Grateful Dead January 1966 First-Ever "Grateful Dead" Stand-Alone Concert Poster....

Description

THE FIRST "REGULAR" GRATEFUL DEAD CONCERT POSTER EVER MADE

Grateful Dead January 1966 First-Ever "Grateful Dead" Stand-Alone Concert Poster. Thanks to all of our A-level consignors, Heritage is proud and privileged to bring you yet another show-stopping, ridiculously early, beyond rare (probably unique), quaint & innocent, unquestionably authentic, museum-piece Grateful Dead concert poster.

Feast your eyes on this: January 4 & 5, 1966 at the tiny Matrix club in San Francisco. This is the very first poster known to exist to say "Grateful Dead" on it, other than the goldenrod "Can You Pass the Acid Test?" poster which we also have in this auction. That December 1965 poster has sundry other entertainers on it, such as Allen Ginsberg and the Merry Pranksters. The Dead are just another name on that poster - which is very cool in itself, granted, we love it. But this small poster - or even call it a big handbill if you like, but it was clearly designed for posting, not take-home - advertises nothing else but "Rock with the Grateful Dead." Are you getting goose bumps yet?

And don't we just love it whenever our "first-ever" claims can be 100% backed up with solid proof that it isn't possible an earlier "conventional" Grateful Dead concert poster exists. Why? Because the brand-newly born Dead didn't play any other shows before this. Let us explain.

If you follow our auctions, you know all about December '65, and how the band participated in Acid Tests under their new and permanent name, The Grateful Dead. We're lucky enough to have the homemade handbill from December 4 on the Friday of this two-day auction.

Well, according to the book Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip (DK Publishing, 2003, co-authored by Dennis McNally), as well as various Dead databases, other than the Acid Tests and one Mime Troupe benefit, the Dead didn't play any other gigs in December or at all until Friday, January 7. Yes, at the Matrix.

If you look at their calendar, the Dead spent a ton of time at the Matrix (co-founded by Jefferson Airplane's Marty Balin) for all of January. They played there Jan. 7, 13, 15, 16, 28 and 29. Wow!

So this poster may have been premature... two days premature, in fact. But it originated with the legendary Ray Anderson collection, and he had the stuff. And this whopper was part of his archive, and the late Tim Backstrom won it at auction. And now Heritage is happy to throw a giant spotlight on it, and ask... "Can You Pass the Earliest-Poster Test?"

This first-ever Heritage offering measures 8 1/2" x 14" and grades to Good condition. From the Tim Backstrom Grateful Dead Collection. COA from Heritage Auctions.

More Information: There's a block of uneven toning on the poster's front. It was once folded down, apparently all the way to 16ths to fit into someone's pocket or wallet. Only three corners have pin holes... the top two corners and the lower right. There is red spotting and one red line on the poster, and a tiny edge stain to the lower right of that red line. There is purple staining on the "A" of "Dead." On the center horizontal fold, there is a ½" seam split on the far right edge, the only seam split on the whole poster.

More details on the corners: The extreme upper right corner has 3-4 tiny dot marks, but they are not pinholes. The lower left corner has a tiny dark-black marking, but that's not tears or missing paper. On the lower right corner, the tip is not missing; it's folded it up, so somebody could carefully fold it back. On the poster's verso, all four corners have barely-there tape lifts which are hard to even see, but the lower right corner one has a paper ‘tag' that is still there.


Heritage Auctions provides as much information as possible but strongly encourages in-person inspection. Condition statements are offered as general guidance only, not as complete representations of fact, and do not constitute a warranty or assumption of liability by Heritage. Some condition issues may not be noted but may be visible in the photos, which are considered part of the condition report. Lots estimated at $1,000 or less are not de-framed for inspection, and we may be unable to provide additional details for lots valued under $500. Heritage does not guarantee the condition of frames and is not liable for damage to frames, glass/acrylic coverings, original boxes, display accessories, or artwork that has shifted in the frame. All lots are sold "AS IS" under our Terms & Conditions of Auction.