Eric King's Collector's Guide to Psychedelic Rock Concert Posters, Postcards and Handbills 1965 to 1973
Fillmore Ballroom - Bill Graham
Avalon Ballroom - Chet Helms - Family Dog
Grande Ballroom - Russ Gibb
Neon Rose - Victor Moscoso
Vulcan Gas Co.

BG-9 newly discovered pirate, matches original

Important news: April 10, 2008

The primary purpose of this site is to provide people who have purchased my collectors guide to psychedelic posters with the latest in additions, corrections, clarifications etc.. This site will be updated as often as necessary.

The ninth edition of my Guide is now available. It is almost 800 pages long. It includes verbal descriptions of all the numbered Family Dog Presents and Bill Graham Presents posters as well as informative essays about many of them. It also includes precise (1/64") linear dimensions of a representative sample of almost every item in the Guide except for the Vulcan Gas Company material. In this edition the images are printed by digital technology so they are clearer than in previous editions.

Serious collectors of this material will be pleased to learn that with the publication of the ninth edition of this Guide all remaining scholarly differences between this Guide and the descriptions of numbered Bill Graham and Family Dog items found on the Wolfgangsvault site have been resolved. There is now agreement between the two independent studies of the printing history of these posters, postcards and handbills on the designation of which ones are originals and which are reprints. It is reasonable to assume that there will continue to be additions to the Guide, but it is now unlikely that there will be further substantial corrections.

The ninth edition includes a substantial amount of new material. The most important addition is a 67 page section dealing with the Vulcan Gas Company in Austin, Texas.

I know nothing about these Texas posters, cards and handbills. This section is the work of Dennis Hickey who has studied this area for decades and is the leading expert on it. Those of you who have questions about the Vulcan Gas Company posters should not communicate with me about them. You should email Mr. Hickey at vulcangascompany@gmail.com

I also have added to the Grande Ballroom section. It now extends from 1966 to 1973. To the best of my knowledge New Year's Eve 1973-1974 was the date of the last significant rock concert at the Grande Ballroom.

Sample showing the level of detail in the guide

BG-45

1/13-15/67 Fillmore Auditorium

Wes Wilson

Junior Wells Chicago Blues Band

Grateful Dead

Doors

"45" appears at the lower right edge of the neck of the figure.

BG-45-OP-1 There are two variations of the original. Immediately below the credit "Bill Graham Presents in San Francisco" is a curved line which goes all the way from the left margin to the right. On some originals this line is either entirely or primarily the same blue as the main image lettering. Some black may appear. 13 63/64" x 21 55/64"

BG-45-OP-2 On other originals the line described under BG-45-OP-1 is entirely black. Both originals are on stock between .0075" and .0085" thick. Both the green and the blue on originals varies somewhat in tone. 13 31/32" x 21 55/64"

BG-45-RP-3 The line described under BG-45-OP-1 is pure black on this printing. This printing is on .0090" stock which is similar to the hard surface uncoated index used for most Bill Graham originals from number 54 to number 149. The green and the blue of this printing are lighter than those of the originals. 14 1/64" x 21 61/64"

BG-45-RP-4 In 1986 Wes Wilson reprinted this poster in gold blue and red "© 1986 Wes Wilson" appears at the bottom. 15 17/64" x 24 5/64"

BG-45-PP-5 In 2003 an unauthorized used of this image was made by someone who produced what they called a "Giclee" print. It was substantially larger than the size of usual Fillmore posters, and a white border was added, but it was cropped along the bottom so as to eliminate the ticket outlets strip. Colors were somewhat paler than the correct green and bluish purple. It is unknown how many of these were produced before they were ordered by the copyright holder to cease and desist. 17 57/64" x 24 3/64"

BG-45-OHB-A Handbills exist with more and less black on the line described under BG-45-OP-1, but they appear to be gradations along a spectrum, not one or the other as the posters appear. 4 3/8" x 6 53/64"

BG-45-OHB-B Some copies of BG-45-OHB-A were stamped with a bulk rate permit, mechanically addressed and sent to people on the mailing list. Stock parallels the original posters.

BG-45-OPC-C The postcard appears on the same stock as BG-45-OHB-A. It is noteworthy that no postcard matches BG-45-RP-3. 4 5/16" x 7 3/32"

BG-45-RPC-D In 1986 Wes Wilson printed two different size postcards matching BG-45-RP-4. 4 27/32" x 7 15/16"

BG-45-RPC-E This smaller postcard also matches BG-45-RP-4. 3 15/32" x 5 41/64"

B. G. 45

This poster is red, purple and black on a green background. Wes later printed this image in red, blue and gold. The central image is a distorted human face.

By May of 2006 there were only two remaining differences between this Guide and the printing history of this material according to the archivist of www.wolfgangsvault.com. BG-45 was one of these two. I went to the vault and presented my evidence regarding BG-45 to their archivist, and after we examined both posters in their archive and items I brought with me, he agreed to change their listings to conform with mine. Since this is a significant change for them, I believe the readers of this Guide are entitled to know what that evidence is.

Both BG-45-OP-1 and BG-45-OP-2 vary greatly in color. The purples in particular differ drastically from light purple to dark bluish purple on both BG-45-OP-1 and BG-45-OP-2. Preconcert copies of BG-45 posters were printed on a sheet with three small versions of the image arranged vertically along the side of the poster. For this reason copies of cards exist which match all the variations of the posters.

I did most of my collecting of variations from the late 1960s through the mid 1970s when this material was readily available and low priced compared to today's values. Because I was fascinated with the color variations, I saved quite a few of them, more than half a dozen posters and as many cards and handbills. When I did my most recent study of BG-45, I noted that two different paper stocks were used on the items I list as originals in this Guide. The back of one floresces or glows under black light. The other does not. Copies of OP-1 are on the florescent stock, and copies of OP-2 are on the non-florescent stock.

I have two copies of the mailer of this card, ones with a backprint with a bulk mail permit. These copies both have been addressed with an addressograph machine and mailed to people on the mailing list. Both clearly predate the concert. One copy is on the florescent stock. This means that posters on the florescent stock (BG-45-OP-1) predate the concerts and are originals printed before the event. The other copy is on the non-florescent stock. This means that posters on the non-florescent stock (BG-45-OP-2) predate the concerts and are originals printed before the event.

Furthermore I have blank backed handbills on both stocks. Blank backed handbills were only printed before the concerts. This is further confirmation that posters on both stocks predated the concerts and are original printings.

Corrections to the guide

Latest correction: October 8, 2009

The complete list of corrections to all the editions of my Guide may be found here. Further corrections will be added to this page as they become necessary..

Part of the latest group of corrections is a response to comments that Mr. Phil Cushway, owner of Artrock, has made about my guide. I think that this response is of sufficiently general interest that I have also placed it here.

Other Stuff

I collect posters as well as pontificate upon them. Here is my current want list.

If you have questions or information that might be useful in keeping my Guide up-to-date, I may be reached at therose7@earthlink.net.

Two items did not make the cut for this edition of my guide. One was an essay on drugs and their influence on psychedelic poster art. If you are interested in reading this, here it is. The other is about Rick Griffin's "Eyeball" poster.

Copies of the ninth edition are $75.00 plus postage. In the U.S. book rate shipping is $5.00. Shipping is $20.00 to Canada and Mexico and $43.00 elsewhere in the world. Send checks to:

This Guide is the product of over 40 years of study of this material. It was completely revised in 1995 and 1996 and again in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006 and still once more in 2008. It is 800 pages long single spaced and deals with over 870 images all but one of which is illustrated in postage stamp size in black and white. The material covered extends to all the posters, postcards and handbills issued by the Family Dog between 1965 and 1970, all the numbered posters, postcards and handbills issued by Bill Graham for the Fillmore/Fillmore West series between 1966 in 1973, all the known posters, postcards and handbills issued by Russ Gibb for any concert between 1966 in 1973 as well as any concert presented by anyone else at the Grande Ballroom in this timeframe, any material which is part of the Neon Rose series by Victor Moscoso from 1966 to 1968 and all known material for the Vulcan Gas Company in Austin, Texas from 1967 to 1970.

This Guide is thoroughly professional in nature. Each item; each poster, postcard and handbill, each original, reprint, forgery and pirate has its own specific, unique identification number as well as a description which in virtually all cases will enable someone to distinguish any item without reference to any other item. My Guide also includes cross-references and indexes by artist and performer so that you can check out the work of your favorites.

No prices are included in my Guide. This is the territory of Fred Williams who publishes a highly useful price guide for $29.99 plus $3.00 postage, total $32.99. His latest edition, his seventh, became available in July, 2008. I have used Fred's Guide in my regular work as well as in generating a number of major appraisals for donations to museums, most notably the Denver Art Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. These appraisals had to pass muster with the IRS. They did so with no problems. His address is:

I also do consultations, mostly by telephone, for $100.00/hr. -- legal work and testimony higher, prices on request. If you are contemplating spending $500.00 or more on an item, you ought to consider discussing with me whether or not it is a prudent investment. Drop me a note with your phone number and a time to call.

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Michael O'Neill

This website was produced by Michael O'Neill.
Michael O'Neill died in 2003. He was an angry, aggressive, arrogant, rude and obnoxious fellow while he was alive, but I must have really liked him because I miss him a lot. The link to his name which used to be a link to his site is now a link to some poems his friends have written about him. One of them is by his close friend, the world famous street poet, Julia Vinograd, aka the Bubble Lady. One of them is mine. I am not alone among people who had a lot of trouble putting up with him who now are sad he is gone. Berkeley's Mediterraneum Caffe will not be the same without him.

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All material on this and subsidiary pages is copyright Eric King 1996-2008 unless otherwise attributed.