John Lee Hooker, Loading Zone, Mother Earth, 4/4-6, Carousel Ballroom, SF; somewhat obscure unusual/oddball image featuring a green dragon with a tail in it's mouth against a turquoise background, with indecipherable yellows, black, and turquoise shapes in the background. Uncommon; first one of these I've had in a while, NM; trim shows a slight bit of the image of the adjacent handbill on the edge but this is minor and otherwise a very nice, attractive copy, $75.
Steve Miller Band, Kaleidoscope, Youngbloods, 5/10-12/1968, Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco; nice color postcard sized card by Kelley with a stars and stripes based image in background, black border and typically cool lettering, and a center image of a 1930s vintage woman in yellow-green looking at an hourglass against a dark background. Attractive card,1 nice NM $25; 1 copy with almost microscopic staple holes in corner, $15.00 (*)
Grateful Dead, Charlie Musselwhite, Petris, 5/30-31/1968, Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco; the famous "memorial" poster by Kelley & Mouse featuring a black background with blue rays and a center image with a pink, orange, and yellow design of a bunch of skulls on a wooden rack. On of the coolest Grateful Dead images of all time; for illustration, see The Art of Rock, pl. 2.160. The handbill version is about 7" x 11" and is in full color on thin paper. Most of them have crossed-out dates at the top (in sharpie) but this copy has fully intact dates which is more desirable and attractive; front condition is NM-/VG+ faint hints of wear; back has a couple of stickum marks or the like which don't affect the front appearance; truly a sought-after gem, asking $325.
Tuesday Night Jam, circa 6/68, Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco; odd, highly psychedelic airbrushed image by Stanley Mouse wherein a very weird psychedelic pig with an orange polka- dot yellow blue tie graces the label of a fuzzy jar ("Jam") with a blue & gray background. One copy left; has some unsightly drip marks (like coffee drips) in image, $5.00
Big Brother & the Holding Company, Great Society, Amazing Charlatans, "Thursday" (date uncertain but definitely 1966 based on bands and production company), California Hall, S.F., 11" x 4" horizontal handbill on thin paper; "Bilbo's Birthday Party" presented by San Francisco Calliope Co which did a few early shows, mostly in SF. Dark green on thin yellow paper, "Thursday" in large yellow letters at the top, typewriter-style band lettering, with a Tolkienesque image of an antelope or deer with its own foot in its mouth. Great NM condition for such an early item, $75.
Michael McClure, "The Beard" (stage play), 2/22-26/67, California Hall, San Francisco, 8.5" x 11" red and blue on thin white paper with images of Jean Harlow and Billy the Kid, printed by Bindweed Press; very nice NM- copy, $50.
Charles Lloyd Quartet, Big Brother & the Holding Co., the Wildflower, 4/23/67, California Hall; nice card with yellow and black background' pyxis studios art; weird cartoonish image; neat for illustration, see The Art of Rock, pl. 2.151. 4 NM copies 30each. (*)
Big Brother & The Holding Co., Big Mama Thornton, The Weeds, 4/28-29/67, California Hall, S.F.; color card with pink background, yellow and blue lettering and cartoonish image; Pyxis studios; for illustration, see The Art of Rock, pl. 2.152, 4 NM copies, $35 each, 1 NM-/VG+ copy mint but with minor ink line in order, $25 (*)
Country Joe & the Fish; Big Brother & the Holding Co., The Candy Store, 5/12-13/67, California Hall; yellow background with pink and black bat-like wings, white lettering; art by Pyxis Studios. Similar to the other Ramlala/Green Joynt posters illustrated in The Art of Rock, pretty decent art; 1 VG postcard, corner pinholes and a little bit of overall age. $12. (*)
Steve Miller Blues Band, Sparrow, 6/9-10/67, California Hall, SF; orange, pink and blue affair with cartoon caricature of planet, surrounded by flying saucers; for illustration, see The Art of Rock, pl. 2.157. 2 NM/NM- cards, $20 each. (*)
Steve Miller Blues Band, Sunshine Co., Anonymous Artists of America, 7/14-15/1967, California Hall, SF; attractive Greg Irons image with red to yellow split fountain background and drawing of some guy's head opening up to reveal all kind of weird stuff and images; for illustration, see The Art of Rock, pl. 2.138. I have 1 beautiful NM/NM- copy, very nice $45.
Big Brother & the Holding Co., The Charlatans, 7/28-29/67, California Hall, ST; "music box" design by Greg Irons with yellow green and dark green background and image off a guy crnking a music box; for illustration, see The Art of Rock, pl. 2.139. Somewhat uncommon item in the Space Age/Ramlala series; very nice NM copy $69.00 .
Big Brother & the Holding Co., 4/25-27/1966 (date uncertain), Matrix, San Francisco, cool B & W 5.5" x 8.5" on thin paper, center has a circle with the words "Big Brother and the Holding Company Is Elevating" surrounded by big letters saying "Now at the Matrix." For illustration, click here. It reminds me of some of the very early Family Dog handbills. The date is not certain, but it is the only series of shows in the Matrix database that is not accounted for by another known poster or handbill. Fraying in the uppere RH corner; could be repaired if desired, but is OK as is. In my experience this is a rare one; this was my collection copy for many years and I finally found an upgrade. Asking $275 or something good in trade.
Big Brother & the Holding Co., 11/1-6/66, Matrix, SF; classic early 8.5" x 11" handbill by Stanley Mouse, featuring central diamond with drawing of band members including Janis Joplin, class early Mouse lettering surrounds it. For illustration, see The Art of Rock, pl. 2.111. Very strong VG+; 1 very small pinhole in each upper corner, colors strong and bold, very nice copy that would please almost anybody, $350.
The Charlatans, Quicksilver Messenger Service, 3/17-19/1967, Matrix, SF; 8.5" x 11" handbill, B & W on thin paper with photo of the Charlatans, pillars on the edges, and simple line art with typeset lettering; nice image; for illustration, see The Art of Rock, pl. 2.117. Nice NM-/VG+ copy, no pinholes or other damage, faint paper age. $195.
Quicksilver Messenger Service, Congress of Wonders, 5/2-4/1967, Matrix; 8.5" x 11" black on yellow/goldenrod stock with nice photo of QMS (all 5, including Jim Murray) sitting on a fence or wall; and hand lettering, nice vintage QMS item, very nice NM- copy, $160.
John Jackson & Saddhu Brand, Big Brother & the Holding Co. W/ Nick Gravenites (post- Janis), T-Bone Walker , Juke Boy Bonner, Vince Guaraldi, Jerry Hahn Brotherhood, Rhythm Dukes (Jerry Miller, ex-Moby Grape) with Bill Champlin, Sandy Bull, (various shows), 4/3 through 5/2/1979; Matrix, San Francisco; 5.5" x 7" green on white card stock, hand lettering but no image other than the lettering; art by Mark Behrens., nice NM copy $33.
Big Brother & the Holding Co (post-Janis), A.B. Skhy, Joy of Cooking, 7/3-5/1970, Euphoria, San Rafael, CA, green, orange, and black card by Randy Tuten with weird photo in the center (can't make it out clearly) and lettering that is somewhat reminscent of Mouse's early style. Nice NM card, $36; second copy VG/VG-; light general age on front, tape stains on reverse, $25. (*)
Youngbloods, Country Weather, Lambert & Nuttycombe, 5/17-19/1970, Euphoria, San Rafael, CA; purple background with neat color psychedelic image by Bob Friend in center; two hands holding some kind of white cloud-thing; VG/VG+; staple holes in corners, minor general age, $35.
Grateful Dead, New Riders of the Purple Sage, 7/14/1970, Euphoria, San Rafael; attractive image b y San Andreas Fault with script lettering in a field of stars; for illustration, see The Art of Rock, pl. 4.93. The majority of these cards have handwritten dates in the center of the image where the words "Grateful Dead" are, but this one does not, which is the more desirable variant. However, it is unfortunately significantly faded from sun exposure, image available on request. Asking $38.
Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention, Tim Buckley, Kindred, 9/25-26/1970, Pepperland, San Rafael, CA; small color 3.5" x 5.5" color card by Mark T. Behrens featuring a smiling photo of a woman; could almost pass for a Moscoso design; for illustration, see The Art of Rock, pl. 4.86. 1 NM, $45; 1 NM- (very minor ding in upper LH corner, otherwise clean), $40. (*)
Pink Floyd, Kimberly, Osceola, 10/16-17/1970, Pepperland, San Rafael, 5.5" x 8.25"; 5.5" x 8.25" color card with pink background, dark blue reverse lettering, yellow and green accents; 2 eyes in the background, hard to describe. This card is the "key" card in the Pepperland series and the poster now is selling for a lot of money; rare local gig from the days before Floyd became mega-stars and were still doing smaller gigs in small auditoriums like Pepperland. VVG/VG+ card, a little age but basically in good shape; 1 staple hole at top center but otherwise decent, asking $125.
Steve Miller Band, Jerry Hahn Brotherhood, Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, 10/24-25/1970, Pepperland, San Rafael; 5.25" x 7.5" card with pink background and center image of a baby alligator or dinosaur that has just hatched from an egg, with a cloud-like shape emanating from the empty eggshell, and blue and white lettering in the cloud. Very cool image and one of the nicer in the Pepperland series. Basically VG+ with one small staple hole in the ticket block area and a 1/16th" ding in the right center margin. Asking $45.
Incredible String Band, Doug Kershaw, Joy of Cooking, 11/13-14/1970 , Pepperland, San Rafael; 5.5" x 8.5" card; blue background with yellow moon and band lettering, background drawing of a farmhouse at night; nice concept but unfortunately the green event lettering is very difficult to read against the blue background; nevertheless a decent image overall; 2 copies available; copy 1 VG+ on front, light general age and one small pinhole in the lower center, plus a splat mark on the back that fortunately doesn't show through, $28; copy 2 shows slightly more wear on the front, not bad, and minor staple holes in corners; reverse has one 1" tape residue mark, $25. (*)
Youngbloods, Sea Train, John Fahey, 1/22-23/71; Cold Blood, Boz Scaggs, Stoneground, 1/28-30/71, Pepperland, San Rafael, CA; attractive double sized card ark Behrens, center collage of arctic scene with polar bear and a large gemstone; blue-gray background with a brown/brick red image and lettering. Attractive and somewhat hard to find; VG overall; light general age and several small brown spots in corners of image, overall not too bad, $27.
Steve Miller Band, John Lee Hooker, Bronze Hog 3/5-6/71; Lee Michaels, Joy of Cooking, The Fourth Way, 3/12-13/71, Pepperland, San Rafael, CA; nice 6 x 8 card by Mark Behrens in blue and orange with image of some guy in a gas mask holding a big laboratory-type bottle of who-knows-what, nice NM copy $ 35; second copy NM- with light age, also $35; third copy VG+, couple of light corner crease marke. (*)
Chuck Berry, Sir Douglas Quintet, Boz Scaggs, 12/18-19/1971, Pepperland, San Rafael; 5.5" x 8" card by D. Bread with dark blue background and orange sun in center; black rays and lettering; attractive design but unfortunately the black doesn't show well against the dark blue background. VG- card; 1/8" scuff mark in bottom center margin, and slight fading (not bad) to the orange; 2 old tape pull marks on reverse that don't show through. $18.
Tower of Power, Redwing , 1/22/1972, Pepperland, San Rafael; background photo of saber- tooth tiger with green typeset lettering, nice NM copy $30.
Elvin Bishop Band, Cold Blood, Clover, 2/9/73(?), Pepperland, San Rafael, CA; postcard- sized card with purple background and neon-sign style lettering with split fountain yellow to green colors; no art or artist credit. Date works out to 1973 on a universal calendar but as far as I know Pepperland was gone by then, so it might be 1972. NM-; very minor scuff to purple; otherwise clean, $22; second card almost as nice, $20; third card clean but has minor ding in uppere RH portion of image, $18. (*)
No. #, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Big Brother & the Holding Co., "Tuesday 27th" (date uncertain), Avalon; produced by the students of Lick-Wilmerding High School, San Francisco; not a Family Dog show. Approx. 5.25" x 8.25" (irregular dimensions) on thin white paper with image of San Francisco Victorian house on the left and crude swirly psychedelic lettering on the right. For illustration, see The Art of Rock, pl. 2.17; reverse side has a paragraph about Lick-Wilmerding. First one of these I've had in a while, overall condition about VG-; front shows some visible age and a tack rip top center that has been taped over on the back side with no loss of paper; reverse has 4 unsightly tape stains in the corners which mercifully do not show through onto the front. Interesting item for the Avalon Ballroom completist, $ 75.
Mojo Men, Chocolate Watchband, 2/11/1967, Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, Santa Clara, CA. Image of Abe Lincoln in a paisley top hat playing an electric guitar; the poster is fairly common and well known and printed on thick white cardboard stock in pink, green, blue and black. In contrast, the handbill is 8.5" x 11" in monochromatic black and gray on pink paper. In my experience the handbill is much harder to find than the poster. This copy is VG or so overall, three corners are fairly clean, but the fourthhas a 3/4" tape pull in the lower LH corner and is missing about 1/8" x one half inch paper along the edge fortunately, all outside of the image area which is fully intact. Asking $250 for this scarce item.
Charlie Musselwhite, South Side Sound System, Mt. Rushmore, Mother Earth, Seecond coming, Melvyn Q, Pyewacket, 9/2/67, Muir Beach, CA; "Cosmic Car Show" handbill; for image, seeThe Art of Rock, pl. 2.298; fabulous design by Stanley Mouse featuring psychedelic limo an orange/yellow split fountain background; 6.25" x 8"; for some reason this is not a particularly expensive handbill, but it is certainly a great one!. Beautiful NM copy, $65.
Larry Coryell, Rock N Fu, roxy, 6/13-14/69, The Barn, Rio Nido, CA; color card by Lee Conklin; pink background with center image of a chicken with wings spread apart (Petaluma up in Sonoma County is known or used to be as the chicken capital of the world), with yellow, black and green lettering. Nice card, front is close to NM-; 3 minor tape stains on reverse that do not show through. Asking $35.
Country Weather, Sanpaku, Jay Bird (??!), 6/20-21/69, The Barn, Rio Nido, CA; nice color card by Lee Conklin, featuring image of green trees growing above the soil, with the trunks turning into nude human figures underground in the brown dirt; purple background and of course the usual swirling images that typify Conklin's work. Front is close to NM-; three minor tape stains on reverse that do not show through. Great image, not well known, $45.
Sparrow, Wildflower, Living Children, Immediate Family, 2/10/67, Regency Ballroom, Leamington Hotel, Oakland, CA; 5 x 7 handbill on thin paper; classic vintage art by Stanley Mouse with the caption "This Is It. Psychedelic Happenings Are Here. The New World Has Hit Oakland. Image of an old timey band in the center, in green; border of pale blue with red to orange to yellow split fountain inner background. For illustration, see The Art of Rock, pl. 2.261. Fairly common handbill at one time, now the stash has been dissipated; here's a nice NM- copy most likely from that original stash, asking $80.
Big Brother & the Holding Co., 12/21/1967, Sokol Hall, San Francisco, CA; 2nd Annual Christmas Party; 8.5" x 11"; black on goldenrod yellow paper; image of a couple in Renaissance garb under a tree; image OK but not great; have seen these offered for more money but I have seen enough of them around that I'll price this NM copy reasonably at $50.
Country Joe & the Fish, 10/10-16/1966, Jabberwock, Berkeley, CA; this is the well-known Joel Beck image featuring a bunch of hip cat musicians encountering a beautiful nude woman riding a brontosaurus. For illustration, see The Art of Rock, pl. 2.282. Printed by Bindweed Press. The handbill is 8.5" x 11" and full color like the poster. Not common anymore, and this is a beautiful NM/NM- copy that will make some collector very happy, asking $200.
"Invisible Circus," 2/24/1967, Glide Church, San Francisco, an "environmental community happening" sponsored by the Diggers, Artists' Liberation Front, and Glide Foundation; there is some interesting historical information on this event at the Diggers Archives Website, http://diggers.org/diggers/incircus.html. This image has been featured at both the de Young Museum's "Summer of Love" exhibit and the "Road to the Summer of Love" exhibit at the California Historical Society in San Francisco. The handbill is 8.5" x 11" and has a colorful rendering of a circus wagon in bright orange, blue, and yellow colors. Illustrated on the Diggers website. Popular image. I have sold these in the past for as much as $100 but have been fortunate to acquire a small stash of them, so I can offer them now at $60 each, all are basically NM-, a good opportunity to pick up a copy of this at a fairly low price. (*)
"The Old House Passing; James Burroughs' "The Pleasure Garden," 6/18/1967, Canyon Cinema, Glide Church Fellowship Hall, San Francisco, CA; 8.5" x 11" blue and brick red on light pink paper, border image that looks like it was taken from Wes Wilson's BG 32 poster; center photo of a statue, nice hand lettering. This was right smack dab in the middle of the Summer of Love, so a lot of non-music events also featured hippie-influenced art, including this one which is a rather nice and fairly obscure item. I have 4 copies of this, basically NM/ NM-, early birds get the best copies. $25 each. (*)
The Crabs, Allmen Joy, Shag, The Womb, Cleveland Wrecking Company, Sons of Champlin, 3/30/1969, Speedway Meadows, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco; 8.5" x 11" handbill, medium green on yellow stock, advertising "Teddy Bears' Picnic," crudely hand lettered semi-psychedelic lettering, no art; I had never seen this one before, very scarce, nice NM $145; odd obscure item for the completist.
Cleveland Wrecking Company, Last Mile, Boogie, 4/26/69, Avenue Theatre, S.F., presented by Sounds Unlimited; scarce obscure handbill for this short-lived SF venue featuring local acts; 8.5" x 11, black on goldenrod stock; hand lettering with image of flag waving from a flagpole atop a building, pretty simple, VG+ $75.
The Charlatans, Cleveland Wrecking Co., Uncut Balloon; 6/14-15/67, Straight Theatre, SF; very attractive color card by Terre with bottle of patent medicine labeled "Charlatans patented cure-all", spoon, and stopwatch. For illustration, see The Art of Rock, pl. 2.229. NM/NM- copy $25.
Dance "Le Rock", 2/18/67, Pauley Ballroom, U.C. Berkeley; "Les Hard Les Soft" sound with The New Mass; 8.5" x 11" red and black crudely drawn on pale blue stock; must have been presented by the French club or something, crudely drawn Eiffel tower at upper left. For the connoisseurs of truly obscure East Bay items. VG+ $15.
David Crosby & Graham Nash, 12/14/74, S.F. Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, benefit for Project Jonah and the United Farm Workers; nice 8" x 8.5" handbill by Randy Tuten on thin paper, mostly B & W except that the UFW flags are in red; upper panel shows 5 whales lined up with the upper parts of their torsos out of water; bottom panel shows farmworkers marching with UFW flags. Attractive image and lettering (I keep thinking this one was illustrated in The Art of Rock, but I can't find it), nice NM/NM- copy, $25.00.
Big Brother & the Holding Co., Quicksilver Messenger Service, The Gladstones, Bill Ham's light show, 7/2-3/1966, Monterey Fairgrounds Dance Hall, Monterey, CA; this is an 8.5 x 11 handbill with purple ink on white paper, mandala-type drawing (sort of) with psychedelic lettering forming the lids of an eye or semi-circle. This one is in the "crude but cool" category. Top says "Take A Trip to Monterey"; presented by Karma Productions and Brotherhood of the Spirit--whew!! This event was sort of a prequel to the famous Monterey Pop Festival held at the same location about a year later, nice early lineup featuring key San Francisco bands. 1 copy basically VG+/VG; clean but with a burn mark in the lower RH corner outside the image, $60.
Quicksilver Messenger Service, Youngbloods, H.P. Lovecraft, 6/28-29/1968, Sound Factory, Sacramento, Grand Opening poster for this venue, postcard sized card with black background and a series of gear-like circles in purple and pale green, in which the lettering is crudely written. Not super attractive, but interesting. Most of the cards I've seen for this venue have staple holes or other damage; I have 2 nice ones hear, both NM on the front but one of them has a faint watercolored peace sign on the back; no big deal. Asking $50 for the cleaner one, $45 for the lesser one. (*)
Spirit, Pyewacket, Stilborn Time, 7/4 & 5/1968; Sound Factory, Sacramento; nice color image by San Andreas Fault; with angel in the center and red-orange lettering against a blue background. For illustration, see The Art of Rock, pl. 2.315. 2 Nice cards, one NM $45, one with a faint watercolor peace sign on the back, $38. (*)
Chambers Brothers, A.B. Skhy Blues Band, 7/19-20/68, Sound Factory, Sacramento, CA; nice red to yellow split fountain design by San Andreas Fault with blue lettering featuring an image of what looks like a Roman massacre scene in green, nice striking card, condition VG+ with tack holes in 3 corners; otherwise clean. $30; second copy with general minor age, $25.00 (*)
Electric Flag, Santana Blues Band, 7/26-27/1968, Sound Factory, Sacramento, CA; postcard by San Andreas Fault, with red and black background featuring a huge sun or moon with a crowd or mob of people raising their arms or something. Blue lettering with yellow accents. Carg VG- ; has several large unattractive tack holes at top center, otherwise fairly clean, $20.
Linn County, Sons of Champlin, Charlie Musselwhite, 9/7/1968, Sound Factory, Sacramento, CA; very colorful 4 x 6 card with bright yellow & greenb background; purple accents with a falling female figure, psychedelic red lettering; nice card, another one that is hard to describe. Front is NM-/VG+ no pinholes and faint bit of general age; the blank reverse has a waterstain and some other wear but this is basically invisible on the front due to the brightness of the colors, unless you look very closely. Nice obscure Sacramento handbill, $18.
Santana, Taj Mahal, Bo Diddley, Albert Collins, Kaleidoscope, Al Wilson, Southwind, Ike & Tina Turner, Sons of Champlin, Country Weather, Cold Blood, John Fahey, Linn County, 10/4/1969, Lake Amador, CA; "Gold Rush" festival, B & W card on card stock with image of a Civil War vintage soldier with a rifle; image comes in color as well as black on various stock sizes, this one is black on white stock as noted; nice image. 2 copies, NM- $ 30 each. Also I have a different handbill for the same event; this one is 5.5" x 8.5" on cream card stock with the same image of the Civil War soldier with a wood grain background and brown and orange lettering; no band listing; printed by Jellyroll Press; reverse has a hand saying "Do You Want a Poster" and a mail-away address; 2 copies, $20 each. Finally, I have a 4" x 7" gold sticker with the same lettering (no soldier) and directions about where to by tickets and how to get to the gig, 3 copies $10 each (*).
Sons of Champlin, West, Womb, 3/28/1969, Veterans Memorial Hall, Santa Rosa, 5" x 6.75" card, gray background with purple lettering and center image of a series of concentric circles fanning out from a yin-yang symbol in the center; decent but not spectacular artwork, NM card $25.00.
Bronze Hog, Euphonious Wail, 8/29/2970, Redwood Empire Arena, Santa Rosa; attractive 7" x 10" handbill for this event featuring local North Bay bands; features a partially orange, mostly pink background featuring an image of a pig riding a whale (seriously...) with a balloon saying "take me to the arena." The upper left shows a red and orange sum with black rays against an orange background. Lettering is typeset not hand drawn; still in all an unusual and fairly attractive image. Apparently the venue, which opened in 1969, was an ice rink that was built and owned by Peanuts cartoonist Charles Schultz, locally known (at least today) as "Snoopy's home ice." First one of these I've had, nice NM copy, $55.00.
"Golden State Country Bluegrass Festival," 4/16-28/1974, Marin Veterans Memorial Building & Grounds, San Rafael, CA; featuring the following listed artists: Vassar Clements, Doc & Merle Watson, Jim & Jesse, Ralph Stanley, Jimmy Martin, Merle Travis, Doug Dillard, Frank Wakefield, numerous other acts, plus "surprise guest stars," who were in fact Jerry Garcia's bluegrass band Old and In the Way, although not listed on the poster. Poster is 5.5" x 8.25" on card stock, art by Rick Shubb with color border in yellow, greeen, light blue and goldenrod with images of poppies in the corner, B & W drawings of bluegrass instruments and illustrations of Vassar Clements and some of the other performers, not sure I can identify which ones, with color lettering and image of Golden Gate Bridge, nice image and artwork, 3 copies, 2 are NM $50; VG+, minor wrinkle in lower LH corner, otherwise clean, $40. (*)
Clover (early Huey Lewis), Flying Circus, Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen, Half Pint & the Six Pack, Hereford Heartstrings, 4/8/1971, Brown's Hall, Mill Valley, CA; 8.5" x 11" B & W lyer with typeset lettering in various fonts and photo of man and woman in Mexican sombrero's; Brown's Hall was a much remembered local Marin venue, have 5 copies of this unusual flyer, basically NM-/VG+ minor storage wear, $15 each (*).
Janis Ian, Country Joe & the Fish, Doc Watson, Gary Davis, Kaleidoscope, "6 More bands"; 7/4/1967 (not sure of exact year, could be 68 based on band lineup); Berkeley Folk Music Festival; 8.5" x 11" on thin dark yellow/goldenrod paper with background photo of Janis Ian holding a hat like she's begging for contributions; bottom part is a blank order form for requesting a free festival brochure and schedule. This copy has three old vertical folds and one horizontal fold; noticeable but not bad when pressed out; no pinholes or other significant damage, asking $17.50.
State Theater, Martinez, CA (East Bay) "Opening Soon" 1971, very attractive design by David Singer, standard card sized with black border, silver-gray background, and orange red accents with center image of a somewhat sinister looking human face, typical attractive lettering; nice design that will appeal to any David Singer fan, NM $18.
Bo Diddley, West, E.T. Hooey, 6/13-14/1969, Rose Palace, Pasadena, CA; size approximately 6" x 8.75" on thin paper, split fountain grown to orange printing with image of alchemist looking chemical signs, and typeset lettering. Similar to the other handbills in the Rose Palace series, NM- $30.
Berkeley Folk Festival, 6/23-27/65, U.C. Berkeley; foldover-type program for the event with discussion of the program; featured artists included Mississippi Fred Mc Dowell, Tom Paxton, Sam Hinton, Mike Seeger, the Hackberry Rambles, and others; printed in black on yellow paper, has photos and description of the artists and other music-professor types who were holding seminars in conjunction with this event; lists performers and schedule of program events; cool front cover image with western style lettering and image of old hillbilly playing fiddle; original mailing list item; next to impossible to find, $60.
Delmark record catalog, has a handwritten date 2/68 but I have no way of verifying that; would have thought it to be a bit earlier; foldover; olive drab on pale blue-gray stock; lists many classic blues LPs produced by Delmark at that time, with artists such as Sleepy John Estes, Junior Wells, Little Brother Montgomery, Big Joe Williams, Roosevelt Sykes, Yank Rachell, Woody Guthrie & Jack Elliot; cool item; nice NM- condition; hard to find item. $25.
Blue Gravy with Nick Gravenites and Count Talent [Michael Bloomfield], 1/19/73, The Village, San Francisco. 5.5 x 8.5 card; black on yellow card stock; Gilbert Johnson image of woman with angel wings holding up a mystical sign of some kind. Spare but decent art work. Art-deco lettering. Very nice item for Mike Bloomfield collectors from a time when he was playing local bars and small venues in San Francisco under the pseudonym of "Count Talent." NM copy; first one of these I've seen, $20.
Hot Tuna, John Mayall, Honk, Sons of Champlin, Les Moore, 6/13/19075, Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim (Orange County), California; Anaheim Youth Benefit. 5.5" x 8.5" handbill by the great Rick Griffin, B & W with border of oranges, center image of two cartoon characters kissing not Griffin's best image, but something to pick up if you collect Rick's work. The poster version of this is illustrated in The Art of Rock, pl. 4.123, and was done in a two color format, but the handbill version was simple black and white and rather cheaply produced. Nice NM copy, $ 12.
The Byrds, the Seeds, Bola Sete, Big Brother & the Holding Co., Butterfield Blues Band, Arlo Guthrie, 12/16/67-2/18/68 (various gigs), Golden Bear, Huntington Beach, CA; see preceding item for info on this famous So Cal club; this flyer is an 8.5 x 11 card folded over like a Christmas card; done in black and 2 shades of brick red, one panel shows a cartoon bear in a Santa Claus suit playing a guitar; two other sides have Christmas presents that list the upcoming gigs as noted above; the 4th side has a bulk rate stamp and space for an address. This is a very cool item; condition VG+ overall, no pinholes, a bit of general age and a small name in black ink on one of the sides. Asking $250.
The Sons (of Champlin), Moby Grape, 9/6/1974, San Jose State University Student Union Hall, San Jose, CA; 8.5 x 11" B & W handbill with cool cartoon drawing of Mickey Mouse playing a guitar; not psychedelic but kinda neat item for this later show. 2 copies NM/NM-, $20 each. (*)
Cyrcuit, Albatross Landing, Bombay Glass Works, 5/25/1968, Hayward, I.D.E.S. Hall; 8.5 x 11 & W flyer for these local bands, has sort of a tiki-like figure in the center with a large head containing visions of skulls, swirls, faces, a topless girl, etc. Decent for fans of these kind of local vintage gigs, 2 copies $10 each. (*)
Iron Butterfly, Blues Image, 12/12/70(?), Robertson Gym, University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), 5.75" x 8.5" light purple handbill on thin paper; mushroom and odd bat-winged manta ray-butterfly creature, mostly typeset lettering. VG+/VG; center tack hole at top, light overall paper age (not bad); tape pull on back that doesn't show through, uncommon Santa Barbara handbill, $60.00.
3rd Annual North Beach Photographic Art Fair, 5/26-27, 1973, Washington Square, SF, color card with blank reverse; nice full color artwork by Gilbert Johnson features a nude, long haired woman floating in the clouds on a saucer like disc with the moon & stars behind her. 3 NM copies available, $25 each. (*)
4th Annual North Beach Photographic Fair, 5/25-27, 1974, Washington Square, SF; color card with blank reverse featuring full artwork by Gilbert Johnson featuring image of black haired woman wearing long green dress, sitting in an ornate chair with a portrait of Ben Franklin behind the semi psychedelic lettering. 3 NM copies available, $15 each. (*)
"Ragtime" Fashion Show, 9/9-10/71, Grace Cathedral, San Francisco; 4.5" x 7" purple & orange card by Mark Behrens and Satty; neat collage in the centere featuring interior of a Gothic cathedral and medieval people at a party or something. Very attractive image, nice NM copy $30.
Victor Moscoso, invitation to a 3/1/1975 invitation to a showing at Thackerey & Robertson Gallery in San Francisco, exhibition of the drawing and finished artwork for Zap Comix #7; 5.5" x 8" on card stock with B & W cartoon image of a cat woman and a guy who looks like a bishop or the Pope; hard to describe, for image, click here. Interesting, unusual item for fans of Victor Moscoso; have not seen this before. I have 2 very nice NM copies, asking $22.50 each. (*)
Cannonball Adderly, Joe Williams, Urbie Green, 10/6/1972; Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Lamb, Azteca, 10/7/72; Ray Price, B. J. Thomas, Buffie Sainte-Marie, 10/8/72, Cow Palace; San Francisco; 3-day "National Music & Hi-Fi Expo"; very nice color 7 x 11 card by Randy Tuten with red background, very nice lettering, image of the earth like a music note; yellow background with black and silver-gray lettering for groups; nice attractive handbill; NM-; one small margin ding at bottom, $35.
Creedence Clearwater Revival, circa 1968 or so, promotional card with photo of the band in a wheat field; purple border and background, black photo; nice. Has printed signatures of each band member (not personally signed, sorry...wish they were!). Back is blank but most of them have doodling, lists, music biz stuff, phone numbers, that kind of stuff written on the back....the story I heard is that these were thrown out by Stu Cook a number of years back and recovered by someone, but who knows, that could be BS. In any case, someone in the music biz used them for scratch paper early on. Other than the writing on the back, most of them are NM on the front. I have a quantity of these and am offering them for now at $10 each. (*)
Creedence Clearwater Revival, 1971; promotional handout from Fantasy Records; 8.5 x 11; 4 page; brown on off-brown paper. Page 1 has group name in big letters and 3 die-cut windows with the photos of the 3 band members (minus Tom Fogerty) showing through. Page 2 contains a detailed history of the band from 1967 to July 1971, "Sweet Hitch Hiker" to be released, hence date of item; page 3 has history of the band and short bios of its individual members (again, minus Tom Fogerty, who had left the band by then). Page 4 just has the Fantasy logo. Entire item is in NM/NM- condition; great vintage promotional item for Creedence/John Fogerty fans. $25.
Dave Mason & Mama Cass, Ballin' Jack, Redeye, Buffalo Bob Smith, 1/7-9/71, Winterland, horizontal card with background photo of colorful sunrise over bare trees with snowy ground; purple Randy Tuten lettering. 5 NM cards, $5.00 each. (*)
Jazz Crusaders, Johnny Otis Show w. Shuggie Otis, Sweet Salvation, 10/14/72, Berkeley Community Theatre; 8 x 10 B & W Randy Tuten Art with photo; typical. NM $2.00. (*)
"Trip to Mars," 1971, head shop type postcard by Victor Moscoso, shows a B & W 12-panel comix illustration with a sci-fi space ship theme; similar to Moscoso's usual comic work; the individuals are fairly small and therefore somewhat hard to decipher, kinda cool looking if you are willing to take the time to try to figure it out. Had a couple of these some time back and sold them; got 2 more NM copies from my original source, $15 each (*)
Tower of Power, Wayne Cochran & the CC Riders, 7/25/72, Keystone Berkeley; simple B & W 8 « x 11 flyer with typeset lettering; no art; NM- $4.00.
Cold Blood, 1970 or so, promotional postcard for release of Cold Blood's first LP, from San Francisco Records, mailer with address of recipient on back and rendering of LP cover by Rick Griffin on front. 1 copy NM- with mailing list name on back, horizontal fold from mailing, $20.
Beserkley Records, 1974, 5.5" x 9" orange postcard/flyer; typewriter style lettering. Side 1 lists release dates of 45 RPM records by East Bay Bands Earth Quake, and Son of Pette & the Muffdivers ( !); side 2 lists upcoming gig dates for Earth Quake and the Rubinoos, all local small club gigs in the Bay Area; this card was mailed by the record company to radio station KMET in Los Angeles, on 7/12/74; neat little item $10.
Michael Bloomfield w. George Rains, Roger "Jellyroll" Troy, and Howard Wales, 3/18/74 (most likely date), Inn of the Beginning, Cotati, CA; 8.5 x 11 black on white paper; typeset lettering; no art; obscure local Sonoma County gig featuring a great lineup; 2 copies, both have an ugly rust mark in the upper LH corner from where someone paper clipped them together and then they rusted, cleaner copy $14, lesser copy $10. (*)
Elvin Bishop Group; Aum, 1970 or so, promotional postcard for the release of Elvin Bishop's first LP on Fillmore records and Aum's "Resurrection" LP on the same label; mailed to those in the Fillmore mailing list. 2 mailers with name on back, 1 NM $10; 1 VG+ $5.00. (*)
George Carlin Show with Kenny Rankin, 4/21/73, Marin Veterans' Memorial; San Rafael,
CA; 5 x 7 black on bright yellow with typeset lettering and drawing of arm holding jester's mask.
Only Carlin item I've ever had; good souvenir for anyone who collects his stuff. NM $4.00. (*)
McGuinness-Flint, 1971 promotional card for this British band; this card was one of a series
done in 1971 by San Francisco poster artist Randy Tuten for Capitol Records, promoting various
bands releasing LPs on that label at the time. This is a very attractive card with orange and blue
lettering and a nice photo of the band; have 2 copies of this card, $5 each. (*)
Genesis 1 Film Evolution, 6/12-13/1969, Cal. State Hayward Music Building (East Bay); not
a music flyer but definitely "of the period" featuring front color art by the great Neon Park; full
color with red and blue background, red and blue center panel with flaming letters, looks a bit
like Bob Fried's style, or maybe faintly Moscoso's. Reverse side has info on the Hayward
showing with quotes from local newspapers. NM $ 28.00.
"Secret Cinema," 7th Street, San Francisco, June 1968, B & W card with nice op art image
of a tiger and op-art circles, reverse has list of films being shown that month, NM-, slight
wrinkling $7.00.
Bally Lo, circa 1967, promotional card for this clothing store that was also a Fillmore ticket
outlet. Black and gray, 5x7 with photo of models; almost looks like a negative image. Back of
card gives address of store. Apparently was also used as a business card as there are different
printed names on the back. Have 1 copies that say "Mike" on the back and 2 copies that say
"Phil" on the back. Your choice $5.00 each; inexpensive fun item for those who collect period
memorabilia. (*)
Here's a truly unusual offering of handbills from St. Elizabeth High School, Oakland. This
is a prestigious high end private parochial high school that was founded in 1921 and apparently
in the 1960s they sponsored a series of dances, featuring some of the better bands in the Bay
Area. The handbills for these were mostly done on what appears to have been an old time school
mimeograph machine, so the images are very pale in some cases and the colors not very strong,
but nevertheless they actually did what looks like multi-colored mimeographs which isn't
something you usually see. I believe these are from the summer of 1968; unfortunately the day
and date don't appear on any of them, making dating difficult, but based on the bands and the
dates for Friday night dances, I'm going to go with 68 until proven otherwise. These are in
excellent shape and are absolutely positively authentic from an old original stash of someone
who was associated with the shows. Check them out.
Friend, Sons of Champlin, 7/26/68, St. Elizabeth High School, Oakland, CA; nice 5.5 x 8.5
with multicolored mimeograph image of a sunflower with an eye in the center, lettering in the
Wes Wilson style. Although the image colors are light due to the process described above, this is
a very unusual Sons handbill for fans of that band. I have 1 on goldenrod stock and1 on pale
yellow stock, your choice $45 each. (*)
Mint Tattoo (Blue Cheer related), Fog, 8/23/68, St. Elizabeth High School, Oakland, CA,
nice 6.5 x 8.5 handbill, red on thin white paper with images of the band member's faces on
snail's bodies; typically crude as described above. 2 copies, basically NM/NM-, $30 each. (*)
Linda Tillery & Loading Zone, Pink Wedge, 9/6/1968, St Elizabeth High School, Oakland,
CA, 5.5 8 8.5 with decent blue image of Linda Tillery and psychedelic lettering, appealingly
crude as described above; I have 2 copies on white stock, in the NM/NM- range, $30 each. (*)
"Keep on Truckin'" timeless, but probably dates back to sometime in 1969; this is a B & W
8.5" x 10.5" piece of paper handbill, flyer, whatever that has a 5-panel R. Crumb cartoon with
the famous "Keep on Truckin" image of a bunch of cartoon characters shufflin' along; panel 2
says "truckin' on down the line" and features guy in a plaid suit with a cane and hat shufflin'
down a city street, panel 3 is captioned "hey, hey" and shows another guy walking in the opposite
direction, panel 4 shows to goofily dressed kids walking down a residential street with the
caption "I said keep on truckin'" and panel 5 shows 2 businessmen-types raising their hats in
unison as they truck down the street, with the caption "truckin' my blues away." Whew. I've
seen this cartoon before, probably in a Zap comix book or similar source, but this does not appear
to have been torn out of anything, but rather separately printed not photocopied, so it seems it
was reproduced for distribution, purpose and/or event unknown. Grades about VG+/VG overall,
not pinholes but basic paper age and one noticeable but not awful dark spot in the center,
probably could be cleaned up if desired. $20.
Original Artwork by
famous rock and roll/psychedelic artists
Posters--Bill Graham and Miscellaneous
Fillmore Auditorium
Posters--Family Dog and Related
Posters--Miscellaneous California (1960's
and early '70's)
Posters--Miscellaneous Non-California
(1960's and early '70's)
Posters
--More Recent Stuff (late 1970's to the present)
Handbills--Bill Graham and Miscellaneous
Fillmore Auditorium
Handbills--Family Dog and Related
Handbills--Miscellaneous Non-California
(1960's and early '70's)
To go to another category, click the appropriate box below:
