“Secret secrets never seen”
Among the delights at the V&A’s David Bowie is Exhibition are the numerous items even the Bowie uberfans had absolutely no knowledge of.
Gig posters by the sixteen-year-old David Jones in 1963 (years before the name change to Bowie) included designs for both The BOW-MEN and The Delta Lemons.
Well, now a printer’s proof for an album cover for the latter has surfaced, too late for the exhibition, but not too late for an exclusive here.
Apparently young Jones commissioned a local illustrator to create the sleeve for what would have been a live album.
The painting was based on a photograph of David and friends at a local dance and you can clearly make out which of the characters is David.
The mop of long blond hair is the giveaway, as evidenced in portraits of David with the Kon-Rads in the same year.
As for the tracklisting, we’ll probably never know as only the front cover was taken to proof stage and it is unknown whether there were serious plans to release it.
Fascinating to see how Jones was already aware of professional presentation at such a young age.
FOOTNOTE: We’re sure many of you will have noticed the date of this news item, but for those that didn’t, sorry folks, but the above tale is April Fool’s Day poppycock.
Of course, it’s based on a truth, in 1963 the sixteen-year-old David Jones did create artworks for The BOW-MEN and The Delta Lemons (as witnessed at the V&A), but the above is actually detail from a 1963 painting, by Doris Leireiser, called The Rockers courtesy of Wayne Hemingway’s splendid collection, Just Above the Mantelpiece: Mass Market Masterpieces. It’s a fine publication which, coincidentally, designed by Jonathan Barnbrook’s company, a name you may be familiar with.
You can view the complete unadulterated painting by scrolling the image above.