Pipe Dreams

Alan Aldridge burst upon the creative world of 1960's London, just like the Beatles for whom he worked. His imaginative designs and intoxicating, colourful images captured the dreams and hallucinations of a generation in The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics, a deluxe edition of which was published in 2013; on album covers for The Who, Cream and Elton John; on the notorious Chelsea Girls poster for Andy Warhol; and, as an Art Director on innovative covers for Penguin Books. In the 1970's Aldridge produced bestselling children's books including The Butterfly Ball and The Peacock Party, plus the logo for the Hard Rock Cafe. He moved into animation in Los Angeles, working on film and TV projects, as well as designing for bands including Incubus and Tears For Fears. He has published twelve books, including The Penguin Book of Comics, Phantasia, a novel, The Gnole and an illustrated memoir, The Man With Kaleidoscope Eyes.

I went on a jolly day trip to Paris, and if someone had told me I wouldn't be seeing England again for over a year, I'd have laughed. If they told me in less than forty-eight hours I'd be sitting in Sante Prison in Paris, facing a one-year prison sentence ...But that, in just two months, I'd be in the South of France dining with Picasso, I would have called them mad...From accompanying violent thugs around the East End to cleaning an oven in a Parisian prison while painting for its doctor, Alan Aldridge's life was full of strange adventures and fascinating encounters even before his career as an artist took off. In Pipe Dreams, Aldridge presents a gripping, often hilarious and at times even horrifying account of some of his early experiences on the road to success.