Arista (1977)

Biography
The Alan Parsons Project was the collective reference to several lineups of a British progressive rock team, active between 1975 and 1990, whose rosters consisted of Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson surrounded by a varying number of session musicians and some relatively consistent band members such as guitarist Ian Bairnson, arranger Andrew Powell, bassist and vocalist David Paton, drummer Stuart Elliott, and vocalist Lenny Zakatek. Behind the revolving line-up and the regular sidemen, the true core of the Project was the duo of Parsons and Woolfson. Parsons was an audio engineer and producer by profession, but also a musician and a composer. A songwriter by profession, Woolfson was also a composer, a pianist, and a singer. Almost all songs on the Project’s albums are credited to “Woolfson/Parsons”. Noted contributors to the Project were, David Patton, Stuart Elliott, Stuart Tosh, John Miles, Lesley Duncan, Gary Brooker, and many more. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Alan_Parsons_Project

Album & Cover
I Robot is the second studio album by the British progressive rock band The Alan Parsons Project, released on 1 June 1977 by Arista Records. The album was intended to be based on the I, Robot stories written by Asimov, and Eric Woolfson spoke with Asimov himself, who was enthusiastic about the idea. As the rights already had been granted to a TV/movie company, the album’s title was altered slightly by removing the comma in “I,”, and the theme and lyrics were made to be more generically about robots rather than to be specific to the Asimov universe. The cover inlay read: “I Robot… The story of the rise of the machine and the decline of man, which paradoxically coincided with his discovery of the wheel… and a warning that his brief dominance of this planet will probably end, because man tried to create robot in his own image.” The title of the final track, “Genesis Ch.1 v.32”, follows this theme by implying a continuation to the story of Creation, since the first chapter of Genesis only has 31 verses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Robot_(album)

The album cover photo features some band members in the escalator tubes of the circular Terminal 1 building of the Charles de Gaulle Airport outside of Paris. The man in the middle tube is Peter Christopherson and the gentleman at the bottom is Humphrey Ocean who did cover for 10cc’s ‘The Original Soundtrack.’ Over this is superimposed a painting of a robot with a stylised atom for a brain. This illustration appears in a two-dimensional form on the label of the record. The original vinyl release had a gatefold-style cover. Richard Manning explains the making of the cover: The two lower walkways were montaged to a trace supplied by Storm. ‘R Type prints were used and the backs stripped and the edges feathered. The Robot was positioned to cover the joins of the walkways. The Robot was a George Hardie design supplied to me as an accurate trace that I could work directly from, and traced in position onto Double weight Glossy unglazed Photographic paper. Read more here>>>

Cover Location: Terminal 1 Escalator Tubes in Charles De Gaulle Airport, Paris, France.
Who Did What: Photography – A. Powell/S. Thorgenson. Robot Design – G. Hardie. Illustration – R. Manning.
Label: Arista AL7002(US), Arista SPARTY1012(UK)
Source: Vinyl. Album. Cover. Art, The Complete Hipgnosis Catalogue: Aubrey Powell

Credits
Arranged By, Conductor – Andrew Powell
Backing Vocals – Hilary Western, John Perry , Smokey Parsons, Stuart Calver, Tony Rivers
Bass, Guitar, Backing Vocals – David Paton
Chorus – The English Chorale, The New Philharmonia Chorus
Cimbalom, Kantele – John Leach
Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals – Stuart Tosh
Executive-Producer, Keyboards, Synthesizer, Vocoder, Backing Vocals – Eric Woolfson
Guitar, Backing Vocals – Ian Bairnson
Guitar, Keyboards, Synthesizer, Vocoder, Backing Vocals – Alan Parsons
Keyboards – Duncan Mackay
Mastered By – TJ
Producer, Engineer – Alan Parsons
Steel Guitar – B. J. Cole
Vocals – Allan Clarke, Dave Townsend, Jack Harris, Jaki Whitren, Lenny Zakatek, Peter Straker, Steve Harley