Cream Wheels Of Fire Album Art

Cream Wheels Of Fire Album Art

'Wheels Of Fire,' the Cream album that introduced White Room and other classic performances, was new in UK record shops on August 9, 1968.
The cover art was created by Australian artist Martin Sharp who lived in the same building as Clapton, The Pheasantry in Chelsea. Sharp would go on to create the artwork to Cream's next album Wheels of Fire and co-wrote the songs ' Tales of Brave Ulysses ' and The Savage Seven movie theme 'Anyone for Tennis' with Clapton.
Aug 1, 2013 - Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
Wheels of Fire is the third album by the British rock band Cream. It was released in August 1968 as a two-disc vinyl LP, with one disc recorded in the studio. Disraeli Gears is also noted for Martin Sharp's psychedelic cover art. Wheels of Fire was Cream's third album and their first double album, the first disc with studio tracks and the second with live tracks performed in San Francisco. It topped the American charts and became the world's first platinum-selling double album.
 Favourite Auctions 
 To save auctions to your favourites, please  login  If you don't have an account, please  register 
save auction 
Description All my records have been cleaned and visually graded as accurately as possible. If you're not completely satisfied with your purchase, please contact me for a refund. Will combine shipping on multiple purchases! Thanks for looking!
Wheels of FireStudio album / Live album by CreamReleasedAugust 1968RecordedVarious[show]Genre
Psychedelic rock
blues rock
hard rock
acid rock
Length82:24LabelPolydor
Atco
ProducerFelix PappalardiCream chronologyDisraeli Gears
(1967)Wheels of Fire
(1968)Goodbye
(1969)Singles from Wheels of Fire'White Room'
Released: November 1968
'Crossroads (Live)'
Released: January 1969
Wheels of Fire is the third album by the British rock band Cream. It was released in 1968 as a two-disc vinyl LP, with one disc recorded in the studio and the other recorded live. It reached #3 in the United Kingdom and #1 in the United States, becoming the first platinum-selling double album. In May 2012 it was ranked number 205 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
It was also released as two single long-players, Wheels of Fire (In the Studio) and Wheels of Fire (Live at the Fillmore), released together with similar cover art. In the UK the studio album art was black print on aluminium foil while the live album art was a negative image of the studio cover. In Japan the studio album art was black on gold foil while the live album art was black on aluminium foil. In Australia both covers were laminated copies of the Japanese releases (the double album was never released in Australia).
RecordingCream's third album was planned to be a double album on which Atco Records' producer Felix Pappalardi and the group would include several live performances. The group and Pappalardi had, in July and August 1967, recorded studio material at IBC Studios in London, and at Atlantic Studios in New York City during September and October of the same year. Additional studio material was recorded at Atlantic Studios in January and February 1968, during a break from the band's heavy tour schedule. The following month, Pappalardi ordered for a mobile recording studio in Los Angeles to be shipped to the Fillmore auditorium and the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. Six shows were recorded in San Francisco by Pappalardi and recording engineer Bill Halverson, and extra performances not included on Wheels of Fire ended up on Live Cream, and Live Cream Volume II.
Amazon Cream Wheels Of Fire

Production and artworkThe recording engineers on disc one were Tom Dowd and Adrian Barber, the songs on disc two were recorded by Bill Halverson and the performances on the second disc were mixed by Adrian Barber. The artwork for the album was by Martin Sharp who had also done the artwork for Disraeli Gears. The photography was by Jim Marshall.
SongsThe band's drummer Ginger Baker co-wrote three songs for the album with pianist Mike Taylor. Bassist Jack Bruce co-wrote four songs with poet Pete Brown. Guitarist Eric Clapton contributed to the album by choosing two cover songs.
Age of empires 2 download full version. No-CD & No-DVD Patch troubleshooting: The most common problem getting a No-CD/No-DVD patch to work is ensuring that the No-CD/No-DVD patch matches you're game version, because the games exe is changed when a patch update is applied previous versions won't work.
For the second disc Felix Pappalardi chose 'Traintime' because it featured Jack Bruce performing a harmonica solo, and 'Toad' because it features Ginger Baker's drumming while 'Spoonful' and 'Crossroads' were used to showcase Eric Clapton's guitar-playing.
Professional ratingsReview scoresSourceRatingRolling StonemixedAllMusicTrack listingDisc oneIn the StudioSide oneNo.TitleLength1.'White Room3' (Jack Bruce, Pete Brown)4:582.'Sitting on Top of the World' (Walter Vinson, Lonnie Chatmon; arr. Chester Burnett)4:583.'Passing the Time13' (Ginger Baker, Mike Taylor)4:314.'As You Said' (Bruce, Brown)4:20Side 2No.TitleLength1.'Pressed Rat and Warthog' (Baker, Taylor)3:132.'Politician3' (Bruce, Brown)4:123.'Those Were the Days3' (Baker, Taylor)2:534.'Born Under a Bad Sign3' (Booker T. Jones, William Bell)3:095.'Deserted Cities of the Heart23' (Bruce, Brown)3:38Disc twoLive at the FillmoreSide threeNo.TitleRecording dateLength1.'Crossroads' (Robert Johnson, arr. Clapton)10 March 1968 at Winterland, San Francisco, CA. (1st show)4:132.'Spoonful' (Willie Dixon)10 March 1968 at Winterland, San Francisco, CA. (1st show)16:43Side 4No.TitleRecording dateLength1.'Traintime4' (Bruce)8 March 1968 at Winterland, San Francisco, CA. (1st show)7:012.'Toad' (Baker)7 March 1968 at The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA. (2nd show)16:15Performers on disc one are 'the Cream quartet' consisting of Clapton, Baker, and Bruce together with Felix Pappalardi, who plays many different instruments and is also credited with production.
^Note 1: Some pressings of this album contain an unedited version of 'Passing the Time'. This 'long version' is extended by 73 seconds and was included on the gold CD issued by DCC Compact Classics. The 'extended version' included on Those Were the Days was edited to be an additional 7 seconds longer.
^Note 2: Original U.S. pressings of Wheels of Fire incorrectly listed the running time of 'Deserted Cities of the Heart' at 4:36.
^Note 3: Side 1 tracks 1 and 3 and Side 2 tracks 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the studio album were processed with the Haeco-CSG system. Also processed was 'Anyone for Tennis', which was recorded at the same sessions and appears on some versions of the album. Haeco-CSG was intended to make stereo recordings that were fully compatible with mono playback equipment. The unfortunate side effect is that it 'blurs' the stereo imaging of musical parts mixed to the phantom centre channel. Using modern digital audio processing software it is possible to reverse the Haeco-CSG effect.
During the 10 March first set, 'Spoonful' preceded 'Crossroads', and though it seems as though 'Traintime' aurally precedes 'Toad', 'Traintime' was recorded a day later, and expertly edited to seamlessly blend into the introduction to 'Toad'.
While the disc is labelled Live at the Fillmore, only 'Toad' was recorded at The Fillmore. The other tracks were recorded live at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco.
^Note 4: Original album pressings list 'John Group' as the author of 'Traintime'. The 'John Group' appellation dates back to Jack Bruce's tenure with the Graham Bond Organisation (with whom Bruce originally recorded the song in 1965), and was used by that band to ensure that members other than Bond received songwriting royalties.[8] The song is based on a vintage blues by Peter Chatman.

Australian artist Martin Sharp (1942-2013) is perhaps most famous for the record covers he produced for the rock supergroup Cream - Disraeli Gears (1967) and Wheels of Fire (1968). Both sold in large numbers throughout the world and sales continue to this day, as does the acclaim of both the music contained therein and the album covers. The classic nature of the band Cream and their two albums ensures that both Martin Sharp's artwork, and his two songs with the band - Tales of Brave Ulysses and Anyone for Tennis - will remain in the public mind for many years to come. For example, the Classic Album television series in 2006 featured Disreali Gears and the subsequent Bluray / DVD disc not only included Martin Sharp's art on the cover, but two sections in which he is interviewed and describes his involvement in the production of the cover artwork and also his co-writing with Eric Clapton of the song Tales of Brave Ulysses for that album. Clapton's interview as broadcast and a fuller outtake also referred to collaboration between the two young men. Apart from the more famous Cream albums, Sharp produced album and compact disc cover art from 1967 through to 2003 for a variety of Australian and overseas artists. A list of known examples is included below, including covers directly influenced by him, or involving him in part. These artworks chart the artist's changing styles, adaptability, and ongoing fondness for popular music. An album issued in 2014 by his friend and former performer at the Yellow House, Mic Conway, also features artwork by Sharp, as does a 2017 Apple iTunes compilation of music from Tiny Tim.

1. Disraeli Gears 1967 / Cream, November 1967, single 33 1/3 12' LP. Issued by Polydor in the UK and ATCO (Atlantic) in the US. Sharp's art features on the front and rear cover, incorporating photographs taken by his friend and fellow Australian Bob Whitaker alongside various collage elements. 

According to Martin Sharp when interviewed in 2006: 'The cover for Disraeli Gears is my best known work to date. Commissioned by Eric Clapton when we were sharing the studio at The Pheasantry, it is a collage coloured with flourescent paints. I was aiming to reproduce visually the warm electric sound of Cream. Included in this album is the song I wrote down for Eric, Tales of Brave Ulysses.' (Electric Banana, 48). The original cover art also featured in a box set of Cream music issued during 2006. Prior to his death in 2013 Sharp was associated with the production of lithographic copies of the original cover artwork in a series of signed and unsigned limited edition prints.

2. Wheels of Fire 1968 / Cream, August 1968, double album with gatefold cover, 2 x 33 1/3 12' LPs. Sharp's art features on the front and rear covers and within the inner gatefold section of the American release on ATCO. The cover image was printed in black ink on silver foil-coated board for the US release. It is pure psychedelia. The two albums - live and in the studio - were also issued individually outside of the US. An associated songbook, featuring music from both Disraeli Gears and Wheels of Fire, and with the latter album's art, appeared during the late 1960s.

Front cover.
Rear cover.
Abraxas (detail). Inner gatefold sleeve, US release.
Sharp noted the following in regards to the album artwork: 'The original release was a fold-out. A black line drawing printed on silver foil. The inside was two large flourescent eyes surrounded by the titles of the songs and production details. The idea of the three heads in one was inspired by my visit to Ankor Thom, a town near Angkor Wat. The original drawing was done at the same size, 12' x 24' in black ink on white paper at The Pheasantry.' (Electric Banana, 51). A number of variants appeared with the initial release, including a reverse print for the British studio album and featuring black on silver (reproduced below); black on gold covers for the Australian and Asian releases (reproduced below); and black on blue covers for the South American releases of both individual LPs and cassettes.
'
Rear of English studio LP cover - reverse silver on black.

3. Mighty Baby 1969 / Mighty Baby, United Kingdom, single LP. The design by Sharp was based upon a famous comic drawing from 1949 of Tarzan fighting with a lion, by Bourne Hogarth. This original image has subsequently been reproduced and adapted in a number of comics. Sharp's unique interpretation of the work features a mix of psyhedelic bubbles and red ink in a rather violent explosion of colour, almost obliterating the enraged lion at the centre of the image. The album and original cover art were rereleased during 2012. Sharp reused the Hogard image in a full page illustration for The Living Daylights magazine during 1973.

Martin Sharp, Mighty Baby, front cover, 1969 and reissue 2016.
 Burne Hogarth comic strip, with original drawing of Tarzan fighting a lion, 1949.

Martin Sharp, The Pilgrim's Progress? Numba 3, The Living Daylights, December 1973.

4. Ginger Baker's Airforce 1970 / Polydor, United Kingdom and ATCO, United States. Double album with gatefold cover. Sharp's art features on the multi-coloured cover and within the gatefold silver and bronze. 

The art is very much related to the surrealist work Sharp was producing during the period 1968-70 and as evidenced in the series of mylar-printed posters - termed S'martiples - produced for Big O posters around that time. Some of the elements of the Airforce album cover had appeared before as incidental pieces in OZ magazine. For example, the running men figures featured on the famous Mick Jagger cover of OZ number 15 from 1968, whilst Sharp's adaptation of Hokusai's great wave appeared on the cover of Richard Neville's book Play Power of 1970. The large round face featured in a Big O poster of 1969 which commemorated the Apollo 11 landing on the moon. The monochrome inner gatefold image is reminiscent of the Wheels of Fire cover of 1968, being a psychedelic drawing reproduced in black ink on silver. It is likely that the artwork for this album was completed during 1968 whilst Sharp was resident in London, prior to returning to Australia at the end of that year.

5.Freefall through featherless flight 1973 / Jeannie Lewis, Australia, EMI, 1973, single LP. Jeannie Lewis was an Australian singer and songwriter and lifelong friend of the artist. She sang at his funeral in December 2013. The bubbling, psychedelic cover image harks back to Sharp's work in London between 1967-8. 
A monotone (red on white) version was produced for the local Australian World Record Club release.

6. Cameleon 1980 / Tiny Tim, Australia, single LP. Also available in a Special Edition.

7. Luna Park Song 1980 / Alistair Jones / Tiny Tim, Noive & Voive No.1, EMI Custom Records, Sydney, 7' single. Tracks: 1) Luna Park Song, Alistair Jones, 2.26; 2) Wind in the Willows, Tiny Tim. Recorded at Luna Park by Simon Townsend's Wonderworld, 9 May 1980.

8. The Venetian Twins 1981 / The Venetian Twins, Australia, single LP. A number of posters reproduce the image which features on the cover of the album.

9. Bop Til Ya Drop 1984 / The Delltones, Australia, single LP. Art by Martin Sharp for this Australian rock and roll vocal group.

10. Persecution Games 1984 / Lowell Tarling and Robert Wolfgramm, Australia, single LP. This album cover was drawn following the disastrous fire at Luna Park, Sydney in 1979 and the death of five young boys and a father. It also references the death of Azaria Chamberlain, taken by a dingo at Ayers Rock in 1981. Variants of this grim depiction of the Luna Park face were produced by the artist.

11-13. Regular Records Greatest Hits / Boxed Set / Hits that Missed 1979-1989 / Australia, CD and box set covers with variants. Sharp's art features a band comprising three Boofhead characters. Boofhead was an Australian cartoon character who featured in a number of Sharp's works from the 1960s onwards. Sharp was attracted to his larrikin, naive nature.

14. The Night I Taught Myself to Sing 1989 / The Volares, United States. Album cover in a similar style to Martin Sharp's psychedelic artwork of 1967-8, as featured on Cream's Wheels of Fire. A variant in pink and white is also known.

15. Strange Brew 1993 / Dog Trumpet, Australia. Cover for 5 track CD. Signed by Martin Sharp 'S' lower right. Featuring a cover of the Cream song Strange Brew, from the Disraeli Gears album. Dog Trumpet included musician and artist Reg Mombasa whose style in part reflects the influence of Martin Sharp. Monbasa's art is well known via the Mambo graphic art and clothing label. 

16. Rock 1993 / Tiny Tim, Regular Records, Australia, CD. This album was produced by Martin Sharp, as was the cover, and included a collection of rock and rock n' roll songs by Tiny Tim.
17. I Luv Rock n Roll / Highway to Hell 1993 / Tiny Tim, iTunes. Two songs from the 1993 Rock album.

18. Tiny Tim's Christmas Album / 1995, Durtro, UK, CD. Featuring a collection of 12 Christmas-themed songs. 

19. Straight Over the Moon 1996 / Francis Angelica Greening, Sydney, CD. Photographs by Greg Weight; artwork by Tim Lewis and title lettering by Martin Sharp. The album has been reissued with artwork variations and Frances Greening's name changed to Angelica Frances (now known as Angelica Tremblay).

20. Rockin' & A Boppin' - Their 20 Greatest Original Hits 1998 / The Delltones, Rino Records, Australia.

21. Ringside 2003 / Cold Chisel, Australia. 2 CD live album. The circus-theme adopted by Cold Chisel for this album and tour was something which Martin Sharp was attracted too, following on his long association with Sydney's Luna Park and the carnival aspects of his art which manifested during the 1960s. As far as is known this was the last artwork Sharp produced for a music or audio-recording cd cover.
22. Stardust 2007 / Tiny Tim, Zero Communications, Japan, n.d., CD. Best of album. The art by Martin Sharp is a variant of one of his famous Nimrod set of posters (The Invitation 1992), with this one featuring the head of Ginger Meggs replaced with a painter's paint board and brushes. Sharp saw Tiny Tim as an artist very much similar to him in taking the work of past masters and bringing them to a new audience via devices such as collage.

23.

Poverty Deluxe 2012 / Backsliders, CD. The cover image by Martin Sharp is a variation on his Pentecost painting and screen print of 1986-2006, featuring elements of works by Vincent Van Gogh and Henri Matisse.
24. Diagonally Parked in a Parallel Universe 2014 / Mic Conway's National Junk Band, CD. Cover art reproduction of a Martin Sharp painting entitled Art Galaxy.

Acknowledgements - In the compilation of this listing I would especially like to acknowledge the assistance of Roger Foley, Lowell Tarling and the many others who have listed Martin's work over the years. Also thank you to Roz Sharp and The Street of Dreams Martin Sharp Trust Ltd. - email: martinsharptrust@gmail.com.

Cream Wheels Of Fire AlbumMichael Organ
Last updated: 20 November 2019

Production and artworkThe recording engineers on disc one were Tom Dowd and Adrian Barber, the songs on disc two were recorded by Bill Halverson and the performances on the second disc were mixed by Adrian Barber. The artwork for the album was by Martin Sharp who had also done the artwork for Disraeli Gears. The photography was by Jim Marshall.
SongsThe band's drummer Ginger Baker co-wrote three songs for the album with pianist Mike Taylor. Bassist Jack Bruce co-wrote four songs with poet Pete Brown. Guitarist Eric Clapton contributed to the album by choosing two cover songs.
Age of empires 2 download full version. No-CD & No-DVD Patch troubleshooting: The most common problem getting a No-CD/No-DVD patch to work is ensuring that the No-CD/No-DVD patch matches you're game version, because the games exe is changed when a patch update is applied previous versions won't work.
For the second disc Felix Pappalardi chose 'Traintime' because it featured Jack Bruce performing a harmonica solo, and 'Toad' because it features Ginger Baker's drumming while 'Spoonful' and 'Crossroads' were used to showcase Eric Clapton's guitar-playing.
Professional ratingsReview scoresSourceRatingRolling StonemixedAllMusicTrack listingDisc oneIn the StudioSide oneNo.TitleLength1.'White Room3' (Jack Bruce, Pete Brown)4:582.'Sitting on Top of the World' (Walter Vinson, Lonnie Chatmon; arr. Chester Burnett)4:583.'Passing the Time13' (Ginger Baker, Mike Taylor)4:314.'As You Said' (Bruce, Brown)4:20Side 2No.TitleLength1.'Pressed Rat and Warthog' (Baker, Taylor)3:132.'Politician3' (Bruce, Brown)4:123.'Those Were the Days3' (Baker, Taylor)2:534.'Born Under a Bad Sign3' (Booker T. Jones, William Bell)3:095.'Deserted Cities of the Heart23' (Bruce, Brown)3:38Disc twoLive at the FillmoreSide threeNo.TitleRecording dateLength1.'Crossroads' (Robert Johnson, arr. Clapton)10 March 1968 at Winterland, San Francisco, CA. (1st show)4:132.'Spoonful' (Willie Dixon)10 March 1968 at Winterland, San Francisco, CA. (1st show)16:43Side 4No.TitleRecording dateLength1.'Traintime4' (Bruce)8 March 1968 at Winterland, San Francisco, CA. (1st show)7:012.'Toad' (Baker)7 March 1968 at The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA. (2nd show)16:15Performers on disc one are 'the Cream quartet' consisting of Clapton, Baker, and Bruce together with Felix Pappalardi, who plays many different instruments and is also credited with production.
^Note 1: Some pressings of this album contain an unedited version of 'Passing the Time'. This 'long version' is extended by 73 seconds and was included on the gold CD issued by DCC Compact Classics. The 'extended version' included on Those Were the Days was edited to be an additional 7 seconds longer.
^Note 2: Original U.S. pressings of Wheels of Fire incorrectly listed the running time of 'Deserted Cities of the Heart' at 4:36.
^Note 3: Side 1 tracks 1 and 3 and Side 2 tracks 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the studio album were processed with the Haeco-CSG system. Also processed was 'Anyone for Tennis', which was recorded at the same sessions and appears on some versions of the album. Haeco-CSG was intended to make stereo recordings that were fully compatible with mono playback equipment. The unfortunate side effect is that it 'blurs' the stereo imaging of musical parts mixed to the phantom centre channel. Using modern digital audio processing software it is possible to reverse the Haeco-CSG effect.
During the 10 March first set, 'Spoonful' preceded 'Crossroads', and though it seems as though 'Traintime' aurally precedes 'Toad', 'Traintime' was recorded a day later, and expertly edited to seamlessly blend into the introduction to 'Toad'.
While the disc is labelled Live at the Fillmore, only 'Toad' was recorded at The Fillmore. The other tracks were recorded live at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco.
^Note 4: Original album pressings list 'John Group' as the author of 'Traintime'. The 'John Group' appellation dates back to Jack Bruce's tenure with the Graham Bond Organisation (with whom Bruce originally recorded the song in 1965), and was used by that band to ensure that members other than Bond received songwriting royalties.[8] The song is based on a vintage blues by Peter Chatman.

Australian artist Martin Sharp (1942-2013) is perhaps most famous for the record covers he produced for the rock supergroup Cream - Disraeli Gears (1967) and Wheels of Fire (1968). Both sold in large numbers throughout the world and sales continue to this day, as does the acclaim of both the music contained therein and the album covers. The classic nature of the band Cream and their two albums ensures that both Martin Sharp's artwork, and his two songs with the band - Tales of Brave Ulysses and Anyone for Tennis - will remain in the public mind for many years to come. For example, the Classic Album television series in 2006 featured Disreali Gears and the subsequent Bluray / DVD disc not only included Martin Sharp's art on the cover, but two sections in which he is interviewed and describes his involvement in the production of the cover artwork and also his co-writing with Eric Clapton of the song Tales of Brave Ulysses for that album. Clapton's interview as broadcast and a fuller outtake also referred to collaboration between the two young men. Apart from the more famous Cream albums, Sharp produced album and compact disc cover art from 1967 through to 2003 for a variety of Australian and overseas artists. A list of known examples is included below, including covers directly influenced by him, or involving him in part. These artworks chart the artist's changing styles, adaptability, and ongoing fondness for popular music. An album issued in 2014 by his friend and former performer at the Yellow House, Mic Conway, also features artwork by Sharp, as does a 2017 Apple iTunes compilation of music from Tiny Tim.

1. Disraeli Gears 1967 / Cream, November 1967, single 33 1/3 12' LP. Issued by Polydor in the UK and ATCO (Atlantic) in the US. Sharp's art features on the front and rear cover, incorporating photographs taken by his friend and fellow Australian Bob Whitaker alongside various collage elements. 

According to Martin Sharp when interviewed in 2006: 'The cover for Disraeli Gears is my best known work to date. Commissioned by Eric Clapton when we were sharing the studio at The Pheasantry, it is a collage coloured with flourescent paints. I was aiming to reproduce visually the warm electric sound of Cream. Included in this album is the song I wrote down for Eric, Tales of Brave Ulysses.' (Electric Banana, 48). The original cover art also featured in a box set of Cream music issued during 2006. Prior to his death in 2013 Sharp was associated with the production of lithographic copies of the original cover artwork in a series of signed and unsigned limited edition prints.

2. Wheels of Fire 1968 / Cream, August 1968, double album with gatefold cover, 2 x 33 1/3 12' LPs. Sharp's art features on the front and rear covers and within the inner gatefold section of the American release on ATCO. The cover image was printed in black ink on silver foil-coated board for the US release. It is pure psychedelia. The two albums - live and in the studio - were also issued individually outside of the US. An associated songbook, featuring music from both Disraeli Gears and Wheels of Fire, and with the latter album's art, appeared during the late 1960s.

Front cover.
Rear cover.
Abraxas (detail). Inner gatefold sleeve, US release.
Sharp noted the following in regards to the album artwork: 'The original release was a fold-out. A black line drawing printed on silver foil. The inside was two large flourescent eyes surrounded by the titles of the songs and production details. The idea of the three heads in one was inspired by my visit to Ankor Thom, a town near Angkor Wat. The original drawing was done at the same size, 12' x 24' in black ink on white paper at The Pheasantry.' (Electric Banana, 51). A number of variants appeared with the initial release, including a reverse print for the British studio album and featuring black on silver (reproduced below); black on gold covers for the Australian and Asian releases (reproduced below); and black on blue covers for the South American releases of both individual LPs and cassettes.
'
Rear of English studio LP cover - reverse silver on black.

3. Mighty Baby 1969 / Mighty Baby, United Kingdom, single LP. The design by Sharp was based upon a famous comic drawing from 1949 of Tarzan fighting with a lion, by Bourne Hogarth. This original image has subsequently been reproduced and adapted in a number of comics. Sharp's unique interpretation of the work features a mix of psyhedelic bubbles and red ink in a rather violent explosion of colour, almost obliterating the enraged lion at the centre of the image. The album and original cover art were rereleased during 2012. Sharp reused the Hogard image in a full page illustration for The Living Daylights magazine during 1973.

Martin Sharp, Mighty Baby, front cover, 1969 and reissue 2016.
 Burne Hogarth comic strip, with original drawing of Tarzan fighting a lion, 1949.

Martin Sharp, The Pilgrim's Progress? Numba 3, The Living Daylights, December 1973.

4. Ginger Baker's Airforce 1970 / Polydor, United Kingdom and ATCO, United States. Double album with gatefold cover. Sharp's art features on the multi-coloured cover and within the gatefold silver and bronze. 

The art is very much related to the surrealist work Sharp was producing during the period 1968-70 and as evidenced in the series of mylar-printed posters - termed S'martiples - produced for Big O posters around that time. Some of the elements of the Airforce album cover had appeared before as incidental pieces in OZ magazine. For example, the running men figures featured on the famous Mick Jagger cover of OZ number 15 from 1968, whilst Sharp's adaptation of Hokusai's great wave appeared on the cover of Richard Neville's book Play Power of 1970. The large round face featured in a Big O poster of 1969 which commemorated the Apollo 11 landing on the moon. The monochrome inner gatefold image is reminiscent of the Wheels of Fire cover of 1968, being a psychedelic drawing reproduced in black ink on silver. It is likely that the artwork for this album was completed during 1968 whilst Sharp was resident in London, prior to returning to Australia at the end of that year.

5.Freefall through featherless flight 1973 / Jeannie Lewis, Australia, EMI, 1973, single LP. Jeannie Lewis was an Australian singer and songwriter and lifelong friend of the artist. She sang at his funeral in December 2013. The bubbling, psychedelic cover image harks back to Sharp's work in London between 1967-8. 
A monotone (red on white) version was produced for the local Australian World Record Club release.

6. Cameleon 1980 / Tiny Tim, Australia, single LP. Also available in a Special Edition.

7. Luna Park Song 1980 / Alistair Jones / Tiny Tim, Noive & Voive No.1, EMI Custom Records, Sydney, 7' single. Tracks: 1) Luna Park Song, Alistair Jones, 2.26; 2) Wind in the Willows, Tiny Tim. Recorded at Luna Park by Simon Townsend's Wonderworld, 9 May 1980.

8. The Venetian Twins 1981 / The Venetian Twins, Australia, single LP. A number of posters reproduce the image which features on the cover of the album.

9. Bop Til Ya Drop 1984 / The Delltones, Australia, single LP. Art by Martin Sharp for this Australian rock and roll vocal group.

10. Persecution Games 1984 / Lowell Tarling and Robert Wolfgramm, Australia, single LP. This album cover was drawn following the disastrous fire at Luna Park, Sydney in 1979 and the death of five young boys and a father. It also references the death of Azaria Chamberlain, taken by a dingo at Ayers Rock in 1981. Variants of this grim depiction of the Luna Park face were produced by the artist.

11-13. Regular Records Greatest Hits / Boxed Set / Hits that Missed 1979-1989 / Australia, CD and box set covers with variants. Sharp's art features a band comprising three Boofhead characters. Boofhead was an Australian cartoon character who featured in a number of Sharp's works from the 1960s onwards. Sharp was attracted to his larrikin, naive nature.

14. The Night I Taught Myself to Sing 1989 / The Volares, United States. Album cover in a similar style to Martin Sharp's psychedelic artwork of 1967-8, as featured on Cream's Wheels of Fire. A variant in pink and white is also known.

15. Strange Brew 1993 / Dog Trumpet, Australia. Cover for 5 track CD. Signed by Martin Sharp 'S' lower right. Featuring a cover of the Cream song Strange Brew, from the Disraeli Gears album. Dog Trumpet included musician and artist Reg Mombasa whose style in part reflects the influence of Martin Sharp. Monbasa's art is well known via the Mambo graphic art and clothing label. 

16. Rock 1993 / Tiny Tim, Regular Records, Australia, CD. This album was produced by Martin Sharp, as was the cover, and included a collection of rock and rock n' roll songs by Tiny Tim.
17. I Luv Rock n Roll / Highway to Hell 1993 / Tiny Tim, iTunes. Two songs from the 1993 Rock album.

18. Tiny Tim's Christmas Album / 1995, Durtro, UK, CD. Featuring a collection of 12 Christmas-themed songs. 

19. Straight Over the Moon 1996 / Francis Angelica Greening, Sydney, CD. Photographs by Greg Weight; artwork by Tim Lewis and title lettering by Martin Sharp. The album has been reissued with artwork variations and Frances Greening's name changed to Angelica Frances (now known as Angelica Tremblay).

20. Rockin' & A Boppin' - Their 20 Greatest Original Hits 1998 / The Delltones, Rino Records, Australia.

21. Ringside 2003 / Cold Chisel, Australia. 2 CD live album. The circus-theme adopted by Cold Chisel for this album and tour was something which Martin Sharp was attracted too, following on his long association with Sydney's Luna Park and the carnival aspects of his art which manifested during the 1960s. As far as is known this was the last artwork Sharp produced for a music or audio-recording cd cover.
22. Stardust 2007 / Tiny Tim, Zero Communications, Japan, n.d., CD. Best of album. The art by Martin Sharp is a variant of one of his famous Nimrod set of posters (The Invitation 1992), with this one featuring the head of Ginger Meggs replaced with a painter's paint board and brushes. Sharp saw Tiny Tim as an artist very much similar to him in taking the work of past masters and bringing them to a new audience via devices such as collage.

23. Poverty Deluxe 2012 / Backsliders, CD. The cover image by Martin Sharp is a variation on his Pentecost painting and screen print of 1986-2006, featuring elements of works by Vincent Van Gogh and Henri Matisse.
24. Diagonally Parked in a Parallel Universe 2014 / Mic Conway's National Junk Band, CD. Cover art reproduction of a Martin Sharp painting entitled Art Galaxy.

Acknowledgements - In the compilation of this listing I would especially like to acknowledge the assistance of Roger Foley, Lowell Tarling and the many others who have listed Martin's work over the years. Also thank you to Roz Sharp and The Street of Dreams Martin Sharp Trust Ltd. - email: martinsharptrust@gmail.com.

Cream Wheels Of Fire AlbumMichael Organ
Last updated: 20 November 2019