Janis Joplin 1969 Madison Square Garden, New York Cardboard Concert Poster. ...

Description

JANIS TURNED THE CROWD LOOSE, AND THEY RESPONDED

Janis Joplin 1969 Madison Square Garden, New York Cardboard Concert Poster. Janis Joplin stormed the Big Apple at Christmastime 1969 and appeared at hallowed Madison Square Garden, and this original advertising window card sold tickets for the appearance. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band opened the show. It's a mesmerizing poster, printed on very thick board in orange, pink and black.

Joplin's I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! album was still in the top 20 of Billboard's album chart, eventually leading to the naming of her Kozmic Blues Band. They aren't mentioned on the poster, however, because they hadn't adopted that name with any formality yet. But guess what? This was the last show the Kozmic Blues Band ever played with Janis. It was the final stop of her 1969 tour: Friday, December 19, in the last full year of her life.

This remains only the third specimen of this poster that Heritage has ever seen. This exact poster was sold by us back in November 2022 as part of the Jim Cook Collection, for $10,000, and that buyer has decided to consign much of his collection to Heritage here in 2024. Measures 13 1/2" x 21 1/2" and grades to Near Mint Minus condition. COA from Heritage Auctions.

More Information: John Byrne Cook was Janis Joplin's road manager from 1967 until the time of her death, and his On the Road with Janis Joplin book was published in 2014. He remembers this evening well. "The new indoor stadium is vast, modern and sold out," he writes of this gig. "The crowd is liberally sprinkled with celebrities, including New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath, with whom Janis caroused the night before." That's right, she spent the night with Broadway Joe before hitting the Garden for arguably the biggest single concert of her career. During her show, she even leads the crowd in a rousing cheer for the Jets, says Cook. But alas... he lost that Sunday's Jets game.

Late in the show, Janis performs Bo Diddley's "Bo Diddley" with her fellow Texan and guest star, guitar whiz Johnny Winter. "The song becomes an extended jam when Paul Butterfield joins them onstage," Cook writes. "The response of the audience is ecstatic."

And how's this: At a post-concert party thrown by Columbia Records president Clive Davis in his penthouse suite, Janis finally meets another CBS gold-plated star for the first time, Bob Dylan. "They shake hands, speak haltingly, fall into an awkward silence, and go their separate ways," Cook writes. "Dylan is in his recluse mode. Once he finds a quiet place to sit, he seems to disappear."

But back to the show. According to Alice Echols' book Scars of Sweet Paradise: The Life and Times of Janis Joplin, she was performing Otis Redding's "I Can't Turn You Loose," and then paused. She admonished the audience to loosen up indeed: "I don't know what the fuck you're doing sitting down," she blurted. "This is rock and roll! Ain't nothing complicated about that." Sure enough, the crowd started pouring into the aisles and up to the front of the stage. "Before Janis had finished the song," Echols writes, "the entire audience was on its feet, and the main floor at the Garden started to shake so much some worried it might collapse." Janis was going out with a bang.

Terrific coloring of orange and pink on a jet-black poster board distinguishes this window card from most of the others. And it never hurts to have that Madison Square Garden logo down at the bottom of any poster... arguably the world's most famous venue.

Condition details: As is the case with any poster that has a black background in "full bleed" off the edges (like Beatles Candlestick), there are a couple of little instances of a tiny amount of white showing up; the upper right and lower left corners are the best examples here. The only other imperfection we can find is a 1 ½" buried surface crease in the upper left corner area, straight down from the top edge. A total non-factor, just mentioned for full disclosure.