The Beatles 1965 Shea Stadium, NY Cardboard Concert Poster (AOR-2-A). ...

Description

The Beatles 1965 Shea Stadium, NY Cardboard Concert Poster (AOR-2-A). An original 1965 New York City advertising placard from promoter Sid Bernstein touting The Beatles playing at Shea Stadium on Sunday, August 15, 1965 - the biggest rock concert in history up until that time. This poster has the fun distinction of being the very first poster image to appear in the Art of Rock, way up on page 2 - literally, facing the title page as soon as you open the book. And it was given the full-page treatment to boot. Measures 10 7/8" x 17" and grades to Very Good condition. From the David Swartz Concert Poster Collection. COA from Heritage Auctions.

Literature: See Grushkin, Paul, The Art of Rock: Posters from Presley to Punk, Abbeville Press, New York, 1987, p.2 (illus.).

More Information: The talent found on this small cardboard poster is remarkable... no fewer than TEN future members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Can you name them all?

Concert posters were generated in the mid-60's because they were needed, not because they were fun. Promoter Bernstein may not have needed help selling Fab Four tickets... they could have sold out Shea Stadium 10 times over on this occasion. But everybody else on the poster probably needed a boost, so the sign was made. It covers a two-month period from the late spring through to mid-August with the Beatles, skipping July altogether.

You can see all the British Invasion bands on there... how much fun was this? Herman's Hermits, The Dave Clark 5, The Kinks and the Moody Blues. And then below the Fabs, "The First New York Folk Festival, with 60 of the Nation's Top Folk Artists, including Phil Ochs, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash & Buffy St. Marie."

It's small, it's B&W and it doesn't have any photos of the bands, but boy does this piece pack a punch. A mix tape of just these artists' hits (and best Moody Blues album tracks) would result in hours of great listening.

NOTE: Although this poster could be sent to CGC for grading and encapsulating since it's in the Art of Rock book, Heritage's grading of cardboard posters like this does not correlate at all to the terminology CGC uses for their psychedelic poster grading, which is much more intricate.

Condition details: Poster has the usual very weathered front, in a consistent pattern so doesn't harm the visual aspect much. The lower left corner has a bit of upturned paper on the tip. The board's verso has the usual tear-off's from when it was posted back in the day. No pinholes or creasing to this.

OH... those 10 Hall-of-Famers? Here we go: Dave Clark Five, Kinks, Moody Blues, Beatles, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Sorry, nice guy Peter Noone... we loved your eleven Top 10 American hits anyway!!


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