Splatt Gallery
Double click here to add text.
Splatt Gallery's History of Michigan Concert Posters
Volume Six - 1970 - Page Ten
Postcard for The Up at the Palladium in Birmingham, Michigan, June 12, 1970, by Gary Grimshaw, with the classic tri-pod of guitar, gun, and peace pipe.
Grimshaw was finally back, following two years in exile, as reported in the Nola Express, the underground newspaper in New Orleans, of all places, “Grimshaw turned himself in Thursday, May 21, posted bond, and is once more among his people”.
***********************************************************
The same issue of the Nola Express that carried the news flash that Gary Grimshaw had returned above-ground, back in Michigan, also featured this Grimshaw cartoon.
Poster by Laura Green for a show including the Amboy Dukes at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, June 12-13, 1970.
Poster/handbill by John Manikoff for the Factorie Ballroom in Waterford, Michigan, June 12-13, 1970, with Jagged Edge and Chip Stevens Group, and “another great group”, which the concert database shows was Muruga Booker on Friday night, and Freewood and Loki (without Chip Stevens) opening for Jagged Edge on Saturday.
The Cincinnati Summer Pop Festival, at Crosley Field, the baseball stadium of the Cincinnati Reds, June 13, 1970, had a heavy representation of Michigan bands, Grand Funk Railroad, the Stooges, Alice Cooper, Bob Seger, Savage Grace, Sky, Mighty Quick, Third Power, Cradle, Brownsville Station, and, in a performing role, Mike Quatro with his band. This may be the last of the Mike Quatro – Russ Gibb productions, as Quarto gave up on promoting shows and returned to his child-prodigy vocation as a musician.
It was also filmed for a TV broadcast, a 90 minute edit called “Midsummer Rock” was aired one time in August, 1970. In these clips, you’ll see a befuddled announcer narrating the acts in the play-by-play style of a sporting event, and an unfazed Alice Cooper getting hit in the face with a cake. Good stuff.
The Stooges – Live at the Cincinnati Pop Festival (6/13/70)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnHDtVZBCbQ
Grand Funk Railroad – Live at the Cincinnati Pop Festival (6/13/70)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvWAZFLvE-A
Alice Cooper – Live at the Cincinnati Pop Festival (6/13/70)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNoPdsrie1Y
Poster by an unknown artist for SRC with Salvage (or with Swallow according to the database) at Wampler’s Lake Pavillion, June 13, 1970.
Gary Grimshaw added the line-up for the season’s first Sunday Ann Arbor Free Concert, June 14, 1970 to Al Shamie’s drawing. Some of these were signed “Grimdog”, but this unsigned one was a better image. The bands that appeared were UP, Catfish and SRC.
Postcard for The Up at the Diana Oughton Memorial Park in Ann Arbor, Michigan, June 14, 1970, with Gary Grimshaw and Al Shamie (Bad Dog) art.
An ad for Carnal Kitchen at the Canterbury House in Ann Arbor on June 13, 1970.
The world premiere, June 14, 1970, of the documentary film “Finally Got The News” made in Detroit. Know your history - check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw2Wr-odBJg
The documentary “Finally Got the News” used the 1968 song “Please Mr. Forman” by Joe Lee Carter as part of its soundtrack, and its chorus line “I do mind dying” became the title of a 1974 book about DRUM.
Carter’s song was the B-side to the one single released on Rudy Robinson’s Clissac label. Robinson, as you may recall from earlier posts, was the musical director at Mike Hanks’ D-Town records and “was on damn near everything that came out of D-Town”. In 1967, Robinson decided to start his own company and persuaded his family doctor to provide the financial backing, a fairly common scenario in those days when Detroit boasted over 400 record labels operating in the city and doctors, in particular, were willing investors.
For some reason, Mike Hanks got involved again, “stole this tune from us”, according to the doctor, or “fucked it up”, according to Robinson, and sold Carter’s “Please Mr. Forman” to the UAW, who subsequently would use it as “their theme song on TV”.
Joe Lee Carter –Please Mr. Forman (1968)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzEgnf6qpow
Joe Lee Carter – (I’m Not Gonna Be) Worried (1968)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjyrBncfMVM
Another one of Rudy Robinson’s short-lived labels was Flip-O Records, with just a couple of releases, including this one by a one-off group called The Electric Banana (not to be confused with the alias that the British Band the Pretty Things also used). We’re not sure of the release date, it’s possibly earlier than this, but we’ll stick it here.
The Electric Banana – Will I Ever Be Free (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lkzhn3nx-XU
The Electric Banana – Got to Leave Love Alone (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjy4lIMbaoc
OK, this is all about posters, right? Well, this has to be the most monstrous Michigan Rock Poster of them all, measuring 60 feet tall by 260 feet long, taking up one whole city block in Times Square in New York City.
GFR manager Terry Knight, prone to exaggeration, described it as “two blocks long” and claimed he laid out $100,000 (because “$100K sounds colossal, it’s a number everyone will remember” – actual cost was around $65,000) to conceive his brainchild (it wasn’t).
Capitol Records had originally rented the space to promote The Beatles new album and movie “Let It Be” (you can see the movie listed on the small theater marquee), but the Beatles had just announced their break-up and did not want the image of the four of them together. With the space already rented, Capitol decided to use it for the new GFR album, and they were happy to let Knight construct his version so as not to fuel the appearance that GFR were corporate sell-outs.
The poster (billboard) was unveiled on June 14, 1970, one day before the release of GFR’s third album “Closer to Home”. The contract was to have the display up for two months, but because of a sign painters strike in NYC, it ended up staying in place until November, proving to be quite a bargain.
The question was, did the billboard increase album sales, and the evidence is that it did (remember that a Gold album certification in these pre-1976 days meant one million dollars in sales).
First album – released August 25, 1969 – certified Gold on October 12, 1970
Second album – released December 29, 1969 – certified Gold on July 6, 1970
Third album – released June 15, 1970 – certified Gold on August 12, 1970
Live album – released November 16, 1970 – certified Gold on November 23, 1970
A band definitely on the roll, and the songs were getting better too.
Grand Funk Railroad – I’m Your Captain/Closer to Home (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8MYsii4DZY
Poster/ad by Gilbert Thomas for an appearance by Vice President Spiro Agnew at Cobo Hall in Detroit. Michigan, June 15, 1970, on a national tour, performing his hits, “The Silent Majority”, “Hopeless, Hysterical, Hypochondriacs of History”, “Supercilious Sophisticates”, “Pusillanimous Pussyfooting”, and “The Nattering Nabobs of Negativism”.
A teaser ad for the second Alice Cooper album “Easy Action” in the June 15, 1970 issue of the Chicago Seed newspaper.
Flyer/ad for the Bob Seger System in Lexington, Illinois on June 18, 1970.
Poster artist, and MC5 fan club organizer, Darlene Pond, also frequently contributed to the “in the streets” column in The Ann Arbor Argus newspaper. With a “Lunar Toons” cartoon by Al Shamie (Bad Dog). Here’s the dish from the June 18, 1970 column:
“Stoney Murphy (ex-Wilson Mower Pursuit) is married, pregnant, and is playing the lead role in Detroit’s HAIR. No shit.
“During their set a few weeks ago, Mighty Quick were true to their name and cleared the Big Steel Ballroom in record time.
“The Rationals were in the studio last night recording zipahdeedodah and Fool in Love for their next single on Crewe. They have departed from their manager, and with the help of Robin Seymour Enterprises, will manage their own affairs.
“Ted Lucas played the blando harmonica solo on the Temptations new single.
“The Grand Funk Railroad paid seventy thousand dollars for their block-long billboard in New York city’s grand central station.
Miles Davis saw the 3rd Power at Ungano’s in NY, flipped out over the drummer and requested an autographed copy of their new album.
“On the international set, the Frost’s “rock and roll music” album has sold 50 thousand copies in France; the Frijid Pink are planning their European tour and enjoying a no. 1 smash single “house of the rising sun” in Norway.
“The Beatles ARE going on tour next year WITHOUT Paul McCartney and WITH Billy Preston.
“Joe Cocker and Leon Russell have been urging Dave Teegarden to drum with their band, and Humble Pie have split up.”
As mentioned in the “in the streets” column, Shaun “Stoney” Murphy signed on with the cast of the Detroit production of the play Hair, after the second incarnation of the Wilson Mower Pursuit had called it quits in January, 1970. She would soon partner with fellow Hair cast mate, Meatloaf. Poster by an unknown artist.
Here is a recording of the final Wilson Mower Pursuit show at the Silverbell Hideout in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
Wilson Mower Pursuit – Live at the Silverbell Hideout (1970)
http://www.rickstahl.com/Last%20Night%20Out.html
Poster by Daniel Clyne for the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, Illinois for a concert on June 19, 1970 by Traffic, with SRC and Righteous Bob Rudnick.
Poster by artist Carol Ann for Frost, Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen, and Shakey Jake at the Birmingham Palladium, June 19, 1970.
Poster by Al “Bad Dog” Shamie and Gary Grimshaw for the UP and Euphoria at Memorial Hall, June 19, 1970. Wherever “Memorial Hall” was located it must have been familiar enough to the locals that no further information was needed, likely a college campus.
The poster was printed by Red Star Press in Chicago, so it’s likely that the hall was in or around Chicago, but there is also a Memorial Hall at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio that hosted Michigan bands, as well as many such-named places in many other cities.
Likewise, there are more than a few short-lived bands called Euphoria that moved in and out of the early Seventies. A case could be made that the Euphoria band that opened for UP was a power trio from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which would also point the location of the show back to the Chicago area. And they are a more likely musical pairing with UP than, say the Euphoria from New York, described as a “sunshine pop” band.
At any rate, we were able to locate the sole album produced by the Milwaukee Euphoria and it’s killer, like the UP.
Euphoria – Lost in Trance (1973)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkLOdDWkg04
Handbill by Mark Behrens for Rare Earth and the Jackson 5 at the Cow Palace near San Francisco, California on June 19, 1970. Tina Turner had to cancel due to illness and was replaced by Jerry Butler. This was the Jackson’s second show on their first national tour.
This is the movie poster for the double-feature “Musical Mutiny” and “Weekend Rebellion”. We described earlier how “Weekend Rebellion” was simply live footage of Grand Funk Railroad, filmed by Barry Mahon at Pirates World in Florida in January 1970, spliced together with a previous exploitation flick called “Mondo Daytona”.
“Musical Mutiny” was a bit more ambitious, Mahon used live footage of Iron Butterfly from their performance at Pirates World, June 19-20, 1970, and constructed a bizarre plot about a pirate that emerges from the sea to reclaim his old stomping grounds, upon which there is now, the amusement park. It is all better told here:
http://nightflight.com/musical-mutiny-barry-mahons-1970-teensploitation-film-was-lensed-at-the-long-gone-pirates-world/
Here is the complete 19-minute live version of “In-Da-Gadda-Da-Vida” from the movie, and the comments below include a picture of the ticket for Iron Butterfly’s appearance.
Iron Butterfly – In-Da-Gadda-Da-Vida (live) (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPmTS9Rfeng
Another poster for Wampler’s Lake Pavillion by the unknown comic book-pilfering artist, for Savage Grace with Commander Cody & his Lost Planet Airmen, June 20, 1970.
An RCA Records’ ad in the June 20, 1970 issue of Billboard magazine promoting a Jefferson Airplane single, about a month after their latest Michigan appearance, at the Open-Air Celebration in East Lansing on May 24th.
The Jefferson Airplane will return to Michigan four more times, with two shows in 1971, in Detroit and Ann Arbor, and two shows in 1972, again in Detroit and Ann Arbor. The following live version of “Have You Seen the Saucers” was recorded at the final shows of the 1972 tour.
Jefferson Airplane - Have You Seen the Saucers (live) (1972)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSJemA-eviU
An ad for Grand Funk Railroad appearing in Miami, Florida, June 21, 1970.
A collection of ads for Alice Cooper at The Depot in Minneapolis, Minnesota on June 21, 1970.
Gary Grimshaw poster for the second WABX free concert of the summer of 1970, at Tarter Field in Detroit, June 21, 1970.
Poster for the second Ann Arbor Sunday free concert of the summer of 1970, June 21, 1970, with the “Grimdog” signature of Gary Grimshaw with Al Shamie, the bands that appeared were Savage Grace, Commander Cody & his Lost Planet Airmen and Floating Opera.
Double click here to add text.
The MC5 made their first trip down to Texas, June 21, 1970, appearing at the Sunken Garden, a natural amphitheater in San Antonio, where, according to archeological evidence, humans had gathered to party more than 11,000 year ago.
The poster is by San Antonio artist John Witherspoon.
Here’s a clip, a little ahead of our story, in 1976, of San Antonio’s favorite sons, Ultra, to give you a taste of a Texas version of a Sunday free concert.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBlcCH098Tk
Peter Cavanaugh of WTAC in Flint, Michigan expanded his vision of the “Wild Wednesday” event that he successfully introduced in 1969, to be an even larger rock and roll show by setting up twin stages for twelve straight hours of uninterrupted music. He called it the “Michigan Monster”, June 24, 1970.
From the June 26, 1970 edition of Berkeley Tribe newspaper in Berkeley, California:
“Youth International Party/White Panther Arm is coming out with a national revolutionary newspaper, SUN/DANCE. (The) first issue, 32 pages long, will be printed in 9 colors. The covers will be posters, many of which will be designed by Minister of Culture Gary Grimshaw.
“Gary has been underground for the last two years on a Marijuana frame-up in Traverse City, Michigan. While underground he was doing layout for the Berkeley Tribe along with comix and posters. Now back in Ann Arbor he will be concentrating on SUN/DANCE. While the pigs were oinking around trying to find him, Gary was busy designing a symbol that would combine our culture and our politics to represent our Nation. The result was the symbol that you’ve seen around Berkeley and the Nation. The crossed guitar, gun, and dope pipe (sometimes joint) forms a teepee or tribal home with the word NATION as its base. Encircled to evoke the sky and universe, bursting and burning rays, our energy and our life.”
Poster by Carol Ann for the Palladium in Birmingham, Michigan, June 26, 1970, with Savage Grace, Third Power, and the Mike Quatro Jam Band.
Poster by an unknown artist for Procol Harum at the Eastown Theater in Detroit, Michigan, June 26-27, 1970.
Opening for Procol Harum at the Eastown Theater in Detroit, Michigan, June 26-27, 1970, the New York group, Brethren with another poster by an unknown artist.
A promoter named Dapa/Dore planned a series of concerts at the Michigan State Fairgrounds for the summer of 1970. Originally, the opening night on June 26, 1970 was to feature The MC5, Brownsville Station and Tacklebox, then it was changed to The Stooges, Wesslefox and Tacklebox. Internet sources still confuse the two line-ups, but according to The Detroit Free Press, the night was cancelled due to rain, so neither actually played.
A nice poster by an unknown artist for the kick-off of the Dapa/Dore Mid-Summer Night Rock shows at the Michigan State Fairgrounds, June 26-27, 1970.
Another poster from the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, Illinois, June 26-27, 1970 with Brownsville Station and MC “Righteous” Bob Rudnick.
While searching for something/anything on Tacklebox, we stumbled across Mad Dog & the Pups (don’t ask how) and we were reminded by something said at Aretha’s funeral about having singers on every corner in Detroit. Mad Dog & the Pups, led by Rodney Jones, were one of those groups. Their story intertwines the labyrinth of musicians and record labels that includes Magic City, Correc-Tone, Oliver Cheatham (NOT a member of Mad Dog & the Pups), all the way up to Ray Parker of “Ghostbusters” fame.
One of our favorite things about these hundreds of small record labels is their artwork and logo designs, many of which, including Magic City, were the work of Paul Royle, as you can see here:
https://www.facebook.com/paul.royle.18/media_set?set=a.756957224403565&type=3
Here are just a couple of the fantastic singles by Mad Dog & the Pups:
Mad Dog & the Pups – Funky Monkey (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiYj5LGG7v0
Mad Dog & the Pups - Hip Squeeze (1969)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0dZP-ZsoNc
Poster for a three-day rock festival in Wisconsin, June 26-28, 1970. Michigan bands included Amboy Dukes, SRC, and Brownsville Station, with the worst misspelling of their name. “Brownsuilk Station” managed to perpetuate its way into other Wisconsin media outlets.
A second poster for the three-day rock festival in Wisconsin, June 26-28, 1970, again with the misspelling of “Brownsuilk Station”. Again, no mention of The Stooges appearing, but they did, and according to reports they were much better received than Buffy St. Marie.
A third poster for the three-day rock festival in Wisconsin, June 26-28, 1970, the only Michigan band listed is SRC, but Amboy Dukes, Brownsville Station, and the Stooges also performed.
You may recall, when we posted the release of Third Power’s album, the back-cover and promo art was a noted as “Art by “Boof” Design – copyright Jem Targal – Third Power”. Apparently, Boof Design was a pursuit that went beyond the band.
A promo flyer for SRC, by Boof Design, aka Jem Targal.
Yet another poster for Wampler’s Lake Pavillion by the unknown comic book-character artist, for Frost with Promise, June 27, 1970.
Poster by Darlene Pond for the Detroit-Windsor Pop Festival, June 27, 1970. The MC Jesse Crawford was denied entry into Canada.
The Up were making good use of Gary Grimshaw’s return, here’s an individual poster for their appearance at the Detroit-Windsor Pop Festival, June 27, 1970.
A co-op group called Open City, advocated free concerts and arranged a few gatherings on the mall of Wayne State University in Detroit with this poster by an unknown artist. After a couple of them, on June 12-13 and June 19-20, 1970, the crowds began to grow in size, prompting the University Safety Director to ban them from continuing.
Flyer and logo for the co-op group Open City, by an unknown artist.
Poster by Carl Lundgren for a Memorial Concert for slain Black Panther Fred Hampton in Grant Park, Chicago, June 28, 1970.
Volume Six - 1970 - continues - HERE
