Yes, CDs have little jewel boxes with a reduced cover image, but there's something about being stretched out on the floor in front of the stereo listening to the album the first time as you read the liner notes and study the image on the front of a large cardboard jacket. Later you prop the album jacket up against something so you can see it until you replace it with your next favorite acquisition. Digital music isn't the same. The experience isn't the same. It's lacking physical connection.
I bought this LP at an estate sale. No, it's not in great condition, and in places the music is a little funky thanks to the previous owner and a bad needle. I will probably break down and buy a CD someday. But I like having the cover, shabby though it may be. It's tangible. I can listen to the music and actually read the liner notes without magnifying glasses.
I also like the ads they ran on the old albums of work by other artists. If they didn't run it on the back jacket they'd run ads on the inner sleeves. Each album became a special purchase. And yes, the back cover scan is pieced together and a bit funky.
I can say nothing about Rosemary Clooney other than pure perfection. A perfect voice singing perfect songs by Duke Ellington. You just have to relax with your eyes closed and listen. Put the world outside your door and forget about it.
The liner notes were written by Irving Townsend:
Irving Townsend (1920-1981) was an American record producer and author. He is most famous for having produced, in March 1959, the Miles Davis album Kind of Blue, which at #12, is the highest-ranked jazz album on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and according to the RIAA, is the best-selling jazz album of all time. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)All this for a dollar.