Edwin Starr – War and Peace album art
War and Peace is the second studio album by Edwin Starr, released in 1970 on Motown’s Gordy label. The lead single “War”, written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong and originally performed by the Temptations on their Psychedelic Shack album that came out in March of that same year, was an anti-war protest song during the later years of the Vietnam War. The single reached #1 on the Billboard Top 100 and was nominated for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 1971 Grammys, where it lost to B. B. King’s “The Thrill is Gone”.
Edwin Starr’s name on the front cover is set in Clearface Gothic. The words “WAR” and “PEACE” underneath are in two different ornamental typefaces that I can’t seem to identify as McNair/Schlesinger liked to use exotic faces for covers during this era: “WAR” being set in a gothic Tuscan similar to ITC Florinda with holes within the forms and a shaded outline, and “PEACE” being set in an antique Tuscan with floral decorations along the inside of the forms and a shaded outline. In between them is a Bodoni-like swashed ampersand, likely an ornament. The tracklist in the bottom two segments of the peace sign is set in Univers Condensed (medium). The “STEREO” text on the top-left of both covers on stereo releases is added in Futura Bold.
The credits and copyright info on the back cover are set in Univers. The “Motown Sound” text on the top-right corner on the original release and some vinyl reissues uses ATF’s Stencil. Photography by Jim Hendin.
1 Comment on “Edwin Starr – War and Peace album art”
Thank you, Jae. I’ve identified the two ornamental typefaces. They are called Eagle and Keystone and were both issued by Lettergraphics in the late 1960s.