Yardbirds; Doors; James Cotton Blues Band; Havens, Richie; MacLean, Bonnie; Graham, Bill

Original Concert Poster: Yardbirds, Doors, James Cotton Blues Band, Richie Havens (July 25-30, 1967)

San Francisco, CA: Bill Graham, 1967. First Edition. Single Sheet. A poster (appx. 14" x 21&1/4") announcing a series of six concerts produced by the legendary impresario Bill Graham (1931-1991), with performances headlined by the Yardbirds, along with the Doors (during July 28-30 only), the James Cotton Blues Band & Richie Havens during July 25-30, 1967 at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco. The acclaimed American poster artist Bonnie MacLean (1939-2020), then-recently married to Graham, created the artwork & graphics reproduced here, & "B. MacLean (c) Bill Graham 1967 #75" in facsimile hand-lettering & numbering is found just below lower right edge of image at orange background near lower right corner (see image). According to the Talmudic scholarship we have consulted regarding this poster, this copy is a first printing, with printer's credit "Neal, Stratford & Kerr" in facsimile hand-lettering just to the right of "...#75" noted above. King, BG-75-OP-1, pg. 413. King writes: "The central image is a drawing of a human face with a very stylized drawing of a bird with a peacock's tail next to it. This poster is widely considered one of the best posters of the psychedelic era. While the colors are not electric or vibrating, they are very distinctively different from color use in earlier poster art, and they definitely draw the eye and command the attention the way psychedelic art does. It is just that in MacLean's case the use of color is more subtle than that of the other major psychedelic artists." (pg. 414) The supreme exemplar of the MacLean psychedelic style, among the most iconic & much-reproduced images of them all as the "Summer of Love" rippled across the continent at its zenith, in its very rarest contemporary form. BTW, if this writer had the proverbial three wishes & could go back in time, I would certainly have been in the front audience during one of the last three of these concerts to watch & listen to the Yardbirds & the Doors on the same stage- whoa! From the collection of Dion Wright (b. 1937), a highly respected artiste & sculptor who was at the center of the scene that produced this & the many other outstanding posters that symbolize a fabled time & place (see Wright's memoir, Tempus Fugitive, item No. 5008). In our well-sharpened & experienced estimation, this poster is in relatively especially very fine condition with only a bit of wear & some tiny bumps, faint creases at/near edges & corners- the entire glorious recto image is completely bright & substantially mint. This item is too delicate to be rolled & must be shipped flat to assure no damage, therefore extra shipping costs will be required. Very Fine. [Item #5827]

Price: $3,000.00