The Rolling Stones 1965 Charlotte, NC Jumbo Globe Day-Glo Concert Poster. ...

Description

A MONSTER OF A POSTER FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST...

The Rolling Stones 1965 Charlotte, NC Jumbo Globe Day-Glo Concert Poster. Whether you're an investor, collector, music aficionado or just want that one great trophy piece for your wall, this is it... not only the best Stones poster there is, hands down, but also one of the best concert posters in the entire genre: An original cardboard window card advertising the Rolling Stones performing at the Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina on Monday evening, November 15, 1965. The opening acts were the Vibrations, Patti and the Blue Belles and the Rocking Ramrods.

This is such a monster of a poster that we've been waiting years to offer one. Well, it's finally happened and it's no surprise that it's from the collection of David Swartz. This is not only the first time we've ever offered one in our 45 years, auction watchers tell us this will be the first public offering of this poster, ever. How's that for rarity?

The absolute magnificence of this oversized jumbo Globe with its Day-Glo red & yellow inks is hard to overstate. It's a famous poster amongst serious collectors, one of those known by just two words, "Stones Globe." In that manner it belongs to the small exclusive club along with "Beatles Shea," "flying eyeball," "Winter Dance," "Hawaiian Aoxo," "Elvis jumbo," "Jimi Kieser," "Billie Sac," "Dr. Strange," "Hank Canton"... big-money posters so well-known and coveted that they can be identified with just a couple of words.

This beast has so much going for it, it's hard to know where to start. First of all, have you ever seen it before? A real one, that is; yes there have been bootlegs. Yes, it's a 'tour blank' as most Globes were back then, but it's just stupid rare. A grand total of only about half-a-dozen are accounted for from any city on the tour, amongst the heaviest collectors in the world. Of which David Swartz, of course, certainly is one.

This poster has all of Globe's features which make it the most collectible poster-printing company ever. We've mentioned the Day-Glo florescent inks used, with the orange color exploding and yellow turning to green under a purple blacklight. Globe's spinning records and musical notes are a major trademark of the company, along with those red stars throughout. Features a great photo of the bad boys of rock with (L-R) Charlie Watts, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Mick Jagger and Bill Wyman pictured.

And then, oh my, the song titles. Knock us over with a feather. If you lived through pop music of the mid-60's, you know how "Satisfaction" and "Get Off of My Cloud" were a killer one-two punch that would make Muhammad Ali envious. The fall of 1965 was simply the white-hottest for the Stones as a singles band than any other point of their career. Before "Satisfaction"? They had won the world over with "It's All Over Now," "Time Is on My Side" and "The Last Time." Following "Cloud" into early '66, all they did was release "As Tears Go By," "19th Nervous Breakdown" and "Paint It, Black." Whew! Only the Beatles would top that amazing string of hit rock singles, and half the world would choose the Stones over the Fabs anyway.

And then of course, there's Charlotte, the first time the Stones ever played the city. They were about halfway through a 31-date tour of North America, on this date sandwiched between Knoxville and Nashville. The tour, the band's fourth of the Americas, had started on October 29 in Montreal, Canada and concluded on December 5 in San Diego, CA. They played at 37 different venues in 38 days over 20 states! That's 40% of the U.S. But... and this is a very important "but"... that doesn't mean posters were made for all of those shows. Far, far from it. Globe would print up this expensive 'blank' and then pitch it to all the independent promoters along the tour. Some would order a batch, and supply Globe with their details which the Baltimore company would then print up above. But many promoters would pass on getting posters, satisfied with selling tickets by newspaper, radio and word-of-mouth.

And check it out... Globe actually left that neon orange strip at the top blank also, for local promoters to take advantage of. In this case, WIST was the local Top 40 radio station, and deejays were often known as "Good Guys." On the precious few examples we've seen of this poster from other cities, other promoters chose their own local wording.

Speaking of local promoters... as for the ticket-buying information given? Well besides the obvious Coliseum box office, you have ducats available at a hat shop, a record shop and a Hi-Fi camera shop. Wheee! Thankfully, this was still years before boring Ticketron computer tickets.

We should briefly cover the opening acts because there's some fame & significance there. The Vibrations were a five-man R&B group from Los Angeles, who had the Top 30 hit "My Girl Sloopy" the previous year. The McCoys changed the title to "Hang On, Sloopy" and had a much bigger hit with it.

Patti and the Blue Belles was no less than future superstar Patti LaBelle at the start of a long career. She really hit her stride in the 70's releasing records just as LaBelle ("Lady Marmalade"). And two of the other ladies in the group's photo had some real claim to fame, too... Nona Hendryx had a solo career in the 80's after a long run with LaBelle, and Cindy Birdsong would join Diana Ross and the Supremes two years later by replacing Florence Ballard.

And along the very bottom of the poster the Rocking Ramrods. The four-man rock band from Boston provided back-up instrumentation for the two singing acts that preceded them. Their current single was "Don't Fool with Fu Manchu," necessarily shortened for this poster. (Hey, did you notice that "Get Off My Cloud" was a shortened title, too? By one word.)

On this tour, the Stones themselves would do only about a dozen songs, including all of their 1965 hits but, interestingly, none from '64. They chose instead to sing about half-a-dozen R&B covers such as they were recording for their albums, an example being Marvin Gaye's "Hitch Hike." Speaking of albums, the Stones' latest was Out of Our Heads, their first #1 American album, another huge plus.

The psychedelic crowd may lean toward the 1973 Cardiff, Wales dragon poster as the best Rolling Stones concert poster of all time, but pound-for-pound, song-for-song and with all original members, this gem gets our vote for being the greatest Stones concert poster ever. And it's about 100 times rarer than Cardiff.

This first-ever Heritage offering measures 21 1/4" x 30 1/4" and grades to restored Very Good condition. From the David Swartz Concert Poster Collection. Restoration by Chris Fennell of Chameleon Restoration. COA from Heritage Auctions.

More Information: Chameleon Restoration addressed a few edge and corner issues, touching up any printing or color where necessary, mending pinholes, eradicating surface blemishes and greatly reducing any creasing it might have had. The result is a fantastically satisfying piece with little evidence of past damage.


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.