Circus Maximus – Circus Maximus album art
A use of the Brownjohn, Chermayeff & Geismar custom lettering for this debut album from Circus Maximus on Vanguard Records. While not specifically credited on the album, Jules Halfant was the art director for the label from 1953 to 1988. The photograph is by Joel Brodsky.
The typeface is named for the East Village nightclub that booked various acts—the most noted being The Velvet Underground—in order to create multi-media events. According to liner notes from a compilation release by Craft Recordings:
First operating as The Lost Sea Dreamers (thereby providing a useful acronym for the times), (Circus Maximus) signed to Vanguard on the heels of a residency at the city’s fashionable Electric Circus —Alec Palao, compilation producer and liner note author
The band featured in the Electric Circus’ December “Electric Christmas” concerts at Carnegie Hall (see poster) as well, so it makes sense that they would not have had any trouble adopting this face for their debut album which was released in autumn of 1967.
