Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass noticed they had a lot of food-themed song titles, and decided to put them together for their sixth album, Whipped Cream & Other Delights. Photographer Peter Whorf had a vision for the album cover, and hired Dolores Erickson for a photoshoot in which she appeared to be covered with whipped cream (actually shaving cream, except for the fluff on her head). When Whorf presented the images to the band, Alpert thought they were too racy and would never go over. When Erickson saw them months later, she was appalled, and hid them from her husband.
But the band decided to use one of the pictures, and the album Whipped Cream & Other Delights sold six million copies. The only hit single from the album was "A Taste of Honey," which peaked at #7 in the US, but everyone wanted the full album when they saw the cover. Read the story of the picture that sold the album and became a classic at Vintage Everyday. -via Strange Company
As a bonus, continue reading to see some of the recreations and parodies of the album cover I found while looking for an illustration for this post.
I also really like this gallery, although it cannot be embedded.