Liner Notes or Not?

A bit of history:

The term liner note originated during the era of the 78 discs named for its 78 revolutions per minute. Those were fragile and often only contained one song per side.

An album was a collection of these 78's in a book or box, the term is still used today for recordings. Inside the album was printed information advertising other recordings available by the artist or the record company.

With the arrival of the 33-1/3 speed records really came the liner notes. The records were wrapped in a thin paper sleeve with information: advertisement, lyrics and sometimes basic information about the artist. Classical recordings offered more insight into the compositions featured than pop music album liners. This tradition has evolved into an art form recognized by the 'Grammy Award for Best Liner Notes' established in 1964.

In the midst of the production of my next CD I am now thinking of liner notes vs. no liner notes. Is it an obsolete addition, a dear homage to bygone days? Or could liner notes offer a wonderful platform for information close to the heart of the interpreter. They definitely can offer an additional key to access the recording. They can even include a message about the meaning of some of the decisions made in choosing an interpretation.

What a lost opportunity to go without!