BG-217 & 218 - 1970 Fillmore West Progressive Proof Signed by David Singer, Graded 9.8....

Description

BG-217 & 218 - 1970 Fillmore West Progressive Proof Signed by David Singer, Graded 9.8. A very unusual item in the Bill Graham poster canon.

Graham's printer, Tea Lautrec Litho, printed both BG-217 and BG-218 at the same time, as a pair. This specimen, however, was apparently run off before the BG-217 (Country Joe & the Fish) artwork was supplied, so the left side is blank - although it does have the brown border that BG-217 eventually had.

BG-218, on the right, advertised Delaney & Bonnie & Friends with Eric Clapton, plus the New York Rock & Roll Ensemble and Dutch rock band Golden Earring, playing at the Fillmore West on Thursday thru Sunday nights, February 19-22, 1970. The blue color is missing from this progressive proof, however... it is all just one color, brown.

On the left BG-217 side, there at first appears to be a tiny stain or even a squashed bug in the upper right area against the white. But close examination with an eye loop actually reveals a tiny watermark, with numbers and letters. That's sure a surprise!

So this is a highly unusual animal, and Heritage could find no other evidence of it anywhere on the Internet. In addition to that, in terms of CGC grading it is a population 1-of-1, in that no others have ever been graded by CGC. Could it be unique? And how delightful that the one & only CGC-graded copy came in at a terrific 9.8.

One more interesting twist: It's amazing how CGC, in their blue grading strip, forgot to note that poster designer David Singer had signed this proof down in the lower right corner.

This first-ever Heritage offering measures 28 ½" x 22 5/8". COA from Heritage Auctions.

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