BG-178 The Who, Santana 1969 Fillmore West Concert Poster Graded 9.4. ...

Description

BG-178 The Who, Santana 1969 Fillmore West Concert Poster Graded 9.4. First-and-only-printing San Francisco concert poster for The Who, Santana, Ike & Tina Turner, Curtis Mayfield & the Impressions and three other acts welcoming in the summer by playing at the Fillmore West over the span of Tuesday-Sunday, June 17-22, 1969. Designed by David Singer and known as BG-178 in the Bill Graham numbered series, this poster was graded an impressive 9.4 Near Mint by CGC (the Certified Guaranty Company).

This poster is really packed with talent. The Who were happily supporting their new magnum opus, Tommy, with "Pinball Wizard" their current hit single. Santana had just finished recording their debut, Santana, which would come out in August. Ike & Tina would tear it up at Woodstock a few weeks later and in opening for the Rolling Stones that fall. And crucially, the Impressions were still led by Curtis Mayfield, who would go solo the following year. Remarkably, Heritage has never sold this poster on its own before, and we're starting at the top.

The other acts on the poster were Blues Image, A.B. Skhy and the surprising Woody Herman & His Orchestra.

Blues Image had a lot of talented musicians in the band, which led to a hit single the following year, "Ride Captain Ride." One member was singer-percussionist Joe Lala, who played with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young later on as well as Steve Stills' Manassas group. Singer-guitarist Mike Pinera was also a founding member, but right around this time he left the group to join Iron Butterfly and eventually do some playing with Alice Cooper. Keyboardist Skip Konte went on to join Three Dog Night, and guitarist Kent Henry moved over to Steppenwolf after Blues Image folded. (Not all these members played in Blues Image at the same time.)

A.B. Skhy was an electric blues-rock band from Milwaukee who had relocated to San Francisco and released two albums on MGM Records. One member was keyboardist Howard Wales, who had previously tickled the ivories for James Brown, the Four Tops, Freddie King and Ronnie Hawkins. He would go on to collaborate with Jerry Garcia in the early 70's and play on three songs on the Dead's American Beauty album, including organ on the famous "Truckin'."

The real wildcard here was the inclusion of big-band leader and clarinetist/saxophonist Woody Herman, who'd been playing since the swing era of the 1930's with his thundering Herd. This might've just been promoter Graham tinkering around with exposing heads to quality jazz music, as he had been doing with Miles Davis, Charles Lloyd and others. And although he was straight big-band jazz throughout his career, Wikipedia states, "By 1968, the Herman library came to be heavily influenced by rock and roll." So there you go.

Measures 14" x 22". From the David Swartz Concert Poster Collection. COA from Heritage Auctions.

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