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Splatt Gallery's History of Michigan Concert Posters
Volume Five - 1969 - Page Nineteen
A photo of Mitch Ryder, which is credited to Barry Kramer, on the front cover of the tenth issue of CREEM magazine, which is numbered as Vol 2, No. 5, published in October 1969.
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A Capitol Records ad from the October 1969 issue of CREEM magazine promoting Michigan Music with the recently released debut album by Grand Funk Railroad and Bob Seger System’s second album “Noah”. Right below is an ad for Punch Enterprises, run by Punch Andrews and representing Frost, Bob Seger System, SRC, Third Power, Sunday Funnies, Wilson Mower Pursuit, Brownsville Station, and “many other great Rock & Roll Groups”.
An ad for the Groove Shoppe by Dennis Garascia in the October 1969 issue of CREEM magazine.
A cartoon ad for the Plum Pit by Dennis Garascia, an ad for the Bob Dylan bootleg album “Great White Wonder”, Led Zeppelin with Lee Michaels at the Olympia Stadium, and shows at the Eastown Theater in the October 1969 issue of CREEM magazine.
Illustration by Dennis Garascia in an ad for the Plum Pit store in the October 2, 1969 edition of the Fifth Estate newspaper in Detroit, Michigan.
A poster with lettering presumably by Gary Grimshaw in the October 1969 issue of Movement magazine in San Francisco, California.
Poster/handbill by an unknown artist for the Amboy Dukes with the Underground Wall at Lothlorien in Grand Rapids, Michigan on October 3, 1969.
Poster for Grand Funk Railroad in Atlanta, Georgia, October 3, 1969. An early version of the poster with the band name Grand Funk Railway, and a later corrected version. The Booger Band were a local Atlanta group, friends of Duane Allman.
Booger Band – Jam with Duane Allman (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75BAet3-V0I&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR2PEz32-eI7VVG6Z62TzinWrR72tnVdh_OOBHAlgmhG-7Z3UCejj78uUog
Poster and newspaper ad for Diana Ross & the Supremes at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts for two shows on October 3, 1969.
A Globe Poster for Smokey Robinson & the Miracles in Chicago, Illinois on October 3, 1969.
Poster/ad by Gary Grimshaw in exile for a rock and roll dance at Berkeley High School in California. October 3, 1969.
A second collaboration between Carl Lundgren and Gary Grimshaw for the cover of the October 3, 1969 edition of The Berkeley Tribe newspaper in Berkeley, California.
A Fall Anxiety Festival featuring Steve Mackay’s Carnal Kitchen at the Canterbury House in Ann Abor, Michigan, October 3-4,1969. Poster/ad by Steve Mackay.
A newspaper events calendar with the 154th weekend at the Grande Ballroom, October 3-4, 1969, with the Move (their first, and only, Michigan appearance), Teegarden & Van Winkle, and the Stooges on both nights.
Very nice, rarely seen poster by Carl Lundgren which appeared in The Berkeley Tribe newspaper for the Gold Rush festival in Lake Amador, California, October 4, 1969.
The 18th Michigan music festival of 1969 was the Lake Lansing Pop & Blues Festival, October 4, 1969. The Lansing State News reported that over 6,000 kids showed up, some of them avoiding to pay for tickets by coming across the lake in boats and that the primary stimulant that was sneaked onto the grounds was alcohol.
Performances by the Amboy Dukes, SRC, Jim Schwall, the Woolies, Savage Grace, Sunday Funnies, Brownsville Station, and Plain Brown Wrapper.
We now take music festivals for granted, today there are at least 20 to 30 of them in a Michigan summer, but 1969 was the first year that they became a near-weekly occurrence. With the regular opportunity to see live bands while drinking in the sun, the audiences, and the promoters both, were losing interest in the Grande Ballroom. As we’ve seen, the ballroom was closed for the entire month of July, 1969, and Russ Gibb was working more closely with Mike Quatro on the larger scale festival events both in and out of Michigan.
Ad likely by Terry Sharbach.
Dennis Preston poster for the Lake Lansing Pop and Blues Festival, October 4, 1969.
Newspaper ad in the Fifth Estate newspaper in Detroit, Michigan for the Lake Lansing Pop and Blues Festival in Lansing, Michigan on October 4, 1969, with Amboy Dukes, Jim Schwall, SRC, Savage Grace, Plain Brown Wrapper, Sunday Funnies and Brownsville Station.
The Lake Lansing Pop & Blues Festival seems to be the final rock concert at the Lake Lansing Park in Haslett, Michigan.
On October 4, 1969, the MC5 led off a three-day experimental program at the Opera House in Brooklyn, New York, that combined live music with film and poetry.
A second ad for the MC5 in Brooklyn, New York, October 4, 1969.
Two more ads for the MC5 in Brooklyn, New York, October 4, 1969.
A full-page Dot Records ad in the October 4, 1969 issue of Billboard magazine for Mitch Ryder’s “The Detroit-Memphis Experiment” album, with a life-size cardboard standee of Mitch getting some love.
A two-page spread for Grand Funk Railroad in the October 4, 1969 issue of Billboard magazine.
Poster for Alice Cooper in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 4, 1969, that is Mister Alice Cooper.
The first of the Super Sunday concert series promoted by WTAC DJ Peter Cavanaugh at the Sherwood Forest near Flint, October 5, 1969. Much like the first Wild Wednesday back in June, the first Super Sunday was not as well publicized with the cool posters that are to come in a couple of years.
Performers were Bob Seger System, Amboy Dukes, the Bhangs, Third Power, and the Stooges.
A poster for Diana Ross & the Supremes in Hartford, Connecticut on October 5, 1969, the final show of a short 14-show tour that had begun in September, and as stated on the poster, the final appearance of Diana Ross with the Supremes, except for the formal Farewell engagement in Las Vegas that ran from December 23 through January 14, 1970.
A Globe Poster for the Temptations in Memphis, Tennessee on October 6, 1969.
The front and back covers of the October 8, 1969 issue of the Ann Arbor Argus newspaper. Later, we’ll take a closer look at the back cover, which is a poster by Al Shamie (Bad Dog) for the Black Magic show on Halloween night.
Subscription ad with staff listing for The Ann Arbor Argus newspaper from the October 8, 1969 edition featuring the work of Al Shamie (Bad Dog).
An ad for Ned’s Bookstore in Ypsilanti, Michigan by Al Shamie (Bad Dog) that appeared in the October 8, 1969 issue of the Ann Arbor Argus newspaper.
Along with an Al Shamie (Bad Dog) cartoon on the start of the Chicago Eight conspiracy trial.
The earliest version of this well-known poster, using Allen Van Newkirk’s 1968 “Poetry Is Revolution” poster with Leni Sinclair photo, appeared in the February 13, 1969 issue of The Ann Arbor Argus newspaper seen above on the left.
A refined version, looking more like the final poster seen above on the right accompanied a story of the first visit to see John Sinclair in the Marquette prison, in the October 8, 1969 edition of The Ann Arbor Argus.
Official version of the “Poetry Is Revolution” poster by Leni Sinclair.
Newsprint version in the Berkeley Tribe newspaper of Gary Grimshaw’s poster for the Ecology Benefit Poetry Reading on the UC Campus on October 10, 1969. The actual poster is shown below:
Poster by Gary Grimshaw with photo by Jerry Takigawa for the Ecology Benefit Poetry Reading on the UC Campus in Berkeley, California on October 10, 1969.
Russ Gibb was feeling the pressure from having a competing (and larger) venue across town, Bob Bagaris’ Eastown Theater, now in operation for the past five months, so he looked down Grand River Avenue, two blocks away from the Grande Ballroom, at the Grand Riviera movie theater, currently presenting screenings of such film gems as “The Witchmaker – their form is human but they have crossed over…is this sex after death?”, “Matchless – as flawless as her beauty and as reckless as her body”, “Spirits of the Dead – Edgar Allan Poe’s ultimate orgy, starring Brigitte Bardot”, and “Hannibal Brooks – super soldier in a super adventure!”
Gibb and Gabe Glantz struck a deal with the movie theater owner to stage rock bands at the Riviera, redubbed as the Grande Riviera. Around the same time, Bagaris had enlisted the help of promoter Aaron Russo, who ran the Kinetic Playground, Chicago’s version of the Grande Ballroom.
There are many stories of insults and aspersions, towards and from, the interloper from the Windy City, faces slapped, groins kicked, and guns drawn, but in the end, the four of them, Gibbs, Glantz, Bagaris, and Russo, formed a partnership, co-operating on alternating out of town and local acts at the Eastown and the Grande Riviera to lessen the direct competition for audiences.
The opening weekend of the Grande Riviera, October 10-12, 1969, featured the return of The Who for the seventh time (there is some question if the Friday night show actually happened).
The poster/ad is by Al Shamie (Bad Dog), who was becoming the area’s most prominent poster artist. Also note the introduction of “the world’s first laser beam light show”.
We’re fortunate to have a recording of The Who performing “Fortune Teller” from the show on October 12, 1969.
The Who – Fortune Teller (live at the Grande Riviera 10/12/69)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGjfz_t-UsA
Newspaper ads for the opening weekend of the Grande Riviera, with a “Salute to Michigan Bands” featuring SRC, Amboy Dukes and Alice Cooper on opening night, October 10, 1969. The Who headline the next two nights, with Alice Cooper and Sky on October 11th, and with the Amboy Dukes and All The Lonely People on October 12th.
So while the Grande Riviera had its opening weekend with The Who, the Eastown had their “Local Show”, October 10-11, 1969, with Savage Grace, Stuart Avery Assemblage, Mutzie, Carousel, and Shiva. The following weekend, the Eastown had Sly & the Family Stone, while the Grande Riviera presented “Lonnie Mack and six Michigan bands” (actually there may have been eight).
A ticket for an after-show party following Alice Cooper’s set on Friday, October 10, 1969 at the Grande Riviera.
The opening weekend of the Grande Riviera, October 10-12, 1969 drew glowing reviews from the local Detroit press. One review noted the difference of just a week earlier when the Riviera Theater was just a movie house. Another noted that Russ Gibb intended to continue to use the Grande Ballroom for lesser-known groups, groups that wanted the more intimate atmosphere, sock hops “(when they’re in vogue again)”, and square dances.
Al Shamie’s ad for the Eastown Theater’s October, 10-11, 1969 shows. Unlike the theater’s own ad that we saw earlier, Shamie correctly spelled Stuart Avery Assemblage, but he got the date of the 17th wrong, showing it as the 7th, and the Eastown was a “theater”, not a “theatre”.
Al Shamie’s ad for October, 10-11, 1969 film shows at the Fifth Forum in Ann Arbor, which had been the odd venue for The Stooges earlier in the year.
Poster by Ken Victor "Wiktor" for Third Power and Rumors at Something Different in Southfield, Michigan on October 10, 1969.
Capping an incredible six-year run on television, beginning with “Teen Town” in 1963, and solidifying the show as “Swingin’ Time”, Robin Seymour briefly renamed the show “Supergroove” finally at the end of its run in late 1969.
We have featured many clips from these shows throughout this narrative above, but for one last time, here is an entire episode from the height of the show:
Swingin’ Time TV Show – full episode (9/10/66)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH3G7Y25qm4
The Detroit-Memphis Experiment, for as brilliant an idea as it was to team Mitch Ryder with Stax Records house band, The Bar-Kays, was a failure commercially, and Ryder returned to Detroit. CREEM magazine editor Barry Kramer came to his assistance in helping to eliminate his debt and get him out of bad contracts, and urged him to reunite with the Detroit Wheels, providing the band with rehearsal space above the magazine’s offices.
This appearance at Grandmother’s in East Lansing, October 10, 1969, featured another poster by Terry Sharbach.
An ad for a benefit show at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on October 10, 1969, with the Stooges, UP, Tarantula, and Solar Wind.
A near-full page photo of Iggy Stooge of The Stooges in the October 10, 1969 issue of Go Magazine, which was a record industry magazine that was distributed across the country, tailored for local markets through a local radio station. This one was the Los Angeles edition, distributed by KHJ-TV.
A full-page Capitol Records ad for Grand Funk Railroad in the October 10, 1969 issue of the Los Angeles Free Press newspaper in Los Angeles, California.
An unusual ad by an unknown artist for an unusual composer singer and incredible guitarist David Rea at the Canterbury House in Ann Arbor, Michigan, October 10-12, 1969.
Terry Sharbach ad for Chuck Berry with the Woolies at Grandmother’s in East Lansing, October 12, 1969.
On Sunday night, October 12, 1969, Russ Gibb on his radio show on WKNR-FM took a call from a listener who presented a theory that Beatle Paul McCartney had died years ago and that the Beatles had secretly substituted a double who took his place. For the next hour, Gibb played Beatle records backwards and scoured album covers for clues to the ruse, continuing the exploration on the following day’s radio show, but the bulk of the evidence was presented in a satirical review of the Beatles’ new album “Abbey Road” published in Ann Arbor’s Michigan Daily newspaper by University of Michigan student Fred LaBour. LaBour was booked to appear on a nationally televised program when he told the producers that he had flat-out made up most the “facts” in his article, to which the producers told him they had an hour of television to fill.
As the rumor was beginning to spread across the world, McCartney’s office and Apple Records acted quickly to dispel it, but as the sales of the Beatles’ back catalog began to take off, they coyly backed off slightly until the November 7, 1969 issue of Life magazine hit the stands with the cover story, “Paul is still with us”.
The above collage, measuring 24 x 36 inches in size, was created by Splatt Gallery mystery artist, Mister BuT’Wash. Beatles copyright protectors are damn efficient, hardly any, if any, original recordings will ever be found on the Tube, but we have this, which is the best soundtrack to this chapter we could ever wish for.
The Residents – Beyond the Valley of a Day in the Life (1977)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_smoNNCFbY
Doug Huston illustration that accompanied the “Paul is Dead” rumor story in the October 20, 1969 issue of the State News in East Lansing, Michigan.
The complete Page Two of the October 14, 1969 edition of the Michigan Daily newspaper in Ann Arbor, Michigan with the article by Fred LaBour that is the original source material of the “Paul Is Dead” rumor, published two days after the phone call to Russ Gibb on his radio show.
Volume Five - 1969 - continues - HERE
