Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin 1961 Rockland Palace, New York City Handbill....

Description

Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin 1961 Rockland Palace, New York City Handbill. A delightful and vintage concert flyer for five prominent legends & hit-makers in an all-night show in Manhattan on Friday night, May 5, 1961. The use of both blue and red inks on this white flyer really make it pop nicely.

It doesn't get any bigger than Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin, and both of them are depicted wonderfully. Sam had already enjoyed five Top 20 pop hits in his career, including "You Send Me," "Wonderful World" and "Chain Gang." Ten days after this show, "Cupid" would be his next single. 'Nuff said.

Aretha was totally a rookie, and the great photo used on this flyer was her first Columbia Records publicity shot. If not a hot commodity yet, the future Lady Soul was certainly warm, with two Top 10 R&B hits to her credit thus far: "Today I Sing the Blues" and "Won't Be Long." Nicely, both are listed under her name.

Two more Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famers appear between those two on the flyer. Clyde McPhatter, one of the most distinctive and influential voices in 50's R&B, started his career with Billy Ward and the Dominoes, then formed The Drifters and then went solo. The long and cute song title given on here, "Before I Fall in Love Again (I'll Count to Ten)," was the B-side of a recent Mercury Records single.

Hank Ballard and the Midnighters invented "The Twist," of course, but Chubby Checker had stolen all their thunder, so they were soldiering on nicely with hits like "Finger Poppin' Time" and "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go."

And the Olympics had scored Top 10 R&B hits with "Western Movies" in '58 and "Big Boy Pete" in '60, the latter given under their name and to the left of their campy publicity photo which plays up the "Western Movies" theme. Hey, it's all good fun!

Rounding out the bill were Ted Taylor, Hank Moore and His Orchestra and M.C. Bill Murray. Tickets? Just a couple of bucks!

Measures 8 3/8" x 11" and grades to Very Good condition. Two-inch crease in lower right corner; slight edge tear just above that crease, and some spot-toning in that area; diagonal spot-toning in upper right corner area; that corner dog-eared, not missing; and "1961" written in pen in the upper left corner. Other than one red "S" in the lower right corner, the red & blue artwork has no damage at all. COA from Heritage Auctions.

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