Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane 1968 "Sore Thumb" Poster Signed by Alton Kelley (AOR-2.172)....

Description

Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane 1968 "Sore Thumb" Poster Signed by Alton Kelley (AOR-2.172). An original paper advertising poster for two of San Francisco's greatest, the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, appearing at San Francisco's Carousel Ballroom (later the Fillmore West) over the weekend of March 15-17, 1968. Alton Kelley devised this clever image using what appears to be a hitchhiker's thumb wrapped in a bandage, thus later acquiring the nickname "Sore Thumb." Measures 14" x 20" and grades to repaired Very Good condition. COA from Heritage Auctions.

Literature: See Grushkin, Paul, The Art of Rock Posters from Presley to Punk, Abbeville Press, New York, 1987, p. 182 (illus.).

More Information: At this time, the Dead and the Airplane were trying to match Bill Graham at his own game and operate the Carousel Ballroom as a four-band collective, along with Quicksilver Messenger Service and Big Brother & the Holding Company. That experiment didn't last long, as the groups soon learned that Graham knew his stuff, and they were best suited to stick to what they knew how to do best... make music.

Condition details: All four corners once had a couple-few pinholes which have been repaired and disappeared. The work can be detected when the poster is held at an angle to the light. Also, the lower right corner (near Kelley's signature) has a typical ¾" diagonal crease that was probably ‘blacked-in' as well.