Little Richard, Big Joe Turner 1956 Rock 'n' Roll/Doo-Wop Star-Studded Concert Poster. ...

Description

ONE OF THE MORE SPECIAL 1950'S CARAVAN POSTERS

Little Richard, Big Joe Turner 1956 Rock 'n' Roll/Doo-Wop Star-Studded Concert Poster. An original large Globe Posters window card advertising "The Top 10 Review of 1956," starring a vast array of early rock 'n' roll and doo-wop R&B musicians, with Little Richard stealing the show (as usual). A tremendous assortment of bright colors, dynamic design, musical stars, pictures, song titles and even record labels make this concert poster very special, which dates from Monday, November 5, 1956 in Chattanooga, TN. And its provenance is great: it came directly from the late show promoter Ted Bryant's daughter.

We've now lost Little Richard, of course, but there he is, big smile, big pompadour and "Rip It Up" right under his picture. That song and its B-side, "Ready Teddy," had been his double-sided Top 10 R&B hit that summer. Richard's follow-up single was "Heeby-Jeebies," another Top 10 R&B for him, but the song was so new when this poster was laid out that it wound up here as "Hee Bee Jee Bee." But that's OK, surely there was no mistaking it!

It's always terrific to find that rare vintage concert poster which gives the artists' record label along with everything else. Just the top three labels given on this window card, Specialty, King and Atlantic, for Little Richard, Bill Doggett and Big Joe Turner respectively, were very important and influential R&B labels in the 1950's. Measures a shade over 22" x 28" and grades to Near Mint Minus condition. COA from Heritage Auctions.

More Information: Bill Doggett is not a household name, but he had the #1 R&B hit in the country right now with "Honky Tonk (Parts 1 & 2)." That blockbuster hit was actually #1 for three full months - thus his co-headlining with Richard. It was also #5 on the mainstream pop charts right now, so the biggest song on the poster this week.

Big Joe Turner enjoys a much-deserved prime spot right in the middle of things. And even the legendary Coasters have some presence on here, too - can you spot it?

There are some amazing musicians and hitmakers below the top three biggest names. By the way, the recent Martin Scorcese hit motion picture The Irishmanw/DeNiro, Pacino & Pesci included both sides of Bill Doggett's "Honky Tonk" single in the soundtrack. And "In the Still of the Nite" by the 5 Satins (lower right of this poster) both opened and closed the movie. There's no better evidence that this music is still timeless and relevant.

The 5 Keys had a big #1 with "The Glory of Love" a few years earlier, and four Top 15 R&B hits in 1955 alone. Their new single, "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" would also go Top 15 R&B and was in Billboard's pop Top 40 right now.

The Moon Glows are Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famers that were right in the middle of a hot 1954-1958 run on the R&B charts. "When I'm with You," shown on the poster, was the B-side of their current hit but still made the R&B Top 15.

Faye Adams, the "Shake-a-Hand Girl," famously had three straight R&B #1's for her first three charting singles in 1953-54. Where do you go from there? "Don't Forget to Smile" was the B-side of her summer single this year.

Everyone knows Etta James, and although the 18-year-old gets no picture here, she had made a big splash with "The Wallflower" the year before, which spent a month at #1 R&B. "Tough Lover" was her latest single that did not chart.

The Five Satins, referred to above, also don't get a photo, and their mega-smash "In the Still of the Nite" interestingly gets a bit of short shrift, too. It's an enduring doo-wop classic and the only record in history to enter the Billboard pop singles chart on three separate occasions. Its subtitle is "I'll Remember," and for some reason, that's the title someone chose to use on the poster, minus a few characters to boot.

But perhaps the biggest hidden fun here is the presence of The Robins in the bottom center white box. That Los Angeles doo-wop group had a Top 10 R&B hit the previous year with "Smokey Joe's Café" - given on the poster - among other hits. Then two of their members split the group, joined Atlantic Records and formed The Coasters, named after the fact they were willing to desert the West coast in favor of the East coast. The two remaining Robins never charted again; the Coasters went on to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Another tie-in: songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote most of the Coasters' big hits. A Broadway musical opened up in 1995 comprised entirely of their songs, and became the longest-running musical revue in Broadway history with over 2,000 performances. It was named... Smokey Joe's Café.

In the upper left corner of the color area, there's a piece of yellow tape covering up words just before "The Top Ten...". We believe that was a national tour promoter or individual who was printed on the artwork initially but then things changed. The posters were sent out this way, which you probably deduced from the fact that the tape was color-matched.

Condition details: The board has brown toning around all four edges from decades of storage. Notice how the blue ink is broken in the far left and far right letters & numbers up in the venue box... that is not damage, there is no creasing whatsoever. Those are just printer's flaws in the blue ink.


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