IN: The Cars are an American rock band that emerged from the new wave scene in the late 1970s. The band originated in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1976, with singer, rhythm guitarist, and songwriter Ric Ocasek; singer, songwriter and bassist Benjamin Orr; lead guitarist Elliot Easton; keyboardist Greg Hawkes; and drummer David Robinson. The Cars were at the forefront in merging 1970s guitar-oriented rock with the new synthesizer-oriented pop that was then becoming popular and which would flourish in the early 1980s. Robert Palmer, music critic for The New York Times and Rolling Stone, described the Cars' musical style by saying: "they have taken some important but disparate contemporary trends--punk minimalism, the labyrinthine synthesizer and guitar textures of art rock, the '50s rockabilly revival and the melodious terseness of power pop--and mixed them into a personal and appealing blend."

Before the Cars, members of the band performed together in several different incarnations. Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr met in Cleveland, Ohio in the 1960s after Ocasek saw Orr performing with his band the Grasshoppers on the Big 5 Show, a local musical variety program. The two were in various bands in Columbus, Ohio and Ann Arbor, Michigan before re-locating to Boston in the early 1970s. In Boston, Ocasek and Orr, along with lead guitarist Jas Goodkind, formed a Crosby, Stills and Nash-style folk rock band called Milkwood. They released one album, How's the Weather, on Paramount Records in 1973 that failed to chart.  After Milkwood, Ocasek and Orr formed the group Richard and the Rabbits, whose name was suggested by Jonathan Richman. The band included Greg Hawkes, who had studied at the Berklee School of Music and had played saxophone on Milkwood's album. Hawkes left to tour with Martin Mull and His Fabulous Furniture, a musical comedy act in which Mull played a variety of instruments. Ric Ocasek and Ben Orr then performed as an acoustic duo called simply Ocasek and Orr at the Idler coffeehouse in Cambridge. Some of the songs they played became the early Cars songs.  Later, Ocasek and Orr teamed up with guitarist Elliot Easton (who had also studied at Berklee) in the band Cap'n Swing. Cap'n Swing also featured drummer Glenn Evans, later followed by Kevin Robichaud, and a jazzy bass player, which clashed with Ocasek's more rock and roll leanings. Benjamin Orr was the lead vocalist and did not play an instrument. Cap'n Swing soon came to the attention of WBCN disc jockey Maxanne Sartori, who began playing songs from their demo tape on her show.  After being rejected by several record labels, Ocasek got rid of the bass player and drummer and decided to form a band that better fit his style of writing. Orr took over on bass and Robichaud was replaced by David Robinson, best known for his career with the Modern Lovers. Robinson had also played in DMZ and the Pop! Hawkes returned to play keyboards and the band became "The Cars," a name suggested by Robinson, whose sense of fashion would have a strong influence on the band's image.
QUESTION: What was influential about The Car's Early years?
IN: At Fillmore East is the first live album by American rock band the Allman Brothers Band, and their third release overall. Produced by Tom Dowd, the album was released in July 1971 in the United States by Capricorn Records. As the title indicates, the recording took place at the New York City music venue Fillmore East, which was run by concert promoter Bill Graham. It was recorded over the course of three nights in March 1971 and features the band performing extended jam versions of songs such as "Whipping Post", "

The band devised the cover idea for At Fillmore East rather than leaving it in the hands of Atlantic executives (Allman was particularly disgusted with the artwork for Sam & Dave's Hold On, I'm Comin' album). Initially, the album cover was to be shots of the band taken in front of the Fillmore East with their names on the marquee above them, but no one was satisfied with the results. The band's main purpose for the cover was that it be as "meat and potatoes" as the band's ethos and performing, and someone suggested the band make it a photograph of the band in an alley waiting with their gear to go onstage.  The image was shot by photographer Jim Marshall one morning in the band's home of Macon, Georgia. The group were not very happy about being woken up early to shoot ("we figured it didn't make a damn bit of difference what the cover was or what time we took it," said guitarist Dickey Betts). Normally the band hated being photographed; the cover of later retrospective release The Fillmore Concerts shows them displaying terminal boredom. However, during the session, Duane spotted a dealer friend, raced over and grabbed a bag of contraband, then returned to his seat, discreetly clutching the stash in his lap. This made the whole band laugh, resulting in a memorable image. Marshall stenciled the album title on one of the road cases, which were stacked in front of the wall.  The back cover shows their road crew gathered in the same spot with 16 oz cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer provided by the photographer as a reward to the roadies for lugging out and stacking the band's heavy equipment for the shoot. Among the crew on the back cover are Joseph "Red Dog" Campbell, Kim Payne, Mike Callahan, Joe Dan Petty and Willie Perkins (the last two the newest additions to the crew at the time). The idea to have the crew on the back cover was Duane Allman's idea, as all involved viewed them the "unsung heroes" in the operation. A photo of Lyndon, then in jail awaiting his trial, was superimposed to the wall behind the crew.
QUESTION:
What did the artwork on the front cover consist of?