Cortez "Corky" McCoy is an American illustrator from Los Angeles. He is known for his cartoon designs of urban African-Americans on

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

album covers.

Work for Miles Davis

Information on McCoy's life before meeting Miles Davis is scarce. He was working as an artist when he met Davis. The two became close friends, and Davis and McCoy shared an apartment in New York City on West 77th Street. McCoy created the cover art for Davis' albums ''

On the Corner ''On the Corner'' is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer Miles Davis. It was recorded in June and July 1972 and released on October 11 of the same year by Columbia Records. The album continued Davis's exploration o ...

'' (1972), '' In Concert: Live at Philharmonic Hall'' (1973), '' Big Fun'' (1974), and '' Water Babies'' (1976). The artwork for the cover of ''On the Corner'' was produced at Davis' instigation. He was concerned that his music was not reaching an African-American audience, and wanted McCoy to create something that they would relate to. The reaction from Columbia Records when they saw the result was not positive. Davis insisted on using McCoy's cover art. Davis recalled in his typical blunt interview style: According to Davis, McCoy was reluctant at first, but Davis was enthusiastic about the art that McCoy produced: McCoy's cover art for ''On the Corner'' depicts a group of cartoon characters, a scene of "ghettodelic" street life among the younger generation of African Americans. The post-1960s, funk-style fashions are similar to the spirit of the

blaxploitation Blaxploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The term, a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation", was coined in August 1972 by Junius Griffin, the president o ...

film images of the same era. '' In Concert: Live at Philharmonic Hall'' included illustrations inside the album by McCoy satirizing mainstream rock and roll music, with a cartoon music label "Slickophonics" and a long-haired white band with the name "Foot Fooler" on the front of the drum kit. In a 1974 review of the album, music magazine ''Coda'' characterized McCoy's illustrations for this album, and ''On the Corner'', as "tastelessness". Davis tried commissioning two different European cartoonists to create cover art for his album ''Rubberband'' during the 1980s. He was dissatisfied with the results, and the album was ultimately never released. In 2007, Columbia released the 6-CD box set '' The Complete On the Corner Sessions'' that included new illustrations by Corky McCoy.

Other illustration works

McCoy created the cover art for the album '' Fresh Mode'', released by hip-hop group Ugly Duckling, in 1999, as well as both singles released in promotion of the LP. McCoy created illustrations for comedian

Tim Meadows Timothy Meadows (born February 5, 1961) is an American actor and comedian. He was one of the longest-running cast members on ''Saturday Night Live'', where he appeared for ten seasons and for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy ...

's 2000 book ''The Ladies Man: Sexin' and Lovin' Leon Phelps Style'', co-written with Andrew Steele and Dennis McNicholas. The book was released in connection with the Tim Meadows comedy film ''The Ladies Man'' that featured a character with the same 1970s street-funk aesthetic associated with McCoy's album covers for Davis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCoy, Corky Living people Album-cover and concert-poster artists American illustrators African-American artists Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American people