Source: staxrecords.com License: All Rights Reserved.

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Rare Stamps is a series of soul albums released by Stax Records / Volt Records in 1969, featuring music by J.J. Barnes (1943–2022) and Steve Mancha (1945–2011), Eddie Floyd (b.1937), and Johnnie Taylor (1934–2000).

Source: archive.org License: All Rights Reserved.

The “Inverted Jenny” from 1918 is one of the rarest stamps in U.S. postal history. The lettering on it is typical of its time – and similar to Ornamented No. 1049, minus the hatching.

The design is by Christopher Whorf and Gerry Rosentswieg, with art direction from Honeya Thompson.

While “RARE STAMPS” is lettering, the artists’ names are set in Ornamented No. 1049. Originally cast by Bruce in 1875, this design was available at the time as part of the Morgan Press Collection by Headliners. The bold wide serif imitates a style that was commonly used in the late 1800s and early 1900s on banknotes, stock certificates, and postage stamps.

Track names are added in the related but less heavy Engravers Bold (1902) a.k.a. Engravers Title.

At the time the albums were released, actual U.S. postage stamps with African Americans on them were not unheard of, but still a very rare thing: a timeline published on the USPS website in 2024 lists a mere seven stamps on African American subjects issued by 1969, featuring four named individuals. The first one was a 10-cent stamp from April 7, 1940, commemorating Booker T. Washington. It was followed by stamps honoring George Washington Carver (January 5, 1948), Frederick Douglass (February 4, 1967), and W.C. Handy (May 17, 1969). Only in 1978 would the Postal Service initiate the Black Heritage stamp series, to recognize the achievements of individual African Americans.

Source: staxrecords.com License: All Rights Reserved.

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Source: www.ebay.com Craig Moerer Records. License: All Rights Reserved.

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Hip Hug-Her is a 1967 album by Booker T. & the M.G.’s, released on Stax Records. The instrumental soul album includes the title track “Hip Hug-Her”, which became a Top 40 hit, along with covers like Groovin’ and Sunny.

The cover was designed by Loring Eutemey with the album title set in Antique.

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Soul Street is an album by R&B and soul singer and songwriter Eddie Floyd (b. 1937), released in 1974 on Stax Records. The sleeve design is by the record company’s internal design studio, The Stax Organization. Ellis H. Chappell provided the marvelous street scene illustration, complete with shop signs of current and previous businesses in various lettering styles as well as details such as protest graffiti.

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The cover typography is set in Swinger. This funky heavyweight comes in two styles, Swinger and Swinger Shadow, both of which can be seen here. The designer of Swinger is Ray Cruz.

Born August 31, 1943, in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Cruz graduated from New York City’s High School of Art and Design and honed his skills working in several of the city’s lettering studios, including Techni-Process (1963), Headliners (1964, under John N. Schaedler), and, following two years of army service, at the newly formed John N. Schaedler, Inc. There, he helped Schaedler design Loose New Roman and was soon appointed studio director. Tempor Medium and Bold from 1968 were “his first independently designed alphabet styles”. Swinger and Fat Albert followed in 1969 and 1970. Cruz described the latter as the “sign of the times – anti-war fervor mixed with sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll”.

In 1977, he founded Cruz & Slowik Associates, together with Janet Slowik. There, he drew numerous wordmarks and logotypes, as well as custom typefaces including for Camel and the United States Postal Service. From 1999 to 2005, Cruz served as type director at the Young & Rubicam advertising agency. In addition, he was a passionate teacher, working as adjunct professor at Parsons School of Design, FIT, Kean University’s Robert Busch School of Design, County College of Morris, and Marywood College.

In total, Cruz designed more than fifty typeface styles. He revived some of his early works himself and released them in digital form through his own foundry, Cruz Fonts, including Swinger.

Ramon “Ray” Cruz died on March 26, 2025, at the age of 81. Rest in peace.

Credits and track list on the back cover are set in a light weight of ITC Avant Garde Gothic.

Live Wire / Blues Power is a live album by blues guitarist and singer Albert King, released in 1968 on Stax Records. Recorded at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, the album captures King’s signature guitar style and powerful vocals, featuring performances of songs like “Blues Power” and “Watermelon Man”.

The cover design, created by Beverly Parker, features Sans Stencil for the album title. This typeface is a follower of Filmotype Quiet.

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Doin’ Our Thing is a 1968 album by Booker T. & the MG’s, released on Stax Records. The album showcases the band’s signature blend of instrumental soul, R&B, and Memphis groove, featuring tracks like “I Can Dig It”, “Expressway to Your Heart”, and “The Beat Goes On”. As one of the most influential instrumental groups of the era, Booker T. & the MG’s continued to refine their tight, rhythmic sound on this release.

The album cover was designed by Loring Eutemey, a frequent collaborator with Atlantic and Stax Records, featuring a photo by Peter Hujar. The title is set in Davison Display.

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Track names and credits on the back are set in two weights of Helvetica. Backliner photo by Bill Kington.

Rufus Thomas Live: Doing the Push & Pull at P.J.'s is the first live album by R&B/funk musician, WDIA radio DJ, and eternal teenager in spirit Rufus Thomas, released in 1970 on Stax Records. The cover was designed by Lee Lebowitz at Think Ink under the supervision of Larry Shaw, with photography by Memphis radio personality and photographer Mark Stansbury.

“RUFUS THOMAS LIVE” is set in Jefferson Aeroplane from Photo-Lettering (a distorted and extended version of PLINC Capricorn), with “LIVE” in yellow, overlaid by a circular pattern which appears to be one of a series of pattern effects offered by Photo-Lettering Inc. under the name “Psychemat”. “DOING THE PUSH & PULL AT P.J.’s” is set in Trade Gothic Extended Light. The text on the back cover is set in two weights of Helvetica.

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Close-up of liner notes by WDIA DJ and Thomas' high school history teacher Nat D. Williams on back cover.

Two years after 1970’s Doing the Push & Pull at P.J.’s, Stax Records released Rufus Thomas’s Did You Heard Me? album, the fourth out of many forthcoming albums. Allan Ulmea Studios is credited for front photography, and David Krieger / The Graffiteria for the album’s cover design, which uses Davison Bimbo in the “Contour A” style, with a green/teal fill. Additionally, art direction was handled by Larry Shaw and Ron Gorden.

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Track names and credits on the back are set in two weights of Folio.

“Crown Prince of Dance” is the fourth studio album by Rufus Thomas (between the second and third record, Stax released a live album). The cover features a photograph of Rufus Thomas showing off his dance moves, shot from underneath a glass plate(?) by Maldwin Hamlin. The design and art direction are credited to The Stax Organization, who picked St. Clair for the cover typography, set in a matching purple hue.

I personally like the text block with track listing and credits on the back best of the album design; it’s set in two weights of Helvetica and it’s functional without looking thoughtless or boring. I like to think that this is the kind of typography that would later inspire designers like Experimental Jetset.

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Funk and soul album One Step Beyond was released in 1970, by Johnnie Taylor on the Stax record label. Both David Krieger and The Graffiteria served for this album's art direction, with model and dancer Pat Evans appearing on both front and back covers.

Photo-Lettering's Bauhaus Geometric is appropriately used for “JOHNNIE TAYLOR” and “STS-2030 STEREO” only, with Futura for the tracklist and credits on the back cover.

A rare sighting of the Dellacroce Beta typeface, specifically variant #3 (6180) is used for “one step beyond” on both front and back. Photo-Lettering’s One Line Manual of Styles only displays #1 (6178), #2 (6179), #5 (6194), and #6 (6195), with #2 being the closest style to Beta #2.

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Dellacroce Beta as shown in Art Deco, 1970

Dellacroce Beta plus four of the shaded variants (#1, #2, #5 and #6) as shown in the One Line Manual of Styles, 1971. Carl P. Dellacroce’s family name is accidentally spelled with one l in four of the captions.

Memphis Queen, the seventh album by soul singer Carla Thomas was released on the Stax record label in 1969. Along with that, the album displays a unique composition designed by Honeya Thompson accompanied with back and front photography taken by Bob Stone. Robert Montgomery’s Montgomery Pousse Cafe, issued by Photo-Lettering around 1969, is used for the title, shown on both sides, with the front title colored in a magenta to light blue value. Track names and credits are displayed in Helvetica.

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Detail of the multi-colored setting in Pousse Cafe

The Dock of the Bay is Otis Redding’s seventh studio album album, and his first posthumous release. The album was issued in 1968 under Volt Records, a subsidiary of Stax Records. This album includes one of his best known songs, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”. The album art, designed by Loring Eutemey uses Stencil typography.

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Years Gone By is an album by blues guitarist Albert King (1923–1992), released in 1969 on Stax Records. Honeya Thompson provided the art direction, Don Paulsen the cover photography. The title typeface is Hobo, used with tight letterspacing and in all lowercase letters.

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Seymour Chwast’s Blimp was added to Photo-Lettering’s alphabet range around 1969. In the same year, a two-colored Blimp A (the variant with stripes) appeared on the cover of Gotta Groove. It’s the second album by the Bar-Kays, the backing group of Stax Records. It’s also the first one after four band members were killed in a horrible plane crash, together with Otis Redding. Trumpeter Ben Cauley, the only survivor of the crash, and bassist James Alexander, who was on another plane, rebuilt the group.

The cover design is by Beverly Parker, with art direction by Honeya Thompson. Discogs credits Thompson with the design of about three dozen album covers. Most of those were made in a single year, 1969, for Stax and their sublabel Volt. An article in Cashbox from February 1969 has some info about her:

Honeya Thompson has been assigned the post of assistant art director [for Stax Records and its affiliated labels]. […] Miss Thompson is a graduate of LA’s Otis Art Institute. She has freelanced as an illustrator for Capitol Records, Gallin & Bright Advertising Agency, Robert Miles Runyan Advertising and West magazine.

Originally released in 1969 on Volt Records, the images show a 1971 UK issue on Stax.

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Soul Men is the third album by soul duo Sam & Dave. It was released on Stax Records in October 1967 with cover art designed by Loring Eutemey. The typography uses Folio Extra Bold. The album introduced the smash hit single “Soul Man,” which soared to No. 1 on the R&B Singles chart and secured the No. 2 spot on the Hot 100 Singles chart.

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Soul Limbo is a 1968 album from the instrumental soul quartet Booker T. & the M.G.’s. The band name and title are set in Filmotype Madison on the front cover, with Trade Gothic Condensed for the track list and a question and answer test on the back.

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Back cover of a British pressing by EMI Records, featuring Univers Bold Condensed

Green Onions is a 1962 album from the instrumental soul quartet Booker T. & the M.G.’s. The title track was a top ten hit on the Billboard 200, and has been used in numerous movies and TV shows, including American Graffiti (1973).

The album title and artist name are set in the extra-bold weight of Folio on both the front and back cover.

Haig Adishian is credited for the design. According to Wikipedia, “the cover photo was shot by Irving Schild, who would go on to have a 52-year career as Mad Magazine’s primary photographer.”

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Via Fonts from the Flea Market #1255

Gemini Computer and Bookman Swash Bold Italic for the cover of a Dutch label sampler by Stax, featuring music by Johnnie Taylor, Eddie Floyd, William Bell, Carla Thomas, Pervis Staples & Mavis Staples, Booker T & The M.G.’s, The Bar Kays, Darrell Banks, Judy Clay, The Emotions, and Albert King.

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From Wikipedia:

Live in Europe is a live album from soul singer Otis Redding. It was Redding’s first live album as well as the only live album released during his lifetime, issued exactly five months before his death on December 10, 1967. The album was recorded during the Stax/Volt tour of Europe and Redding is backed by Booker T. & the MG's. Recorded at the Olympia Theatre, Paris; March 21, 1967.

The album was first released by Volt Records, a subsidiary of Stax. The image shown here is a stereo release on Atlantic Records from 1972, with largely unchanged artwork. Cover design by Bernard Yeszin, with photography by Jean-Pierre Leloir. John Albert Cavanagh’s Palisade Graphic is paired with caps from a wide grotesque of low contrast.

Almost half a century old, this album cover by (ex Bar-Kay member) Ron Gorden and David Hogan still looks fresh. The design with its mysterious dark and glowing portrait, shot by Frederick Toma, and the outlined typography could just as well have been published today as in 1973.

Commonly regarded as one of the first-ever concept records of the soul genre, this dark masterpiece combines the lush orchestral arrangements of Isaac Hayes collaborator Dale Warren with Blaxploitation-style funk grooves, resulting in a sound that would rocket it to cult-classic status among DJs and producers who have sampled it for tracks by Kendrick Lamar, Jay Z, Digable Planets, Dr. Dre, and many others. — Stax Records

The outlined type used on the front is Dominante, the only typeface design credited to Johann(nes) Schweitzer. It was published by Ludwig & Mayer in the late 1950s, described as “an Antiqua with all characteristics of a good Text and Akzidenz typeface for all tasks, from bibliophilic prints up to big newspaper advertisements.” Later versions of Dominant(e) were available as phototype, and as dry transfer lettering. In the 2000s it was digitized by a few foundries. The styles used here are Dominance Diffident (outlined) and Dominance Overbearing (shaded), two phototype styles that originated at Phil Martin’s Alphabet Innovations in 1971 and were also available from Lettergraphics.

Goudy Oldstyle is used for the back cover.

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Detail.

Back cover.

Otis Redding died in 1967, at 26 years of age. A series of 26 single records was released in France, containing (hit) songs of the soul giant. The first volume was released shortly after Redding’s untimely death [see comments], volume 26 was released in 1970.

Most of the covers follow the same design, with “The Otis Redding Story” set in punched Baby Teeth with a new S, the volume numbered in Cooper Black, song titles set in all caps Futura; and a back cover typeset in Antique Olive, Akzidenz-Grotesk and Chambord. The Stax logo is based on Binder-Style.

A visual overview of 19 of the 26 issues of the series, from the collection of Horst Adomeit.