West Italiano in early use for a 1967 album by The Impressions. At this time, the group from Chicago had three members: Curtis Mayfield (lead tenor, guitar, and songwriter of all the album’s songs but one), Fred Cash (baritone/second tenor), and Sam Gooden (bass). The album was arranged and conducted by producer Johny Pate (b. 1923).

The Fabulous Impressions was released with ABC Records. A year later, in 1968, Mayfield (together with Eddie Thomas) formed his own label, Curtom Records, allowing him to retain the rights to and control the publication of his music. In a 2015 article for BOAA, Tim Anderson highlights the economic and political significance and quotes Craig Werner who points out that the emancipation of the Black artists also affected the albums covers:

While the ABC-Paramount releases provide examples of Mayfield’s band dressed in tuxedos and suits, the Curtom releases have The Impressions in much more modern threads.

[More info on Discogs]

The typeface used for the cover of B.B. King’s fourteenth studio album from 1968 is West Barnum Ultra from Photo-Lettering, Inc., set in tightly spaced capitals, in sky blue on top of dark blue. From the liner notes:

“My ambition is to have been one of the greatest blues singers there have ever been” says B. B. King. It’s admirable to know that this is his ambition, as many of his followers think he already is the greatest.
In this electronic generation, where most every thing is now either in, out, on or off, B. B. King comes off as way above todays musical maelstrom.

The back cover features a number of other, less heavy slab serifs. “B.B. King” is Bartuska Breton. “Arranged and conducted” is set in Beton. The text typeface used for the liner notes appears to be a version of Stymie with its alternate monocular ‘a’.