BG-32 Grateful Dead, Yardbirds w/Beck & Page 1966 Fillmore Concert Poster Graded 9.2. ...

Description

BG-32 Grateful Dead, Yardbirds w/Beck & Page 1966 Fillmore Concert Poster Graded 9.2. First-printing San Francisco concert poster for the Grateful Dead, Lightning Hopkins and the Loading Zone playing at the Fillmore Auditorium on Friday and Saturday nights, October 21 & 22, 1966. The poster also advertises a Sunday afternoon concert with England's Yardbirds plus Country Joe and the Fish. Known as BG-32 in the Bill Graham numbered series, this poster was designed by Wes Wilson, measures 14" x 22 3/8" and was graded 9.2 Near Mint Minus by CGC (the Certified Guaranty Company). From the Tim Backstrom Grateful Dead Collection. COA from Heritage Auctions.

More Information: Fortuitously, it was only a period of three or four months when both Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page played guitar in the Yardbirds, and this was in that little window.

According to the Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip (DK Publishing, 2003), this weekend's shows were also when the Dead debuted merchandise at their concerts: a simple band T-shirt with a primitive graphic. Now the holy grail of rock T-shirt collecting, one of those tees sold not too long ago for over $17,000 at auction.

This poster might be in B&W but it's very memorable, just like the Family Dog's "The Quick and the Dead" B&W poster. It centers around a compelling Herb Greene photo of the Dead's Jerry Garcia, looking sharp as he ever has in a spiffy leather jacket and no beard.

The Dead definitely didn't play the Sunday afternoon Yardbirds show, because they were doing an afternoon gig at Las Lomas High School – yes, a high school! – in Walnut Creek.

Besides having both Beck and Page on guitar, the Yardbirds at this point were in between their last two hits, "Over Under Sideways Down" and "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago."

The Loading Zone were a five-member Berkeley rock band together from 1966-1971. Guitarists Peter Shapiro and Steve Dowler had been a member of The Marbles, also from the East Bay, whose name had appeared on the very first psychedelic concert poster in S.F. history... the Family Dog's Tribute to Dr. Strange dance-concert at Longshoreman's Hall in October 1965.

The first major Loading Zone gig had been at the Trips Festival in January 1966, also at Longshoreman's Hall. They then became a fixture on S.F. concert posters by opening shows for the Grateful Dead, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Cream, Howlin' Wolf, the Byrds and even The Who. They had started off as an R&B outfit before leaning into psychedelia, so they were also happy to open for Sam & Dave on one occasion. The group released one self-titled album on RCA Records in 1968, featuring covers like the Miracles' "Shop Around" and Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child," plus four originals. But the album failed to find any success.


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