A highly attractive, scarce Rolling Stones window card from June 28th, 1966 in Buffalo, New York.
This was the Stones 5th American tour of their career, having visited the U.S. twice each in 1964 and ’65. The Buffalo date was the 7th show of this tour, which would end exactly one month later in Hawaii.
The coolest feature of this Rolling Stones appearance poster is the striking photograph of the group at water’s edge – taken directly from their best-of album, High Tide and Green Grass.
Matter of fact, that very album was in the top 10 of Billboard magazine’s best-selling LPs chart the very week of this Buffalo concert. It had been out for about two months.
Guy Webster is the photographer who snapped the picture that so dominates this Rolling Stones placard. But you won’t find him credited anywhere… this was considered just a temporary, throw-away advertising sign.
One might think the photo was taken in England somewhere, but nope – Webster shot it in Los Angeles, at Franklin Canyon Park. Founding member Brian Jones dominates the foreground, and he would be dead in three years.
This picture really enhances the appearance of this Rolling Stones broadside. It’s not just a good photo, it’s from one of their album covers. And it’s not just any album cover, it’s their Greatest Hits album cover, currently riding high on the charts. What great synchronicity!
And I haven’t even mentioned their current hit single, “Paint It, Black,” which was in the Top 5 of Billboard magazine’s Hot 100 singles chart at the time. How can it get any better?
Notice how radio station WKBW grabs significant real estate on this Rolling Stones window display. You’ve got their call letters in huge letters at the top, and then they’re plugged again along with the opening groups.
Those support bands were The McCoys, best known for “Hang On Sloopy” (a big hit the previous year), and The Standells, who were presently riding high with their biggest hit, “Dirty Water.”
And it wouldn’t be a Rolling Stones ticket poster without the admission prices being mentioned… in this case, the even amounts of $5.00, $4.00 and $3.00.
That wasn’t cheap for 1966… surely it had to have been one of the very first rock ’n’ roll shows to top out at 5 bucks. Perhaps only the Beatles had gone that high previously, but I haven’t researched it.
And right below the Standells on this Rolling Stones event poster are the “WKBW VIPS.” This was commonplace in the innocent sixties – for the local radio station to get a word in for their DJs, often called VIPs or “good guys.” Sometimes their picture even appeared.
And above everyone’s name you have “Plus All Star Show,” and below them you have that graphic design element of five actual stars. That was an important marketing element in the sixties… give them stars and more stars!
I neglected to mention earlier the type font that’s used for the headliner’s name on this Rolling Stones show placard. It’s cribbed directly from the cover of High Tide and Green Grass, beautifully supplementing the album-cover photograph.
This approach to posters is so much more fun and refreshing than the corporate world it’s evolved into. Can you imagine how involved the Stones’ lawyers would get if designers tried to borrow trademarked elements of the band’s logo, etc.?
And then you have the big red rectangle near the bottom of this Rolling Stones street poster. For starters, it doesn’t say “1966”… why should it? Everyone knew what year they were in, and the poster was created to live for just a few weeks.
And then the show’s venue is given, the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. This big indoor sports arena was built in 1940 and lasted for almost 70 years, before the wrecking ball swung in 2008-2009.
And below the red box are all the locations at which you could buy the tix, including the Auditorium box office itself. This Rolling Stones concert announcement was trimmed once upon a time, probably to fit into a frame. Brundo’s Music Store was in Niagara Falls, and Norton Hall was on the campus of the University of Buffalo.
It’s a shame that such a nice design as this wasn’t turned into a “tour blank” that could’ve been used for more dates on the ’66 tour… but alas, it was created just for this one promoter, just for this one show. But I think it’s the best-looking one I’ve seen from their ’66 trek.
Finally, it’s absolutely terrific that this Rolling Stones tour poster uses the color red so effectively. Even if it were all B&W, it would be darn nice, but the red turns it into a total, total winner.
And notice how the red is evenly distributed throughout the poster… the radio station at the top, the opening acts in the middle and the red box of information down toward the bottom. The designers knew what they were doing.
This Rolling Stones street sign is analyzed and evaluated by long-time collector Peter Howard, who is me… I’m at (805) 540-0020 or pete@postercentral.com. As a serious collector, I will pay TOP DOLLAR IN THE HOBBY, PERIOD for this or any vintage 1960s Stones concert posters.
To view a few other vintage Rolling Stones concert posters just like this, simply “roll” on over to this page right here on my site: http://www.postercentral.com/rollingstones.htm
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