Katie Allen
Associate Specialist
Lot 93
Gary Burden's Personal & Working Sketchbook 16, 19, 20, 21 and 22, featuring designs for Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young, Tony Joe White, David Cassidy, James Iha, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and Neil Young (& Crazy Horse), Gary Burden (American, 1933-2018), circa 1988-1998, 5
20 – 30 June 2025, 12:00 PDT
Online, Los AngelesSold for US$2,560 inc. premium
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Fred Lawton
Cataloguer
Claire Tole-Moir
Head of Department
Gary Burden's Personal & Working Sketchbook 16, 19, 20, 21 and 22, featuring designs for Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young, Tony Joe White, David Cassidy, James Iha, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and Neil Young (& Crazy Horse),
Gary Burden (American, 1933-2018), circa 1988-1998,
five bound sketchbooks, each with approx. 100 pages, with most pages worked on, including handwritten notes, designs and drawings showing the direct evolution of album designs, showing designs for typography, single and album cover designs, stationary designs, vinyl labels, posters, tour merchandise, promotional material, and concept ideas, in both pen and pencil,
smallest 10 x 7 1/2in; largest 16 x 13in, (5)
five bound sketchbooks, each with approx. 100 pages, with most pages worked on, including handwritten notes, designs and drawings showing the direct evolution of album designs, showing designs for typography, single and album cover designs, stationary designs, vinyl labels, posters, tour merchandise, promotional material, and concept ideas, in both pen and pencil,
smallest 10 x 7 1/2in; largest 16 x 13in, (5)
Footnotes
In order, key pages for Sketchbook 16 include:
1. Sketches and designs for the Scott Thomas Band album California, released in 1998.
2. James Iha album sketches in pencil.
3. David Cassidy I'm Still Standing design sketches in pencil.
4. Buffalo Springfield logos and sketches in pencil, including a design titled Opening Show.
5. Neil Young logos and sketches.
6. Tony Joe White album sketches in pencil.
In order, key pages for Sketchbook 19 include:
1. First page dated 5/'88, with sketches of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in pencil, and one logo design in red to the following page.
2. Dated 3/90, designs for Tracy Chapman in pencil.
3. Watercolor logo ideas for QSI.
4. Page titled Bill Graham Snaked Eyed Sue.
5. Soul Kitchen designs, a reference to The Doors song, with designs of band.
In order, key pages for Sketchbook 20 include:
1. First page dated Xmas day '90 with comic-strip style sheet of paper loose.
2. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young logos.
3. Casey Rankin sketches.
4. Sketches and designs used for Neil Young's Mirror Ball, released in 1995.
In order, key pages for Sketchbook 21 include:
1. Inner cover dated 1/30/96 and signed by Gary Burden.
2. Free by Bad Religion sketches in pencil dated 1996, accompanied by additional logo designs for the band.
3. Neil Young & Crazy Horse album design sketches for Year of the Horse, released in 1997.
4. Neil Young Europe 1997 designs in pencil.
5. Sketches for Scott Thomas's California (1998).
In order, key pages for Sketchbook 22 include:
1. First page dated 5/98, with inner cover stamped with R.Twerk logo.
2. Logo designs for Tony Joe White, in pencil, later titled Gumbo John.
3. Plans and designs for Doc West in pencil.
4. Album sketches for Neil Young, titled both for 50/50 and for Triple Live.
5. C.S.N.Y logos in pencil.
Mirror Ball:
Burden remembered; "The beautiful painted typographic art work for the album made by Neil Young and Pearl Jam together (Wow!) is in the style of Rick Griffin and was created by a young LA artist named Emek. It is as good as anything created by any artist of "the day". Emek idolized Rick's artwork and that was how I met him. For many reasons this art did not wind up on the front cover. Columbia Records was very uptight about the name of their premier act, Pearl Jam, showing up on an album cover put out by their competitor Warner Brothers Records. They wouldn't allow it. So, I came up with what was meant to be a clever way around them by making the central motif of the letters NY and then backwards (mirrored) letters of PJ so as not to be obviously Pearl Jam. I also have the names of Neil Young and Pearl Jam subtly repeated in the flames surrounding the central motif. It didn't work! I had to change the artwork to be NY and mirrored (backwards) type NY in the central motif and I made the name Neil Young by itself repeating in the flames. What became the cover was a beautiful old photo of a dance hall mirror ball (it is on the back of the typographic art image).
Such is the way of things at the intersection of art and commerce. I was able to utilize this art in making large high quality iris print fine art posters on Arches paper and as a sticker on the package. I was nominated for a Grammy for this cover and so was Neil for the record. I can tell you that we hit every party in town that night. We didn't win but as they say: "Being nominated..."
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