From the end of the 1960s and throughout the 70s, John Byrne (obituary, 5 December) was a prolific designer of album cover artwork, most often for fellow Scottish artists. He began with the sleeve for The New Humblebums, where the band, featuring Gerry Rafferty and a banjo-playing Billy Connolly, are depicted in a childlike style wearing sailor suits.
Byrne would go on to design many more covers for Rafferty, from his first solo work Can I Have My Money Back? to the million-selling City to City and Rafferty’s equally successful work with Stealers Wheel, with Byrne’s portraits of the band members superimposed on to the bodies of wild animals.
