BG-9 Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa/Mothers 1966 Fillmore Auditorium Poster Graded 9.0. ...

Description

BG-9 Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa/Mothers 1966 Fillmore Auditorium Poster Graded 9.0. First-printing San Francisco concert poster for the strong triple-bill of the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service and "The Mothers" (of Invention with Frank Zappa) playing at the Fillmore Auditorium on Friday and Saturday nights, June 3 & 4, 1966.

Designed by Wes Wilson in the spring of '66 and known as BG-9 in the Bill Graham numbered series, this poster effectively uses pastel purple, lavender and mint green to draw consumers' attention. It measures 14" x 20" and was graded a minty-cool 9.0 Very Fine/Near Mint by CGC (the Certified Guaranty Company). From the Ben Bierman Carmel Street Collection. LOP from Ben Bierman, COA from Heritage Auctions.

More Information: This was just a few weeks before the release of Zappa and the Mothers' classic debut album on Verve Records, Freak Out!, released at the end of the month. That double-LP often goes toe-to-toe with Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde as having the honor of being rock's first two-disc album. (According to Wikipedia, Dylan wins by a week.) Being based in Los Angeles, Zappa & Co. frequently made their way up the coast for gigs in the Bay Area, and are found on many important S.F. concert posters.

And according to Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip (DK Publishing, 2003, co-authored by Dennis McNally), catching his first Dead shows this weekend was none other than Dan Healy, who would go on to have an enormous positive impact on the band. From 1967 until the early 90's, Healy would be their live sound mixer and equipment guru. Twenty-five years after he went to work for them, Healy told interviewer Jym Fahey that the Dead's music at his first gig – meaning this poster - "wasn't just more rock 'n' roll, but a whole new kind of music. A new approach. A new philosophy... something new and rewarding."


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