that mirrors the lower-case "i" at the beginning. For most of the 1960s, Impulse!'s album covers featured the logo in orange letters in a white circle, with black-and-orange exclamation marks above it, and the catalog number below it. One exception is the album A Love Supreme, which used the design in black and white. In 1968 the circular front-cover badge was replaced by a one-color design featuring a simplified Impulse! logo and the ABC Records logo side by side within a divided rectangular border. Album covers often featured stylish, large-format photographs or paintings, usually in color, which were typically 'bled out' to the edges of the cover and printed on glossy laminated stock. Many of the best-known Impulse! covers were designed by art director Robert Flynn and photographed by a small group that included Pete Turner, who shot covers for Verve, A&M, and CTI; Chuck Stewart, Arnold Newman, Ted Russell, and Joe Alper, who was known for his early '60s photographs of Bob Dylan) The sparse black-and-white back covers bore the slogan, "The New Wave of Jazz is on IMPULSE!". Most Impulse! LPs were issued in a gatefold sleeve, with photographs and liner notes, in some cases, multi-page booklets. Early success Taylor achieved early success by signing Ray Charles, who had just ended his contract with Atlantic Records. Charles's Genius + Soul = Jazz gave the label its first hit and became the fourth-highest charting album of his career. Other early successes included Out of the Cool by Gil Evans. Taylor also signed John Coltrane. Another significant early release was The Blues and the Abstract Truth by Oliver Nelson, who led an all-star group that featured Freddie Hubbard, Eric Dolphy, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, and Roy Haynes. Nelson played an important role in the label's early years before relocating to Los Angeles, where he became an arranger for film and television. Taylor left Impulse! in the summer of 1961 after being approached by MGM to become the head of Verve Records. The Thiele Years: 1961-69 Bob Thiele, Taylor's successor, produced most of the albums in the 1960s. He had worked for Decca Records and its subsidiaries, Coral and Brunswick, where his production credits included Alan Dale, The McGuire Sisters, Pearl Bailey, and Theresa Brewer, whom he married. Despite resistance from Decca executives who were suspicious of rock and roll, Thiele signed Buddy Holly in 1957. Thiele's first Impulse! production was