
The album cover features model Dolores Erickson. She was 29 years old and three months pregnant during the photoshoot. The "whipped cream" was mostly shaving cream (real whipped cream would melt and smell bad under the hot studio lights). A bit of actual whipped cream was used on her head and finger for effect. She wore a bikini with the straps pushed down (hidden), sat on a stool, and was partially covered with a white blanket and cotton batting below the waist, then piled with shaving cream.
The concept was created by A&M Records art director Peter Whorf, who also photographed it in his converted garage studio. The shoot paid Erickson about $1,500 plus expenses.
The playful, suggestive image became a huge cultural touchstone in the 1960s—helping the album sell over 6 million copies and stay in the Billboard top 10 for 61 weeks. Herb Alpert even joked in concerts that they couldn't "play the album cover" when performing the title track.Dolores Erickson appeared on several other album covers earlier in her modeling career (including for Nat King Cole and others), but this one made her famous.
You do know that Dolores Erickson was pregnant in that picture?


My parents had that album. What great family memories.
My parents had that album. What great family memories.