Janis Joplin/Big Brother 1968 Very First Fillmore East Opening Concert Poster (AOR-2.99). ...

Description

A MONUMENTALLY SCARCE & IMPORTANT BG POSTER

Janis Joplin/Big Brother 1968 Very First Fillmore East Opening Concert Poster (AOR-2.99). An original pre-show paper advertising poster for the very first concert at Bill Graham's Fillmore East auditorium, starring Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company, Tim Buckley and Albert King. Two evening shows were presented on Friday, March 8, 1968. Linda Eastman, the future Mrs. Paul McCartney, is credited with the photography of BBHC, right under the smiling Janis.

Even though the Fillmore East - formerly the Village Theatre - didn't last long, it had a big impact on the local music scene. And this was opening night, following two years of Bill Graham dance-concerts way across the country in San Francisco. You can be sure everyone was nervous and on edge, at least for the early show.

Veteran rock journalist Jeff Tamarkin wrote this observation about the Fillmore East and how it was an important stepping stone in the evolution of the rock concert: "Unlike the Fillmore Auditorium or its San Francisco competitors, Graham's New York outpost was not intended for dancing. With seating for 2,400 customers, the Fillmore East was set up for viewing a performance, not for participating in an interactive event.

"With its opening, Graham was both acknowledging, and in some ways ensuring, that the era of the San Francisco dance-concert was coming to an end, to be replaced by the rock concert. Although Graham did use light shows at the Fillmore East, most of the other vestiges of the dances were gone - the focus was now squarely on the musicians."

This horizontal poster, also known as FE-1, features a terrifically fun graphic and distinct lettering, created by Charles Brandwynn. New Yorkers apparently didn't save things like their West Coast counterparts did, because anything tied to this opening night is extremely rare... the only thing Heritage has previously been able to offer with this graphic was the postcard, and even that item only once in our history.

This first-ever Heritage offering measures 21 1/2" x 15" and grades to restored Very Good condition. From the David Swartz Concert Poster Collection. COA from Heritage Auctions.

Literature: See Grushkin, Paul, The Art of Rock - Posters from Presley to Punk, Abbeville Press, New York, 1987, p.159 (illus.).

More Information: Chameleon Restoration addressed a few edge and corner issues, touching up any printing or color where necessary, mending pinholes, eradicating surface blemishes and greatly reducing any creasing it might have had. The result is a lovely, satisfying piece with little evidence of past damage on the front, although the verso does show lots of evidence of the repair work, plus a little moisture staining.


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