Somethin’ Else
Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran by Ray Lowry.
Somethin’ Else by Ray Lowry is the next book from our publishing arm, Ormond Yard Press.
Somethin’ Else was—and is—a deeply personal project undertaken by acclaimed English illustrator and artist Ray Lowry to compile a written record of the 1960 UK tour by Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran—a tour which ended infamously with the death of Eddie Cochran.
Ray Lowry (1944-2008) is probably best known among music fans as the designer of the sleeve art for the Clash’s third album, London Calling. He was passionate about rock ’n’ roll—and obsessed with the 1960 Vincent / Cochran tour. In 2005—just three years before his death—Ray Lowry sat down in his studio and started work. The result–Somethin’ Else.
Somethin’ Else has only ever seen by a handful of people, and never been published—until now. Samuel Lowry, Ray’s son and curator of his archive shared it with me—and I knew we had to get it out into the world. Across 102 pages of tightly worded, insightful and often hilarious text—handwritten by Ray and copiously illustrated by his original paintings and drawings—Somethin’ Else tells the story of that tour. Ray’s labour of love pulled together the fruits of his research into a compelling narrative, with cuttings, drawings and handwritten text. Each page is a work of art in itself.
The book measures 12 x 8.5 inches and contains 102 pages of text and images on heavyweight paper, using layflat binding technology. This ensures that each double page spread lies flat when open, and nothing is lost from view in the central vertical gutter between the pages—an important detail when many of Ray’s paintings in the book extend across the gutter. That heavyweight paper gives it some heft, and it is a satisfyingly heavy book in the hand, weighing in at around 1.75Kg (just under 4 lbs).
The edition size is small—just 250 individually numbered hardcover books are available to collectors worldwide.
The first 100 of those are special Deluxe versions in a bespoke presentation box which also includes two 8 x 10 inch limited edition prints (one of Gene, one of Eddie) suitable for framing. Deluxe owners will be interested to know that they will have exclusive content not featured in the book—because neither the two accompanying prints nor the illustrations that adorn the box are included in the book. The box itself is a thing of beauty—cardboard engineering at its finest.
Finally, Samuel Lowry has selected six of his father’s illustrations from the book to offer as individual limited edition prints in a choice of physical sizes.
Somethin’ Else is just that—something else—and I hope you can find room in your collection for this book.
You can find out all about it at the link below.
