BG-155 Led Zeppelin Extremely Early 1969 Fillmore West Concert Poster Graded 9.6. ...

Description

SO EARLY, LED ZEP HAD NO RECORDS OUT YET

BG-155 Led Zeppelin Extremely Early 1969 Fillmore West Concert Poster Graded 9.6. First-and-only printing San Francisco concert poster for Led Zeppelin's very first American visit of 1969, supporting Country Joe & the Fish and Taj Mahal at the Fillmore West on Thursday thru Saturday nights, January 9-11, 1969. This specimen has been graded to a very special 9.6 Near Mint Plus by CGC (the Certified Guaranty Company). Remarkably, this is the first time Heritage has ever been able to offer this poster graded in the 9's. And CGC has graded only two examples, ever, with a higher grade. That's right... just two.

This poster is known as BG-155 in the Bill Graham numbered series, was co-designed by Randy Tuten, and is famous for having one of history's premier rock/heavy-metal bands sitting in second position under Country Joe. But everyone has to start somewhere, and this was only Zep's fourth, fifth and sixth U.S. dates of the tour, following just a three-day stint at the Whisky-a-Go-Go down in Hollywood. It's the only American concert poster for Zeppelin that exists from before their first album was released.

Measures 14" x 21 1/2". COA from Heritage Auctions.

More Information: According to the band's official LedZeppelin.com web site, on Friday night Zep's first set consisted of "Train Kept A-Rollin'," "I Can't Quit You Baby," "As Long as I Have You" (including "Fresh Garbage"), "Dazed and Confused" and "How Many More Times." Their second set comprised "White Summer/Black Mountainside," "Killing Floor," "You Shook Me," "Pat's Delight" (drum solo), "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You," "Communication Breakdown" and lastly the first Yardbirds Top 10 hit from 1965, "For Your Love."

And the San Francisco Examiner newspaper certainly received the band well, unlike later negative press they'd receive. In the January 11, 1969 edition of the newspaper, the music critic called Zeppelin "as impressive a new British rock group as we've ever heard."

The writer continues, "The Zeppelin has had some KSAN radio play in recent days but otherwise came in cold; no LPs, only two months organized, and a pile of ad-agency flack. But this Zeppelin is no lead balloon. They already sound like a veteran group and soon ought to be ranked in the company of the Who, Rolling Stones and the late Cream."

Lost in all the Zeppelin hoopla is the fact that these shows were the end of an era for Country Joe & the Fish. They were undergoing personnel changes, and as such, Jack Casady of the Jefferson Airplane played bass for them this weekend. The group also had a 38-minute all-star jam on stage at one point, joined by Jerry Garcia, Jorma Kaukonen, Steve Miller and Mickey Hart. Fans can hear the jam on a CJ&Fish live album released on CD in the 1990's.

And let's give some love to Taj Mahal, too. The blues guitarist/vocalist had just released his second long-player on Columbia Records, The Natch'l Blues, which featured Jesse Ed Davis and Al Kooper in the band and included one of his trademark songs, "Corinna."

As for the poster itself, it's fascinating the way the art-deco artwork is centered around a 1948 Lincoln Continental automobile, with the light show (The Brotherhood of Light) plugged in the license-plate space.


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