3 Famous Rock Album Covers You Didn’t Know Referenced Other Album Covers

Did you know that these three famous rock album covers actually reference other, older rock album covers? Let’s dive into a bit of music history, shall we? One of these entries even surprised me!

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‘London Calling’ by The Clash References ‘Elvis Presley’ by Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley’s debut album dropped in 1956. And if you’ve ever been a fan of punk rock, the cover of the album will look familiar almost immediately. That’s because The Clash paid homage to the album with their famous record, London Calling, from 1979. Both use pink and green text that borders the left and bottom sides of the album cover with a black and white photo in the background. Presley’s photo is one of him singing his heart out, and The Clash used a famous shot of Paul Simonon smashing his bass on the ground.

‘Meet The Residents’ by The Residents References ‘Meet The Beatles’ by The Beatles

Any Beatles fan will notice an immediate familiarity when looking at the album cover of the avant-garde rock outfit The Residents’ debut album from 1974. It’s clear that the experimental record’s cover is that of The Beatles’ Meet The Beatles album, edited to give the Fab Four cheekily sinister faces. The back cover of the album is also identical to the original in terms of formatting, except with crawfish parts skewed around the album artwork. Capitol Records allegedly threatened legal action. But, considering that The Residents’ record still boasts that artwork in subsequent pressings, the label may not have cared that much at all.

‘Beak Sounds’ by Toucans Steel Drum Band References ‘Endless Summer’ by The Beach Boys

Remember Endless Summer by The Beach Boys? I certainly do, because the cover of that 1974 record always freaked me out as a kid. The Beach Boys’ album cover features three figures, apparently members of the band, hidden in lush flora with a fun banner displaying the album title above them. Inspired by the record, the calypso-reggae outfit Toucans Steel Drum Band made a direct reference to it for their own album artwork in 2003. The art from this entry on our list of rock album covers is extremely similar to The Beach Boys’ own. However, it’s a lot less terrifying, in my opinion. You’ll be hard-pressed to find that specific cover anywhere, though, as the group changed it, possibly because of legal issues. I did spot it on Amazon, though.

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