James Brown 1957 Wichita, KS "Please, Please, Please" Early Concert Poster....

Description

WHEN MR. DYNAMITE WAS STILL JUST A FIRECRACKER

James Brown 1957 Wichita, KS "Please, Please, Please" Early Concert Poster. An astounding, original cardboard window card advertising future R&B legend James Brown with the Famous Flames performing at the Mambo Club in Wichita, Kansas on Friday night, February 15, 1957. This is a dramatic one, breathtaking in its appearance, its vintage and its rarity. The future Godfather of Soul had exactly one charting single under his belt at this time, given huge play on the poster in order to sell tickets: "Please, Please, Please" had reached #5 on the R&B charts, but forget about the pop charts. (That would come in '58 with "Try Me.") And as the cherry on top, it was printed by the esteemed Globe Poster company of Baltimore, MD.

The red lettering in the venue box and extremely cool club name get this poster off to a terrific start. Then it just gets better as your eyes roll down. A lot of people think JB formed the Famous Flames as his back-up group. No, the Flames already existed and brought James in as a member, after which he took over. This early poster subtly underscores that: James' name is in smaller letters than the Famous Flames, and it says "With The" instead of "And His." But the photo is our favorite part... it almost looks like JB was photo-bombing a Flames group photo. Well guess what: his image was photoshopped in! Yes, even in the 1950's. Grammy-winning James Brown reissue producer Harry Weinger tells Heritage that it's a cropped-together photo, no question about it. So is this poster getting early enough for you now?

Bandleader Lucas "Fats" Gonder was already an integral part of JB & the FF, having played on their earliest recordings. The wider world would get to know his voice when, as MC, he opened up Brown's legendary 1963 album Live at the Apollo.

Any way you look at it, it's a remarkably early and important piece of R&B history, at a time (2/15/57) when Tab Hunter and Pat Boone had the top two singles in Billboard. A change was gonna come indeed. Measures 14" x 22" and grades to Very Good condition. From the Jim Cook Collection. COA from Heritage Auctions.

More Information: The board has some staining of unknown origin down the right white margin area. Luckily it never reaches the artwork, but it does make the cardboard a little weak in this area, so it could have been oil-based. There's also a slight edge notch there of missing material, and on the back there's a top layer or two in this same area, just one inch long, that seems missing. This was all minor enough, however, that the owner didn't feel it necessary to repair. So this poster is unrestored and untouched. There is diagonal creasing in all four corners, all harmless, breaking just a small tad of red in the lower right corner. General toning throughout, somewhat stronger around the margins and most pronounced above "Mambo Club."


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