Sammi Smith – Something Old, Something New, Something Blue album art
Burlesque is our collective name for a design that goes back to the first half of the 19th century. The contoured all-caps trifurcated Tuscan was shown by foundries in England, the USA, and Germany. Its earliest known appearance found by type historian Nicolete Gray is in 1843 by Figgins and Caslon. Anna Conroy thinks it may have originated in France. In addition to metal type, it was also produced in wood: Wells & Webb showed it in 1849.
The version used on the cover of Sammi Smith’s 1972 album is MP 321 by Headliners, a phototype adaptation of old type in the Morgan Press Collection. The script used for the title is neo-Sonora, another Headliners release.
Cover design by Pinwheel Studios, established 1970 in Nashville, Tennessee, by Herb Burnette, with photography by John Donegan.
Detail: Burlesque is printed with yellow letters and a pink contour.
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When the album was reissued in 2023, the cover typography was redone. Either the designers of Good Time Records wanted to go for a slightly different look, or they couldn’t find exact matches for the original typefaces. In any case, the new fonts are CircusTime and Springfield.
Image via Bandcamp