The cover illustration for the Revolver album was created by artist and bassist Klaus Voormann. German-born Voormann was a friend of the Beatles, dating back to their early days when they played at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany. In 1966, Voormann was asked by John Lennon to design the album sleeve for Revolver. Klaus came up with a “scrapbook collage” for the cover. The band and their manager, Brian Epstein, loved the result. Voormann was paid £40 for the design. He would later receive a Grammy Award for Best Album Cover, Graphic Arts for this work.
Over 20 years later, Voormann would design the cover art for George Harrison’s 1988 single, “When We Was Fab”. This design included the image of Harrison from the Revolver cover along with an updated drawing in the same style.
In 1995, Voormann designed the covers for The Beatles Anthology albums for Apple Records. He, and fellow artist Alfons Kiefer, painted the covers.
Klaus was the bassist for the British band Manfred Mann, and later a session player and record producer. He occasionally played bass with some of the ex-Beatles’, either for studio recordings or live performances, and was a member of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Plastic Ono Band.
