Origin of the Concept: “WORDS WITHOUT VOICES®”
The idea for “WORDS WITHOUT VOICES®” crystallized for me one day in high school, in 1971. I had purchased the latest Jethro Tull release on vinyl. After opening the album (LP) jacket, I spied what would become the prototype for WWV—a pull-out liner-note sheet with Ian Anderson’s masterful words superimposed over a picture of his most famous lyrical creation: Aqualung.
I marveled at the powerful visual and cerebral effect produced by the combination of the artwork and the song lyrics. I didn’t realize it at the time, but that first lyric sheet would launch me on a quest to fulfill my own personal artistic vision. The illustrated lyric sheet would become my Holy Grail.
By 1973, I had been writing and saving my rock lyrics in a rudimentary collection after a high school English teacher, (a Cornell graduate with a Masters in English) read my early works and told me that my metered verse had the power to make me “the next Bob Dylan.” He urged me never to throw away my work, but to keep it all for posterity.
By 1975, I had formed my first rock band, a progressive rock unit playing all original songs. Over the next 30 years, I composed over 500 songs in styles ranging from gospel & country to metal. But I realized early in my career that I would never have enough time to compose music to all the song lyrics I was creating. Metered verse had become a way for me to chronicle the world I saw around me.
From the 1960’s through the 1980’s, the popularity of vinyl record albums grew and album cover design became an artistic specialty. Today, cover design (records, CDs, DVDs, etc.) is recognized as a unique and distinctive cultural Artform.
As an extension of both the illustrated Lyric Sheet and the Album Cover Artform, I have combined multiple media (SONGBOOK, ALBUM, Song Titles, Lyrics and Artwork), into Lyrical Concept Albums.
Originally a diary of modern rock song lyrics, “WORDS WITHOUT VOICES®” has become my life’s chief artistic work, a collection which now spans 35 years and numbers over 5,000 song titles.
This is how Atlantis Found Publishing and the “WORDS WITHOUT VOICES®” series were both born.
Though I have yet to become the next Dylan (who has?), I have faithfully taken my schoolteacher’s advice and saved all my work. After refining my craft daily for 35 years, I would gladly exchange Dylan’s fame and fortune for a chance to establish a company dedicated to the furtherance of Art & Music in all its forms.
But I need to eat, too, (yes this is my day job) and I’m working daily for the success of the annual (or biannual) WWV Online Album Art Contest, the “WORDS WITHOUT VOICES®” series, and, ultimately, all AFPI products and services.
