted to go for one of the other images.

bump!

give it up for the back cover. 'doubt for dessert'!

https://img.discogs.com/OpPy5DWebTpCX0nt2g_1qycaLA4=/fit-in/450x431/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1458501-1370593374-5866.jpeg.jpg

Omg

Awwww, he's still got the two ducks in there.

is this the one where he covers "Agua de Marzo"?

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Anyone remember the multi-cover Pocket Books paperback editions of The World According To Garp? This would have been 1979-1980.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I believe in Garp.

inclusion of "bright eyes" an unfair advantage i think

I believe in Garp too.

What's wrong with Orange Juice?

found the one that polled number 1 in a thrift store yesterday!!!11!! excellent. it's a smooth FUNKAY (well...) record, what was Art thinking :P

What's wrong with Orange Juice?

Timing!

(That took a while)

Artie Fufkin wants to have this thread for breakfast!

you guys heard this??
it's amazing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJca07HLqw0

seriously contemplated a beautiful copy of the 'orange juice' version for a while on saturday. just love that 70s apartment look. but it was like $7 and i couldn't really justify it just for the nice photograph.

what was garfunkel's critical rep at this point? or his pop-culture presence? his records are EVERYWHERE in used bins, so does that mean he had fans? were they just old 60s S&G holdovers, or did his smoothed-out AM gold sound actually capture a whole new audience?

he was the guy from S&G, and as such his occasional albums were met with moderate interest and success - however:
in the UK he had one-off number one singles on two separate occasions: “I Only Have Eyes For You” in 1975 (only #18 in the US) and most notably “Bright Eyes” (from the soundtrack of the Watership Down movie) in 1979. “Bright Eyes” was not only massive in the UK (biggest seller of the year), but also in the rest of Europe (biggest hit of ‘79 here in NL as well) and in places like Australia, New Zealand and South Africa - wouldn’t surprise me if it was big in lots of Asian markets as well. In America it did absolutely nothing (well, it did reach #29 in the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart)

And he's still mad about Bright Eyes' underperformance in the U.S. I saw him in concert a few years ago, which was really quite delightful even though he had obviously lost a good chunk of his range. Before he did Bright Eyes he vented a bit about how it was a worldwide hit but the record company didn't back it in the U.S. or something, I don't remember the specifics. But he was still pissed.

fascinating, thank you both!

i really like his cover of Stevie Wonder's "I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)." not sure i need whole albums of it though. listened to Fate For Breakfast today and don't remember anything except the lush-as-hell, Christopher Cross-esque production, and i think the last track found a cool hook somewhere near the end.

Fate for Breakfast? Check it out!

I did!

"Sleeping in the sand.
Our love was an endless dream,
No one could understand.
Just like pennies from heaven,

I know I cannot fail,
And I'm gonna Sail On A Rainbow.
I'm gonna dance all night in the rain.
I'll keep on sailin' on a rainbow"

Art Garfunkel sings Dio