Charlatans 1965 Virginia City, NV "The Seed" Seminal Concert Poster (AOR-2.1). ...

Description

FROM A SMALL SEED DID THE MIGHTY POSTER HOBBY GROW

Charlatans 1965 Virginia City, NV "The Seed" Seminal Concert Poster (AOR-2.1). An original first-printing cardstock concert poster advertising the Charlatans, featuring George Hunter and Dan Hicks, appearing at the Red Dog Saloon in Virginia City, Nevada in the spring of 1965... specifically, "Opening June 21." This poster is nicknamed "The Seed" because it is, unquestionably, the very first psychedelic concert poster to emanate from the new youth lifestyle of the San Francisco Bay area, where the art form was born. The Art of Rock book gives this poster tons of space, and gives this 2.1 version ("Opening June 21") a full page all to itself. It also calls the Charlatans' six-week engagement "the birth of America's psychedelic era."

This seminal artwork was created by two of the band members, group leader Hunter and keyboardist Mike Ferguson. It features a charming mix of old-western medicine-show sensibilities and new Edwardian hipness, befitting the venue they were playing. Ferguson drew not only head shots of each band member, but also did a charming full-band portrait. Measures 10" x 14" and grades to unrestored Very Good condition. Heritage has sold the "Opening June 21" version of this poster only once before, a year ago and also in Very Good, and it realized $11,875. COA from Heritage Auctions.

Literature: See Grushkin, Paul, The Art of Rock: Posters from Presley to Punk, Abbeville Press, New York, 1987, p.69 (discussion) and p.89-90 (illus.).

More Information: Serious collectors know there are two versions of this poster... the first one was run off prematurely, perhaps with false expectations, and gives the date as "June 1-15, 1965." When things ran three weeks behind, this OP-2 version was run off and posted in its place. Not only did it give the new, correct opening date of June 21, it also didn't give an end date, leaving things open to unfold organically. The legendary residency ended up running six weeks total.

One of San Francisco's "big five" psychedelic poster artists, Alton Kelley, was once quoted as saying, "That poster was 'the seed.' It started everything for everybody; it was really an important piece."

Condition details: Poster has a small ‘tape lift' in the lower left corner area that's half-an-inch long and removed some of the black-ink artwork. There's also a small square of cello tape residue there, same location, very harmless and almost invisible. A little bit of grime & discoloration in the top right and bottom center margins. There are pairs of staple holes in three areas across the top, all in the margin and missing the artwork. Same with the lower left and lower right corners. Verso has some tape lifts, discoloration and signs of a very minor water stain along the bottom edge.


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