Pete Howard is a serious collector seeking old (pre-1970) concert posters and music memorabilia, and who pays the very best prices. He lives in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Please contact him at pete@postercentral.com or (805) 540-0020.
An extremely scarce original concert poster for Johnny Burnette and the Rock ’N Roll Trio from 1956, the year they released their only LP record – and their highly influential single “The Train Kept A-Rollin’.”
This 14×22-inch cardboard poster was made by Hatch Showprint of Nashville, TN and kept for years in their files, which is why it was once quarter-folded down, with the crease marks remaining.
But still, any Johnny Burnette and the Rock ’N Roll Trio placard from the 1950s is a rare collector’s item, because they never achieved headliner status and were together for just the one year.
Notice that Carl Perkins is the headlining act here… but I have a separate video blog up of Perkins posters from the Fifties, so all of my attention here is on the much rarer opening act.
This Johnny Burnette and the Rock ’N Roll Trio in-person poster was printed with dark blue ink on a yellow background, making it more attractive to the eye than just straight B&W.
It advertised a show in Amory, Mississippi, not too far from Tupelo, Elvis’s birthplace. The venue was ‘The Armory,’ so you had a funny instance of “The Armory in Amory,” and I’m sure locals had fun with that.
This Johnny Burnette and the Rock ’N Roll Trio billboard promised a “2 Hour Rock and Roll Show” along the bottom, a message aimed squarely at teenagers of the day.
Notice how Johnny’s older brother Dorsey got the name-check on this particular poster… that was very unusual, because Johnny was the leader of the group, and in fact sometimes they were billed as just the “Johnny Burnette Trio.” So somehow, Dorsey grabbed the limelight on this window card. Why, we’ll never know.
This Johnny Burnette and the Rock ’N Roll Trio window poster is happily shown to you today by long-time musicologist and fan Peter Howard, of California’s central coast. I can be contacted thru either pete@postercentral.com or by phone on [805] 540-0020. Please know that I pay the BEST PRICES IN THIS HOBBY, BAR NONE, for the best vintage concert-advertising window cards such as this… from 1920-1970 (but not beyond that).
To see a few more 1950s rock & roll window posters that are more attractive than this one, just slide your mouse over one page: http://www.postercentral.com/rocknroll.htm
A cool group of four different Ike & Tina Turner Revue window cards from the fall of 1965, including three days in a row, plus a giant one that measures three feet tall.
This Ike & Tina video was produced by collector Pete Howard, and I can be contacted by one of two ways: pete@postercentral.com, or by telephone at (805) 540.0020. Please always remember that I pay the very BEST PRICES IN THE HOBBY for vintage rhythm and blues concert posters like this, plus most other genres like rock, jazz, country, etc.
A real timepiece from the first year of Beatlemania in America… a Capitol Records Beatles ’65 promo display dating to December 1964, the month this album was released.
This item is simply a large cardboard blow-up of the LP cover, without the benefit of any added words or elements. It’s a dead ringer for the actual LP cover put out by Capitol.
This particular Beatles ’65 window display is nicely framed, all in black, to better accentuate the colors found on the LP cover itself. Most dramatically you have the album’s title in large, red block letters across the top.
Bob Whitaker is the photographer responsible for the photos of the Fab Four present here. He pictured them in each of the four seasons… winter up top, and then spring, summer and fall across the bottom.
I love the way all four Beatles are name-checked across the top of this Beatles ’65 record-store display. “Great new hits by John, Paul, George and Ringo,” it states… the typical sequence for their names, as it was also the order in which the four joined the group (starting with the Quarry Men).
And then the 11 songs are listed below their name, including the new single “I Feel Fine” / “She’s a Woman,” and two Carl Perkins cover versions, “Honey Don’t” and “Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby” – which the Fab Four could certainly relate to.
A lot of collectors probably wish that this Capitol Records Beatles ’65 store display had more wording on it… any fun stuff such as “New Beatles album on sale here, now!”
But surely others really appreciate the fact that the cover art was left alone and allowed to speak for itself. Just the great, big LP cover staring back at you, and in 1964, this was an unusual sight to behold.
It’s fun that both this Beatles ’65 countertop display and a small-ish paper poster were made by Capitol to promote the new album… and I’ve already blogged the poster in a previous video blog from years past, you can easily find it.
That poster was noteworthy because it also pictured The Beatles’ Story, a slap-dash Capitol album from ’64 that the group decided to bury and ignore forevermore going forward. (For the record, I thought it was a fun document that still has value, and nostalgia galore.)
This Beatles ’65 point-of-purchase display is shown to you today by first-gen Beatles fan Pete Howard, who proudly bought this record back upon its release. That would be me, of course, and I can be reached via (805) 540-0020 or via pete@postercentral.com. I’d especially appreciate hearing from anyone who has this piece, because I still need it for my collection and I pay the BEST PRICES IN THIS HOBBY, PERIOD, for original sixties Beatles store displays and promo posters from Capitol.
An original Sonny Thompson concert poster from the fall of 1949 with really appealing graphics – and a couple of #1 hits listed prominently at the top.
No printer’s credit is given at the bottom of this poster, so we have no idea who even designed it… although the best guess would be the “Tour Direction” company, Ralph Cooper of New York City.
I just love the colors used on this Sonny Thompson show poster… not your typical red and yellow, but rather blue and orange.
If you add in the white elements (such as his huge name) and the black venue printing up top, you have essentially a four-color display working here.
For me, it’s the long piano keyboard that’s the highlight of this Sonny Thompson tour poster. It’s a great visual centerpiece and totally fits the musician it advertises.
On first blush, it appears to be an exaggeratingly long keyboard… more than a normal piano. But guess what? It’s only 60 keys! Only 2/3 of a normal piano. So it’s a fun optical illusion.
And the colors… they’re distributed perfectly throughout this Sonny Thompson broadside. Blue for his name and the piano; orange for the two hit songs, the big box down below and the record label.
The two songs I mention are “Long Gone,” #1 R&B for three weeks in spring 1948; and “Late Freight,” #1 R&B for one week in summer ’48.
They really enhance this Sonny Thompson window poster because they were smash successes. So often, these old cards carry weak song titles such as non-charters, B-sides and album cuts.
So it’s a real bonus that along with these two biggies, you don’t have a couple of weaker ones to water things down. Just the two monsters, and that’s it. (smile)
The next orange element on this Sonny Thompson concert placard is the angular box at the bottom which reads, “Featuring – Sensational Battle of the Tenor Saxes.”
But it’s a little unusual that the saxophone players are not named. So they were both obviously in Sonny’s band, but they must’ve really been able to “cut it up” for the poster to highlight them like that.
And then it states “Miracle Records” in the lower left corner of this Sonny Thompson appearance poster. Unusual in that there’s no logo; just the two words in normal print. Both of Sonny’s smashes were on Miracle.
And then notice how the “Tour Direction” line is cut almost in half along the bottom; I don’t believe this poster has been trimmed, I think it’s simply a mis-printing.
But that’s OK, because Director Cooper gets his name in full at the top of this Sonny Thompson telephone-pole poster. He both “Presents” and “Directs”… so his fingerprints are all over this.
Manager and promoter Joe Glaser was also known for getting his name onto all of his client’s concert posters twice… once at the top and again down in the bottom margin, just like this one.
Taking this Sonny Thompson tour placard from the top, it states, “The Sunset – Sunday Night, Nov. 27.” That’s it for the big print… for the rest, you practically need a magnifying glass.
“The Sunset” in this case was located in Indianapolis, IN… we know that because it was found with a stash of posters from that city. Plus there’s another clue in the fine print.
So the small type in the venue box of this Sonny Thompson street poster reads, Advance $1.40 – Tax Included – At Door $1.60. Make Table Reservations in Person at SUNSET TERRACE CAFÉ.
And that’s our other clue… the Sunset Terrace Café was known to be located in Indy, and that eliminates all other “Sunsets” located around the U.S., including Los Angeles.
If you’re looking for a fine piece of Sonny Thompson concert memorabilia for your collection, you’d be hard-pressed to top this one. I think it’s a “looker” and a “keeper,” to use a couple of hobby terms.
However, I can’t recall seeing another one by this musician anywhere else. People like Amos Milburn and Roy Brown I’ve seen on several different vintage window cards; but not Sonny, this one’s it.
So I don’t know if this Sonny Thompson concert announcement is scarce because his management believed in using newspaper ads and radio spots to get the word out instead,
Or if Sonny simply didn’t tour that much, and as a result, not many window cards ever needed to be made up. Perhaps he was a “homebody” who just stayed mostly in his home base.
So that’s why it’s funny that this Sonny Thompson boxing-style concert poster is as attractive as they come. It’s like they hit a home run the first time out with their design.
I also don’t see Ralph Cooper’s name on many posters either. So maybe it was a matter of Joe Glaser believing in the power of concert window cards, and Cooper believing in the other two media instead.
This Sonny Thompson pole poster is shown to you today by Pete Howard, long-time music fan, musicologist and former publisher of ICE magazine. I can be reached thru (805)-540-0020 or by writing to pete@postercentral.com. Please be aware that I pay the best prices in this hobby, period, for not only vintage Sonny Thompson concert advertisements but any old cool R&B memorabilia like this.
A very early Bill Graham Presents handbill that advertised a crazy line-up at the Fillmore Auditorium: Andy Warhol and His Plastic Inevitable, the Velvet Underground and Nico – “Pop Girl of ’66” – and the Mothers (of Invention, with Frank Zappa) over the weekend of May 27-29, 1966.
And not only that, but I show you a total of seven variants of this piece in five different colors – a real feast for the eyes. All of them are true original first printings, done well before the weekend to help sell tickets.
This video is brought to you by collector and music documentarian Pete Howard, who can be reached via either pete@postercentral.com or (805) 540-0020. That’s me, and I pay the very best prices in the hobby for the earliest Bill Graham and Family Dog concert advertising pieces like this, both large (posters) and small (handbills).
Thank you for dropping by today, and have a good day!
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