Billy Vaughn – Moon River album art
Previously released on Dot Records, this is Pickwick’s cover for an album of easy listening music by Billy Vaughn, issued in late 1969 (after Apollo 12). From the back side:
Men have walked on the moon. Before that incredible event people wondered whether the moon could ever be the same, to lovers and poets and musicians, once men had been there. Once it had been prodded and examined and littered, could the moon still be an object of wonder and a symbol of romance and mystery to those still tied to earth? Now astronauts have been to the moon and back twice, bringing samples of moon rock home with them. But, somehow, it hasn’t made any difference at all when we sing songs, read poems, or stand with our sweethearts watching that cold golden bell in the night sky. The moon is still magical and mysterious. It is still an object of wonder. And we still say, “Come out and look, it’s a full moon tonight.” So let’s drift down Moon River with Billy Vaughn and this album, and let’s celebrate, because science has not reduced the moon to a hunk of dead rock of Billy Vaughn or for us.
The wide futuristic letterforms are from House Cybernetic, an all-caps design with some biform alternates (see the E’s in the sample). It exhibits an unconventional weight distribution inspired by numerals conceived for magnetic ink character recognition. Unlike the name might suggest, this is not a release by House Industries. The typeface is rather named after its designer, Richard House, and was added to the catalog of Photo-Lettering (PLINC) sometime after 1965. Coincidentally, House Industries acquired the PLINC assets in 2003, and have issued a number of digital revivals of their display alphabets. House Cybernetic is not (yet) among them. Via a request on fontid.co, answered by Sorval.
The track list and liner notes are set in the IBM Selectric version of Univers which is distinguished by the narrow proportions for a, s, g, etc.
