Big Brother& the Holding Company; Canned Heat Blues Band; Congress of Wonders; Griffin, Rick; Hillyard, Roger; van Meter, Ben

Original Concert Poster: Big Brother & the Holding Company, Canned Heat Blues Band, Congress of Wonders ("A Magic Show," June 8-11, 1967)

San Francisco, CA: Family Dog Productions, 1967. First Edition. Single Sheet. A poster (appx. 13&7/8" x 20") announcing a concert entitled "A Magic Show" with performances headlined by Big Brother & the Holding Co., along with the Canned Heat Blues Band & the Congress of Wonders, during June 8-11, 1967 at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco. The legendary psychedelic artist Rick Griffin (b. Richard Alden Griffin, 1944-1991) created the artwork & graphics reproduced here, & "-Rick Griffin-" in facsimile hand-lettering bordered by dashes is found within lower right side yellow image border between black lines (see image). Credited for "Lights" is "The North American Ibis Alchemical Co.," a memorably named incarnation of Roger Hillyard, Ben van Meter & Co. Hillyard (b. 1942) was highly involved with the exemplary psychedelic light shows of this era, later became the proprietor of a popular coffee shop, & most recently the practicing resident of a Zen Buddhist center- all in San Francisco. Van Meter (b. 1941) was also a major light show producer & experimental filmmaker at this time, & still engages in cutting-edge creativity as of this writing. According to the Talmudic scholarship we have consulted regarding this poster (which is similar in its depth to our underground comix from this period), this copy is a second printing, with yellow (rather than white) borders & image details, & green (rather than blue) crystal ball-logo stand. King, FD-65-RP-2, pg. 131. King, with 21st-century cultural diplomatic context, writes: "The central image is a drawing in late 19th-century style of an older African-American woman wearing a bandana and a shawl. She has a crystal ball on a stand, and the Family Dog logo is visible in the crystal ball. She is pointing to a card on which the words "Avalon Ballroom" appear...Almost all the hippies were white people who had been raised in a very racist society, and although almost all of them aspired to a higher level of consciousness where racism was not prevalent, images such as this one sometimes did appear because they were not fully attuned to what might or might not be offensive to African-Americans." (pg. 131) An exuberant (if outrageously "politically incorrect" by current cultural-societal standards) exemplar of the Griffin psychedelic style that had reached its high tide during the "Summer of Love" it here helped inaugurate, in its penultimately rarest contemporary form. From the collection of Dion Wright (b. 1937), a most respected artiste & sculptor who was at the center of the scene that produced this & the many other posters that symbolize a fabled time & place (see Wright's memoir, Tempus Fugitive, item No. 5008). In our sharpened & experienced estimation, this poster is in relatively fine-verging-on-very-fine condition with only very slight rubbing at mostly blank yellow borders/edges (central image appears completely bright & pristine except per below); a bit of wear & some tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners; one small area of light (water?) staining from lower right corner mostly at blank yellow background but slightly onto ticket information text, outermost black, yellow & blue border of image. This item is too delicate to be rolled & must be shipped flat to assure no damage, therefore extra shipping costs will be required. Fine-Very Fine. [Item #5786]

Price: $110.00