lady at Advision said to the band when they sent her round to a nearby sandwich shop and announce what they had available. Emerson said Palmer could mimic her mix of Greek and cockney accents "wonderfully", and recalled the confusion from some American fans who could not understand what it was about. The track was "an impromptu jam" and a one-off take, and played in celebration of completing work on Tarkus. Artwork and title The album was packaged in a gatefold sleeve and features artwork by Scottish artist William Neal, whose armadillo has since became an iconic image in progressive rock. Neal was involved with the London-based CCS Associates which typically produced art for reggae albums but occasionally they were given other records to work on, which was the case with Tarkus. When the band rejected the designs already completed, Neal recalled: "On one of my drawings, there was a small doodle at the bottom of the page. This was of an armadillo with tank tracks on it but it was just an idea that wasn't really going anywhere." It originated from one of Neal's initial designs of a machine gun with a belt of bullets replaced by a row of keyboard keys, which he inadvertently sketched on with a pencil during a phone conversation which produced the tank image. Emerson liked it and suggested it be developed "into more of a cartoon story", as by which point he had written "Tarkus" and thought the music fit with the imagery. Neal was given a copy of the album to listen to while he completed the final cover, which inspired the other drawings. The gatefold presents eleven panels that illustrate the events of the title track, beginning with an erupting volcano, below which Tarkus emerges from an egg. Tarkus then faces a number of cybernetic creatures, culminating in the battle against the manticore which stings Tarkus's eye, and Tarkus retreats bleeding into a river. Emerson went away with Neal's designs and began to think of album titles. "To everyone, it represented what we were doing in that studio. The next day on my drive up from Sussex the imagery of the armadillo kept hitting me. It had to have a name. Something guttural. It had to begin with the letter 'T' and end with a flourish". Emerson acknowledged that Tarka of Tarka the Otter may have been an inspiration, "but this