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Splatt Gallery's History of Michigan Concert Posters
Volume Six - 1970 - Page Twelve
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Poster/handbill by Carol Ann with Savage Grace, Catfish, and Julius Victor at the Palladium in Birmingham, Michigan, July 17, 1970.
The July 17, 1970 issue of The Berkeley Tribe newspaper in Berkeley, California, with Gary Grimshaw’s art, but not sure if the complete piece is all Grimshaw.
Subscription ads for Sun/Dance in The Berkeley Tribe newspaper in July 1970.
Poster/flyer by Gary Grimshaw for the Up at the Eastown Ballroom in Detroit, July 17-18, 1970. An advantage to being the official band of the White Panther Party was having Grimshaw to document nearly every appearance. We’ve already added their first single “Just like an Aborigine” to the soundtrack a while back, here’s the B-side.
The Up – Hassan I Sabbah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfMaiSAF7Lo
A poster for the Newport Jazz Festival at Madison Square Garden in New York City, July 17-18, 1970, featuring Detroit jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell.
A Brave New World Productions poster for the New York Pop festival on Randall’s Island in New York, July 17-19, 1970. Some have noted that Grand Funk Railroad is top-billed over Jimi Hendrix on the first night, which was based on economics rather than artistry. Back in 1968/1969, Hendrix was the highest paid rock performer, but his last studio album at the time was 1968’s Electric Ladyland, with only a Greatest Hits package and a live album since then, while GRF had banged out three Gold albums in the space of the year prior. Nevertheless, in the actual sequence of events, Hendrix closed the show, playing past 5am.
GRF, as always, were both crowd pleasers (“Grand Funk stole the show, they were awesome”) and the object of music critic derision (“Grand Funk was creative about their noise for about a tune or two, but they just aren’t into very much musically”).
Incidentally, that same Village Voice newspaper critic had high praise for Cactus, who must have a last-minute replacement since they are not listed on the poster (there were a lot of no-shows, including Sly Stone, Eric Clapton, and Miles Davis). Describing them as “a new group containing Vanilla Fudge remnants”, he made note of some of their songs and bassist Bogert’s performance in particular, but no mention of, what we know was the key ingredient, the addition of Detroit’s Jim McCarty and Rusty Day.
Inside page of the program for the New York Pop festival on Randall’s Island in New York, July 17-19, 1970.
Another poster for Wampler’s Lake Pavillion by the unknown comic book-pilfering artist, for Savage Grace with Catfish, July 18, 1970.
Poster/ad by an unknown artist for Creedence Clearwater Revival at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan, July 18, 1970.
Color version of the poster for Creedence Clearwater Revival that was used throughout the tour. Printed by Lautrec Litho in San Francisco.
Newspaper ad for Creedence Clearwater Revival with Booker T. & the M.G.'s and Wilbert Harrison at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan, July 18, 1970.
A poster by an unknown artist for a Country & Western show at Goose Lake Park, July 18, 1970, a prelude to the big one to come three weeks later.
A day trip to Chicago for The MC5, the Stooges, and “the ridiculous funk of” Funkadelics, the WCFL Radio Summer Music Festival, July 18, 1970. The festival started off with fireworks at sunrise (yes, sun RISE). They called it the Incredible Good Morning Good Morning Ceremony.
A review of the festival appeared in Billboard magazine:
“The only thing close to trouble arose during the set by the MC5. The crowd, which had been behind the fence about 40 feet from the stage, broke through to rush the stage area. Several persons tried to climb onto the stage but were asked to leave. They complied and no injuries or bad feelings resulted.
“Atlantic’s MC5 was a surprise. Their set was dynamic and kept the crowd moving throughout. The group’s stage act is a joy to behold as vocalist Rob Tyner jumped, cavorted and musically seduced the crowd. Guitarist Wayne Kramer, using the slide-step popularized by James Brown to move around the stage, kept the instrument level at a loud pitch.
“The 12-hour festival also featured the Illusion, Happy Day, Bush, Dreams, Stooges, Pig Iron, Funkadelics and others.”
Full-page ad in the July 18, 1970 issue of Billboard magazine for the Frijid Pink single “Sing a Song for Freedom”, the first single from their second album, on Parrot Records.
Frijid Pink - Sing a Song for Freedom (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuIhOoFrOqQ
It was at the third WABX free concert of the season, July 19, 1970, that the MC5 performed and were captured on tape for TV. This three-song clip is fairly well-known by now, some call it the Five’s greatest performance, some call it the greatest performance in all of rock and roll.
The MC5 – Live at Tartar Field Detroit (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74jS3dW0DtE
Pictures and a short review in the Detroit Free Press newspaper from the WABX Free Concert at Tarter Field in Detroit on July 19, 1970. A longer review in Mike Gormley’s Pop-Pourri column praised the organizers and the bands, which included Frut, Savage Grace, Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen, Catfish, MC5, and the entire cast of “Hair”.
A page from the SUN newspaper announcing the line-up for the Sunday Free Concert on July 19, 1970 in Ann Arbor, Michigan as being Parliament with Funkadelic, Third Power, and Bedlam Riff.
An ad for “An Open-Air Pop Festival” in Minneapolis, Minnesota with headliners Sly & the Family Stone, and including an appearance by the Amboy Dukes, on July 19, 1970.
Two posters for a “Day of Joy” at the Almeda Speedway in Houston, Texas on July 19, 1970, including Michigan band Rare Earth.
An ad for Ten Years After “with super group” Cactus in Baltimore, Maryland on July 19, 1970.
Funkadelic released their second album “Free Your Mind... and Your Ass Will Follow” on July 20, 1970, just five months after their debut album in February. The original gatefold cover had the asses hidden on the inside, with the band photo on the back cover. The ten-minute long title track took up a third of the album’s total playing time.
Funkadelic - Free Your Mind... and Your Ass Will Follow (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiqmEibSY0I
Gary Grimshaw poster for a benefit show for Jack Forrest’s defense fund at the Palladium in Birmingham, Michigan, July 21, 1970 featuring Detroit featuring Mitch Ryder, Commander Cody, UP, Shakey Jake, and Frut. Forrest, a leading member in the Detroit chapter of the White Panther Party, was indicted as a co-conspirator along with John Sinclair and Pun Plamondon in the 1968 bombing of a CIA office in Ann Arbor.
Sinclair was already in prison on the marijuana charge when the indictments were issued in 1969. Plamondon went underground, moving from the west coast to Canada to Ethiopia to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula where he was finally nabbed, along with Forrest in July, 1970. We’re not sure where Forrest had been all that time, but now that all three were in custody their trial could commence.
A second poster for the Conspiracy benefit at the Palladium in Birmingham, Michigan, July 21, 1970, by an unknown artist.
Aretha Franklin performed two nights at the 11th Annual Antibes Jazz Festival held in Juan-les-Pins on the French Riviera, July 21-22, 1970. The first night was recorded and can be heard here:
Aretha Franklin - Antibes, France (July 21, 1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP_bEY0JH8M
Front cover of the July 22, 1970 issue of the Ann Arbor Argus newspaper in Ann Arbor, Michigan with Gary Grimshaw artwork and Leni Sinclair photo of Commander Cody & his Lost Planet Airmen.
An ad with Grand Funk Railroad opening for Ten Years After at the Forum in Inglewood, California on July 22, 1970.
News of Pun Plamondon’s arrest spread from coast to coast through the Underground Press Syndicate, this picture of Pun slinging posters was printed in The Berkeley Tribe newspaper, along with the illustration, presumably by Dave Baker. Oh, and the sign says “All Posters 50-cents”.
Another advance ad for the Goose Lake Festival, still downplaying the musical aspect, although correct in the addition of Rod Stewart & the Faces to the bill (still as “Small Faces” however).
Printed in two versions, blue-on-white and white-on-blue, for the Stooges, Rationals, and White Light at the Palladium in Birmingham, Michigan, July 24, 1970, by poster artist Carol Ann.
Another nice poster from the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, Illinois for Sha Na Na with Amboy Dukes, Commander Cody & his Lost Planet Airmen, and MC “Righteous” Bob Rudnick, July 24, 1970, also an art show with free posters. Poster by Bruce Weitzmon, and as we are seeing on these Aragon posters, copyright by Iris.
An ad for jazz drummer, singer, and bandleader J.C. Heard at the Golden Falcon on Ann Arbor, July 24, 1970 with an unidentified show poster in the photo.
Heard grew up in Detroit, graduating from Cass Tech High School. He had begun playing drums at age 11, and after graduation he embarked on a professional career that saw him performing with a virtual Who’s Who of jazz greats, including Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Woody Herman, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, and Cab Calloway, just to name a few.
He toured as part of Norman Granz's “Jazz at the Philharmonic” shows, which took him to Japan in 1953, where he remained for several years, working with Japanese musicians, and where he met his wife. He returned to Detroit in 1966, continually performing and recording until his passing in 1988 at age 71. His work can be found on over 1,100 record albums, and his legacy is honored with a yearly jazz drumming competition held as part of the annual Detroit Jazz Festival.
J.C. Heard – J.C.’s Grit Gitter (1967)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwuDaoPA-jg
Newspaper ad for Grand Funk Railroad with Swallow and Bloodrock at the “Ringcycle” at Stony Brook University in New York on July 24, 1970.
A poster for the Newcoast Festival in Chester County, Pennsylvania on July 24 - 26, 1970 that was cancelled two days before it was scheduled to begin due to a court injunction for not securing the necessary permits that were needed for a mass gathering. Michigan would have been well represented by the line-up of bands, which included Alice Cooper, Detroit featuring Mitch Ryder, Brownsville Station, Amboy Dukes, Stooges, Bob Seger System, Catfish, Third Power and Cactus (half-Detroit musicians).
The MC5 made their first overseas trip, to England to appear on the second day of the Phun City Festival, July 25, 1970.
The official poster for the Phun City festival in England, July 24-26, 1970, by British cartoonist Edward Barker, with The MC5 listed at the very top.
A beautiful poster for the Phun City festival in England, July 24-26, 1970. The MC5 are shown in the large green triangle above the lettering for the other groups.
Flyers for the Phun City festival in England, where The MC5 made their first overseas appearance on July 25, 1970.
London’s underground newspaper, The International Times, announcing the appearance of the MC5 at the Phun City festival, July 25, 1970.
Two more flyer/ads from the Phun City Festival. At first glance, we thought that the Friday night was free admission, then realized it was the name of the British band who’d just scored a world-wide Top Ten hit.
As it happened, however, the local officials slapped an injunction against the festival just ten days before the event, causing the financial backers to back out, and then lifted it with just three days left, leaving no time to finish fencing the grounds, turning it into free admission. When the bands arrived they were informed that they could not be paid, all of them agreed to perform anyway, except for one. Free refused to play for free and so they cut out.
Free – All Right Now (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT-0us1Dyqg
July 25, 1970, while The MC5 were rocking the Phun City festival in England, a Summer Saturday Festival was happening in Bradley, Michigan, twenty-five miles south of Grand Rapids with the Bob Seger System, Frost, SRC, Alice Cooper, Ormandy, and others.
Also on July 25, 1970, a show at the General Motors Tech Center in Flint, Michigan, another Jerry Patlow presentation. There’s a conflict with Alice Cooper, they are on this bill by an unknown artist, but were also on the previous poster for the same date in Bradley, Michigan.
The Alice Cooper archive has this GMTE show in the time, and does not have Bradley.
The Cooper archive also has an interesting show for two days prior, on July 23, 1970 at the Chicago Underground in Warren, Michigan, with the Assemblage and that apparently an audio tape exists
And yet another show on July 25, 1970, at Wamplers Lake Pavillion with the Stooges and White Light, and another poster by the unknown artist who used the comic book hero theme. The first one was previously seen for a June 6th show.
An ad for the Public Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio with Savage Grace opening for Sly & the Family Stone on July 25, 1970. A new Savage Grace show for the concert database, occurring in between their appearances at the WABX free concert at Tarter Field in Detroit, and at the Goose Lake Festival.
Also shown is the Top Six songs at WIXY 1260 radio in Cleveland, and an ad for Screaming Yellow Zonkers!
A striking yellow and black gives this poster a pop, for a Jimi Hendrix concert at Sick’s Stadium in Seattle, Washington, Hendrix’s home town on July 26, 1970. Cactus opened for Hendrix for their fourth time, the first had been their own debut concert in Philadelphia in May, they also opened for Hendrix in Baltimore and Boston in June.
Two posters, both by David Singer for the Fillmore West in San Francisco, California with Cactus opening three week-day shows for Ten Years After, July 28-30, 1970.
A strange, or not so strange, ad for a record sale at the University Store at the University of Michigan published in the July 29, 1970 edition of the Michigan Daily newspaper in Ann Arbor.
The Amboy Dukes, now officially Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes, recorded their fifth album as a live record called “Survival of the Fittest” at the Eastown Theatre on July 31, 1970, and August 1, 1970. The poster looks like a “commemorative” poster made after the event.
Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes - Survival of the Fittest (album) (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GC7_oQg0xo
Promo ad for Alice Cooper from July, 1970. Frank Zappa had sold his Straight label to Warner Bros and the band was under contract for one more album, their third, which would also be their third strike if it failed to perform any better than the previous two.
Poster by an unknown artist for a Music for Peace concert featuring the cast of the musical “Hair” in Detroit, Michigan, July 31, 1970.
Poster by an unknown artist for a Festival of Rock in Phoenix, Arizona on July 31, 1970 that included an appearance by Frijid Pink.
An ad for the UP at a “Two-Bit Dance” for the Gay Liberation Front in Detroit, Michigan on July 31, 1970.
Volume Six - 1970 - continues - HERE
A poster for Grand Funk Railroad in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire on July 29, 1970, slightly mis-spelled.
A nice poster, although Alice Cooper did not show up for opening for Love in Salt Lake Vity, Utah on July 18, 1970.
