John Lee Hooker, Loading Zone, Mother Earth, 4/4-6/68, Carousel Ballroom, SF; turquoise background with green image of dragon biting it's own tail, lots of other weird stuff, artist credit reads "Lenny '68". Hard to find card in this popular series, 2 copies available, NM- $40 each. (*)
Grateful Dead, Charlie Musselwhite, Petris, 5/30-31/68, Carousel Ballroom; Kelley's famous "Memorial" image featuring row of skulls on a rack; blue and black background; red, pink, and yellow accents, a classic Grateful Dead poster image; for image, see The Art of Rock, pl. 2.160; the handbill is full color 7" x 11"; like the poster, the majority of the handbills have the dates crossed out at the top; this one, however, has INTACT DATES which is much much harder to find than the standard version. Overall condition VG+; no pinholes but has a couple of pretty minor corner wrinkles and very slight overall age. Priced at $225.
Booker T & the MGs, It's A Beautiful Day, Tim Buckley 6/14-16/68, Carousel Ballroom; "Have a Heart" airbrush image by Stanley Mouse wherein a mysterious masked figure holds out its hand offering you a beating human heart; standard sized card, color 1 NM, some age to reverse $15; 1 VG/VG+ copy, tape pulls on back, $8 (*).
Tuesday Night Jam, circa 6/68, Carousel; oddly disturbing Stanley Mouse airbrush image of a very psychedelic-looking jar with a pig-like character wearing an oversize yellow bow tie with orange polka dots; blue background; color card-size image; most common card version for image, see The Art of Rock, pl. 2.170. 2 NM cards, $20 each., 1 VG+ writing on back, $10. (*)
Tuesday Night Jam, circa 6/68, see above; 7" x 10.5" B & W "pig" image same as above, scarcer than the color card; 1 copy VG+, minor general wear $25; 1 copy VG-; tape stains on back, corner wrinkling $10. (*)
Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Mimi Farina, 10/31/66, California Hall, San Francisco, "Dance of Death" handbill, 8.5" x 11 black background with salmon colored lettering and image of dancing masked skeletons, a bit crude with Wes Wilson-stye lettering, for illustration, see The Art of Rock, pl. 2.143. Popular early Grateful Dead handbill. Very nice NM copy $275.
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. 7 NM copies $25 each. (*)
Big Brother & The Holding Co., Big Mama Thornton, The Weeds, 4/28-29/67, California Hall, S.F.; color care with pink background, yellow and blue lettering and cartoonish image; Pyxis studios; for illustration, see The Art of Rock, pl. 2.153, 4 copies NM $25 each (*)
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. 4 nice NM/NM- cards, $17.00 each. (*)
Blue Cheer, Sopwith Camel, 7/7-8/67, California Hall, SF; classic "Spirit of '67" image with famous Uncle Sam Wants You portrait in the center, surrounded by psychedelic colors. For illustration, see The Art of Rock, pl. 2.149. 8 nice NM copies, $25 each. (*).
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. This one is a beautiful NM/NM- copy, about as nice as you could ever expect to find, pristine paper and pleasing in every respect. Asking $350 for this gem. Also have a second copy, very strong VG+; 1 very small pinhole in each upper corner, colors strong and bold, very nice copy that would please almost anybody, $150.
Sopwith Camel, 4/14-16, 18-20/67, Matrix; 8.5" x 11" black on pale brown paper; has old Camel Cigarette ads with their camel logo and 3 panels reading "the camel is coming," "Camels...tomorrow there'll be more Camels in this town than in all Africa and Asia combined," and "The Camel is HERE!." Gig info in nice hippie style lettering, and motto at the bottom "Et Tu, Super-Puppy--Kraemer '66." This latter date is the basis for some people thinking that this is actually a 1966 handbill, but I have always thought that 4/66 is too early for this band to have played the Matrix. VG+; $40.
Elvin Bishop Band, Cold Blood, Clover, 2/7/73, Pepperland, San Rafael; ; purple card with yellow-green split fountain script lettering; for illustration, see The Art of Rock, pl. 4.89. Nice NM copy $15.
Grateful Dead, Country Joe & the Fish, 12/2/66, Pauley Ballroom (UC Berkeley), nice 6.75" x 10.5" green and purple handbill with Wes Wilson influences but a little more crudely drawn, with demon/troll type images, "Danse Macabre" handbill; neat early Dead handbill that belongs in all collections of vintage Grateful Dead stuff; I have 5 nice copies, all NM/M- $100 each. (8).
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. 5 NM/NM- copies $15 each (*).
"Deed of Shame," Universal Joint, Friendly Stranger, 10/7-8/66, Veterans Hall, Oakland; 5.5" x 8.5" handbill on thin paper; purple and pale green with image of mod-looking woman with stars on her cheeks, and black typeset dates in the center. Collectors of odd Bay Area stuff probably are familiar with these images; there are two other ones that I know of for different dates and with different groups, but this is the first one I've seen for this lineup and with these particular dates. 2 copies, 1 NM- $35; 1 VG with some wrinkles in the image but otherwise OK, $18. Neat little item. (*)
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.
Big Brother & the Holding Co., 9/1-3/67, Straight Theater, San Francsico; 8.5" x 11" B & W handbill with odd size typeset lettering of different styles, surround by reproduction of a few old time patent medicine ads; not especially artistic, but a scarce Janis Joplin handbill from this famous old San Francisco venue. Solid VG+; no pinholes but a bit of minor wrinkling in the lower RH corner, almost NM- but not quite; hard to find $75.
Quicksilver Messenger Service, Blue Cheer, Sandy Bull, Hugh Masekela, Congress of Wonders, Charlatans, Ace of Cups, Mt. Rushmore, Big Brother & The Holding Co., Country Joe & the Fish, 7/1-2/67, Mt. Tamalpais Outdoor Theatre, Marin County; CA; "Festival of Growing Things," nice 4.5" x 6" handbill/card by Gut; this is the turquoise and dark yellow color version (like the poster) for this big 2-day festival; 2 nice NM copies, only $22 each. (*)
Light up with the Flamin' Groovies, circa 1967, promotional card; has Family Dog postcard and was send to people on the Family Dog mailing list, though technically it is not part of the Family Dog series; off-white paper with purple drawing showing image of the Taj Mahal or some similar building, turbaned Indian boy holding tambourine, and several large matches at the bottom. 6 copies, basically NM/NM-; one of them has original mailing list on back; your choice $10 each. (*)
Grateful Dead, Osceola, Rhythm Dukes (Moby Grape), 12/19-20/69, New Old Fillmore, San Francisco (these shows were held at the former Fillmore Auditorium after Bill Graham opened Fillmore West), nice color 8.5 x 11" handbill with robed figure of woman holding a calendabra with a sword blade; smoke from the lit candles forms the letters Grateful dead, nice orange-yellow sunset background; for illustration, see The Art of Rock, pl. 4.58. Popular handbill; this is a well-used copy that grades VG-; multiple tape holes, partial crease in lower portion of image, paper slightly yelloed from age; hence priced reasonably at $30. A good item for the budget-conscious collector or those not so fussy about condition (Another site is offering one for $415!).
Country Joe & the Fish, Big Brother & the Holding Co; Melvyn Q. Watchpocket; 2/10-11/67, Golden Sheaf Bakery; Berkeley, CA; nice 5 x 7" Loren Rehbock design with photo of surprised looking woman and lettering typical of the other 2 Golden Sheaf posters Rehbock did; those 2 are illustrated in The Art of Rock, plates 2.269 and 2.270 respectively. NM $25.
Charlatans, Cleveland Wrecking Co., Uncut Balloon, 6/14-15/68; Straight Theatre; color art by Jack Terre features medicine bottle, spoon, stopwatch, for illustration, see The Art of Rock, pl. 2.220. 4 copies, NM/NM-, $20 each (*).
Steve Miller Blues Band, Sons of Champlin, 6/22/67, Golden Gate Park Band Concourse, Free Concert; 6.25" x 8" handbill; blue on thin yellow stock. Says "Your Day In The Sun" at the top, has a weird circular shape in the center, with angular abstract images in side it; simple non-psychedelic lettering. VG/VG+; clean but has a horiz. fold and some general age wrinkles. Oddball handbill that doesn't turn up very often, $15.00
Blackburn & Snow, Bluehouse Basement, 11/18-19/66, The Ark, Sausalito; 8.5" x 11" purple on white paper with psychedelic lettering and design of a couple of eyes--typically crude flyer for this venue. VG-; corner damage, significant overall general age $10.
Baltimore Steampacket, Freudian Slips, 2/2-5/67, The Ark, Sausalito; 8.5" x 11" orange, purple, yellow handbill; crudely drawn psychedelic style artwork; colors not bad. Nice NM copy $30.
The Byrds, The Stone Poneys (early Linda Ronstadt), Sky Blue, 8/3/66(?)--maybe '67, Berkeley Community Theatre, early and rather scarce flyer; 7" x 8.5" B & W on thin white paper with odd center collage work that has an egyptian motif; hard to describe; for illustration, see The Art of Rock, pl. 2. 267 (handbill is black and white, not two-color like the poster). 2 copies; 1 VG+VG; multiple staple holes in corners and very very teeny piece (1/16") missing in upper RH corner; otherwise clean $40; 1 VG- copy with tape discoloration on back (shows through faintly on front) and words "tickets here" written in ink in upper LH corner outside image, $12. (*)
Youngbloods, the Sons (of Champlin), Lamb, 2/20/70, Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA; 5.75" x 8 5/8" red and black "bubbly" lettering on thin white card stock; nice obscure handbill, VG+; no pinholes, one diagonal corner crease in upper RH corner, some slight browning of paper around the edges, $12.25
Harbinger Complex, The Group, the Chosen For, 12/23/66, Maple Hall, San Pablo, 8.5 x 11 black on dark cream paper, with early crude psychedelic lettering (like very early Wes Wilson lettering) with photo of a bunch of guys with handlebar mustaches. Very cool item for one of the better local obscure groups (they sounded a little like the early Rolling Stones). VG+; NM except for a single small pinhole in each corner and very slight paper aging, $45.
Quicksilver Messenger Service, Elvin Bishop, Redeye, 6/25/71, Santa Clara County Fairgrounds; 5.5" x 8.5" black on pink paper; neat but fairly crude hand lettering with mountain and sun in the background, winged bag of money (?) at the bottom; I had not seen this one before but a few of these have turned up in the last year or so; interesting Quicksilver item, $40.
Quicksilver Messenger Service, Eric Burdon & War, Bo Diddley, 2/14/? (1969-71), Sacramento Memorial Aud.; 5.5 x 8.5 handbill; pale blue gray paper with black design featuring Quicksilver logo from first LP and photo of band. Not sure of the year but will be within range indicated above. I had large stash of these back in the early '80's and it was gradually dispersed and individual handbills now show up from time to time on eBay and in other places. Now, a person who bought a bunch of these way back when has re-consigned them to me and so I have 2 copies from my original stash, all basically NM, available for $20 each. (*)
Lee Michaels, Paul Butterfield, Elvin Bishop, 3/13/? (1969-71), Cal Expo, Sacramento, 5.5 x 8.5 handbill with photo of Teddy Roosevelt giving a speech in front of a huge American flag, caption "a night of American music." See description of previous item; I also had a stash of these re-consigned to me after almost 20 years. 4 NM/NM- copies available, $10 each. (*)
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.
Flamin' Groovies, Freedom Highway, Ice, 8/28-29/69, New Old Fillmore; one of the series of shows done by other promoters after Bill Graham moved the Fillmore to the Fillmore West. 8 « x 11; blue and red on yellow stock with cartoon "Crosby" image and nice lettering; good item for Flamin' Groovies collectors if there are still any around. NM- $40.
Tower of Power, Country Weather, Childhood Inn, 11/27/71, San Mateo Fairgrounds; very cool B & W card by one Mike Creely with top lettering obviously derivative of Rick Griffin's "Aoxomoxoa" or "Pacific Vibrations" style; drawing of woman's face in the center forming from smoke coming out of a hookah; sort of Greg Irons meets Rick Griffin, only slightly cruder in style. Unusual card. Condition: front VG; a 1/8" x 3/4" tape discoloration mark at the very top, one teeny staple hole, and some general discoloration and age. There is also a large unsightly stain on the revers, but fortunately it doesn't show through. Interesting unusual item, first extra I've had. $15.
Baltimore Steampacket, Freudian Slips, 2/2-5/67, The Ark, Sausalito; orange background with odd purple design and bright yellow lettering; 8.5" x 11", filler copy, coener pinholes and damage, was folded vertically and horizontally long ago, general age, hence cheap at $7.50.
Jefferson Airplane, 10/24-27/66, Matrix, San Francisco; 7 x 10 flyer by Tom Weller, blue and black on white paper with early-style psychedelic lettering; for illustration, see The Art of Rock, pl. 2.112. This is a filler copy, lots of pihnoles and general weal, and a 5. x 1.5" piece missing from the upper RH corner, but overall image is intact; a rather hard to find handbill, so should still find a home at $20.
Baltimore Steampacket, Mobus Band, Hobbits, Grand Battle of the Marin Gands, 3/15-24/67 (various gigs), the Ark, Sausalito, this one is neater than most Ark posters of the period; 14" x 22" blue gray backing; a dull red elongated human figure with outstretched hands divides the poster into four irregularly sized parts, each of which contains a portion of the lettering that is sort of in the Wes Wilson style; not bad. Condition VG-; 1/2" chunk missing in lower RH corner; pinholes and a couple of pieces of removeable tape at the top; water stain in right part of image from margin; some discoloration and age in the image, worn but still OK overall, $50.
Stoneground, Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks, Louis Gasca, Sylvester & the Hot Band 7/8-9/72, Resurrection Ballroom (old Fillmore West), San Francisco; b & W card by Randy Tuten; mainly just lettering with woman's face at top.
Ten Years After, Hoyt Axton, Hedge and Donna, Butterfield Blues Band. Spirit, 7/12-8/19/68; Golden Bear, Huntington Beach (Orange County), CA; 5.5 x 8.5; B & W on card stock; crude psychedelic lettering for band names; bear with sunglasses, no art per se. The Golden Bear was a legendary club on Highway 101 next to the beach, near Huntington Beach; everybody from Dylan to the Doors to the Dead played there in the early years; I have seen virtually no Golden Bear stuff in years of collecting but recently a stash came to light with this and some other vintage So Cal items; nice NM copy, $100.
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.
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 Turtles, The Sixpence, The Other Side, 3/23/67(?--maybe '68), Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, 5.5 x 8.5 handbill; crude reverse-image black psychedelic lettering on brick red paper. Condition G, some folding and margin damage, but basically OK for a crude old handbill like this one. $20.
New Buffalo Springfield, Iron Butterfly, Santana Blues Band, surf movies, prizes, custom cars, etc.....3/28-4/6/68, Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, "Teen Expo '69"-- 5.5" x 11.5" flyer on thin glossy stock, nice orange background with dark pink squares with different photos--motorcycle rider, surfer, pretty girl, etc.--looks more like a surf movie flyer than a rock handbill. Not common--first extra copy I've had; condition VG+/VG, no pinholes, 1 old horizontal creas now flattened out, a little general age; $40.
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.
Grateful Dead, circa 1971, color 5" x 9.75" card with beautiful full color reproduction of the "skull & roses" album cover; the first album cover card the Dead did; fairly hard to find; beautiful NM copy; great item for Dead collectors, $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.
The Wailers (Bob Marley), 10/19-20/73, The , San Francisco, 8.5 x 11" flyer/press release on letterhead with typewritten announcement that the scheduled headliners, Marin locals the Sons of Champlin, were being replaced by the San Francisco debut of The Wailers, "the Jamaican group responsible for the reggae style of music." Follows this up with rap about how this will be one of the best music shows ever at the , which it probably was. I have a small stash of these acquired a number of years ago, maybe 10 or so copies left; condition basically NM-; a wee bit of paper age, just enough to guarantee the authenticity of these copies, otherwise very clean. A good opportunity to pick up an early Bob Marley item from a time when he was still little known to many music lovers. $35 each. (*)
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. (*)
Quicksilver Messenger Service, A.B. Skhy, Beggar's Opera, 4/17/70, Contra Costa Fairgrounds, Antioch, 8 1/2 x 11; black and dark green on goldenrod stock with hand lettering and flowers on the borders, with horseman in center. OK but not inspired; still a hard-to-get Quicksilver item. Last copy, VG+; clean but has slight waterstain in LH margin, $ 10.
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. (*)
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. One unsightly horizontal crease across image, otherwise clean, $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. (*)
Moliere's Les Fourberies de Scapin (stage play; must be heavy duty 'cause the title sure is a mouthful); 2/15/69, Veterans' Aud., SF, normally I don't deal in theatrical handbills but this one came in a stash of stuff and it has a pretty psychedelic appearance; front has psychedelic pink and blue wavy lines in background with photo of what is probably some of the characters from the play; back contains ticket ordering information. What the heck, somebody might want these. NM $5.00. (*)
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. (*)
The Magazine, circa 1976 or so, San Francisco; 8.5 x 11 B & W flyer by Greg Irons with image of old newsboy selling papers at a corner newsstand; nice Irons art. The Magazine was a store in downtown SF that specialized in old paper of all types, including posters... Have 6 nice NM copies, only $4.00 each; nice item for Greg Irons collectors. (*)
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)