The Impressions – The Fabulous Impressions album art
Source: music.apple.com ABC Records. License: All Rights Reserved.
West Italiano in early use for a 1967 album by The Impressions. At this time, the group from Chicago had three members: Curtis Mayfield (lead tenor, guitar, and songwriter of all the album’s songs but one), Fred Cash (baritone/second tenor), and Sam Gooden (bass). The album was arranged and conducted by producer Johny Pate (b. 1923).
The Fabulous Impressions was released with ABC Records. A year later, in 1968, Mayfield (together with Eddie Thomas) formed his own label, Curtom Records, allowing him to retain the rights to and control the publication of his music. In a 2015 article for BOAA, Tim Anderson highlights the economic and political significance and quotes Craig Werner who points out that the emancipation of the Black artists also affected the albums covers:
While the ABC-Paramount releases provide examples of Mayfield’s band dressed in tuxedos and suits, the Curtom releases have The Impressions in much more modern threads.
This post was originally published at Fonts In Use