Trips Festival Window Card 1966 Longshoremen’s Hall San Francisco

Posted on June 26, 2013 by postercentral

A vintage, authentic Trips Festival concert poster printed up to advertise this important weekend event at San Francisco’s Longshoremen’s Hall on January 21, 22 & 23, 1966.

Bill Graham was the coordinating producer for this event, but it’s funny to notice how tiny his credit is on this Trips Festival broadside… he’s credited in the smallest print on the poster, bottom center in the “Festival Credits” section.

From a design standpoint, it’s interesting to note how graphic artist Peter Bailey left so much empty space in the upper left portion of his Trips Festival show poster, instead of filling it with all the day-by-day performer credits.

And from a texture standpoint, this Trips Festival billboard was constructed of light card stock, and flexes easily. You might say it falls somewhere between a paper poster and one made of stiff cardboard.

This is essentially a black & white Trips Festival window display with only one real color added to the mix, the yellow-green hue. But designer Bailey used it to great effect to create a striking piece that definitely looks colorful.

Designer Bailey, BTW, is the same graphic artist who also designed BG-1, the poster for Bill Graham’s first official weekend of concerts at the Fillmore Auditorium just two weeks after this.

In collector’s circles, concert posters sometimes pick up nicknames over the years, so that they can be referred to with just a couple of words. In this case, the Trips Festival concert placard could offhandedly be referred to as the “solar eclipse poster,” or even more succinctly, the “eclipse poster” or “solar poster.”

This Trips Festival show placard is very “wordy,” but nonetheless, what follows is the complete wording found on it:

TRIPS FESTIVAL – JAN 21, 22, 23

Friday, January 21 – DOUBLE BILL – 8-12 P.M. $2 – Master of Ceremonies: Ben Jacopetti

AMERICA NEEDS INDIANS – Sensorium 9. By Stewart Brand and Zach Stewart. 600 slides, 2 movies, 4 sound tracks, flowers, food, rock ’n’ roll, Eagle Bone Whistle, Thunderstorm, live Cheyenne Tipi, Chippewas, Senecas, Papagoes, Wascoes, Navahoes, Hopi, Ponca, Ottowa, Cherokee, Sioux, Blackfeet, Tlingit, Makah, Pomo and Miwuk, plus anthropologists.

& OPEN THEATER – “Revelations!” (nude projections), The God Box (zot!), The Congress of Wonders, Aimee Semple MacPherson sermon, masturbation sermon 1848, The Jazz Mice, Beatle readings, projections, The Endless Explosion, Ben and Rain, Steve Fowler, Amanda Foulger… and the ineluctable, evanescent & unexpectable.

Saturday, January 22 – DOUBLE BILL – 8-12 P.M. $2 – Master of Ceremonies: Ken Kesey

“OPTIONS AND CONTRACTS” by members of the S.F. Tape Music Center and Canyon Cinema – Ramon Sender, Anthony Martin, Don Buchla, Bruce Baillie, Bill Maginnis, movies, thundering elephants, real people with Big Brother and the Holding Company rock ’n’ roll [only their 2nd gig ever, way before Janis Joplin joined them], modulated guitar, sound-light console, overhead projection… and the unexpectable.

& “THE ACID TEST” – the Merry Band of Pranksters and their psychedelic symphony, Neal Cassady vs. Ann Murphy vaudeville, The Grateful Dead rock ’n’ roll [only weeks after changing their name from The Warlocks], Allen Ginsberg, Roy’s Audioptics, movies, Ron Boise & His Electric Thunder Sculpture, the bus [Kesey’s famous Pranksters bus], the Hell’s Angels, many noted outlaws… and the unexpectable.

Sunday, January 23 – CYCLOTRON, 8-12 P.M. $2 – Master of Ceremonies: Pinball Machine

HIGH ENERGY EXPERIMENTS will be conducted by [get ready for lots of ampersands] America Needs Indians & Open Theater & S.F. Tape Music Center & Canyon Cinema & The Merry Pranksters & illustrious movie makers & Gordon Ashby (Light Matrix) & Henry Jacobs (Air Dome Projections) & Don Buchla & Osborne and Stewart & The Grateful Dead & The Holding Company [interesting how “Big Brother” was omitted here] & The Stroboscopic Trampoline & many others still being assembled.

The audience is invited to wear ecstatic dress. Bring your own toys – programmed public AC outlets provided.

LONGSHOREMEN’S HALL with brand new sound system at Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco. Information: 392-5489. Tickets: $2 per evening or $5 per 3 evenings. Tickets at: ASUC or Campus Records Berkeley, Hut-T-1 San Francisco State, City Lights Books, and at the door.

FESTIVAL CREDITS – Produced in association with Bill Graham. Publicity: Jerry Mander/Zev Putterman & Associates.  Sound-Light coordination: Don Buchla.

[And in the upper left-hand corner, in small print] – Poster by Peter Bailey: East Wind Printers

It’s interesting to note how this Trips Festival placard is laid out horizontally, because most posters back then were designed to be seen vertically, making them perhaps more conducive to posting in store windows and on telephone poles/lamp posts.

If you’re a S.F. music-memorabilia collector like me, there are actually three advertising pieces you can collect for this all-important weekend: this Trips Festival event poster plus two different fliers, one put out by Bill Graham and the other designed by the well-known Wes Wilson, who would go on to great heights in Bay-Area poster design.

Perhaps this is stating the obvious, but this Trips Festival ticket poster is desired by collectors because the three-day event is seen by pop culture historians as an important cultural touchstone for the generation which came of age in the Sixties.

This Trips Festival display sign is shown off and discussed by California collector Pete Howard (805-540-0020 or pete@postercentral.com). And as a serious collector, I will pay TOP DOLLAR, simply the best price anywhere, for this Trips Festival poster or either handbill, and likewise any early, seminal San Francisco hippie-culture rock ’n’ roll memorabilia.

To see a few more important psychedelic concert-poster renditions, just click over to this page right here on my web site: http://www.postercentral.com/psychedelic.htm

Posted in **All Posters, **Psychedelic Posters Only, *Grateful Dead | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Four Tops Concert Poster 1960s Fillmore Auditorium – Autographed

Posted on June 23, 2013 by postercentral

A vintage, authentic cardboard concert poster for The Four Tops appearing at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco on September 27, 1966.

This particular Four Tops placard was autographed by all four members of the legendary singing group, although decades after the actual show occurred.

This Four Tops tour poster was a standard “tour blank,” thereby perhaps used for many of the shows on the group’s West Coast swing in the year of ’66.

The upper portion of this Four Tops poster was printed, as you can see, in red ink… that is the information which changed from show-to-show, city-to-city. The blue- and black-ink areas underneath that had all the information which applied to any stop on the tour: group photo, song titles, the opening act, etc.

In addition to the “toning” present, this Four Tops display also has some fading of its colors, due to many years of being up on display.

In fact, this vintage Motown concert poster was owned by John Goddard, the proprietor of Village Music in Mill Valley, California, where it was hung up on that record store’s walls for a long time, alongside many other cool posters.

It’s really fascinating to note that this Four Tops broadside represents a show at S.F.’s famous Fillmore Auditorium during an era when promoter Bill Graham was holding his famous psychedelic series of concerts every weekend. This was a weekday show that ran in between Graham’s gigs.

In terms of those Bill Graham shows, this Four Tops billboard falls in the middle of the poster known as BG-29: two weekends of Fillmore concerts featuring Jefferson Airplane, Butterfield Blues Band and Muddy Waters.

So it’s an interesting contrast: this Four Tops boxing style poster made of cardboard, and Graham’s very colorful, paper, psychedelic concert posters that proliferated around Fillmore shows in the mid- to late-’60s.

When it was initially manufactured, this Four Tops concert placard had a bright white background, but it has obviously been “toned,” as in sunburned or browned, over the years by either sunlight or florescent lights… probably the latter, due to Village Music.

You might note how this Four Tops window display gives three song titles and obviously has room for more… but for some reason, it left off previous big Tops hits like “It’s the Same Old Song” and “I Can’t Help Myself.”

I can’t imagine that opening act Johnny Talbot was too pleased with Tilghman’s typesetters… the poster misspells his name “Johnny Tabot,” leaving out the letter “L” which changes the pronunciation which people would have attempted!

Which leads me to point out that Tilghman Press of Oakland, CA designed and printed this Four Tops show poster, doing an otherwise great job!  Tilghman was a very common poster printer on the West Coast’s R&B circuit during the fifties and sixties.

Another cute thing to notice is that usually a poster such as this will say “Dance / Concert” or “Show & Concert,” but this Four Tops sign actually lists all three words across the bottom – “Dance Concert Show.”  Overkill, but cool!

So this would be a good time to list the entire text just as it reads on this Four Tops telephone-pole poster:

(In red, at the top): Fillmore Auditorium – 1805 Geary St., San Francisco – One Nite Only – Tuesday, Sept. 27th – Starts at 9:00 P.M.

(And then in blue print, going down): THE FOUR TOPS – “Reach Out I’ll Be There” – “Baby I Need Your Loving” – “Ask the Lonely”

(And then the blue print segues to black): with Johnny Tabot [sic] and De Thangs – Dance – Concert – Show.

(and the tiny printer’s credit): Tilghman Press, 1217 – 32nd St., OAK. – 653-4388

I should have pointed out before now that this classic Motown window card measures the standard 14 by 22 inches in size.

This Four Tops tour placard is shown off and discussed by music-memorabilia collector Peter J. Howard (pete@postercentral.com or 805-540-0020).  I will pay TOP DOLLAR, the best prices period, for fifties and sixties vintage soul music concert posters like this.

If it’s your desire to see a few more great soul-music ticket-selling posters from the sixties, just venture over to this page on my web site: http://www.postercentral.com/rhythmnblues.htm

Posted in **All Posters, Boxing-Style Concert Posters, Fillmore Auditorium, Soul and R&B | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tribute to Dr. Strange Handbill 1965 Family Dog Hand-Colored

Posted on June 19, 2013 by postercentral

Here is an original flyer-handbill for The Family Dog’s “A Tribute to Dr. Strange” dance-concert in San Francisco, which took place at Longshoremen’s Hall at Fisherman’s Wharf on October 16, 1965.

I actually have two versions of the Dr. Strange flyer to show you… a “regular” one printed with black ink on blue paper, and then a white-paper version that was hand-colored with Magic Markers at the time of the event.

As a matter of fact, this vintage Tribute to Dr. Strange handbill was colored in by Ellen Harmon, one of the four founding members of the Family Dog collective in 1965.

This original Tribute to Dr. Strange concert flyer was actually designed and sketched out by Harmon’s boyfriend, Alton Kelley, one of the other founding members of the Family Dog.

Reportedly, about 1,000 Tribute to Dr. Strange slingers were printed up before the concert, with the majority of them supposedly hand-colored in by all members of the original Family Dog – Ellen Harmon, Alton Kelley, Luria Castell and Jack Towle.

So each hand-colored Tribute to Dr. Strange leaflet would be somewhat different from the others, and thereby unique, a fun characteristic of anything that is hand-done.

It’s important to point out that the printed black-ink information and B&W artwork is exactly the same on all of the Tribute to Dr. Strange handouts. For example, the little buzzing airplane coming in at an angle next to the words “Jefferson Airplane” is totally identical on all Dr. Strange posters and flyers. The same master was used.

It’s fun to note how Ellen Harmon used every color in the rainbow, and more, to colorize this gorgeous, hand-colored Tribute to Dr. Strange concert flier… it’s beautifully colored with red, blue, pink, yellow, orange, green and purple – and even that doesn’t quite name them all.

A keen eye would also notice (although, granted, it’s a minor point) that both of these vintage Tribute to Dr. Strange heralds have a thin-line border on all four sides, which is broken only in the bottom left by the listing of ticket locations.

This Family Dog Presents A Tribute to Dr. Strange announcement was not the only way the event was advertised… there were actually two different, larger posters printed up as well… one of them I’ve already blogged here, and the other is coming up later this summer.

If you’re not familiar with classic comics, Dr. Strange was a Marvel Comics superhero who made his debut in 1963. The Family Dog’s Ellen Harmon was a major consumer of comic books, and the Family Dog members felt that their new series of dance-concerts should have a fun-sounding theme to them, to help them appear special.

So following Dr. Strange, the next two dance-concerts held by the Family Dog collective were called A Tribute to Sparkle Plenty and A Tribute to Ming the Merciless.  And yes, both posters and handbills were made for those two events as well.

Fans of the Jefferson Airplane are quite pleased that The Great Society is listed at the very bottom of this Tribute to Dr. Strange concert handout.  That means that singer Grace Slick was part of the show, even though it would be one year to the day before she would change camps and join the Airplane.

What follows is the entire text found on this vintage San Francisco dance-concert handbill, just as it reads from top to bottom, left to right:

The Family Dog Presents A Tribute to Dr. Strange

With Russ “The Moose” Syracuse (he was the Master of Ceremonies), Jefferson Airplane, The Charlatans, The Marbles… Also… The Great Society

(Back up to the top right): Rock ’N’ Roll Dance and Concert – Oct. 16 – Sat. Nite 9:00 – 2:00 (with cute eyeballs in the zeros)

Longshoremen’s Hall – Fishermen’s Wharf – Adm. $2.50, Students 2.00 – (and then back down to very bottom, lower left): Tickets at Committee Box Office – Open 4-12 PM – Also U.C. & S.F. State Box offices

If you should come across a yellow Tribute to Dr. Strange concert handbill, it’s probably real, too… although I neglect to mention it in the video, yellow ones were printed before the concert as well. So that means there were white, blue and yellow fliers, printed with just black ink.  So if each paper color had some specimens colored in with Magic Markers, then that would make a grand total of six different Tribute to Dr. Strange flier possibilities out there, and nine different advertising pieces if you include the posters!

On a historical note, even though Ellen Harmon & Alton Kelley are the star designers of this Dr. Strange concert appearance sheet – in fact, Kelley even autographed the hand-colored one shown here – it was the Family Dog’s Luria Castell who did most of the grunt work – booking the acts, securing Longshoremen’s Hall, etc.

One important nod toward authenticity on both versions of this authentic Tribute to Dr. Strange appearance sheet is the printer’s union bug, down in the flyer’s lower right-hand corner.

This beautiful piece of San Francisco rock-music history is enthusiastically discussed by serious collector Peter Howard, living in California’s central coast (phone 805-540-0020 or email pete@postercentral.com). I will pay TOP DOLLAR for any advertising like this relating to the early Family Dog dances – in addition to any very early S.F. rock posters and handbills, period.

To take in a few other classic, scarce, collectible pieces of psychedelic concert-poster art from outside of the Bay Area, just click over to this page found right here on my Web site: http://www.postercentral.com/psychedelic.htm

Posted in **Psychedelic Posters Only, Handbills & Flyers | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Biggest In Person Show of ’56 Window Card – Bill Haley, Platters

Posted on June 14, 2013 by postercentral

An original Bill Haley – Platters 1956 concert poster featuring several great, early rock & roll and R&B touring musicians from mid-century.

The first thing you’ll notice is that the top is missing from this Bill Haley – Platters 1956 window card; someone trimmed it off back in the day, probably to frame it.

Not only that, but the other three edges of this Biggest In Person Show of 56 placard are also gone. So the trimmer left no white border, anywhere.

As a result, many collectors would consider this to be a maimed, or defaced, Bill Haley – Platters 1956 boxing style poster. But hey, it’s so much better than nothing at all, right?

I’m especially tickled by the way Bill Haley is shown in a plaid sports jacket and bow tie, and was photographed while singing and playing his famous hollow-body electric guitar, on this Biggest In Person Show of ’56 show placard.

Globe Posters of Baltimore made this Bill Haley – Platters ’56 tour poster, but you can’t tell on this copy because their bottom-line credit (always in the white border) was trimmed away.

The trimming culprit was actually pretty sloppy… the lower left-hand corner of this Biggest In Person Show of ’56 broadside was severely cut into as well, taking part of Shirley Gunter’s misspelled name with it.

It’s quite odd how the photograph of The Platters on this Bill Haley – Platters 1956 window display is actually a composite of three different pictures pieced together! Maybe that was because of a group personnel change or two.

Although this is a very colorful vintage rock poster, all of the lettering on this Biggest In Person Show of 56 display is in either black or white, except for tour promoter Super Attractions in the upper left-hand corner, which is in blue.

I know it’s getting picky, but this Bill Haley – Platters 1956 sign identifies Bill Haley’s group as The Comets incorrectly; they were always known as His Comets.

With 20/20 hindsight, the most famous musician on this Biggest In Person Show of 56 concert placard was, by far, Chuck Berry… but at this early point in his career, he’s placed in the bottom half of the poster.

You gotta love the design of this Bill Haley – Platters 1956 billboard, the way the Globe poster layout person implemented the colorful blue, yellow and red inks on a black background.

Before it was hacked up, the original size of this Biggest In Person Show of 56 show poster was 22 x 28”. I like to call this the leftover “trunk” of what once was.

Now for the entire wording, just as it reads on this Bill Haley – Platters 1956 tour placard, from top to bottom:

Super Attractions Present… The Biggest In Person Show of 56

Bill Haley and the Comets, “See You Later Alligator”; The Sensational Platters, “Magic Touch” and “My Prayer”; Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, “Why Do Fools Fall In Love”;

(now into the blue rectangles): Clyde McPhatter, “Treasure of Love”; The Clovers, “Love, Love, Love”; (in yellow oval) Chuck Berry, “Roll Over Beethoven”;

And then four musicians with no photos or song titles given at all: Ella Johnson, Shirley and Lee, Shirley Gunther [sic – should be Gunter] and The Flairs

11 Big Attractions 11, All In Person – (and last but not least, the bandleader) Buddy Johnson and his BIG Orchestra

As a side note, it’s not often you see a Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers window card, due to the fact that Frankie departed that group in 1958 for a solo career.

On the other hand, an original Platters concert poster from the 1950s is much easier to find because they stayed together and toured throughout most of the decade.

This Biggest In-Person Show of 56 ticket poster is brought to you by way-back poster collector Pete Howard in California (phone 805-540-0020 or E me at pete@postercentral.com). As an early rock ’n’ roll collector, I will pay top dollar for this Super Attractions concert poster with venue information, or any similar concert poster from the 1950s-60s.

You’ll see why I collect these beauties once you go see a few more on this page right here on my web site: http://www.postercentral.com/multi-act_1950s.htm

Posted in **All Posters, 1950s Rock ’N' Roll, Boxing-Style Concert Posters | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Jefferson Airplane Handbill 1966 A Tribal Stomp w/Big Brother & Holding Company

Posted on June 11, 2013 by postercentral

This is an original paper handbill nicknamed “A Tribal Stomp,” which was used to advertise the Jefferson Airplane plus Big Brother & The Holding Company at the Fillmore Auditorium on February 19, 1966.

Seminal S.F. poster artist Wes Wilson was the designer of this Jefferson Airplane concert leaflet. The handbill and the larger poster both had the exact same artwork.

This Jefferson Airplane Fillmore Auditorium flyer is known as FD-1 in collector’s circles.  It was the very first Family Dog poster & handbill issued in the Dog’s numbered series.

At the time of this show, neither Grace Slick nor Janis Joplin had yet joined their respective permanent groups, the Airplane and Big Brother. Joplin would join the latter in a couple of months, and Slick would join the Airplane later that fall.

Although Grace and Janis had not yet joined those groups, this original Jefferson Airplane Tribal Stomp appearance sheet is popular among collectors because it features two of San Francisco’s three biggest psychedelic-rock outfits to ever come down the pike (the third being, of course, the Grateful Dead).

Although most San Francisco psychedelic posters and flyers were well-known for their wild, splashy colors, this Jefferson Airplane concert handout was printed with only black ink on yellow paper. Some folks would counteract that by coloring in their FD-1 fliers, especially the big, hollow Jefferson Airplane letters.

This Jefferson Airplane appearance sheet depicts a pair of native American Indians on horseback inside the oval in the middle. The dance-concert’s nickname, “A Tribal Stomp,” was then superimposed over that photo – also in hollow letters.

When Wes Wilson and the Family Dog camp created this Jefferson Airplane concert herald, it was the first time they held a dance at the Fillmore Auditorium … this was all new territory.

This genuine Tribal Stomp handbill was printed in three colors before the show… yellow as I show you here, plus versions on white and blue paper.

The original Jefferson Airplane Tribal Stomp poster, however, was printed only on white paper.

This Tribal Stomp handout is much smaller than the poster, as you can see here in my video… its dimensions are only 5.5 by 8.5 inches.

In addition to this yellow-colored original, I also show you a Genuine Counterfeit Tribal Stomp flyer… printed on white paper. Family Dog guru Chet Helms would often rubber-stamp illegitimate printings with the words “Genuine Counterfeit” to beat the pirates at their own game.

The promoters for this Jefferson Airplane Tribal Stomp herald – Chet Helms and John Carpenter – didn’t have a lot of confidence in their first dance/concert… it was held for one night only, and one concert only! Before long, the Fillmore would be presenting multiple shows every weekend.

The entire wording on this Jefferson Airplane Tribal Stomp slinger, just as it reads from top to bottom:

The Family Dog Presents [logo in upper left corner, not the final FD logo yet] – The Jefferson Airplane – A Tribal Stomp – and Big Brother and the Holding Company

Admission $2.00 [to the direct right of the oval] – Fillmore Auditorium – Fillmore and Geary – S.F. – 9:00 PM – Saturday Feb. 19 – [and in the tiniest of letters, lower left] Wes Wilson

This Family Dog slinger for the Jefferson Airplane and Big Brother & The Holding Company is harder to find than subsequent FD handbills, because everything was new and unknown with the presentation of this show.

This Jefferson Airplane Family Dog handbill is instructed about, and carefully compared to the counterfeit version, by collector Pete Howard (pete@postercentral.com or cell phone 805-540-0020). I, Peter, will pay top dollar for this particular handbill or other very early San Francisco psychedelic music artifacts.

To see other classic psychedelic S.F. advertising pieces, most of them more colorful than this, just flip over to this page located here on my Web site: http://www.postercentral.com/psychedelic.htm

Posted in **Psychedelic Posters Only, Fillmore Auditorium, Handbills & Flyers | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment