West Ultra Black is presented in PLINC’s 1971 catalog as “Dave West’s blackest wallop”. In some ways, the typeface is a soft version of the equally black Barnum Ultra, which also originated in the late 1960s. The two are not directly related, though. By 1971, West followed up with Elephant Gothic, which is arguably even blacker. His Thud is no lightweight either, and was included in PLINC’s 1972 booklet of Ultrabold Tyght Types.
West Ultra Black can here be seen for the album cover of a collaboration between Teresa Brewer and the Oily Rags, in squooshed caps.