“Sorry. Cover by Edward Ruscha.”
Clockwise from top left: Paul McCartney III (2020), 7” single for Dreaming of Paris by Van Dyke Parks (2011), Music by Mason Williams (1969) and Talking Heads’ Sand in the Vaseline (1992).
“Sorry. Cover by Edward Ruscha.” was Pop artist Ed Ruscha’s (b. 1937) apologetic credit on Mason Williams 1969 album Music. Ruscha has been creating playful typographic paintings since the 1950s, with Standard Station perhaps being his most famous. The font on the cover of McCartney III, called Boy Scout Utility Modern, was created by Ruscha in 1981 and became his signature font, used in many of his so-called word paintings.
Whilst nowhere near as good as its predecessors McCartney (1970) and McCartney II (1980), McCartney III, Macca’s lockdown album, still embodies the DIY ethos of the earlier two LPs and it’s his best release for years. Although only released in December last year, there is already a remix/covers album of McCartney III, out next month. Entitled McCartney III Imagined, it contains mixes by artists including St Vincent, Damon Albarn and Beck.