First i want to say that this Poster was printed in the late 60s , early 70s by the San Francisco Poster Co.If you need info on the S.F.Poster co. , go to Google anf type in San Francisco Poster Co.14" x 20".The Regency Ballroom in Oakland presants a psychedelic Happening with sparrow (This is before they called themselves Steppenwolf) , The wildflower , The Living Children , and The Immediate Family 1967 . The artist is Stanley Mouse . (M-)(Mint Minus Condition)(see grading system below).Not bad after being stored for over 35 years.One corner may be slightly bumped.Besides that its perfect.(see all pictures). Very psychedelic. .PLEASE EMAIL ME WITH ANY QUESTIONS. <p> <p>The Sparrows was a Canadian blues rock band that existed in the 1960s and had evolved out of Jack London & The Sparrows. Notable for being the first group to break out musician John Kay into the mainstream, the Sparrows later morphed into the popular heavy rock groupSteppenwolf.<p>
The name-change from Sparrow [5] to Steppenwolf was suggested to John Kay by Gabriel Mekler, being inspired by Hermann Hesse's novel of the same name.[3] Steppenwolf's first two singles were "A Girl I Knew" and "Sookie Sookie". The band finally rocketed to worldwide fame after their third single "Born to Be Wild" was released in 1968, as well as their version of Hoyt Axton's "The Pusher" and were prominently used in the 1969 cult film Easy Rider (both titles originally had been released on the band's debut album).[3] In the movie, "The Pusher" accompanies a drug deal, and Peter Fonda stuffing dollar bills into his Stars & Stripes-clad fuel tank, after which "Born to Be Wild" is heard in the opening credits, with Fonda and Dennis Hopper riding their Harley choppers through the American West. The song, which has been closely associated with motorcycles ever since, introduced to rock lyrics the signature term "heavy metal"[3] (though not about a kind of music, but about a motorcycle: "I like smoke and lightning, heavy metal thunder, racin' with the wind..."). Written by Dennis Edmonton, who had begun using the pen name Mars Bonfire, the song had already reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1968.[3] It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.[6]
The group's following albums had several more hit singles, including "Magic Carpet Ride" (which reached No. 3) from Steppenwolf The Second and "Rock Me" (with its bridge lasting 1:06, which reached No. 10) from At Your Birthday Party.[3] It also sold in excess of one million units.[6] Monster, which questioned US policy of the Nixon era, and Steppenwolf 7 were the band's most political albums, which included the song "Snowblind Friend", another Axton-penned song, about the era and attitudes of drugs and its problems. Other hits included Hey Lawdy Mama and Willie Dixon's Hootchie Kootchie Man.
There were several changes in the group's personnel after the first few years.[3] Moreve was fired from the group in 1968 for missing gigs after he became afraid to return to Los Angeles, convinced that it was going to be leveled by an earthquake and fall into the sea. Rob Black filled in for Moreve until former fellow-Sparrow Nick St. Nicholas came aboard. Monarch quit after disagreements with Kay the next year year and was replaced by Larry Byrom, who'd been in TIME with St. Nicholas. St. Nicholas' tenure with the group proved to be brief and he was let go in 1970 after incurring Kay's wrath by showing up onstage in a bunny suit, and playing his bass loudly and out of tune. The above tales were related by Kay in his 1994 autobiography Magic Carpet Ride (co-written with Canadian author John Einarson). George Biondo was then recruited and guitarist Kent Henry replaced Byrom in 1971.[3]
The band broke up in 1972 following the release of another political concept album, For Ladies Only, and Kay went on to an inconsistent solo career, scoring a minor solo hit in 1972 with "I'm Movin' On" from his album Forgotten Songs and Unsung Heroes.[3]
Kay toured Europe as The John Kay Band in 1972 with Steppenwolf also on the bill, Kay fronting both groups.
I ACCEPT PAYPAL ONLY.DONT ASK. I SHIP 1ST CLASS U.S. MAIL FOR FREE. OUTSIDE THE U.S.WOULD BE $12.00. I MUST RECEIVE PAYMENT WITHIN 5 DAYS OF AUCTION CLOSE,OR I RELIST AND SEND APROPRIATE FEEDBACK.THANX AND GOOD LUCK.NO RESERVE!!
The San Francisco Poster Co.
In the period between 1965 and 1971 in San Francisco , there was an outburst of graphic creativity that is unparalleled in American art. Drawn by a handful of now well-known artists , as well as a legion of lesser known ones, this work is known as Psychedelic Rock Concer Poster Art. At the heart of the early part of this era, 1966-1967 , was the print shop known as The Bindweed Press.The Bindweed Press was the DBA of a printer named Frank Westlake. Westlake personally printed several dozen of the best-known early San Francisco psychedelic posters , including many original printings of the most famous early Family Dog images for concerts at the Avalon Ballroom , as well as many posters and handbills for other local San Francisco venues such as Winterland. Among these are the world famous, iconic Skeleton and Roses image for the Grateful Dead at the Avalon, Family Dog No.26, Frankenstein, also for the Dead at the Avalon, family Dog No. 22 and the Zig-Zag man for Big Brother and the Holding company at the Avalon, Family Dog No. 14. All of these bear the bottom margin notation “The Bindweed Press "
Considering that the thought of these as disposable advertising and the paper stock he used was a low-cost vellum, Westlake did a remarkably good job printing these posters. The colors are vibrant, and the minor imperfections were seen as part of the raw energy pulsating through San Francisco in that era. Like most printers , Westlake held on to his printing plates after the jobs were completed, and on numerous occasions , he reprinted early Family Dog posters at the request of the late Chet Helms , who owned the DBA “The Family Dog.” This was often done with the original printing plates.
There is no controversy about any of the above. Posters from the Bindweed Press Unquestionably are original printings, ones printed preconcert with the intention of distributing at least part of the press run to advertise the event, or authorized reprints, ones printed after the concert under the auspices of the concert promotor , to sell in retail outlets. This is in contrast to pirate/bootleg posters or forgeries. Bootleg, or pirate posters, are the work of people not associated with either the concert promoter or the artists, or any of the performers, people who take a copy of a poster, shoot photographs of it and use these photographs to produce new printing plates with which they print new posters which they seek to sell cheaply for quick profit without paying licensing fees for their products. Because these are done without access to the original artists’ drawings or the original printing plates, these typically are poorly printed, fuzzy, coarse and poorly colored. These are not designed to fool people that they are buying originals, and they are not sold for prices that originals would bring. Usually they are printed in large quantities. Forgeries are printed in small quantities with the specific intention of fooling serious collectors into paying prices they would for originals. Every attempt is made to match the original in colors and paper stock.
Which brings us to the confusing case of The San Francisco Poster Co., which falls into the “none of the above” category. Sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s Frank Westlake closed TheBindweed press and moved to England. He took with him many of the printing plates for psychedelic posters he had printed. He decided to make some money by printing these posters and selling them. He removed the Bindweed Press credits and replaced them with San Francisco Poster Co. credits. These posters fall into two groups, Ones done for the Family Dog, and ones done for other venues.
The exact status of these posters is difficult to pin down. None were authorized by the artists who created them, the promoters who commissioned them, or the acts which appeared on them, but unlike pirates or bootlegs, they were printed with the original plates, so they are not of poor printing quality. Furthermore, on the non-Family Dog items, he matched the colors rather well so that if one does not mind the ethical issues of buying unauthorized printings, these are a bargain and often collectible in there own right as variants which were printed not long after the events. In at least some cases the images were never copyrighted so it is reasonable to ask if any legal or ethical matters enter into the equation at all.
The Family Dog images constitute an even more complex dilemma. Here in most cases for reasons best known to himself Westlake chose to print the posters in colors drastically different from the originals. To say the least none of the artists of the family Dog series is any too pleased about this alteration of his work. But they remain interesting, well-printed if bizarrely colored oddities with a collectibility of their own. Further complicating this was a long-running personal dispute between Westlake and Helms. The reason that the Bindweed press stopped printing Family Dog posters and handbills is that Helms owed Westlake substantial bills that never were paid. Westlake felt strongly that under these circumstances he had every right to use his personal property (The printing plates in this case remained Westlakes lawful property.) to recoup his unpaid debt from Helms by printing and selling Helms’ images. Needless to say, Helms felt his properly copyrighted material was off-limits for this type of “debt collection. “ This matter was never resolved, but collectors continue to add these posters to their collections. So long as the buyer is properly informed about the intricate and controvesial history of this material , it has long been accepted to buy and/or sell it. It is over 35 years old, and by vertue of its age and increasing rarity (it was never common in the U.S.A and is now fairly difficult to find outside this stash), It has attained its own unique cachet. If someone tried to do this now, they would be sued immediatly, but that is now and this was then.
The grading system I used is the same one used by and devised by Fred Williams in his Rock Poster Price Guide. Grading System
M Mint:Untouched,Pristine.
NM Near Mint:Slight handling,sharp
corners,crisp
VG Very Good: Noticable minor defects.No major damage especially in image area.Folds,holes,paper missing but not major.
VG- Very Good Minus:Noticable damage extended into image area;such as tears,holes,tape stain,noticable fading,paper missing,but image still intact.
GD Good:Noticable damage,holes,tears,missing pieces possibly extended into image area,stains etc.borderline,unless it’s a rare item.
(S) Signed by artist:Noted when signed by more than one artist.