Sleeve Notes

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BBC Radio 4 Extra - Sleeve Notes

Laura Barton explains her love for vinyl album sleeve notes.

Once a cherished gateway into a musical world - Laura Barton explains her love for the liner. With Jarvis Cocker. From 2009.

Once a cherished gateway into a musical world - the album sleeve note has been diminished by the digitalisation of music. 

It's been reduced to eye-wateringly small print by the CD case and dispensed with entirely by many of those who download their music from the internet. 

Music writer Laura Barton explains her love of the sleeve note.

Sleeve notes can be a fierce declaration of intent from the artist, as epitomised by Johnny Cash who in 1968 wrote them for his legendary album, 'Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison' which won a Grammy for Best Album Notes. Some musicians feel that they've said all that they want to say in their music. For them the sleeve note is something to be avoided.

For others, including Jarvis Cocker, it's a chance to have a quiet word with their fans.

In America, sleeve notes - or liner notes as they call them - have their own award category at the Grammys. Dan Morgenstern has won more of these awards than anyone else and shares his experiences. 

Poet Simon Armitage long felt the sleeve note is an underused space. He's always wanted more from them. But in 2008, he got a chance to create the kind of sleeve note he'd like to read when Paul Weller commissioned him to write them for his latest album. Armitage explains what it's like to set words to an album. And for musician Adrian John Moffat, the sleeve note can be an intrinsic part of the whole album.

The British music industry, not normally shy of giving awards, is strangely silent when it comes to recognising the work that goes into music CD's textual accompaniment. Laura Barton says the industry should be silent no longer. 

The Americans have been celebrating the sleeve note since 1963.  In fact it was two Brits who won the first Grammy award in this category - and it's now time that our industry showed that the words really can say something about the music.

Producer: Ekene Akalawu

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2009.

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