Santana; Dr. John; Allison, Luther; Orr, Norman; Graham, Bill

Original Concert Poster: Santana, Dr. John, Luther Allison (September 10-13, 1970)

San Francisco, CA: Bill Graham, 1970. First Edition. Single Sheet. A poster (appx. 13&3/4" x 21") announcing a concert produced by the legendary impresario Bill Graham (1931-1991), with performances headlined by Santana, Dr. John, & Luther Allison in San Francisco during September 9-13, 1970 at Fillmore West. Acclaimed American artist Norman Orr (b. 1924) created the artwork & graphics reproduced here, & “Bill Graham 1970 No. 248 by Norman Orr” in the same font as the rest of the poster above the “N” in “Night.” According to the Talmudic scholarship which we have consulted regarding this poster (which is similar in its depth to that of our underground comix from this period), this copy is from the first-&-only printing. King, BG-248-OP-1, pg. 584. King writes: “This poster is rust, gray, silver and white on a black background. The central image is hand drawn art work of a tiger, a leopard, a lion, a chimpanzee, two giraffes, an antelope and several elephants all charging at the viewer. Also in the image are three African drummers. There is a great deal of detail in the lettering and borders. This is the first poster in the series by Norman Orr. His style is characterized by a great attention to detail and precision. Like Lee Conklin he worked with the finest points available for rapidographs. He created his shading by varying the distances between very fine parallel lines. Unlike Conklin Norman Orr strove for a high degree of realism in his drawing, and his great gift for draftsmanship enabled him to create images which often seemed to approach photo realism. He frequently included babies either prominently or not, and he regularly drew images of band members. If that is not Carlos Santana to the left of the lion at the top, it certainly does look a lot like him, and one of the people with Santana liked it enough that he bought the original artwork around the time of the concert. In addition to the correct number which is located below the tiger, the card for this image bears the No. 247 which appears incorrectly as part of the ticket outlets strip. This mistake does not appear on the poster” (pgs. 584 & 585). A meticulous, immensely detailed, and richly vivid work that represents Orr’s immense skill & a quintessentially ‘60s exemplar of not only Orr’s work, but the artwork that would come to dominate the cultural memory of the time. Single sheet broadside. First & only printing. In very fine condition with only the slightest wear to fine edges, otherwise pristine! Very Fine. [Item #9471]

Price: $150.00 save 10% $135.00