Harold Boyd Elder (January 12, 1944 – October 6, 2018),
was an American artist. Born in
El Paso
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...
, Elder was raised by Hal Elder and Billye Lee Bell Elder with brothers Kenneth Mack Elder and Howard Stanton Elder. Boyd Elder studied at
Burges High School
Burges is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Alan Burges (1911–2002), Australian botanist
* Anthony Burges (or Burgess; d. 1664), English Nonconformist clergyman
*Cornelius Burges (1589?–1665), English minister
* Daniel Burg ...
before attending El Paso Tech. In 1963, Elder won a scholarship to
Chouinard Art Institute
The Chouinard Art Institute was a professional art school founded in 1921 by Nelbert Murphy Chouinard (1879–1969) in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In 1961, Walt and Roy Disney guided the merger of the Chouinard Art In ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, where he studied art, earning his
Bachelor of Fine Arts
A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases.
Background
The Bachelor ...
degree in 1968. In 1972, Elder displayed his latest works in the "El Chingadero" art gallery.
Elder is best known for creating the painted skulls used in the cover artwork for
The Eagles
The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971. With five number-one singles and six number-one albums, six Grammy Awards and five American Music Awards, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s ...
' 1975 album ''
One of These Nights
''One of These Nights'' is the fourth studio album by the Eagles, released in 1975. In July that year, the record became the Eagles' first number one album on ''Billboard''s album chart, yielding three Top 10 singles: " One of These Nights", "Lyi ...
'' and their compilation album ''
Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)
''Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)'' is the first compilation album by the American rock band the Eagles, released by Asylum Records on February 17, 1976. It contains a selection of songs from the band's first four albums, which were released fro ...
''.
On October 16, 2018, Elder died of natural causes in
San Marcos, Texas
San Marcos ( ) is a city and the county seat of Hays County, Texas, United States. The city's limits extend into Caldwell and Guadalupe Counties, as well. San Marcos is within the Austin–Round Rock metropolitan area and on the Interstate 35 ...
.
Early life
Elder was born in El Paso to Hal Elder and Billye Lee Bell Elder, a family with close links to
Valentine, Texas
Valentine is a town in Jeff Davis County, Texas, United States. The population was 134 at the 2010 census, down from 187 at the 2000 census.
Description
The town is the only incorporated municipality in Jeff Davis County. Its name refers to th ...
.
He had two brothers Kenneth Mack Elder and Howard Stanton Elder.
He studied at
Burges High School
Burges is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Alan Burges (1911–2002), Australian botanist
* Anthony Burges (or Burgess; d. 1664), English Nonconformist clergyman
*Cornelius Burges (1589?–1665), English minister
* Daniel Burg ...
and El Paso Tech in El Paso. He developed an interest in art, and took lessons in art at the
El Paso Museum of Art
Founded in 1959, The El Paso Museum of Art (EPMA) is located in downtown El Paso, Texas. First accredited in 1972, it is the only accredited art museum within a 250-mile radius and serves approximately 100,000 visitors per year. A new building ...
on weeknights and weekends.
[
After high school, he won a scholarship to ]Chouinard Art Institute
The Chouinard Art Institute was a professional art school founded in 1921 by Nelbert Murphy Chouinard (1879–1969) in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In 1961, Walt and Roy Disney guided the merger of the Chouinard Art In ...
in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
in 1963 where he studied painting and sculpture. He also worked as a teaching assistant and earned his BFA degree in 1968. He was a friend of Bobby Fuller
Robert Gaston Fuller (October 22, 1942 – July 18, 1966)Bashe, P. R., & George-Warren, H., ''The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll'' (Third ed.). New York, Fireside, 2005, p. 360 was an American Rock and roll, rock singer, songwriter, ...
, who acted as a patron and helped establish Elder's first studio in Los Angeles. The intention was that Elder would create artwork for Fuller's album covers, although the project was never realized after Fuller died in 1966.
Career
After graduating, Boyd returned to El Paso and later set up a workshop in Valentine where he created artwork made of polyester resin.
In April 1972, Elder exhibited his latest works in an art gallery in Venice, California
Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California.
Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed by ...
, in a solo show titled "El Chingadero" (meaning "The Fucker"). The show was attended by musicians such as Joni Mitchell
Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...
, Jackson Browne
Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States.
Emerging as a precocious teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he h ...
, and Mama Cass Elliot
Ellen Naomi Cohen (September 19, 1941 – July 29, 1974), known professionally as Mama Cass and later on as Cass Elliot, was an American singer and voice actress. She was a member of the singing group the Mamas & the Papas. After the group brok ...
; among those who attended the opening were members of the newly-formed Eagles who performed at the show, an early appearance by the band as the Eagles. However, on May 31, 1973, his studio burnt down including 15 pieces of the artwork that he had planned to exhibit. Having also lost his art supplies in the fire, he started to use the skulls of animals including a cow and a bull that had died in a flood on which to paint, inspired by a painted turkey breastbone sent to him as a present by Rick Griffin
Richard Alden "Rick" Griffin (June 18, 1944 – August 18, 1991) was an American artist and one of the leading designers of psychedelic posters in the 1960s. As a contributor to the underground comix movement, his work appeared regularly in ...
. Wings and feathers were then added to the skulls.
Elder was a friend of the album cover designer Gary Burden
Gary Burden (May 23, 1933 – March 7, 2018) was an American artist specializing in the field of album covers. He is considered one of the pioneers of the concept of album cover art.
Early life
Gary Burden was born on May 23, 1933, in Cleveland, ...
, who was responsible for the Eagles' three previous albums and was interested in using one of Elder's skull pieces for this cover. Elder presented two of his works to the Eagles in Dallas in late 1974, one of which was then chosen for the cover of ''One of These Nights
''One of These Nights'' is the fourth studio album by the Eagles, released in 1975. In July that year, the record became the Eagles' first number one album on ''Billboard''s album chart, yielding three Top 10 singles: " One of These Nights", "Lyi ...
''. Later another work of Elder, an image of an eagle's skull, would be used for the cover of '' Their Greatest Hits'' album. The work was created from a plastic cast of an eagle skull, which was then painted. The skull was set against a light-blue background made of silver mylar
BoPET (biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate) is a polyester film made from stretched polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and is used for its high tensile strength, chemical and dimensional stability, transparency, reflectivity, gas and aro ...
, and the bumpy appearance of the background gave rise to a myth that it was cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...
powder that they were using. Glenn Frey
Glenn Lewis Frey (; November 6, 1948 – January 18, 2016) was an American singer, guitarist and a founding member of the rock band Eagles. Frey was the co-lead singer and frontman for the Eagles, roles he came to share with fellow member Don ...
also noticed the resemblance, telling Elder that the background reminded him of "a field of blow" (slang term for cocaine), however the band chose not to debunk the myth. The artist was paid $5,000 for the work. Another skull created by Elder was also used in Eagles' compilation album '' The Very Best of''. He appeared in an image in the back cover of Eagles' album ''Desperado
Desperado may refer to:
* Outlaw, particularly in the American Old West
Books
* ''Desperadoes'' (comics), a comic book series
* ''Desperadoes'' (novel), a 1979 novel by Ron Hansen
* Desperado Publishing, an American independent comic book publ ...
''.
Elder continued to produce a number of skull artwork after the Eagles covers. He also produced works in various media such as plastics and resins, holographic foil and aluminum, as well as multi-media works. He also produced album artwork for other artists such as Yacht
A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...
. He served as caretaker for an art installation called Prada Marfa
''Prada Marfa'' is a permanent sculptural art installation by artists Elmgreen & Dragset, located along U.S. Route 90 in Jeff Davis County, Texas, United States, northwest of Valentine, and about northwest of Marfa (its namesake city) ...
, a fake Prada
Prada S.p.A. (, ; ) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1913 in Milan by Mario Prada. It specializes in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, and other fashion accessories. Prada licenses its name and branding t ...
store erected in Valentine.
He produced artwork in Valentine and showed them in the nearby town of Marfa, Texas
Marfa is a city in the high desert of the Trans-Pecos in far West Texas, between the Davis Mountains and Big Bend National Park. It is the county seat of Presidio County, and its population as of the 2010 United States Census was 1,981. The cit ...
. He also worked in California and Hawaii.
Personal life
Elder met Luann Darling Finlayson while he was studying at Chouinard in Los Angeles. They moved back to El Paso where their daughter Flaunn was born in 1968. They then moved to Valentine and their second daughter Shaula was born in 1971 in nearby Marfa. The family moved to Kona, Hawaii
Kailua-Kona is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. It is also known as Kailua (a name it shares with a community located on the windward side of Oahu), as Kona (a name it shares ...
, in 1979, but the couple separated in 1981 and Elder moved back to Texas.
Elder died on October 6, 2018, of natural causes at age 74 in San Marcos, Texas
San Marcos ( ) is a city and the county seat of Hays County, Texas, United States. The city's limits extend into Caldwell and Guadalupe Counties, as well. San Marcos is within the Austin–Round Rock metropolitan area and on the Interstate 35 ...
.
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elder, Boyd
1944 births
2018 deaths
20th-century American artists
Album-cover and concert-poster artists
American male painters
Artists from El Paso, Texas
Chouinard Art Institute alumni
Painters from Texas
20th-century American male artists