BG-23 Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane 1966 Fillmore Concert Poster Signed by Wes Wilson, Graded 9.8. ...

Description

BG-23 Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane 1966 Fillmore Concert Poster Signed by Wes Wilson, Graded 9.8. First-printing San Francisco concert poster for the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane playing at the Fillmore Auditorium on Friday and Saturday nights, August 12 and 13, 1966. Then on Monday morning, August 15, the Airplane's debut LP Jefferson Airplane Takes Off was released by RCA Records. Designed by Wes Wilson and known as BG-23 in the Bill Graham numbered series, this poster has been attractively signed by Wes in the lower right. And best of all, it was then graded a wonderous 9.8 Near Mint/Mint by CGC (the Certified Guaranty Company).

Wilson's signature on this poster carries extra weight because his printed credit is notoriously buried in the deep purple under "August 13" to the point where you can't even see it. So it's great to have his scribe on there, in nice stylized fashion and in a perfect-colored pen.

For many, this poster has it all: the two most quintessential San Francisco rock bands; great colors, purple and red; the king of S.F. poster artists, Wes Wilson; rolling psychedelic lettering that's fun, but not too hard to read; photographs of the bands, the first BG or FD poster to do so; simplicity; and 11 familiar faces looking out at us from musicians who changed most of our lives. Measures 14 1/4" x 20" and grades to 9.8 Near Mint/Mint. From the David Swartz Concert Poster Collection. COA from Heritage Auctions.

More Information: This was the Signe Anderson version of the Airplane; Grace Slick would not replace her until October of this year. And there she is, the second face from the right in the top photo, smiling broadly. Meanwhile, the band's new drummer, Spencer Dryden, had just debuted with the group a month before.

This gem predates the infamous BG-74 Toronto poster, with the same approximate look and bands, by a full year.

This was also the month when the Airplane fired their questionable manager Matthew Katz, leading to years of lawsuits but enabling the band to free itself from his demands and constraints. Marty Balin's roommate Bill Thompson took over temporarily and then, more or less, permanently (with an interlude from Bill Graham).

As for the Dead, they were surely glad to be back home after a brief, five-date excursion to Canada, their first-ever dates outside of the California and the U.S. They had a roadie turned away at the border, their one & only car died, and other inauspicious elements surely made them feel very much at home back at the Fillmore.

This BG-23-OP-1-B version of the poster just refers to the paper stock used and some slight variation in the colors. Both this and the OP-1-A version are stone originals printed before the shows for advertising.