FD-24 13th Floor Elevators 1966 Avalon Ballroom Concert Poster Graded 9.8. ...

Description

FD-24 13th Floor Elevators 1966 Avalon Ballroom Concert Poster Graded 9.8. First-printing San Francisco concert poster for the 13th Floor Elevators and the Sir Douglas Quintet playing at the Avalon Ballroom on Friday and Saturday nights, September 2 & 3, 1966. Known as FD-24 in the Family Dog numbered series and nicknamed "Tree House," this poster was created by Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley. The unusual central image shows a bird's claw extending out of the ground, vines and all, supporting an airborne tree house. Nice to see the band's name in its correct plural form, "Elevators," because the weekend before they had been called "Elevator" on BG-25. This specimen, measuring 14 1/4" x 19 7/8", has been graded a penthouse-floor 9.8 Near Mint/Mint by CGC (the Certified Guaranty Company). COA from Heritage Auctions.

More Information: This poster represents Austin, Texas meeting the San Francisco hippie scene in late summer 1966. It marked the second weekend ever in San Francisco for Austin's 13th Floor Elevators with Roky Erickson, preceded only by the previous weekend at the Fillmore for Bill Graham (BG-25). Another act from Texas' state capitol, the Sir Douglas Quintet with front man Doug Sahm, was second-billed and ushering their trademark Tex-Mex music into the Bay Area.

If legend is true, then the Elevators and this poster surely fit well into the burgeoning San Francisco music scene. Many historians cite the group's January 1966 business card as the first usage of the term "psychedelic rock," a tremendous feather in their cap.

1966 saw the release of the band's "You're Gonna Miss Me" single, which edged into the Top 50 of Cashbox magazine's singles chart, and its follow-up, "Reverberation (Doubt)," which failed to chart. But best of all, about six weeks after these concerts, International Artists Records released the group's highly seminal and influential album, The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators.

As for the Sir Douglas Quintet, a funny tidbit about Doug Sahm is that after years of releasing singles which gained no traction – stunningly, his first single came out in 1955 when he was just 14 years old – this year Sahm tried releasing a couple of 45's using a different name. Thus, 1966 saw his solo singles released first by "Him" and then "The Devons." But still no chart action as a solo act. But that's OK, Sahm had had a national Top 20 hit the year before with his SDQ with "She's About a Mover," guaranteeing him steady bookings in the Bay Area. Likewise because of the SDQ's Top 40 hit this year, too – "The Rains Came" (often misidentified as "Rain, Rain" and various derivations).


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