Sonny Boy Williamson – “Jazz Classics” N° 17
Not the most interesting typography, and certainly not the best quality images. And even the “Jazz Classics” classification is off target: Sonny Boy Williamson was a blues artist. But this album cover is the earliest French use of Roger Excoffon’s Choc (1955) I could find on Discogs.
Most of the various sans serifs on front and back cover are too small to ID with certainty. “Le Grand Chanteur De Blues” appears to be set in two different sizes of Gill Sans, and “Jazz Classics” N° 17” is set in Futura Condensed.
Cover artist Henry Blanc copied the typeface’s shape with some liberty, notably in W, a and n as shown on this comparison between the digital version currently available (top) and the cover (below). Even though both lack the vivid and sharp details of the original, the lettering is clearly based on Choc.
