Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
with them and they built a wonderful site the most important poster artists and
and also bought up almost every major collectors I have been able to meet.
poster collection I know of. Some of them are short, but most of
them are long to very long. If you love
It was disappointing but that is the way
concert posters and their history, at
life works sometimes. You snooze, you
least in the mid-Sixties, then these
lose. I was a day late and a dollar short,
articles will be a fun read for you.
as they say. Anyway that is all water
over the dam at this point.
I seem to keep getting older and I am
told that is a good thing compared to the
alternative, so it is time for me to share
some of my work with anyone out there
interested in concert posters. Now I am
careful to say “Concert Poster” because
I have no interest in what are called
“Promotional Posters,” however
beautiful they may be. I only ever cared
about actual posters that were made
and put up around town for a real live
music concert. We won‟t be discussing
promotional posters here.
This is the first of what I hope will be
several volumes of material on concert
posters. I apologize in advance for any
typos and the less-than-elegant
formatting of this book. I don‟t have the
time or interest just now to clean it all
up, although as you will see it is quite
readable. I have too many other things
to take care of while I am still on the
planet, so please accept what I can
offer, warts and all.
And ClassicPosters.com is still very
much alive although run by someone
other than myself. Please visit their
wonderful site for images, etc. I have
donated all my 30,000+ images, articles,
data, database, etc. to them and also
the the Bentley Historical Library at the
University of Michigan, where my work
will be available to scholars in the future.
What you have here are a group of
seventeen interviews I did with some of
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
After all, fans, from the time that posters The Hawaiian Aoxomoxoa Proof, with
first appeared, have pulled the cards
occasional poster off a telephone pole Moreover, another almost unheard of
and taken it home to display in their practice sprung up, that of reprinting the
room. That was understood. posters and cards. In the past, event
But suddenly, music-concert posters posters were never reprinted, because
were being handed a poster or card at the event was over. It was not long
the end of each concert, as a reward to before promoters were thinking in terms
ticket buyers, and this helped to create a not only of printing enough posters to
whole aftermarket for these items. And advertise a concert, but also of printing
card-sized posters were being sent by enough extra posters for the aftermarket
mail to ever expanding mailing lists prior demand for them And reprinting in-
to each concert, not only in San demand posters became commonplace,
Francisco, but also in Detroit. And these and gave rise to a generation of poster
cards were being kept and collected. experts, who would guide us to which
were originals, which were reprints, and
Even the tickets began to be issued with
which were pirate editions. There was
images on them, and the small post-
money in this paper. And all of this was
card-sized handbills were readily
collected, not only as memorabilia, but
distributed. This practice continues to
also for the art itself.
this day, and concertgoers at Bill
Graham Presents events at the Fillmore Most of this huge surge in creating
West are given full-sized posters at the collectable posters more or less died
end of each evening. This whole idea of down by the mid-1970s, the reasons for
everyone getting a "piece of the rock" which deserve a book in itself. Suffice to
was new. A whole collectable market say that there were at least two main
sprung up in tickets, cards, and posters. reasons or signs of the end of the
In the history of posters, prior to this, 'Summer of Love' and all that it entailed.
there were no cards, and few colored The Scene Fades
tickets.
As poster expert Eric King pointed out to
me, one main reason was that the drug
scene had moved from being useful as
a wakeup call in the beginning, to well
beyond this usefulness, and on into
drugs for drugs sake, and hard drugs
like heroin at that. This changed things.
Where before, you went to a dance or
gathering, and welcomed any and all
into your home to come down and rest
up, spend the night. It was a real
community of like-minded folk. But after
drug abuse became the norm, if you
invited someone into your pad, you
could wake up in the morning and find
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
your stereo gone. That effect was one behind even places like the Fillmore
major killer of the community spirit. East and Fillmore West. Instead of
gigging around the town they emerged
The other was the fact that the
from, they were almost always on tour.
dancehalls themselves were the first
The venues they left behind withered,
victim of the huge success of music
faded, and were often closed. The
groups like the Grateful Dead that arose
sixties as a cultural phenomenon were
from the cultural movement of the
over. But the business of the sixties
sixties. What began as get-togethers
lived on.
and almost cultural celebrations, with
music, light shows, drugs, and sex,
eventually resulted in the record
companies and capitalism, in general,
favoring the music groups. They alone
seemed to be elevated to star status.
They were where the money went.
Coliseum Bands
Record Companies Gain Control
And pre-printed band or tour posters
(many with places for overprinting)
came to the fore once again. As these
now-famous bands grew and flourished,
Tour Poster
the type of posters they used changed
In the beginning, the spread and sale of with them. No more silkscreen posters;
the San Francisco posters themselves they were too time consuming and
across the US heralded the coming of expensive. Instead, they now had large
the bands featured on the posters. offset posters, some of them
Outside of the Bay Area, no one had brandishing supporters like Miller or
ever heard of these bands The posters Budweiser beer. Often these posters
traveled first; the bands followed, in due were designed by some of the original
time. But as the bands gradually San Francisco artists, but as often as
became the icons, they soon grew not these artists had fallen into the trap
beyond the simple dance halls where of having to imitate their own earlier
they had begun. Instead of an work. The public wanted more of what
auditorium, bands like the Grateful Dead they did in the heyday, not something
now needed a stadium or a coliseum to progressive.
hold all their fans. They eventually left
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
In the end, the establishment, had made by fans, who pasted them up or
managed to get their arms around the drew them out on 8.5x11' paper, and
sixties cultural phenomenon, although it photo-reproduced them. Almost all were
took them a while. So, once again, we black and white. They were everything
had the slick tour and promotional the sixties posters were not.
posters. The psychedelic poster scene
ended or just became a part of the
business.
Punk and New Wave Artists
But as the sixties scene played itself out
and all that it represented became part
of the hype, a new music was already
peeking out, brought forth by a
generation that despised the slick tour
posters and the packaged sounds. This
was the birth of punk rock and the rise
of the punk poster.
As pointed out above, the sixties posters
had morphed from simple flyers to large, 1977 Punk Poster
multi-colored posters, with spiritual
themes and group consciousness. As The theme of the emerging punk culture
Shakespeare said "Lilies that fester was not the peace and love of the hippie
smell far worse than weeds," and the culture, the 'Summer of Love'. Again,
commercialization of the sixties just the opposite. There was a pre-
movement was particularly hard to occupation with everything disgusting
stomach for those who were there. and dirty, whatever was shocking and
Gradually, the record companies rude. Instead of band names like "It's a
wrestled control away from the hippie Beautiful Day" and "Quicksilver
movement, and replaced psychedelic Messenger Service," there were names
posters with just another generation of like the "Butthole Surfers" and the
slick band posters. The idea of "Circle Jerks." It was as in-your-face as
community, so important for the San possible. That was the point.
Francisco dancehall scene, was all but
forgotten.
However, the emerging new punk
posters were, in reality, anti-posters. For
one, they were small. And they were
done in twos and threes, tens and
twenties -- almost always in small
quantities. A great many were unsigned.
It was part of the cool. They were
seldom done by artists that had been
active up to that time. Many were just
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
Half-naked Woman
But by 1990, Frank Kozik had begun to
loosen up a bit. For one, he was now
working more and more with color.
There were still a lot of naked babes
and some ghastly stuff, but it was
increasingly becoming cartoony, with a
handful of solid colors. Yet, sprinkled in
the midst of these were some striking
Early Kozik Poster pieces. In fact, there are a lot of striking
And these were not your black and pieces. Kozik was an expert in a variety
white photocopied paste-ups. Kozik was of styles.
soon into color and lots of it. Gone were
the saccharine themes from the sixties.
At first, Kozik's work was subdued, in
monotones, perhaps one or two colors.
And the themes were mock serious:
long faces and bulging eyeballs, and of
course, half-naked women, S&M
themes -- all of the more or less
predictable shtick from the punk culture
that came before it.
Cartoon-like Kozik
I am not a great lover of the cartoon-like
posters of Kozik (after all, I am an old
fart from the sixties), but every time I sit
down and go through the Kozik catalog,
I am struck at the great of number of
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
Arminski Poster
New Wave Posters
The "new wave' poster artists, as they
Pure Kozik
sometimes have been called, have
Frank Kozik was the leader in a exploded until concert-music posters
revolution of younger poster artists, but have more artists and more collectors
he was by no means alone. In fact, part than ever before. Some people think
of his appeal to the younger artists is there are more artists than collectors.
that they immediately felt that they could And this expansion has gone in all
do that too. Hundreds of artists picked directions, with everyone trying for a
up on where Kozic was at and there piece of the pie. A whole book needs to
soon was a flood of cartoon-like posters, be written about all of this, but lets just
all with "in-your-face" themes. It became cherry pick a few items.
what rock posters were all about.
The Punk poster movement was
There were, however, exceptions, like softened somewhat, and turned into
Detroit artist Mark Arminksi, who came what came to be called the "New Wave,"
on the scene about the time Frank Kozik which really was punk without the worse
did, and was also brought up in the "in- grit. It was a kind of sanitized punk. And
your-face" culture, but with sensibilities there are a lot of New Wave artists.
that hearken back to the sixties artists.
We could say that punk art is in your
Not since Victor Moscoso do we find a
face and brings you up short with all of
master of color, as we do with Arminski.
the hard facts of what man has done to
He, among modern artists, stands
man and the environment. Then another
alone, with one foot in the '90s and one
whole wave of poster artists appeared,
firmly in the '60s. This may be why so
that brought into focus all of the icons of
many collectors of sixties posters also
American culture, especially if they were
collect Arminski.
trashy or sleazy. These artists were not
interested in real grit so much as they
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
were in finding humor in popular social cartoon style on its end, making
icons. And they were all about cartoons. cartoons (or line drawings) serious once
again - definitely not funny. Using large
Retro-Icon Artists
areas of color and a simplified, but
We could call this the Retro-Icon compelling, drawing style, these artists
Movement, and a good example is the have commanded the attention of their
work of Coop, whose work features peers.
plenty of plump and amply endowed
Artists like Tara McPherson and, in
women, either naked (with green or red
particular, Leia Bell have taken the
skin) or dressed in a tight-fitting devil's
poster scene by storm, with their homey
suit. A lot of these women have little
slice-of-life approach. With Leia Bell,
horns too. This is an example of this
there is no sarcasm, no punk residue,
style of posters, in this case keying off
and no attitude. Instead, what we find
the American pinup and all of its history.
images that are unsettling in their very
Again: images are in cartoon mode, and
direct approach to common everyday
any common-denominator piece of
experiences, like brushing your teeth, or
American culture is fair game,
relating to a younger sibling --
everything from all kinds of monster hot-
heartwarming images. Heaven forbid!
rods, to strippers, and tattooed ladies.
Who would have thought?
Today, we are in the midst of a poster
So posters has turned the punk and new
explosion, as hundreds of new artists
wave corner, opening up a host of new
take up postering. As for styles and
and different styles, many of them (like
trends, it becomes harder to follow,
Brian Ewing and Leia Bell), deeply
probably because we are still too near to
refreshing. And the whole way posters
it, but also because a wide variety of
are made is changing.
poster styles exist today, with each
proliferating in its own way. Poster Processes Change
And the whole cartoon-like style of For one, gone are the days of posters
posters, begun by Frank Kozik and being laid out, shot with film,
almost ubiquitous by he 1990s, have separations made, and the thing printed.
reached the end of its pendulum swing, Sure, that still happens a lot, but today
and has turned. Graphic artists like there as so many other ways to produce
Jermaine Regers Rogers and, in a poster. We have color copiers, and
particular, Justin Hampton, and others, color printers. We have large drum
who began to produce cartoon-like printers and inkjet printers. We have the
graphics, but with more flat posterized very expensive Giclee (pronounced
areas, with themes less sarcastic, Gee-Clay) printers. Poster artists are
images less funny, and everything more running off as few as three or four, or
just good-looking art. twenty, or fifty, and that is the run.
Signed and delivered. And there is
The New 'New' Artists
some humor in all this.
This trend has been carried to its current
Poster experts, dealers, and collectors
state by brilliant new artists like Brian
at first threw up their hands and howled
Ewing and Scrojo, who have turned the
at the artists. You can't do this! You
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
can't do that! You can't make a poster theme, and overseeing both printing,
on a copy machine! You can't do it at and distribution - the whole deal.
home on an inkjet printer! We don't like Anyone who messes with this process
that! This response really happened. from the outside gets a lawsuit.
But the artists could care less, because Most of this kind of thing has died down
they were able to design their posters now, and we have settled into the
on a computer and print it out, on the business of there being a great many
spot, in whatever quantities the market good artists and not always enough gigs
required. Objections are purely for them to create posters for. And the
academic, because the cat is out of the community of poster artists is very
bag and the simple fact of business is: active, as can be seem from
there are all kinds of ways to produce gigposters.com, the main watering hole
posters. Good luck about keeping for young artists. It is a great place to
editions separate or telling what is an check out.
original and what is a reprint. That is
history. What remains is the art. You like
it or you don't.
And we don't just have gig posters
anymore. There was a rash of what
were called "Commemorative Posters,"
where artists would do now a poster for
a great music event in the past. We
might see a "Grateful Dead" poster for
some obscure (but historic) date, for
which there never was a proper poster.
Artist Denis Loren did a whole series of
commemorative posters for the Whisky-
A-Go-Go in Los Angeles. ArtRock
produced many posters of this type.
More subtle were the artists that
produced a poster for an upcoming
event, but not at the request of the
promoter. Often the poster was much
better than the official poster, but this
soon resulted in problems and lawsuits.
Many artists did it just for the joy of
celebrating one of their favorite music
groups. However, where there was
money involved, there were cease and
desist letters sent.
Some bands (like Pearl Jam and String
Cheese Incident) have cut through all of
this and produce all their posters
themselves, selecting the artist, the
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
Brief History of Boxing-Style Posters and can be found each year in virtually
by Michael Erlewine every town of any size in America. They
have a beauty all their own and should
First, a quick apology: What follows is evoke some nostalgia. After all, we grew
just a quick-glance at the history and up with them, all of us.
types of the concert-music music poster,
for those of you who don't have the time
to seek out a real book on the subject,
sit down with it, and give this subject the
attention that it deserves. This sketch
may help you recognize some of the
main formats and styles of poster you
will encounter.
Early American Posters
The modern poster, as we know it, has
its roots in the simple posters and flyers
used to advertise circuses, vaudeville
acts, local carnivals, etc., reaching all
the way back to 1840's and the advent Typical Circus Poster
of the minstrel show. Boxing-style Posters
In the 1950's, the rock poster grew out
of the generic block-lettering poster,
what is often called the "Boxing Style" or
sports posters. These were simple
posters with large block lettering, often
grouped around a photograph of the
performer or with no photo at all, usually
printed on cardboard. It was nothing
more than an announcement of the
event, the date, and the place - who,
when, and where.
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
For Black or 'race' music and Since every additional color mean an
performers, there was no such thing as additional pass through the letterpress,
radio play on the White stations. and thus more expense, printers often
Traveling Black performers depended used a one-pass printing technique
almost exclusively on posters and called "split-fountain" to achieve more
handbills to announce music events. than one color in a single pass of the
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
originals and which the reprints, the were undervalued. In 1986, he opened
now-emerging market could quickly the Psychedelic Solution Gallery, which
become stained and confused. King was was to become the largest poster gallery
told by the artists themselves that he on the East Coast. Over the years,
owed it to them, the artists, to write his Kastor has developed pretty much of an
knowledge down and make it available. encyclopedic knowledge of the entire
And he did this. field, and according to Eric King, Kastor
knows more about the whole genre of
It took six months and he published his
concert-music posters than anyone he
first guide in 1977, a slim 100-page
has met, including himself. That is quite
edition (today it is more like 500 pages).
a compliment coming from King.
King readily admits that first volume was
very rough and incomplete in many From another whole direction came Phil
ways, but it was eagerly received by the Cushway, not Bay-Area bred, but from
poster community nevertheless. the Midwest, Ann Arbor in particular.
Cushway too had fallen in love with
On a parallel course was Berkeley
poster art and, fearing that he had
collector Dennis King, who also can
already entirely missed the boat (that it
remember posters from the 1966 period
was too late), set about to create a
of time. By the early 1970s, he too was
company that not only collected posters
buying and selling posters. In 1976,
but also published them. This was in the
King found a little nook of a place along
late 1980s and the company was
Telegraph Avenue, that he used as a
ArtRock, which has become the largest
shop. He was soon selling flyers and
concert-music poster business in the
posters, along with baseball cards and
world, at least until very recently. We will
what not. Soon graduating to a larger
get to that later.
store, the D.K. Gallery is still open for
business in Berkeley. Phil Cushway systematically set about
to purchase these now-somewhat-rare
So we have a couple of 'Kings" here,
posters, wherever he could. He soon
both who lived (and still operate) in
found himself moving to San Francisco,
Berkeley, and who are two of our most
where he bought out legendary poster
expert poster people. Dennis King is co-
dealer Ben Friedman (who had in turn
authoring the "The Art of Modern Rock"
bought huge quantities of the Family
with author Paul Grushkin, which should
Dog from Chet Helms and the Bill
be out very soon.
Graham Presents series from Bill
Jacaeber Kastor was raised in Berkeley Graham), and many other large
and Eric King and Kastor remember stashed. Cushway also went to the
meeting each other, when Kastor was artists themselves, in many cases
just a school kid, running around with a buying all they would sell. And to top it
cigar box full of handbills. It was King all off, he began to publish his own
who helped Kastor, years later, poster series, using the best artists
replenish his collections, when rats available and helping to launch a
gnawed through a bunch of it. Kastor number of careers, like those of Mark
began buying collections in the mid- Arminski and Frank Kozik. I have been
1980s, feeling these valuable posters told that Cushway had over a million
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
posters at the height of his collecting figures in the history of poster experts.
period. But there is more. There are others, of course, and young
ones coming up like Oakland's (J.C.
Since Cushway was sitting on 'the'
Hall, and Jacob Grosse on the East
mountain of posters, he was in a
Coast. And there are a lot of experts out
position to control their sale, availability,
there that have moved to the side, for
and pricing. And he set about to do just
one reason or another, and done other
that. He was the first to publish full-color
things.
catalogs that pitched these posters as
art. I understand he has distributed
millions of these catalogs, and they had
the desired effect of consolidating the
market and raising prices. And Cushway
himself was not the only one to benefit
from all this. It affected the entire field
and helped to raise posters as
collectables to a new level of
sophistication and cost.
Meanwhile, about the same time that
Cushway was building ArtRock, Ed
Walker, also in San Francisco, found
himself in the same business. S.F. Rock
is one of the two main concert-music
poster stores in San Francisco. Walker
along with his partner Grant Mechinan,
both poster experts, continue to operate
one of the most popular stores in the
country. Both are very knowledgeable
and their emphasis is on original
posters, not reprints.
And just to round this story out, in the
early 2000s, entrepreneur Bill Sagan
purchased the entire Bill Graham
Archives, including all their posters,
going all the way back to the beginning.
In addition, he purchased all the FD and
BG material from ArtRock's Phil
Cushway (which was a lot), making him
the owner of the largest collection of
music-concert posters that we are
aware of. He is now the king of the
poster hill.
Well, that is a brief account and a few
details about some of the principle
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
Natural Habitat of the Poster Let us not forget the natural habitat of
the poster, out there, somewhere -- the
By Michael Erlewine
telephone pole, storefront, and bulletin
The idea of banking on the wall may board. If you have never gone out,
seem a little Kooky at first; I know it was found a poster, taken it down, and
to my wife. But, after the downturn in the collected it, you need to do that, at least
stock market these last number of once!
years, it seems much less so today.
So you want to save your money and
make interest on it? Me too, but where
are you going to put it where it will be
safe? Stocks, bonds, mutual funds,
CDs. Yeah, ok. But you will still worry,
worry, worry? And the market will go up,
down, and around. That's life.
So I took some of that money, that
retirement stuff, and invested it in
posters, and put some of those posters
on the wall, where I and my family and
friends can enjoy them.
When I was younger, I remember
having some prints by Van Gogh,
Modigliani, and others on the wall,
things like that. That was cool, then. But
there is something about an original that
is a lot more satisfying. And if you are
reading this, there is a chance you can
already
Stalking the Wild Poster
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
A lot of people collect the cards, and the numbered by the original publisher,
posters are also widely collected, but perhaps only the Neon Rose is locked-
some of the posters are quite rare. With in-stone as a fixed set. There are 26
the handbills, which are very rare, there Neon Rose. Period. The artist, Victor
are some numbers with as few as Moscoso, numbered them.
perhaps a single known copy. The When you get into the other numbered
handbills have fewer adherents, but they sets, there are 147 numbered Family
are a very determined lot. And like all Dog events and 289 numbered events
the venues mentioned above, there is in the Bill Graham Original series. With
the falloff factor to consider. It is kind of both of these venues, there are all kinds
like walking out into a lake and reaching of variations, with respectful arguments
a drop off. Do you keep going and or discussions about what is the first
declare more and more as part of what printing and what was printed after the
you collect or stay with where you are, event, for aftermarket sales.
and call it a set?
What is the point of all this? It is that in
Using the Grande Ballroom as an all but a very few cases, the numbered
example, do we collect only the Russ sets are held together by the intent of
Gibb events at the Grande Ballroom the original publisher's numbering
itself, or do we collect all the Russ Gibb system (and these are sometimes miss-
events, even those held out of state and numbered) or by the glue of collectors'
out-of-country? Do we collect some of agreements as to what constitutes a set.
the shows held there after Gibb's tenure, However you look at it, it all works out
like the Grande Family shows, various and the system seems to be working.
John Sinclair-oriented fund-raisers, or
just any event held there? Do we collect The Value of Sets Compared to
posters for events held at the Grande Selling Them Individually
Ballroom (after all, it was in use for There is some argument as to the value
decades before Russ Gibb) before the of sets. One would think that a complete
Russ Gibb Grande shows? These are set, with all the missing spots filled,
questions that only you, the collector, would be worth more than selling the
can answer. same set piecemeal. We have
However collectors of Grande Material adherents on both sides. Some
more or less agree that the Russ Gibb collectors state that a complete set is
material is what they will collect, with worth something extra, a premium to
perhaps the three Grande Family cards cover the expense and time to hunt
thrown in for good measure, if you can down and collect all posters in that set,
find them. while others think that, because there
are fewer buyers available for the really
Two Types of Sets by Michael large and expensive sets, that it is better
Erlewine to break up the set and sell it off that
To clarify: there are two types of sets way. Those who would break up sets
generally collected, those numbered by and sell them figure that there are those
the original publisher, and those few buyers for the really expensive
numbered by collectors. Of all the sets pieces, who (ironically enough) will buy
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
them to complete their own sets. The advertisers. There are all kinds of
rest (smaller pieces) can be sold off reasons why a poster can be rare.
elsewhere, with the net result being, so Whatever the reason, that one weak link
they say, more total dollars. The sell-as- in the set, that "most rare" poster limits
a-set folks feel that, while there may be the total amount of sets that can exist.
fewer buyers able to afford a complete Period. Of course, some collectors,
set, you only need to find that one buyer anxious to complete their sets, have
who appreciates the work involved in tried to declare this poster or that poster
building a set and the beauty of having as not needed for a complete set, but
the entire set on hand. And they are out these mostly-bogus reasons have not
there. Having a complete set if very held up and reason has prevailed. Any
satisfying and something to behold. It is poster, handbill, or card that was printed
also a good investment, in most cases. BEFORE an event to advertise that
These things appreciate. event is to be considered part of the full
Downside of Set Collecting set. And the fact of the matter is that all
these collectors who try to disqualify a
However, one of the downsides of
really difficult poster to find, fight like
collecting a set is you end up buying a
mad to add that same poster to their
certain amount of really ugly posters, or
collection. End of story.
posters of no real consequence (as to
the bands at the gig, or the artwork Image Sets
itself), posters you would never collect Another very popular practice is to
otherwise. You have to fill those empty collect an 'image set'. An image set is a
spots to complete a set. complete set or run of the posters, but
And rarity of a numbered set is totally not with original printings. Instead, any
dependent on the weakest link in the printing (reprint) is considered fair game
set: whichever poster happens to be the to build an image set, whether it be a
rarest - fewer copies exist. And these poster, handbill, or card. The key is to
most-rare posters can be rare because have all the images. An image set
everyone like them and took them home usually contains both originals and
to keep (and won't sell them), or reprints as part of a set. Image sets can
because they were ugly and no one took bring real bucks too.
them home and they were left as trash There are probably as few as 10 near-
in the street. An even more fickle reason complete sets of the original Grande
for a poster to be rare, and this is posters known. No less an expert than
probably the most common one, is that archivist Eric King says there may be as
something happened to that poster on
few as 30 complete sets of originals for
the way to the event, like a printing the Family Dog and Bill Graham series
mishap, an under-run, or whatever. In of posters. In the Family Dog series, the
one case (The Who/Toronto card in the numbers 1, 2, and 7 are very rare. In the
Grande Ballroom series), that card is Bill Graham Originals, that first poster
rare because custom officials refused to with the Peter Bailey "East Wind
allow it to cross the border into Canada Printers" on it is very rare, as is the 2nd,
from the U.S. because they were the original Batman poster.
protecting Canadian printers and
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
Poster collectors will continue to argue Mountain Aire Festival (20 or so piece),
the merits or lack thereof of collecting Set: Mountain Aire
sets. For my part, I say: there is Charlatans Triptych in the Family Dog
something very nice about a set. See, Set: Charlatans Triptych
Some Major Sets Alton Kelley's Dinosaurs (11 or so
So, some posters that are collected in pieces), Set: Dinosaurs
sets or runs include: Grande Ballroom Posters, Handbills,
Bill Graham Original Posters, Handbills, and Cards, Set: Grande Ballroom Cards
and Cards (289 main events), Bill Collectors also collect the complete
Graham Original Series numbered series for artists like:
Bill Graham Fillmore East Posters, Set: Mark Arminski
Fillmore East Posters
Derek Hess
Bill Graham Presents (larger non-
Fillmore events, 200+ items), Set: Bill What Items Comprise the Major Sets
Graham Presents BGP Below, we will present the required
Bill Graham New Fillmore Events (560+ elements in most of the major sets that
events), See: Bill Graham New are collected. If you are serious about
Fillmores BGF collecting the Bill Graham Series, the
Family Dog Series, the Neon Rose
Bill Graham Special Events (29+ Series, and the Grande Ballroom series,
events), Set: Bill Graham Special you will need to invest in what is the
Events definitive book that provides the details
Family Dog Pre-series Events (9 or so to discriminate between originals,
events), Set: Pre-family Dog reprints, pirates, and bootlegs of these
important series. This is the book by
Family Dog Original Posters, Handbills,
poster archivist Eric King. You can get
and Cards (147 main events), Set:
details here: See: Collector's Guide to
Family Dog Series
Psychedelic Rock Concert Posters
Family Dog at Denver (13 events), Set: (BOOK)
Family Dog Denver
The Family Dog Original Series Set:
Family Dog at the Great Highway Defined
(perhaps 80 pieces), Family Dog Great
Since I am asked what constitutes a
Highway
complete set of Family Dog, I will
Family Dog at Maritime Hall (20 or so include it here, thanks in part to
pieces), Family Dog at Maritime Hall Jacaeber Kastor, Phil Cushway, and
Retinal Circus Cards (32 cards), Set: most of all to Eric King for clarifying this
Retinal Circus Cards material. As mentioned above, if you do
not have Erik Kings indispensable book
Kaleidoscope Venue (20 pieces), Set: on this venue, then you have no way to
Kaleidoscope L.A. discriminate properly all the variations
Neon Rose (26 posters), Set: Neon and difference between originals and
Rose reprints.
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
If you do not have Erik Kings The original Bill Graham series ended in
indispensable book on this venue, then early July of 1971, with two additional
you have no way to discriminate concerts, one in June of 1972 and
properly all the variations and difference another in June of 1973. That was the
between originals and reprints. end of the original scene at the Fillmore
West. In March of 1988, the Fillmore
Here is what a set consists of:
West was reopened and the series
Posters began once more. It is still going strong
The Bill Graham Original Series set today and boasts over 500 posters.
begins with "0," rather than "1," which is Now, that's a set! Here is what
simply out of order, and runs to number constitutes a set for BGP:
289. Starts with number 1 and runs
There is no BG-234 sequentially through
are held anywhere but at the Fillmore I don't have a firm handle on the
venue. Usually, these are large-scale Fillmore East situation. I know there
events, requiring a stadium or coliseum, were about 65 events during the run at
for groups like the Rolling Stones and so the Fillmore East, but I don't know how
forth. And, unlike the New Fillmore many had their separate posters, shared
Series, which hold events every week, a poster, and so forth. The expert on the
the Bill Graham Presents BGP series is Fillmore East is Jacaeber Kastor and I
periodic, as needed, and am looking to him for guidance in his
correspondingly there are fewer of them. area. I have never collected this venue.
Some of these posters are oversize, Grande Ballroom Set
very rare, and thus hard to find, for
example: A standard set of Grande Cards is said
to consist of the 81 postcards starting
BGP-032-A Who, 1987-08-29 with the Southbound Freeway show on
BGP-032-B, Royal Danish Ballet, 1989- 2000-09-22 and ending with the Frost
06-07 show on 1969-08-06. But there are a
number of other items that could be
BGP-039, New Kids on the Block, 1991-
collected, some of them very rare like
02-10
the Terry Reid card (1969-01-10/12),
BGP-039-A, Paul Simon, 1990-02-10 which is a Russ Gibb event at the
BGP-128, Steve Miller, 1995-08-24 Grande Ballroom. This is NOT generally
considered part of the series, because it
BGP-128-A, Horde Festival, 1995-09-03 was for a scheduled event that was
BGSE: Bill Graham Special Events: cancelled. There were five printer's
proofs made, and these were never
The Bill Graham Special Events pieces distributed. There are perhaps two
are just that, shows put together by the known copies.
Bill Graham folks for some special, often
private, event or VIP gathering. There There is also some argument about
are about 29 of them at this point in including what is called Grande Card #7,
time. Hard ones to find include: since it was not actually a Russ Gibb
event, but rather a Trans-Love event.
BGSE-007, Eastern Acoustic Works, Trans-Love figures in a number of
1998-09-27 Grande/Gibb productions and was very
BGSE-007-A, KPMG, 1998-09-27 much part of that whole scene and it
should be included. Most collectors I
BGSE-016 Casey-Werner Distribution
know (myself included) certainly
BGSE-016-A Gore 2000, 2002-09-17 consider the #7 card part of the set and
BGSE-024, Musicmania, 2000-04-29 collect it assiduously.
BGSE-024-A, Goo Goo Dols, 2000-04- There is also much discussion about the
29 various shows that were held in places
like, Cincinnati and St. Louis, Chicago,
BGSE-026, Who VIP Party, 2000-10-03 and Cleveland. As Eric King correctly
BGSE-026-A, MGD, 2000-10-26 points out in his definitive treatment of
this venue: ""Since no one wants to
The Fillmore East
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
available in 1965, and had been for Hartweg, an event on December 18,
some years. The closest to anything 1965 held at Muir Beach. The poster is
new age or signifying a new all about LSD, and the poster is
consciousness are the few symbols and unquestionably psychedelic.
signs that were drawn in, like the planet My point is that, although "The Seed"
Saturn, the Moon, an Iron Cross, and a serves to mark the advent of the new
swastika (first version only). culture and a different (but still mostly
One of my main interests is to trace the retro) approach to posters, it does not
history of the psychedelic influence in really put the word 'psychedelic' into
'60s art and music. After all, the whole psychedelic posters. It took a few more
genre of posters is often called months for that to take place.
"psychedelic posters," and I don't see
much of the psychedelic in "The Seed."
For that, you have to look at that first
Family Dog dance flyer by artist Alton
Kelley, for October 16, 1965, a gig with
the Jefferson Airplane and Charlatans at
Longshoremen's Hall. There you see the
Tibetan-style flames throughout the
poster, something commonly used
throughout the era to represent the
intensity and awareness of altered
consciousness.
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
have to wait to get your money out of HOW DO I SELL MY OLD POSTERS?
them, should you decide to sell them. Once you have appraised your posters,
But in the meantime, not only can they so you know what they are worth, you
appreciate in value, but they are also can approach any poster dealer or sell
fun to look at and put on the wall. them yourself on a site like
For many of the posters that are ClassicPosters.com.
currently collected, we have tried to put
approximate prices on our web site.
These give you a rough idea on what a
mint (perfect) copy of that poster might
be worth, but these prices fluctuate, yet
over time have on the average
increased. If you would like to read more
about collecting posters as an
investment, check out these two articles.
Article: “Collecting Posters as
Investments"
Article: “A Tale of a Poster Investor"
WHAT ARE MY OLD POSTERS
WORTH?
Everyone wants to know what the stash
of old posters they have under their bed
or in their closet is now worth. Posters
have sold for $50,000 and more. It all
depends on finding a buyer who wants it
that badly. In today's market, many
posters have become a commodity that
you can invest in. The first step in
finding the value of your posters is to
have them appraised. We have done
our best to list approximate prices for
many collectible posters on our web
site. This may help some, but remember
that a lot depends on the condition of
the poster. The prices we list on our site
are for MINT (perfect) posters, and most
show some wear the moment they are
touched by human hands. We also can
help you appraise your posters. Email
us at info@ClassicPosters.com and
place "APPRAISAL" as the subject
heading. We will send you more
information.
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
their traditions. This same experience is when he was not able to contain his
integral to the psychedelic experience experience within this theoretical
for many. This is what they share in framework, and when this esoteric
common and it is this landscape we see construct failed him, he reverted to his
in posters like the Aoxomoxoa. native Christianity in an attempt to find a
1969-06-13 Who Poco ( (important in framework or base that was more
this context, but different) stable. While Christianity did not support
the psychedelic signatures he had
developed, it did provide a solid
framework within which to live and raise
a family. I say this because there were
no more Aoxomoxoas after his
conversion. That psychedelic element,
the Native American motifs and the
strong psychedelic vision are absent or
are watered down or even made
humorous in later works. We still have
the flying eyeballs, but they have
become little comic characters. No more
do we find the stark Castaneda-like
landscapes that we see in the
Aoxomoxoa posters and the Flying
Who/Poco Eyeball. I am not complaining; just trying
My point is that Rick Griffin not only had to understand how it might have went
an solid introduction to the folklore and down.
imagery of the Native Americans of the We can agree that there is something
Southwest, but also a strong dose of special about the prose of Carlos
metaphysics, in the form of Casteneda, the songs of Robert
Theosophical ideas, a potent Johnson, Billie Holiday, or Bob Dylan,
combination. More important than either for that matter. The same is true for
of these influences is the fact that Griffin those classic Griffin psychedelic
obviously had a strong psychedelic posters. Our interest in them is
experience and a penchant for religion. something more than just a tribute to
Witness his re-conversion experience to their persons. It is something that points
Christianity later in life. beyond any person to a common reality
Griffin seems to have had a very strong that we all share, whether we realize it
psychedelic experience, complete with or not. Posters like Griffin's, songs like
visions into extraordinary reality. He Holiday's and Dylan's help to point out
attempted to make sense of it and or remind us of this inner or sacred
conceptualize it through means like his landscape. These artists help us to, for
Theosophical studies. Unfortunately, the a moment, pause from our ingrained
fabric of that organization was not habit of ignoring this part of ourselves
sufficiently developed to contain his and somehow focus beyond our normal
entire experience. It is my view that patterns of ignorance to something more
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
Hawaiian Aoxomoxo
49
Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
took place. Rick Griffin hand carried 25 The Hawaiian Aoxomoxa is one of a few
back from Hawaii himself on the plane. (and perhaps tops that list) of the most
The printer destroyed all the other coveted and rare psychedelic posters.
copies because he was never paid for One poster collector that I know, a man
the gig. Of the 25 that were salvaged, who personally assembled the largest
there were four printer's proofs, three on collection of rare psychedelic posters in
the same stock as the posters and one existence, is reputed to have the
on a slightly different stock. These 25 Hawaiian AOXOMOXOA framed and
were the only originals of this most showcased above his mantle. This can
classic poster. There have been two be said to be a quintessential piece.
reprints, one that is smaller.
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
enshrined in the Radio Hall of Fame. plans in his mind to implement this kind
Dunbar was already an important figure of scene back home. In fact he no
in the Bay Area and had hosted Bill sooner got back to Detroit, than he set
Graham as a guest on his show. about looking for a building where he
Graham, who valued the publicity and could create his own version of what he
was courting Dunbar, saw to it that the had seen and experienced at the
radio host had plenty of complimentary Fillmore, the light show, the posters, the
tickets to the Fillmore Auditorium. new-style music -- the works. The older
ballroom scene in Detroit had just about
Dunbar decided to use some of those
faded, with many venues closed, and
tickets and take his old friend Russ Gibb
the few big bands still left being reduced
with him to the event. And Bill Graham,
to playing at places like the Edgewater
who wanted to impress Dunbar, gave
Amusement Park.
them the royal tour, personally escorting
them everywhere, both out front and Gibb looked at several venues and
behind the stage. Russ Gibb, coming finally settled on the Grande Ballroom, a
from the 1950s-style sock hops of dance hall/ballroom used since the
Detroit, was blown away by the whole 1940's for everything from your standard
scene. From the moment he walked into ballroom dancing, to a roller rink, and
the Fillmore and experienced his first even by Detroit DJ Frantic Ernie
light show, Gibb was smitten. This was Durham. In 1966, it was standing idle,
something else! and had been closed for some time,
filled with old mattresses. Gibb sought
With the wheels of Russ Gibb's mind
out the landlord, managed to pull
already turning, he began to ask
together the $700 it would take to rent it
Graham all kinds of questions about
on an ongoing basis, and set about
how this kind of setup worked. Bill
cleaning it up. In 1966, $700 was still a
Grahman's first question to Russ Gibb
nice bit of change. The only painting that
was: "Where are you from?" When Gibb
was done was to paint the walls white
said, "Detroit," Graham asked him "How
on either side of the stage, so the
far away is that?" "Oh, about 2500
lightshow would have something to
miles," said Gibb. Only then, did Bill
project on. The rest was just cleaning
Graham agree to answer his questions
out the place. But finding the Grande
and show him some of the inner working
was only part of the solution. Russ Gibb
of the dance-hall venue. Russ Gibb
knew next to nothing about the hippie
clearly remembers seeing the
scene, the music, art, and the
equipment of the Byrds being loaded or
alternative culture that he had
unloaded backstage, and registered the
experienced at the Fillmore in San
odd spelling of the group's name. This
Francisco.
places his night at the Fillmore to be
September 16, 1966, since that was the He knew that his patrons would be
first time the Byrds had played there. college-age kids, but the crowd at the
Fillmore was anything but conservative,
Back in Detroit
so Gibb headed on down to Wayne
Russ Gibb, who was taking all this in, State University and to the alternative-
was already converted, and was making press tabloid, the Fifth Estate. It was
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
through this contact that he first met And it is pretty remarkable that a Detroit
John Sinclair. From that point onward, schoolteacher, who put on local sock
he was in good hands. Sinclair was hops, and had not dropped LSD or
already a local guru of alternative smoked a single joint (never has since,
everything and more than happy to help either) could take in that whole 1960's
out. scene in San Francisco and come back
and do a solid rendition of it in straight
Sinclair soon took Gibb to see a local
Detroit in something like three weeks.
band he was considering managing, the
Even with John Sinclair's help, this is no
MC5, at the Wayne Civic Center. Gibb
mean feat. And its trajectory was not to
says the group were all dressed in suits,
be without bumps.
and looked like The Beatles. Sinclair
would soon rectify that. The MC5 Posters, Handbills, and Cards
became pretty much the house band at Although Gibb started with full-sized
the Grande and John Sinclair the posters, after a few weeks it was clear
resident master of the hip scene. In an
that although posters worked fine on the
interview I did with Gibb, he went on an
streets of San Francisco, the same was
on about how grateful he was to
not true for Detroit. It was not just that
Sinclair, for helping the Grande
they were expensive; it was hard to find
Ballroom to be 'cool'. While Russ Gibb
places to post them, and what places
handled the concessions and the books,
there were did not attract the kind of
Sinclair, who was never paid for his
clientele the Grande was aiming for.
work (he got his band book there pretty
Gibb was looking for the youth, college
much steadily), was glad to take over
kids, and the alternative scene in
the creative ambiance for the Grande,
general. Posters were soon
including the light show, the booking of
supplemented and eventually pretty
local bands, the atmosphere, and, of
much eclipsed by handbills, and later
course, the posters. It was Sinclair who
still, by postcards.
introduced Gibb to Rob Tyner, whose
high-school friend Gary Grimshaw just After the first three posters, Gibb
happened to be visiting. And it was switched to handbills, punctuated by the
Grimshaw who would do that first occasional poster. Then, almost a year
poster, with almost no notice, turning it after the Grande opened, the handbills
around literally overnight. gave way to postcards. From that time
forward (September of 1967), there
According to Russ Gibb, it was about
were almost always cards, with the
three weeks from when he saw the
occasional poster, and the very
Byrds in San Francisco (September 16,
occasional handbill. In time, the cards
1966) and had some sort of epiphany at
pretty much dominated and it was not
the Fillmore Auditorium, to when the
only because they were less expensive
Grande opened on October 7th. That is
to produce. The key to the cards was
some fast footwork. It took a few more
that they reached the audience the
weeks before the specially ordered
Grande wanted to reach, the youth. It
Strobe light arrived from California, but
was easy for Russ Gibb to give school
the place was already growing by then. kids and volunteers a big fistful of
postcards and a free pass to the Grande
56
Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
for that event and have them go and Cream, the Grateful Dead, and others,
hand out the cards to the right people, so it was soon cool with everyone. With
whether in the schools or on the street. the addition of national headliners, the
And this seemed to actually work. While Grande Ballroom reached a new and
there was no 'right' place for the posters more lucrative level.
and not even enough places for the The Poster Artists
handbills, passing out cards on a one-
to-one basis and in the schools seemed What the addition of extra cash meant
to bring in the crowds. for the graphic artists was the more-
frequent return of the full-sized poster,
Yet, no matter how hard they tried, the and work for some of the main artists, in
Grande had trouble rising above the particular Gary Grimshaw. By the end of
just-paying-your-bills level. While the
the summer of 1967, Grimshaw was
local scene was active and dedicated, it once again at the artistic helm and
was still too small to break through the producing significant work for the
threshold of break-even. What to do? Grande. Grimshaw's Grande work is
National Acts stunning, and there is no question that
he set the poster standard for this
Russ Gibb decided to take a risk and
venue. Please see the section of
reach out for some national acts. He
Grimshaw for more detail.
stopped booking only local acts such as
the MC5, the Rationals, the Prime Although Gary Grimshaw is considered
Movers, and began to book national the primary artist, when the Grande is
acts like Cream, the Fugs, the Grateful discussed, he is by no means the only
Dead, Jimi Hendrix, and so on. This artist that produced significant work for
began in late June of 1967, just as the that venue. Carl Lundgren and Donnie
'Summer of Love' was taking off, when Dope (AKA Don Forsyth) both made
the "Jefferson Airplane" was booked into major contributions to the venue and
the larger Ford Auditorium in Detroit. As each took over as the major Grande
luck would have it, the 'Airplane' gained artist at different times in its history.
some real national attention between Although Lundgren plays it down,
the time it was booked and the date of collectors never cease to marvel at the
the performance. They got full press magnificent "Vanessa" poster. It is both
coverage and the whole thing just very large and very striking, and while
worked. People came and money was originals are hard to come by, the reprint
made. The Grande was transitioning to is generally still available. The same
another level. goes for the Jeff Beck (1968-11-01) and
The advent of national acts, meant that the Jefferson Airplane (1968-11-21)
local headliners like the MC5 were cards, both of which have been
relegated to just opening the show, and reprinted as full posters. These are
this was at first viewed as a demotion. stunning pieces and there are a lot of
But the truth was that there was nothing others as well.
these local groups would have rather Don Forsyth, today going under the
done than to play on the same stage name 'Max Elbow', and known in the
with their idols, groups like Jimi Hendrix, Grande years as 'Donnie Dope' has also
57
Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
provided significant work for the venue, examples of the posters of that entire
perhaps most noted for the Canned era.
Heat Blues Band postcard (1968-12-06), The Grande Collectables
which collectors still wish would be
reissued as a full poster. The Grande material, which was never
printed in large quantities (often 1000 or
By the early 1970s, much of the less), has a solid following among
dancehall scene had declined and collectors, who continue to seek it out.
vanished, with the Family Dog leading Since the cards were the mainstay of
the way in the end of 1968. The Grande the venue and exist in larger quantities
Ballroom kind of sputtered out early in (and are less expensive), they remain
1970, while the Fillmore series struggled the most popular. The set of 81 'main'
on until the spring of 1972. An era had
cards is still pretty much attainable, with
ended. a couple of difficult ones, and one more-
As someone who was there at the or-less impossible card, the
beginning, with our band, the Prime "Who/Toronto."
Movers Blues Band, on a number of As for how many items exist to collect in
posters, and having been there many the Grande series, there is not complete
more times, just jamming or hanging agreement. Collectors argue and agree
out, the Grande was to us what the to argue about what should or should
Avalon Ballroom and Fillmore were for not be included as part of this venue.
San Francisco. And it was not a just a And there is the fact that the venue kind
poor imitation, thanks to the resolve of of petered out, with a few shows being
Russ Gibb, the 'hip ness' of John held under that name, but not by Russ
Sinclair and others, and the sheer youth
Gibb, and so on. And then some shows
and need for some space like this on the were held years later, etc. You get the
part of the rest of us. Detroit was no San idea. Eric King, the generally
Francisco, which makes it all the more acknowledged expert on this venue,
remarkable that the Grande Ballroom includes a variety of events that are
was as free spirited and wonderful as it Russ Gibb related or loosely attached to
was. But pot and LSD, which most of us the Grande or to that whole scene in his
had partaken of, was pretty much the valuable guide to this venue. (See: Eric
same, and the psychedelic vision was King Guide)
the same from coast to coast. The
Grande was plenty hip and the place to But to put you in the ballpark, there are
be in the Midwest in those years. approximately 47 posters, 51 handbills,
and something like 101 collectable
And much of the poster art holds up as
cards. The posters and cards are
well. No less of a poster-art expert than vigorously collected, because of their art
Eric King states in his guide that the and primarily because most are in color.
Grande art rivals the best work of the The handbills are almost an acquired
major San Francisco artists, and taste. There are a quite a lot of them,
deserves to be considered in the same what are for the most part
league. Posters like Gary Grimshaw's monochromatic, and the majority of
first 'Cream' poster and Lundgren's them are not very artistically interesting.
beautiful "Vanessa" are lasting
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
The Poster Style of Gary Grimshaw An artist, like Grimshaw, had to turn
elsewhere to make a living with his art.
by Michael Erlewine
Hard for Grimshaw, but lucky for poster
Gary Grimshaw is probably the first non- lovers, he broadcast his skills through
West Coast artist to join the ranks of the dozens of venues, with hundreds of
major psychedelic artists like Wes handbills and flyers, with art not just for
Wilson and Rick Griffin. Although music events, but for whatever was
Grimshaw now lives in the Bay Area and needed by the counterculture. In a true
has, over the years, spent considerable sense, his art served the community in
time there, he is first and foremost a which he lived.
Michigan artist. For the most part,
Grimshaw's style is easy to recognize.
Grimshaw's finest work was done for
Unlike many of his contemporaries, he
venues in the Midwest, in Michigan and
does not fill up every last bit of paper
sometimes Ohio.
with content, but leaves plenty of space
And here is a working artist, in the finest around his design elements. Sometimes
sense of the word. Coming from a family this is achieved by having no detail on
of draftsman, illustrators, and printers, the border of the poster -- leaving it
Grimshaw was immersed in colors and blank. At other times, he will place a
form from an early age. And while his frame around the edge of the poster, fill
poster work can be divided into several the frame with color, and float his design
distinct periods, we should not forget elements within that color pool.
that Grimshaw also produced an almost Grimshaw does not often use elaborate
endless variety of flyers, advertisement, decoration. Instead, his decorative
handbills, and what-have-you for the elements tend to be simple and fluid,
alternative community. I am not aware sometimes almost gestures. He, like
of any artist in psychedelic era that has poster artist Bob Fried, is a master of
produced more work that Gary understatement, and his posters, in
Grimshaw. Randy Tuten is the only one general, have a calming, rather than an
in contention. inciting, effect on the mind. And his work
While some of the San Francisco artists wears well on the wall.
were lucky enough to fall into the pretty Grimshaw's treatment of type is also
lucrative market for psychedelia on the somewhat unusual. While many '60s
West Coast, such was not the case in artists morph the type to fill the space,
the Midwest. Payment for poster art in Grimshaw tends to float his type in
the Detroit area was very low, $75 being plenty of space, as he would any other
the most Grimshaw made at the peak of design element. Where there is more
his Grande Ballroom work. And, in than a little text (many bands on one
Detroit -- the motor city -- posters were gig), he sometimes makes a simple
not that effective and soon gave way to paragraph-like block of text and then
radio ads, relegating much of the printed reduces the size of the type, with the
work to handbills and cards. At the end headliners larger and the opening acts
of the Grande run there were very few progressively smaller, like a chart at the
posters, mostly just cards. eye doctor. He treats this whole
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The Zebraman
The 5th poster in the Grande Ballroom
series, nicknamed the "Woman with
Hair," this large (and rare) poster is
more in the West Coast tradition, with a
kind of Native American or Eskimo
sensibility. The soft earth tones make
this a very elegant wall piece. It has
never been reprinted and is almost
impossible to find.
The Lightbulb
Called "Mind Zap," this is the 12th
poster in the Grande Ballroom series.
Grimshaw's non-frenetic sense of form
and color are clearly apparent. While
this is clearly of the psychedelic variety,
you will notice that it is not cramped or
tight feeling. Instead, a sense of space,
something Grimshaw will use more as
time goes on, calms the mind. The See
One of Grimshaw's more popular
posters for a classic group, Cream. This
is available in reprint; the originals are
very hard to find. The characteristic
subtle Grimshaw colors are there. Note
the sense of space created by the open
border, surrounding the central image.
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The Cream
A classic Grimshaw poster, the 30th in
the Grande Ballroom series, is very hard Jimi Hendrix in Toronto
to find and never been reprinted. Once A classic poster, created by Grimshaw
again, as in many Grimshaw posters, for the Straight Theater in San
there is a sense of spaciousness, mostly Francisco for his close friends, the MC5.
achieved by placing the central image in Lucky for us, a reprint is available, since
a field of red. Although perhaps not the originals are practically impossible to
obvious from this thumbnail, this is a discover. Grimshaw seems to have a
very effective and lovely poster. The special style for posters dealing with the
colors are superb. MC5 or John Sinclair. This is an
example of that style.
John Mayall
One of the most popular Grimshaw MC5 at the Straight Theater
pieces with the public, this is the 31st Grimshaw uses type as a graphic, as
poster in the Grande Ballroom series, a did many of the psychedelic artists, but
gig for the Jimi Hendrix Experience in
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My Own Posters
I think that this Bob Fried piece, another
favorite of mine, looks great over the
fireplace, too.
Woodstock
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Viewing
Posters in Business
When I decorated the new headquarters
of AMG (the All-Music Guide), when we
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always a lot of fun to visit and always Alton Kelley's studio is right in his living
crammed full of fascinating items. room, where he sits on a fine leather
coach. In front of him is a glass-toped
table on which he works. He is
surrounded by pens, papers, and inks.
Apparently Rick Griffin worked a lot at
the kitchen table.
Moscoso's Studio
Artist's studios are another fascinating
thing to observe. The photo above is a
part of Victor Moscoso's studio, a Randy Tuten's Studio
wonderful place, every wall just filled
with art, from floor to ceiling. Another wonderful (and very neatly
kept) studio is that of poster artist Randy
Tuten. He works at a wooden drafting
table, surrounded by carefully framed
pieces of art, bookshelves, and various
things he has collected.
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posters for sale in 1991, so this study know whether they are making money
does not include, things like BG-1, BG- or not.
2, BG-3, BG-74, BG-222, BG-118, BG- Well, I love posters too, but there is a
105, in fact many of the higher value part of me that does want to have at
posters. So if this study is skewed, it is least some idea of whether these are
in the direction of including too many reasonable investments or not. In my
low value posters, since they were own little non-scientific study, it looks to
readily available back in 1991, while the me that my investments in posters are
rare ones were already spoken for. This not totally a waste of money. In fact, if I
means that the numbers below would be pick the posters I invest in carefully, I
higher in favor of posters as investments might make a little money and these
than they are, provided you collect investments are outside of the stock
valuable posters. market, which right now looks kind of
At any rate, the group of 68 BG posters good to me. I hope some of you out
that I could find data on, if purchased there will do more complete studies of
around 1991, would have cost you this stuff and let me know what you find
$10,250. In 2002, this same group out.
would cost you something like $34,525. In fact, as a group, these poster have
If we had taken that $10,250 and appreciated on average about 3.35
invested it in a fund that returned 10%, times their original price. In other words,
compounded yearly, we would have a poster that cost $40 in 1991 might be
$26,586 in the bank, almost $8,000 less worth somewhere in the vicinity of $140-
than the return on the poster 150 today. That was the average. Some
investment. So the posters increased by posters sell today for 20 times their
3.36x the original investment, while the original value! I also found posters that
same investment at 10% compounded had not appreciated at all. One example
interest would have returned at 2.59%. had Tiny Tim as one of the performers,
These days, it would be hard to get 10% so the band does seem to have some
anywhere, and if the investment had relation to value. Grateful Dead posters
been in stocks/mutual funds, the value are uniformly high, above the average
might be considerably less. rate of appreciation.
So the bottom line is that these posters I want to make clear that my study was
have appreciated at a rate significantly not scientific. I simply took some posters
higher than if we had been able to invest at random, based on being able to find
the same money at 10% and survived posters where I could locate a value in
the bearish stock market. 1991 and the same poster's value in
I am not giving you investment advice, 2003. I did not try to pick better bands or
since I am not a financial expert. I was worse.
amazed that these kind of analyses What makes a poster a safe bet for
have not been done, published, and investing. Most collectors mention
circulated. Sometimes I tend to think several factors. First, there is the wild
that poster investors like their posters so card: a poster can be valuable solely do
much, that they don't want to really to it's scarcity. In other words,
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accidentally destroyed and there are Many times these negotiations can go
only a few copies that have survived on for hours, days, weeks, months, and
AND it is part of a series or important years. I know of collectors who have
venue, then you can more or less count been trying to strike a deal for years on
on these posters appreciating in value. a particular piece.
For example, posters featuring a One way to determine a price is to have
popular band like the "Grateful Dead" a third party that both seller and buyer
can generally be counted on to go up in accept as an authority look at the item
value, so that is another approach. and suggest what they think it is worth,
at least as a starting point for
And last, and perhaps most dangerous
discussion.
(and most seductive), is to try and figure
out which posters as 'works of art' will be But always keep in mind the difference
most collectable and thereby valuable. It between retail and wholesale. Is the
seems to me that we all feel that we can expert quoting the price he would buy it
see the beauty in these items and at or the price it would sell at? I had one
therefore buy them on that basis. I know problematical deal, where we had two
I do. And we can agree that we all have experts, one who was quoting the retail
different concepts of what is beautiful. price and the other the wholesale price.
Simple probability theory would suggest Of course, the seller wanted to go with
that we can't all be right, but perhaps we the retail price and the buyer with the
can, more or less. wholesale price.
The Negotiations A rule of thumb is that if you only are
looking for the big killing, you don't want
Negotiation is no-doubt an art. Buyer
to trade, buy, and sell with other poster
and seller tend to dance around a price,
collectors or dealers. Instead, you want
neither wanting to be the first to draw
to find an ignorant rube, who does not
blood - to dare offend the other. But we
know what these things are worth.
all manage to get around to the nitty-
gritty sooner or later. If you are going to work with the
community of collectors, than you had
A typical trick of the unscrupulous
better resign yourself to getting a fair
negotiator is to try to pin you down and
deal, perhaps occasionally a good deal,
hold you to a price, before you have
but probably not a fantastic deal. One
agreed to it, to kind of draw you into a
can build a great collection, one that
situation, where they can declare:
appreciates in value on getting fair and
"Deal!," and hold you to it. One way to
good deals. These things do increase in
avoid this is to announce up front that
value, particularly if you exercise care in
you will not be held to a price until you
selecting which posters to invest in,
say to the other: "We have a deal."
paying attention to scarcity, the bands
Anything and everything up to that point
involved, and the artistic value of the
is all foreplay. You must say: "I agree to
piece.
this," and the other person has also to
say "I agree to this." Then you have a And you will find better deals on posters
deal. if you look for those that are out of the
mainstream a bit. If you are going after
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the rare Family Dog posters, be shipped flat or in a tube. If the poster is
prepared to pay for them, because not in excellent condition, it may be
these things have an established value. important to have the seller agree to
However, if you are poking around for take it back if you feel the condition is
out-of-the-way sets of posters or not as advertised.
venues, you may have a better chance Haggling
of finding a very good deal, particularly if
a seller has reached the point where And, yes, I believe there is an art to
they don't want to collect them anymore price haggling, knowing just when to
or just want to sell their entire holdings. point out this or that blemish, when to
And this happens all the time. comment on how common the poster is,
or how it is (or is not) artistic. I just don't
And of course, if a seller needs cash,
know that art. How about some of you
the deal can get better and if you buy out there who do, write something for us
more from a seller, you can almost on this topic.
always get a sweeter deal.
I am not a haggler, but here are some
What you cannot do is to tell a buyer standard haggling rules:
you will sell a particular poster at a
particular price one day and then the (1)Article: Never say yes to the first
next morning, want to continue offer. Let them worry.
negotiations. That is a no-go, and a sure (2)Article: Always flinch at the offer.
way to ruin your reputation in the
business. It is best to approach this (3)Article: Ask for more.
whole business of negotiation with the (4)Article: Never split the difference on
attitude that the person you are dealing the first pass.
with is someone like yourself and that
you will be working with this person and (5)Article: Save some concession for
the community of persons like them for last.
a long time into the future. That is a (6)Article: Stop when you get a fair deal;
good approach. don't squeeze
When you discuss price, that is a good Overall Strategy
time to look at the condition of the
It is good to have some sort of strategy,
poster, to point out the tears, tack holes,
and plenty of patience. It can be helpful
adhesives, fading, and any other
to decide in your mind how much you
physical detriments to that particular
will pay for the poster or how much you
piece. And you can also focus on
will accept for a poster. Have you done
relative rarity or lack of rarity in a piece.
your research? Are you certain what
Is it signed? Can anybody attest to its
printing or edition of the poster you
authenticity? Is it common or rare? All of
have? Have you checked to see what a
these things figure into either raising or
fair price for this poster is or what it has
lowering the final price.
sold for in recent history?
If you are negotiating by email, be sure
If the seller's price is way out-of-line, do
to figure out who picks of the shipping
you have a higher authority that you can
costs and whether the item is being
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
refer them to, who will quote a fair (8)Article: Don't forget to say "Thank
price? You."
And money is not everything. Good hunting!
Sometimes it is more satisfying to pay
Classic Posters - Wall Banking: Put
more for a poster and actually have it in
Your Investments on the Wall
your collection, than it is to wait on the
off chance that another one will show by Michael Erlewine
up. This is true, in particular, if the One of the best investments I ever
poster is very rare. You may never see made was to take put some money into
another copy and the premium in price posters, instead of into the bank. Not
you pay may be trivial in ten years time only has my investment appreciated at a
or if the poster helps to complete a set, higher rate than in the bank (especially
and you passed up your one chance to these days!), but I get to see some of
get it. There are some posters you just my investment on the wall, 24x7.
have to have. You can expect to pay a
premium for them. Concert-music posters are not only
great historical documents, but great art
My Rules for Negotiating for the home. What could be better than
In summary, my advice is to remember to have a poster for a favorite band that
to treat every deal as a doorway to you love, that looks great, hangs on
future deals. In other words, both sides your wall, and is quietly appreciating --
must be satisfied. Keep your options making money. I am not suggesting that
open by making sure your dealings are you put all your money into concert-
two sided. Put yourself in the place of music posters, but that you might enjoy
the other person. These are rules I try to having some on the wall that are also
follow: appreciating in value.
Rules for Negotiations
(1)Article: The buyer is always in
control.
(2)Article: Don't stain the relationship by
running down the deal or the dealer.
(3)Article: Be nice. It costs you nothing
and feels better.
(4)Article: Don't ask for a 'bottom-line
price' and then make a lower offer.
(5)Article: If the price is declared "Firm,"
accept that.
(6)Article: Buy more and ask for a larger
discount.
(7)Article: Always leave the door open to
the future
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Inside Layout
Where Posters Are Safe
Flat File Storage
Inside this safe, are specially-placed
rods that act as racks to hold posters
stored in flat boxes. This would be the
place to store your most expensive
pieces. The flat file boxes are only 1.5"
high, so that posters are not piled too
high. In the picture, you can see the
handbills are stored at the top.
Flat-file Storage
I store most of my personal collection in
flat-file boxes, interleafed for the most
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Well, years have gone by, and I have can also seek out an expert and, for a
not regretted my decision. I love fee, have them help you pick out a
posters, and like Uncle Scrooge in the portfolio to invest in.
money bin, I love to look at my posters However, let me toss in a disclaimer
and to just know they are sitting there, here. I am not an investment counselor
waiting to be viewed, and appreciating and I am not recommending that you do
in value at the same time. Posters are or do not invest your hard-earned
not what I would call a liquid asset, but money in posters. What I am, is
they are also outside of the stock someone who has invested his own
market, which might be up today, but hard-earned money in posters, with no
could be down tomorrow. You never regrets, so far. I am telling you here
know. How many of us have watched an what I understand it is that the
investment in stocks circling the drain? community of poster collectors, in fact,
Not fun. do.
JUST WHAT ARE WISE GAMBLING ON THE UNDERVALUED
INVESTMENTS?
Another, and far more risky approach,
What are wise investments? For one, I but one that is also a lot of fun, is to
consider it wise to have posters, at least invest in the posters that are
some, that you just plain like, whether undervalued now, but which you think
they are currently appreciating and (in your infinite wisdom) will appreciate
worth something or not. Who cares? I in value over time. And the reason could
have some of this type and I like to have be that the poster is simply (to your
them on the wall or at least I plan to get eyes) too beautiful not to become
them up there. In this case, I am
scarce, as more and more folks snap
investing in my own joy in these them up for their living room walls. You
particular posters. feel you can spot good art. Can you?
Another way to invest, and the one I We shall see. And there also is the fact
recommend those of you who want to that you might be too sophisticated for
make sure your investment does not the market, which will be quite happy
reach the point of no return, is to invest with something less subtle.
in posters that you like AND that are Or, a poster could simply be rare
generally considered to have, because only a few were printed, or
historically speaking, appreciated in much of the printing was lost or has
value. It is a rule of thumb among poster become unavailable for one reason or
investors that it is better to invest in a another. Here you are betting on the
few high-value posters than in a lot of
physical rarity of the poster. Of course,
lower value ones. The rare, high-value this only really works if that poster is
posters are just that, rare and already part of a set, a venue, includes a
have real value. Unless someone turns particular popular band, or what have
up a stash of hundreds of these (and it you? There are legions of posters that
happens!), your investment is pretty have been simply forgotten, regardless
secure. You can look on of how rare or not they happen to be.
ClassicPosters.cm to see which posters
are expensive and which are not. You
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And then there is the nostalgia factor. about how I see posters and investing in
Some bands bring more money than them.
others, Period. A Grateful Dead piece As I understand it, the world of poster
will probably always be worth more than collecting is poised for a major change,
a Tiny Tim poster, all other things being a move away from posters as nostalgia
equal. So betting on a band or an artist, and memorabilia, and a move toward
like the Grateful Dead, like Jimi Hendrix, posters as an art commodity, just like
and so on, usually works out. But keep the posters of Toulouse Lautrec went
in mind, that the nostalgia factor only from being street art to museum art.
lasts as long as the group that loves this That is happening now with concert-
lives, as long as they remember. When music posters, at least with the
that generation dies off: no more psychedelic posters from the sixties era.
nostalgia. So that is something to keep There is less nostalgia (and memory, for
in mind too, as you invest. us geezers!) and more of the commodity
Come what may, my personal all-time approach, as more of these little items
favorite reason for investing in a poster get out of the closets and hands of
just happens to be the artistic merits of those of us who were there then and
the piece. I like art and I particularly like into the hands of the investors and
commercial art. I am sorry, but fine art is museum curators.
just too refined for my taste, plus I could To me this is neither good or bad, but
never afford originals. Having cloned just the course things like this take. If
images of Rembrandt on my wall just you miss the good old days of poster
does not cut it for me, even though that collecting, when you got the great poster
is great art. I can see it as great art. I on the cheap, those days exist right now
just don't want it on my walls. for some other generation's posters.
FRESHNESS OF COMMERCIAL ART Jump in and speculate. I may just do
that myself.
I like the freshness and straight-
forwardness of commercial art, and
concert music posters have just the right
mix for me. I tried movie posters (I love
movies), but gave them up. They are too
generic, and cover too long a time span
- the length of the run of that movie.
Music concerts are, wham!, one night. I
like that about them.
And one last thing, you better be willing
to hang on to your investment in
posters. They are not liquid, like cash. It
can take a while for them to turn over,
after you have decided to sell them or
need the cash. So there you have it,
probably more than you wanted to know
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artists, like Frank Kozik, Mark Arminski, going into Canada. And there are many
Jermaine Rogers, and Emek. other posters that are rare only because
there are so few of them. These seem to
How to Evaluate Posters: Historical
almost always a safe bet for investment.
Value
After all, there are only so many of them
It just may be that the poster is not by a available, and unless the bottom drops
great artist and does not have a great out of the collectibles market, the price
band on it, but it may mark some should go up. At least it has up to now.
significant event. For example, some
Those are some of the points to keep in
people like to collect the posters done
mind, if you are collecting as an
for the annual "Hash Bash" at the
investment. Of course, it is not
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. It is
necessary to do that. You can just buy
the event they are collecting, not the
what you like and not worry about what
entertainment, and not the artist. There
they will be worth as an investment.
are all kinds of events and some of them
Many people do that.
have historic importance.
But more and more collectors, it seems
For example, there have been a number
to me, like to combine their love of
of 'Be-in' posters, and all kinds of benefit
music/art/history with a sense of
concerts, benefits for just about every
investing their money in something that
cause you could imagine. Or you might
will give some return. When we get to
want to collect the first or last poster for
the point of no return in collecting, then
a significant venue. The last concert at
we are either just having one heck of a
the Fillmore West, BG-287 is very much
good time or we are throwing our money
collected. All decisions of this kind
away.
involve some kind of risk. You are in the
drivers seat. You are deciding whether I happen to do some of both. I try to
this or that event alone makes a poster invest in posters that I like AND which
valuable. will have some return. Of course,
sometimes I just buy something
How to Evaluate Posters: Physical
because I like it and the heck with it
Scarcity
being worth one cent, ten years from
Sometimes accidents happen and most now.
of a printing of a poster is lost or
So, you can collect a little or a lot, invest
destroyed. Or there may only be a few
a little or a lot. The community of
of a particular color variation. So a
posters collectors can also be an
poster can be stone ugly, with the worst
important factor. It is fun to share
band, and by the least-known artist and
information with someone who cares as
still be worth a bundle, just because it is
much about this stuff as you do. It is a
physically rare, there are too few of
very special group of people that share
them. One example of this is the
your love of a particular venue or series.
Who/Toronto card in the Grande
Ballroom series. It was for a show held Summary
in Toronto, and most of the cards were Those are some of the points to keep in
confiscated by the custom authorities, mind, if you are collecting as an
who did not want stuff printed in the U.S.
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Ball-mounted head
shown here), which can be tightened. For those of us who have tried to shoot
The value of a ball-mounted tripod head full-sized posters with small digital
is that, by loosening and tightening the cameras, we soon discover the
handle under the top of the tripod, one problems I alluded to above. A quick
can level the whole head and camera. refresher trip to Ebay poster images can
Most of the better tripod heads have a make this point. Technically, the
build-in bubble level. A bubble level and problem is called barrel distortion and
an adjustable ball-mount mean that you pincushion distortion. These forms of
can absolutely level the camera, which distortion cause the corners of a
is essential for photo-documenting photographed poster to stray from
posters. where we might like them to be and the
four connecting sides to either bow
outward (Barrel distortion) or bent
inward (Pincushion distortion). In either
case, the image of a perfectly ordinary
rectangular poster becomes distorted to
a greater or lesser degree. Frustrating.
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posters from greasy fingers and show Pros: Display albums are a handy and
them to anyone willing to sit through the easy way to show folks your collection.
look-see process. Just a comment: I find People can see them, but oily hands
very, very few people interested in can't touch them.
seeing more than a few posters. I'm Cons: Display albums are expensive,
sure that does not extend to most of and the fully loaded big ones are heavy
those reading this, but the average to move around. These albums are
friend enjoys maybe seeing ten posters designed to be stored vertically, like a
or so, and then they are ready to move book, and that brings up another
on to see something else. problem with display albums: slippage.
Slippage: When posters are placed in a
display album, they are held against the
page by the clear plastic cover. When
you store these books vertically, there is
inevitably some slippage. The posters
tend to slide to the bottom or (worse)
against the rings, where (if you are not
careful), they can get chewed up or dog-
eared. Even if the albums are stored
flat, there can be slippage, as the pages
are turned.
Don't let this sound too negative. sticky and once on the poster, are hard
Display albums, with their crystal-clear to remove without some poster paper
protective pages, are great at shows or coming off. Which brings us to boxes.
if you show your posters often. And Flat Boxes for Permanent Storage
there are work-arounds for the
problems. Most important is to handle Some of the disadvantages of display
the albums with great care, in storing, albums leads many of us to use flat
lifting, carrying, opening, turning pages, boxes, sometimes called newspaper
and closing. If you are very careful, you storage boxes or flats. These too come
can avoid most pitfalls. However, most in two flavors, boxes that are archivelly
of us can't concentrate that well for that friendly and those which are not.
long.
A solution to the slippage problem is to
use clear corners to position the poster
on the page, so that it cannot slip.
These work well, but introduce problems
of their own.
Interleafing handbills
Many collectors do not interleaf,
preferring just to keep a pile of posters
in a box. Or, they interleaf the more
expensive posters, but not the more
common ones. It is up to you how much
interleafing you want to do.
Cards and Handbill Storage It is more important to interleaf silk-
screened posters as opposed to offset-
The disadvantage of this method of
printed posters, since the silk-screened
storage is that it is hard to show the
inks are less stable and more chemically
posters and there is no plastic barrier,
reactive. If you have a collection of
meaning they are touched each time
expensive silk-screened posters, you
you show them to someone. White
might want to consider using
cotton gloves are helpful, for the really
interleaving.
rare posters, and even a glove on one
hand makes a difference in how much Interleafing is most often done using an
body oils are transferred to the posters. archivelly -safe bond paper. A
semitransparent paper, called
Using gloves may sound too hoity-toity
"Glassine" is also used, but should not
for most of you, but just try examining
be used for storing color photographs. It
40-year old underground newspapers or
can be used for posters, but a good
newsprint posters without them and you
archival bond is preferred.
will learn the value of keeping the hand
oils off old paper. Plastic Sheets and Mylar Sleeves
Interleafing Protects Posters A very common way to store posters is
in one sort or another of plastic
Posters stored in flat boxes should, at
polyethylene storage bag. These come
some point, be interleafed with some
in all sizes and weights, but most are
sort of buffered paper, to prevent the
not archivelly safe. Frequently these
inks on the posters from chemically
bags are used only for temporary
reacting with the paper from the one
storage and shipping posters.
above.
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
Polyethylene bags are commonly used Mylar (or its equivalent) are archivelly
for shipping posters. The poster is put in safe for postage storage. King writes:
the plastic bag, the bag is folded to fit
"Plastics, vinyls, and other storage
the posters, and then taped to a
materials slowly oxidize, releasing
cardboard blank. Polyethylene bags,
harmful acids, which slowly EAT YOUR
once taped, are dangerous in that it is
POSTERS ALIVE. Mylar-D is a storage
easy, when opening the poster bag, to
material specifically developed for the
lose sight of the transparent tape tabs,
long-term storage of historically
which can catch and tear a poster very
important documents. It is the same
quickly. Beware.
archival material in which the
Hard-shell Sleeves Declaration of Independence and the
Magna Carta are stored and is used by
Another handy item are rigid plastic
sleeves, into which a poster can be leading museums worldwide. While
slipped. They are clear, tough, and can't other materials may not begin to
be bent or folded. The are perfect for noticeably damage your posters for 2, 3,
passing a poster around in a group. or even 5 years, Mylar-D is considered
However, they are not archivelly safe, completely inert for up to 400 years "
so use of these for long-term storage is
not recommended.
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These multi-drawer cabinets are against the back wall or even into the
wonderful for poster storage. They come back of the cabinet. Posters can easily
in wooden and metal formats, the metal be damaged or torn, when this happens.
being more desirable, because it is Climate Control
more inert than wood. I have some of
both kinds. Some attention is required as to the
climate for the room where you store
The advantages of flat-file cabinets are your posters. An temperature of around
many. You can put almost anything in it, 70 degrees is just about right, with not
large or small. You can put piles of little too great a swing above or below that
posters next to piles of big ones or point. As for relative humidity, it should
devote a whole drawer to huge posters. be somewhere around 50%, not to wet
You can interleave or not, as you need.
or to dry.
As mentioned above, when looking for
containers, the preference is for acid-
free boxes, which means that the
containers will not react chemically with
the posters. Cheap storage containers
will definitely react with the poster inks,
to the detriment of your collection.
Another keyword is "Buffered." Materials
that have been buffered, means that
additional alkaline substances have
been added to the containers in
advance to soak up excess acid, much
Interleafing in a flat-file drawer like you might take an antacid tablet for
excess stomach acid. It is a preventative
In fact, shuffling posters around, from measure.
drawer to drawer, is almost something
of an art, sliding a poster in here, pulling Perhaps of equal importance: don't
another out over here, and slipping it touch your posters with unwashed or
into another drawer. Those who have oily hands, and don't let anyone else do
flat-file cabinets will know what I refer to so either. wash your hands or use a pair
here. It is safe to say that these cabinets of thin cotton gloves available from most
are the preferred method of storage for archival supply houses.
most dealers and collectors, which is not Storage Summary by Michael
to say there are no disadvantages. Erlewine
The main disadvantage of these So there you have a quick survey of the
cabinets is that the very breadth and more popular methods to store posters.
depth of these drawers can lead to Select one that best fits your needs.
things sliding around, brushing up There is no reason to have expensive
against the sides or into an adjacent archival storage methods, if your
pile. The worst thing is when placing a posters are not that valuable. But then
new poster into a drawer somehow again, you never know what a poster
floats or pushes a poster farther back up
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ATTACHMENTS
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Printing: Stencil
Printing Type: Stencil
Mimeography
Silkscreen (Seriography)
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Graham (BG) and the New Fillmore perhaps I should qualify it and say
(NF) and Bill Graham Presents (BGP), "Griffin's Who-Poco."
with the exception of a few numbers, DATE AND VENUE
even these numbers are not easily
retained in memory. We have to look This is a popular method, where the
them up. If I ask you about the New date of the performance is linked to a
Fillmore Series poster # 471, how many particular venue. Eric King has used this
of you out there will know that this was successfully to label the Russ
an Indigo Girls concert? Not many, if Gibb/Grande Ballroom series. The
any. You will have to look it up from a advantage of this method is that as new
list, if you can find a complete one. items are found, they are integrated into
the series by their date. While this is
And then there are the countless
without-a-doubt one of the best ways to
posters that don't fit into a series or for organize posters for academic
which it is not common to count the purposes, this method is seldom used in
series. Small series, like the Neon Rose ordinary conversation, since it requires
or the Kaleidoscope, lend themselves to that we look the numbers up.
numbering, but even here collectors
prefer nicknames or tend to refer to the For example, everyone seems to say
musical acts or nicknames (Chambers BG-105, some call it the "Flying
Brothers, Blushing Peony, Clean-In, Eyeball," but I have yet to hear
etc.). ANYONE say the Bill Graham poster
from February 1 through 4, 1967 with
NICKNAMES
Jimi Hendrix, or using Eric King's
We have given names to the very best method, "Bill Graham Fillmore
known posters, so that when I say the 19670201." This fact speaks somewhat
"King Kong," you know I am talking loudly in favor of the habit of referring to
about the second poster or handbill in posters by nicknames or numbers of
the Family Dog series and so forth. one kind or another, if we can manage
While this system is excellent for a it.
relatively small number of items, it does
All of the above conventions are in use
not work when we get into the many
and there are no-doubt others too. This
hundreds and thousands of posters.
is really an academic argument I am
Most of us cannot remember that many
presenting. When we get out of the
words, with accuracy. There are also
common territory of the BG-105s and
alternate nicknames for the same poster
into the many, many thousands of
in use, which only adds to the confusion.
posters there are to be catalogued, then
BAND and VENUE and ARTIST these academic considerations become
Many posters are referred to by the valuable. In the world of collections and
band that played the gig. For example, libraries, perhaps the most universal
everyone wants the "Who-Toronto" card method for identifying any kind of
in the Grande Ballroom Series. Most of collection is the unique sequential ID,
you will know what poster I am talking which is very straightforward. At this
about, if I say the "Who-Poco" or point, music-concert poster identification
does not have this feature as part of its
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
numbers to posters. Since there is the 4th poster, subject to change and
inevitably a first poster in a series, it is not locked into the vernacular.
hard not to refer to that fact. "Do you We can still have nicknames, for those
have the first Kaleidoscope?" That is a more popular items and, as we know,
fair question. What follows automatically there are a number of different
are references to the 2nd, 3rd, and so nicknames for some posters. But we
on in the series. And when posters are can agree that we will disagree as to
found, in a series, that predate the first what those nicknames are.
posters, they are assigned the number
zero, and so forth. This is true for the Promoter Numbered
BG series, the Neon Rose series, and In cases like the BGs, BGPs, NFs, and
the Grande Ballroom. There would be Avalons, where the promoter
no attempt to number a series that is still themselves has numbered the series,
being organized. But those that have then this numbering system should be
been around for 30 years or so, and for used, although it necessitates using
which new members have not been adding newly-found or mislabeled items,
discovered, might as well be numbered. with the "108-A" approach, which is less
We should resist adopting the method than satisfying. And the promoter makes
outlined in the preceding two mistakes or misses a number too.
paragraphs, that is: attempting to assign COMPUTER IDENTIFICATION:
a first, second, third, etc. It is bound to Another Issue
be self-defeating, as earlier and mid-
sequence items are found. You will As if this were not enough, I suggest we
inevitably be stuck with 107-A, 107-B, also add a unique image identification
etc. This is a mess. number, for computer use and for
making positive identification without
It makes much more sense, in the long long lists of date codes.
run, to simple use the acronym for the
venue (KAL - Kaleidoscope) and the THE UNIQUE IMAGE ID
date and edition identifier sequence, Unique numbering systems are very
thus: simple: just number all unique image
KAL 1967-04-14/16 P-1 items, starting with the number one and
counting upward incrementally.
This would identify the first posters in Examples of unique items would be
the Kaleidoscope series, with the venue, posters, handbills, cards, ads, and
the date range, and the fact that it was a artwork. Each variant of each poster,
first-edition poster. We should RESIST card, etc. would also have a unique
permanently labeling this event as catalog number. There is no attempt to
Kaleidoscope #1. Yes, we can still say remember what poster each item refers
"Do you have the first Kaleidoscope to, only the need to have this available
poster?" or even the "Do you have the in a lookup table of some kind. Also,
4th Kaleidoscope poster?," but this there is no attempt to have these unique
would always be relative to whatever numbers in any particular order relative
was currently considered as the 1st or to the posters they refer to. For
example, if FD-1 has the unique number
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with its name. I have had many years of At this point, I have a directory of very
experience with this, working with large image files. Next, I process the
millions of records, so I do know what I files, converting each very large file to
am talking about. something more manageable for day-to-
day examination. I reduce each file from
Ultimately, it is not helpful to try to
its native (NEF 8 MB) format to about a
encode a description of the poster into
one megabyte JPG file.
the image file name. Sure, it is tempting
to name a photo image file "FD84.JPG," Here is not the place for an extensive
but this becomes more problematical for discussion of compression formats, but
non-series posters like "Grope for let's do say a few words to whet your
Peace.jpg," and so forth. Get a few appetite (or send you running). The
thousand of these named files in a problem is that these huge images (40
directory and you have a mess. After all, megabyte TIFF files, etc.) are VERY
that is what spreadsheets and difficult for the computer to handle, with
databases were created for: linking one any speed. They are slow to load, slow
thing with another, an image with a to modify, and slow to save. I am
poster description. working on a dual-processor workstation
with a megabyte of RAM and it is still
It is best to simply number your files,
slow!
numerically, perhaps using some sort of
alphanumeric code as a header. Be Therefore, I save the native original file
sure to make allowance for the total and create a smaller, working file, as
number of posters you wish to mentioned. With most forms of
document. For example, I might use the compression and all forms of extreme
two-letter combination "CP" as a header, compression, there is some loss of
followed by a numerical sequence. information (read: quality) involved. And
Thus: "CP00001," "CP00002," and on to there are many forms of compression,
"CP99999." Notice that I do not name .JPG, .GIF and so forth, each with their
the file "CP1," "CP2," and so on, since positive and negative qualities. There is
these names will not sort or appear always a tradeoff. The greater the
properly in a directory. You need the compression ratio, the smaller the file
extra zeros, to make them sort properly. (which is great), but also the poorer the
That is how files can be named. quality of the compressed image (not so
great), when it is later decompressed.
At this point, we have shot some
images, named them, and archived So like most things in life, there is a
them to disk. You might think our job is compromise that must be negotiated.
over. Far from it. The time consuming JPG compression is a lossy
part is just beginning. compression that can have a
compression ratio from 2 to 100. In
Post-Processing Data: Compression
other words, the JPG method can
I do my entire post-session image compress up to 100 times, which is a
processing with Photoshop, since it is lot. For my purposes, I am using JPG
(for me) the most powerful tool I have files compressed to a ratio of about 6,
been able to find. I know there are other which is not a lot of compression.
similar tools, which also do a fine job.
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expensive pieces, unless they are too The only caveats here are the methods
large. used to secure the poster between the
cardboard panels. Quite often, the
Flat
poster is place in a cheap polyethylene
The really big dealers have specially bag, pushed to the bottom of the bag,
made shipping containers, like the one and the extra plastic bag, squared off,
shown below. and folded over the poster and taped.
Here is a heavy-duty cardboard box that The bag is then taped tightly to the
has custom-fitted pieces of foam, with cardboard.
protruding fingers. There is a foam piece The only danger here, and it is VERY
above and below the posters. Where the common, is that of opening the plastic
fingers of the foam pieces meet is where bag. To get the taped bag off the
you place the posters. The foam fingers cardboard, some kind of box-cutting
press together to hold the posters, kind knife is used to cut the pieces of tape
of suspended between the fingers. This holding the bag (and poster) to the
kind of box works well if the number of sheets of cardboard. This is all very
posters is not too many. Too many straight forward, except that when the
posters, and the foam fingers cannot tape is cut, it is VERY easy to loose
maintain a pressure, causing the sight of where all the cut ends are.
posters to slide and bent corners result. Since most tape is transparent, it is easy
to forget these cut ends, with the result
that, as the posters is withdrawn from
the plastic bag, one or more of these
loose ends 'grab' at the poster,
potentially causing damage. Using
opaque tape like masking tape helps the
receiver see where tape ends are.
Some put the poster in a clear plastic tightly and slip it in the tube. That's it.
bag and then put the bag to the board, You are done.
using the four corners method. The problem on the receiver's end
involves getting the poster out of the
tube, and then going through the
process of flattening out the poster.
Getting the poster out can be a bit of an
art, since the poster usually expands to
the limit of the inner diameter of tube.
Sometimes, it is very tight. Most times, it
will not just slide out, but has to be
pulled out.
This is done by pressing your fingers to
the inside of the tube, and rolling the
poster tighter, so that it can gradually be
pulled out. Most times this works out,
but the process can also involve
damage to the poster, if proper care is
not taken.
Mounting the corner
Many shippers place the poster in the
Finally, with the poster on the board, center of the tube and bunch tissue
held by the four corners, place the two paper into either end, preventing the
cardboard sheets together and poster from slipping and moving to
completely seal all outer edges with either end of the tube. This can be
packing tape. This is the least expensive helpful, but the same tissue paper can
and safest method I have seen to date. also damage the edges or the poster,
However, this does not work for very either as it is placed in, or during transit,
large posters, where the cardboard can as the poster slides and presses against
be bent in transit. it.
Most of the main dealers use 2-3 pieces Very large posters invariably have to be
of heavy cardboard (or foam core) on sent in a tube, since flats of this size are
each side of the poster. The poster is not accepted by UPS or the U.S. Mail.
then plastic bagged and fastened to the There is also the very-real danger of
inside of the sheets with tape or with larger flats being bent in transit. This
corners, as described above. definitively happens fairly often, so in
Mailing Tubes: Pros and Cons this regard, the tube could be best.
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Tools of the Trade, the Well-dressed event tack holes, reduce the value of a
Poster Collector poster. "Mint" condition is the preferred
condition for collecting.
by Michael Erlewine
STORAGE
You would think that the first thing one
needs to begin a poster collector is So where do you put them? In the early
some posters, right? Well, not always days, most collectors threw them in a
the case. Many collectors have no idea box and shoved the box under the bed
of what to collect, so very often the first or in a closet. Today, there are several
purchase by a would-be collector is a commonly-used methods of storage,
good book on posters, of which there is perhaps the most popular being placing
just about one, "The Art of Rock," by the posters in an album, between
author Paul Grushkin. Although archaically-safe sheets of acetate or
somewhat out of date by now, it still is mylar. This way, the poster can be
the one essential book that all collectors viewed, but no one can touch them.
of the San Francisco 1960's poster Handling posters by hand runs the risk
scene must have. of leaving body oil from the fingers on
the paper.
As for copies of "The Art of Rock," best
look to Ebay for used copies. There is a However, beware that most inexpensive
tiny much-abridged and unreadable albums, like photograph-type albums,
paperback available on Amazon.com. use a plastic that can actually react with
This is useless, so don't waste your certain poster inks and damage your
money it. Pony up the big bucks and get posters. Therefore you want to make
one of the original printings on Ebay. It sure that whatever plastic sleeves you
turns up every week or so. This is a are using are archivally safe.
must have book. Once you have this Putting them in an album prevents that.
book, you can look and read through it The only downside about albums is that
and perhaps get an idea of just what posters tend to slide around in these
type and period of posters you like, and albums, damaging corners. The
might want to collect. heaviness of a full album makes moving
There are other books on posters out it around difficult, and prone to slippage.
there, and I am sure I must have them If you use adhesive corners, they will
all. I can't think of one that you really hold the poster steady, but they have
have to have. other disadvantages like: getting them in
place and the poster in them can lead,
Now you are ready to get some posters.
through our the inherent clumsiness of
We can leave that to another section to
the process to bent poster corners and
discuss. Let's jump right to: what do you
what not. Also, these corners can slip
do with them?
and turn over, exposing their sticky side
Well, the classic response to that is to to posters, and so on. Nothing is free.
tack them up on the wall, of course. We
A better solution is the use of Mylar
all did that, years ago, back in the 'day'.
sleeves. Mylar is an inert, archivally
Very few poster collectors pin them to
safe, form of plastic sleeve, into which
the wall, anymore. Any kind of damage,
posters can be placed. If you use
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
properly sized Mylar sleeves, there is all posters, a ruler or tape measure that
very little danger of slippage and this is goes down to 1/16" is fine.
a good solution. Micrometers
The only possible disadvantage (and For measuring the thickness of various
this paranoia speaking) of all of these papers, you will need a micrometer, but,
plastic sleeves and albums is that: again, this only comes into play ones in
should they get near a fire or even in a very great while, for very special
very hot sun, and melt, they would fuse posters.
to the poster material and the poster
would be rendered useless -- just a White Gloves
consideration. On other hand, so to speak, white cotton
What the conservative collector uses for gloves (available from any archival web
poster storage are archivally safe (inert) site) are not overkill. There will definitely
cardboard boxes, often those storage be times when they are needed to keep
boxes with metal corners. The posters body oils off a rare or delicate poster. I
are placed in these boxes, one on top of use these quite often.
another, with an interleaf page (some Photo Documentation
inert paper) between each posters. In
particular, silkscreens need to be And if you are buying and selling
interleafed. posters, you are going to need to be
able to get snapshots of them for one
As to what kind of paper to use as the reason or another. There is a whole
interleaf, glassine will work, but is not article on that subject elsewhere on this
recommended for color photographs. site:
Most collectors use storage papers that
are buffered to pH 8.0-8.5. with perhaps "Photo-Archiving of Concert-Music
2% calcium carbonate. You want an Posters"
acid-free paper with as little sulfur Shipping Materials
content as possible. A good place to
read about these is Light Impressions, You will need some materials to
which can be found on the web. exchange and ship posters. Many of
these you may acquire if you buy
So there you have a brief run-through posters. You can just reuse what you
on where to store posters. receive. Posters are shipped in two
Measurement Tools ways, either rolled in a tube or flat - no
rolling them. Shipping them flat is
Some of the poster experts like Eric preferred, if you package the posters
King and Jacaeber Kastor have special correctly, but the packages are unwieldy
rulers that are graduated to 1/64", which and you don't want the whole package
is very fine. I have one, because they to even be bent, and so on.
have one, but I find it mostly overkill.
Even if their measurements are to 1/64", Tubes are convenient and if of large
their readers won't have one and so enough diameter (4" or greater) will not
what good will that do them. For almost affect the poster. Beware of tightly
rolling an expensive poster and jamming
it in a 2" tube. Not a good idea.
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Softer Corner
Soft Corner
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
Corner Missing
Corner Taped
Staple Holes
Pin Hole
Tack Hole
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
Big Crease
Tack Tear
Edge Wear: The Crease and the
Crumple
EDGE WEAR: THE CREASE AND THE
CRUMPLE: Posters get edge wear, in
particular with glossy slick posters, edge
wear is almost to be expected. Large
glossy posters seem to defy handling
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
Edge Crumple
Taped Edges
Edge and Corner Crumple Fingerprints and Back Hinges
FINGERPRINTS AND GLOSSY
STOCK: Watch out for these, because
you can easily create them, in particular
on glossy thin stock. A technique for
handling these, taught to me by Brad
Kelly, is to use a poster-it note to pick
them up and raise them so that you can
get your hands under them. Fingerprints
can be removed, but I will have to get
one of the experts to write a short
description of how to do it.
Edge Damage
Missing Piece
Back Hinges
Missing Pieces and Smudges
MISSING PIECES: Hey, there are no
good missing pieces, so I can't help
explain that away. If it is gone, it is gone.
There is a article on this site on
restoration and some poster collectors
restore their posters to raise their value.
While I understand why they do this, I
have never done it and don't even like to
see the signs of restoration, but that's
just me.
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
Damage Serious
Smudge
Tears
TEARS: Tears of all kinds can happen,
Signature on Back in particular as the poster gets old and
brittle. Some of them are just along the
edges and at the corners, but they can
occur right in the middle of the image
and do. Taping them is not good. You
will find a lot of old posters taped to beat
hell. Check out some of the examples
below.
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
Tear, Stains
Tear, Abrasion
Tear, Taped
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Tear
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
Grease Spots
So there you have it, at least some
introduction to what can go wrong to our
posters and what to look for in buy or
selling a poster. Combine looking at
these images with Jacaeber Kastor's
article on grading, mentioned above,
and you are on your way to learning the
fine art of poster grading.
Stain, Edge
Stain Severe
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„Off the Wall' - Wes Wilson's of the most important poster shows. He
Magazine on the Poster Scene is kind of a man for all seasons, when it
comes to posters.
by Michael Erlewine
If you are finding, like I am, that you love
If you love posters and poster collecting
posters, their art, how to care for them,
and don't know about "Off The Wall," the
and how they look on the wall, you may
short-lived (but wonderful) tabloid-sized
fine it worthwhile to seek out some of
publication, created by Wes Wilson, who
the old issues of 'Off the Wall' or check
is arguably the father of the psychedelic
with Wes Wilson. He may still have a set
poster, you should. Although it only ran
or two.
for nine issues, "Off the Wall" was
devoted to rock art posters and
postering.
I kept hearing 'Off the Wall' referred to
with reverence by rock-art fans and
wanted to see what this magazine was
all about. I managed to track down Wes
Wilson, who had a few complete sets of
the magazine left. I ordered a set.
What a treat it was to look through them.
The list of authors reads like a who's
who of posterdom, with authors like Eric
King, Jacaeber Kastor, Walter Medeiros,
Ben Edmonds, Dick Wentworth, Paul
Getchell, Paul Grushkin, etc., and of
course Wes Wilson - all writing about
the poster scene.
Here you will find different kinds of
articles and essays on collecting
posters, handling them, caring for them.
Articles on Ben Friedman, Rick Griffin,
Bill Graham, Chet Helms, Levon
Mosgofian and about venues like the
Grande Ballroom, the Seattle scene,
Los Angeles and more. Also included
are fascinating interviews with artists
like Alton Kelley and early poster
printers like Frank Westlake.
Wes Wilson not only pioneered the
psychedelic poster, but also was the first
to create a journal devoted to poster
artists and poster collecting. In addition,
Willson has organized and put on some
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
style Masse embraced it openly and set 1967 and 1968, producing ad work for
about to fully incorporate it within his venues like the Whisky-A-Go-Go, the
own vision. He clearly has grasped the Cheetah in Venice, and the Magic
style of Art Nouveau artists like Mushroom, in Studio City. He was also
Alphonse Mucha, bringing the delicate doing work for a lot of pop festivals in
designs, engravings, and colors to the area at the time.
another generation. Masse's
metamorphosis of the Art Nouveau style
poster is immediately recognizable and
much loved.
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Ben Friedman, the Poster Man him to sell him fifty copies of each of the
first 40 posters for a $1000. Bill soon
By Michael Erlewine
brought the posters to Friedman's shop
Ben Friedman and Postermat himself and collected the money.
Ben Friedman was born in New York Friedman planned to double his money,
City and raised in upstate New York. He turning a 50 cent investment (per
relocated to san Francisco after World poster) into one dollar. And that was the
war II, where he worked as an egg real start of these posters as a business.
broker, from Petaluma, the self- Up until around 1970, Friedman sold
proclaimed egg capitol of the world. He most posters for $1 apiece.
eventually invested in a store on Grant Friedman's shop soon had walls of
Street, with a friend, as an outlet for poster with colored light playing on them
bankruptcy goods, mostly clothes. In to music, and a special black-light
time Friedman bought up a large poster room. Ben Friedman went on to
collection of water-damaged records, buy up back stock not only from Bill
some 100,000 albums. This led to more Graham, but from Chet Helms, and the
and more records being added and, in Bindweed Press. He cornered the
time, his partner moved on, leaving market.
Friedman with half of the store empty
Friedman lived above his poster store
and plenty of bare walls. He was calling
and treated the store like his living room,
the store "Gorilla Records" at the time.
hosting collectors and customers late
As it turned out, a poster wholesaler
into the nights. Stories about Friedman
pitched him on adding posters to go
abound, and in these accounts, he
along with this records, and the
appears as a likable character, who
combination soon increased sales to
nursed many a well-known collector
such an extent, that the clothes and odd
along the road to poster acquisition. He
stuff was phased out. He hanged the
is famous for seemingly never
name to the "Postermat."
exhausting his stock of posters.
In early 1966, posters for both the According to accounts, he never sold
Family Dog and the Bill Graham started you all that you wanted, but always kept
to be dropped off at the shop, you coming back for more. And he
advertising the dances. After customers always seemed to have just one more
showed an interest in them, Friedman copy of that poster that nobody else
devoted considerable wall space to the could find.
posters. The interest further increased.
When Friedman decided to liquidate his
They were popular.
archives, he sold them to Phil Cushway
Soon Friedman decided to contact Bill of Artrock, who now has taken over the
Graham directly and asked him about mantle of the 'deep stock" and from
getting some of the posters. Graham whose vaults posters now eternally
told him that he could not be bothered, spring. Ben Friedman pioneered the
and said he just gave them away or had poster store and the selling of posters.
them posted. He didn't have time to For many years, he was the common
mess with making special thread that linked hundreds of collectors
arrangements. Friedman then asked
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
posters, which were then posted boards, including that of the historic Ann
throughout the area -- an endless job. Arbor folk venue, The Ark.
As a result of working with posters, from
When the sixties music scene dried up
the ground up, Erlewine fell in love with
and his band dissolved, Erlewine
concert-music posters as a pure
continued as a single performer, playing
American art.
piano and singing in bars. In the early
'70s, Erlewine became interested in
computers, at first programming
handheld calculators and then, in 1977,
home computers. He founded and built
Matrix Software, which (along with a
little company called Microsoft) are said
to be the oldest extant Internet
microcomputer software companies in
North America.
did contract work for all major online finding clear images of posters, he built
communications networks, including a studio to photo-document concert
Compuserve, AOL, Apple's E-World, the posters, complete with a special vacuum
Microsoft Network, and many others. table to hold the largest of posters
motionless, without harming them.
Using state-of-the-art digital
photography, he has photo-documented
a great many thousands of rare posters.
As the executive director of Classic
Posters.com, Erlewine's goal is to make
concert-music posters and information
about them available to more people.
"Everyone wants at least a little piece of
the rock!"
All-Music Guide - some of the
series
There are some thirteen or more
editions of the All-Music Guide as a
book, and a dozen or so CD-ROMs that
Erlewine produced as executive editor.
AMG has received hundreds of awards,
and including a number of prestigious
awards from Yahoo for the best music-
data site on the Internet.
Over the years, Erlewine's interest in
concert-music posters has never waned. ClassicPosters.com Library
He loved commercial concert-poster art AMG Books and CD-ROMS
and began to add pieces to those he
had collected from the '60s. As a Erlewine started AMG, the All-Music
programmer and database-content Guide as one person in a tiny office in a
expert, of course he wanted to catalog small town in the Midwest. When he left
concert posters. And so he did. AMG, he was managing some 150
onsite employees and overseeing more
Classic Posters was born as an attempt than 500 off-site free-lance writers.
by Erlewine to share information about
concert-music posters with others, much !P CA000173 "CPC Video Studio with
like he has done with music, film, and Library Set"
games. He feels that this is information ClassicPosters maintains a small fully-
that should be available to everyone. equipped video studio, where visiting
Michael Erlewine is well-known as an artists, vendors, and collectors are
archivist of popular culture. For years, interviewed and photographed.
he has carefully catalogued concert
music posters. When he had trouble
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
Poster-documentation Project
Collection
ClassicPosters.com Deep
ClassicPosters.com Photo Studio Storage
Photo-Documenting Project Erlewine is also an avid collector of
We began some years ago to carefully concert-music posters. His poster
document the diverse world of concert- archiving efforts have their roots back in
music posters. Using a specially- the '60s, when he would collect posters
designed vacuum table and state-of-the- for gigs where his band, The Prime
art digital photography equipment, we Movers, played.
have assembled a photo archive of over Classic Posters Headquarters
30,000 images. Collectors, dealers, and
ClassicPosters.com is located in a
poster artists from all of the country
spacious building in Big Rapids,
have sent (or brought) their collections
Michigan, which includes a large library,
to the studio for photo-documenting,
conference area, Photo-Archiving
thus insuring an archive of these
studio, video studio, matting and framing
valuable images for examination and
area, extensive storage, shipping are,
study.
and offices.
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
ClassicPosters.com Headquarters
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
Eric King – Poster Archivist Pioneer What he experienced at the dance halls
by Michael Erlewine of San Francisco was a far cry from the
New York concerts, shows by Alan
Freed, and other rock events, that he
had known. The light shows, the
extended music, the whole experience
was something new.
"I think I went first to the Fillmore. Well,
this wall is jumping all over the place
and there's all these people hopping up
and down. And it was just incredible. I'd
heard people tell me about them. It was
hard to describe these things, even to
somebody who'd been to rock and roll
shows; and it's very hard to
Victor Moscoso and Eric King communicate now, to anybody, what
Eric King's connection with psychedelic these things were like, because they
posters and the San Francisco scene really were something like nothing else.
goes back to the mid 1960s, when he It really was the greatest party since the
relocated from the east coast in August fall of the Roman Empire."
of 1965 to become a graduate student in "People would shake hands, dance a
English literature at the University of couple of times and leave and (chuckle)
California at Berkeley. Early in 1966, go screw; there was a lot of sex going
while walking down Telegraph Avenue, on. This was an intensely sexualized
in Berkeley, a kid gave him a handbill for environment. All these people had lived
a Family Dog dance. He thinks it was through the incredibly uptight fifties. It
probably, "The Love." "What the hell is was like -- in the words of a cousin --
this?," he thought. "It's neat!," and he like letting a lion out of a cage, meaning
stuffed it into a book. He soon found the sexuality of a large segment of the
himself going to one of the early dances. population was literally released.
Remember there was this doorway
between the coming of the pill and the
coming of aids. People did a lot of
screwing. There wasn't a lot of
conversation. You danced. You danced
with people. It was like watching
whooping cranes dance up and down
and mate."
All of this made a real impact of King,
who saw the posters as more than
announcements. He knew he was
looking at art, and began to collect them
from early on. When he returned from a
'The Love' Family Dog Handbill summer in Florida, in August of 1966,
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
he was aware that he had missed a lot through their collections, comparing
of posters and set about finding them by posters, one by one, variation by
putting up signs on telephone poles variation, all from their knowledge and
along Telegraph avenue, asking who memory. They went through everything.
had some for sale. He ended up buying Then, in the late 1970s, when poster
a whole stack of them. reprints were abundant and some
Being highly organized and of a unscrupulous dealers began to make
collector's (archival) mind, he found extra money selling reprints as originals.
himself organizing what he had into "At this point the artists came after me.
piles, storing them by venue, and They said, listen, if this goes unchecked
comparing notes with other collectors. no one will collect this stuff, and we will
He states that he was trading with other
lose out. It is not as though our art will
collectors no later than the spring of die, but there will be much less interest
1967. At this point, he kept all of his in it, we will make less money and our
information in his head. He did not make reputations will be besmirched. You are
notes. King also was on the mailing list the only person who has all this
for the major venues, to receive their information and we gave it to you. We
postcards. Eric King, according to his gave you hours and hours and hours;
own account, was soon interviewing we put up with you and tolerated you,
many poster-related figures, artists, because we liked you, but you bothered
printers, and related people, with the hell out of us. You owe us. Write a
constant questions. book. I said "Ah man, I don't want to."
King credits two other collectors with And they said, "Don't give us any shit.
systematically accumulating information, Our reputation for the future is going to
the artist Randy Tuten, and a fellow rest on whether there is, or is not." They
collector by the name of Greg Davidson. all had the foresight at this point to
recognize that there had to be a guide.
"Davidson also accumulated a massive
This was in 1977."
amount of information, and what
happened was that I took my entire "I knew people knew that I was working
collection over to this fellow's house. He on this thing. What happened was I said
had sold at the Marin Flea Market for to everybody -- and I mean there's like
years. People would come up to him two hundred people -- "I'm not going to
and say "I've got twenty posters." and lose money on this. You send me a
he'd buy them. He'd take anything that check for twenty dollars. I will not cash
was different and put them in his own the check until the book is done. And it'll
little pile. He tended to have the same take me six months." Over the period of
mentality as Jacaeber, and I. He had a about a month, I got a lot of support.
good eye and he would remember what People said: 'Yeah, we really want this.'
he had seen. If he saw something new, "
he did not have to have the old one next "I sat down at that point and typed it. It
to him." took me six months. I went to a
According to King, he and Davidson photocopy place and printed it up, then
would get together, sit down and go cashed all the checks and mailed all the
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
books. There are probably some people, value as investments to all of us could
who still have it but I don't. What I have be in doubt. In order to build an
is the original manuscript." investment in collectable concert-music
posters, one must know without a doubt
In 1978, Eric King finished the first
what is the real thing and what is a
edition of his book, a slim 100-paged
reprint. Eric King has provided that
document, with no illustrations. He had
information, and his book can be found
a whole group of people who had put
on the shelves of every serious collector
money down for a copy.
of this material that I have ever met. In
'The Collector's Guide to Psychedelic these matters, it is the bible for the
Rock Concert Posters, Postcards, and industry.
Handbills 1965-1973, Volume 1' is now
This is not to say that other expert
in its 5th edition. Copies can be had by
collectors do not have this same
emailing Eric King. See: Collector's
information or their version of it. They
Guide to Psychedelic Rock Concert
do, in fact. Experts like Jacaeber Kastor,
Posters (BOOK)
Dennis King, and Phil Cushway, among
The guide is the only comprehensive others, have extensive knowledge and
and detailed analysis of major venues collections of this material. The main
like the Family Dog, the Bill Graham different is they have not taken the time
venues, the Neon Rose, and the Grande to put it down and make it available to
Ballroom. It sets the standard for all the rest of us.
works of this type to come after. Every
So we here at Classic Posters have
serious collector of this material should
made a special place for Eric King in our
have a copy, sitting right next to the "Art
"Poster Expert Hall of Fame." His guide
of Rock," another indispensable book.
put a stop to much of the confusion
Today, King continues to pursue about originals and reprints, and shored
information on any of the venues he up the entire posters-as-collectibles
covers in his guide. When asked where arena at a time when it was very much
volume II is, he laughs, and says that is needed. Eric King continues to keep a
mostly a joke. "Volume II will be done by vigilant watch on our growing
someone else." He has enough on his community's resources.
plate for now.
For those of you new to collecting, it is
important to understand the value to the
poster community of the guide that Eric
King has produced. Previous to King's
work, there was no attempt to define
how original posters could be identified
from reprints, forgeries, pirates, and so
on. None with any real details.
The artists were right to ask King to do
this, because without such a document,
the value of these posters, and their
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
Most of them take the form of Graham 5th, and 6th, 1967. Graham restructured
trying to control what was, and had and expanded the light show concept,
always been, not about control, like Ken filling all the surrounding walls with
Kesey dressed in a space suit and moving light. He set up areas before the
helmet letting dozens of bikers in the stage to sit in, and plenty of dancing
back door for free, much to Graham‟s room. He had black lights, face painting,
horror. As Kesey explains, these were balloons on the floor blown about by
acid-test members, who had always hidden air blowers.
been there and helped to create what Big Bad Bill Graham
the event was. They had no need or
reason to pay. They were, for all There are hundreds, if not thousands, of
practical purposes, part of the show. stories about how rude, harsh,
conniving, etc. Graham could be, and
Graham, of course, who was running most of them are no doubt true, having
around with his cardigan sweater and experienced his bedside manner
clipboard saw these freeloaders as lost myself.
revenue. The funniest story I read was
that Kesey and other leaders did not Again, it helps to remember that
even speak to Graham, who stood Graham was a refugee and probably
yelling at them not to let these people in. greatly influenced by the difficulties of
In fact, Kesey with his space suit, and his survival and entrance into this
large round bubble helmet with visor up, country. Graham‟s account of waiting for
simply turned to Graham, looked in right placement in a foster home as a young
in the eyes and with a nod of his head, child, new to America, is heartbreaking.
flipped the visor down. He then turned Week after week, couple after couple,
away from Graham and continued to let he would be left standing there alone,
people in. after having been hopeful, having
dressed up, and so on. He was crushed,
Graham, in turn, was not exactly sure time after time. Mix a little of this with his
who these people were. As the story refugee background, and a few tales
goes, a few months later, one of these from his Catskills period, where he was
leaders, Ken Babbs, was at a Fillmore no doubt an “Operator,” in every sense
show, now firmly in Graham‟s control. of the word, and a New York-style
Bill Graham spots and recognizes him operator at that. Now mix all of this into
and yells out “Trips Festival. Trips the West Coast scene and then put him
Festival,” while banging his palm against up beside his main competitor, Chet
his forehead. Ken Babbs responds in Helms, and you have contrast.
return, by banging his palm to his
forehead, while crying “Asshole. Chet Helms, perhaps the most seminal
Asshole.” Of course, Babbs was ejected force in the whole emerging dancehall
from the Fillmore, at once. scene, while not a flower child himself
(he was older than that), but a leader of
It was during and after the Trips Festival the movement, with all of the counter-
that Graham realized this is what he culture values, liberal ethics, and hippie
wanted to do, put on these great sense of outrage and honor on one side.
theatrical events. He began planning a Against this you place Bill Graham, who
series of three dance concerts, Feb. 4th,
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
not only screamed and yelled at people the poster artists, but they are similar.
on a daily basis, spewing expletives, but So what‟s good about the guy?
also was not above doing whatever it Bill Graham‟s Contribution
took, short of breaking an agreement, to
make his projects succeed. That is the Well, aside from being a tireless worker
comparison, and from a hippie point of and undefeatable businessman, the
view, there is no comparison. Helms is most important quality of Bill Graham
the saint, Graham the sinner. was his absolute dedication to his
customers, the endless stream of music
Let‟s finish up with a couple of the „bad‟ lovers who flocked to his productions
things Graham did, at least from my and still do to this day. Graham spared
point of view, and all of the different no effort or expense to provide a first-
versions seem to converge as these
class experience for his audience. If you
being true. First, when the Family Dog read what is written about him, a picture
crew went for a discussion with Graham emerges of a man who dearly cared for
about staging their two events on and provided for his customers, much
different weekends, so each would have like a husband for a wife. The old adage
a solid attendance, they naively of being married to the job seems to be
revealed to Graham that they planned to perfect here.
use the Fillmore Auditorium, and at the
ridiculously low rate of $45 a night. Of course, it is superior business to look
Graham went right out, found the after the customer, but Graham
landlord, and signed a lease to control seemingly carried this to ideal lengths,
that venue for some number of years. often doing much of the simple manual
Perhaps not illegal, but we might all work himself, sweeping the floors,
agree that this was not hippie-ethics in relocating props, whatever needed to be
action. His response, when being done. He was meticulous about every
challenged about it, was something like: aspect of the experience, in particular
he gets up early in the morning, and the sound system. It would not be out of
Chet Helms does not, suggesting that line to say, that the modern sound
he was a businessman, and Helms performance systems owe Graham a
mostly a fuzzy-minded hippie. huge debt for moving this technology
forward on the fast track.
To add insult to injury, when Chet Helms
debuted the Paul Butterfield Blues And it was the total experience of the
Band, at great financial risk to himself, listener, the customer, that Graham was
but with great success, Graham concerned about. It is repeated and very
immediately sought out Butterfield‟s clear from the writing that he has done.
manager, Albert Grossman, and locked Whatever Bill Graham did to offend
up all foreseeable dates for that band in others in matters of rudeness or
San Francisco. Again, not illegal, but whatever, he was perfect in his care for
also showing no consideration or and concern to provide the very best
comradeship with Helms, who was musical experience and just plain
supposed to be his partner in part of „experience‟ of any promoter that I am
this. And so it goes. I won‟t even go into aware of. For this, we are all grateful.
some of the stories about Graham and Fillmore Auditorium to Fillmore West
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
A major event in the line of Fillmore He had seen enough examples and he
shows was the move from the original took great lengths to stay away from the
Fillmore Auditorium to what came to be stuff. On the other side, any number of
called the Fillmore West. This occurred his fellow workers, in particular the
after Martin Luther King‟s death. The Grateful Dead, thought that there was
original Fillmore Auditorium was located nothing Graham needed more than a
in a largely Black neighborhood. After LSD trip to soften him up, give him a
King was assassinated, there were an glance at their reality, and to help him
increasing number of events in that take a giant step in letting go a bit. And
neighborhood, purse snatching, vocal so there was a cat and mouse game
threats, and muggings. This did not that went on for years, where the
bode well for the Fillmore and workers would sneak LSD into every
attendance dropped. Graham had to do conceivable bit of food and drink, in the
something, and fast. hopes that Graham would happen on to
it.
The rumor was that the Carousel
Ballroom was going to close. There was And they got him at last, by placing tiny
any number of entrepreneurs who would drops of an LSD-laced liquid on the top
have liked to get their hands on it. After of unopened pop cans, that were
all, it was clear that Bill Graham was already sweating with condensation.
making real money at the Fillmore, and The cans looked sealed to Graham and
with the public nervous about going he popped the top of one and,
there, there was this opportunity in the unknowingly, took the love potion.
air. The reports of Graham‟s acid trip are
Graham, true to form, was proactive. pretty funny. In essence, he soon found
Finding that the owner of the Carousel himself on stage with the Grateful Dead
Ballroom was a very rich man, who live playing a gong,,, and then a cowbell.
in Ireland, when attempts to reach the And he played for four hours straight!
man, who was always busy, failed, According to the dead, Graham saw
Graham hopped on a plane and flew to during that trip more of what the music
Ireland to meet him. They met in the was really about, that it was more than
airport, had breakfast, followed by a lot just a bunch of stoned hippies. The
of drinks, as they got to know one Dead felt he saw their band and the
another. At the end of it all, music as inherently good and as Mickey
businessman stood up and left, leaving Hart says “He likes good. Bill likes good,
Graham with an agreement for a three- because he‟s seen enough horror.”
year lease. The Carousel Ballroom soon The Fillmore West was the stopping off
became the Fillmore West. place for almost every major act of the
LSD Experience period. Graham opened a second club,
the Fillmore East in New York City in the
Another fascinating story is the endless
spring of 1968. While it was patterned
attempts to dose Bill Graham with LSD.
after the Fillmore West, it had one major
Graham, who drank and had smoked a
difference, that being fixed seating
little weed, was not at all interested in
instead of the open dance floor of the
taking LSD. Talk about loss of control?
San Francisco venues. It went on to be
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
a very strong commercial success. The Bob Dylan, The Band, George Harrison,
scene went on as described until the and Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, not
early 1970s. to mention the Rolling Stones‟ 1981
world tour. He did the now famous “Last
The Closings
Waltz” concert in 1976, which became a
Bill Graham decided to close the Martin Scorcese film. As a manger, he
Fillmore East in the spring of 1971, to handled Santana, the Neville Brothers,
the shock of almost everyone. It was Eddie Money, Blues Traveler, and Joe
making money, but there were other Satriani. And so on.
problems. The whole scene had
He also pursued his love of theater and
changed. The acts that had once played
acting, appearing in cameo roles in
the Fillmores were now playing
movies like “The Cotton Club” and
Carnegie Hall and huge stadiums, and
“Apocalypse now.”
could not/would not restrict themselves
to the fees and attendance levels of the Bill Graham was killed in a helicopter
smaller venues. crash October 25, 1991, on his return
from visiting a concert by Huey Lewis
Although I have not seen it directly
and the News. The world of promoters
stated, from my reading of that time
has not seen his equal since.
period, what really may have led
Graham to close these places was the
change in character of the bands and
those who managed the bands. Before
only Bill Graham was the business
shark, others were the talent, which was
being presented. By 1970-1971,
everyone and anyone connected with
talent, had a whole back of tricks and
demands. They were out voodooing the
voodoo man himself. I believe Graham
found it distasteful and it is everlastingly
to his credit that he brought to a close
an era, that had been known for its
purity, before it self-destructed. The
bloom was off the rose and the age of
innocence ended.
The Fillmore West closed soon after the
Fillmore East and so ended one of the
most wonderful music eras in this
country‟s history. Graham went on to
book an almost endless series of tours
and concerts, just not in a fixed location.
He continued to do many benefit
concerts, much as he had done from the
very beginning. He produced tours for
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Classic Posters: Collecting and Archiving and More
An ebook from
Heart Center Publications
315 Marion Avenue
Big Rapids, Michigan 49307
First published 2011
Michael@Erlewine.net
ISBN 0-925182-74-5
174