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Splatt Gallery's History of Michigan Concert Posters
Volume Six - 1970 - Page Nineteen
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Nice, little illustration by an unknown artist for an ad for WXYZ-FM radio station in the November 26, 1970 issue of The Fifth Estate newspaper.
Poster with Rare Earth opening for Sly & the Family Stone and Gladys Knight & the Pips at Madison Square Garden in NYC, November 26-27, 1970.
An odd looking poster that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the inset that describes a concert with the MC5, Alice Cooper, and the Stooges at the Syndrome in Chicago, Illinois on November 27, 1970. Billed as “That old Woodstock gang of mine presents MC5, Alice Cooper and the Stooges…” The Stooges cancelled, their first show with James Williamson on guitar took place on the same date, at the Herman Secondary School in Windsor, Canada.
These photos, from the high school yearbook, seem to confirm the Stooges gig at the Herman Secondary School in Windsor, Canada, November 27, 1970, and also seem to confirm that James Williamson had joined the band by that time.
Poster/flyer for the Sunshine In in Asbury Park, New Jersey with Cactus opening for Black Sabbath on November 27, 1970. Also on the bill is Steel Mill, the New Jersey band with Bruce Springsteen.
An ad for the Fifth Dimension with the Jimmy Castor Bunch at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan on November 27, 1970.
Nice poster by Texas poster artist Bill Narum and the Steampower Poster Co. in London for a Houston, Texas appearance of the MC5, November 28-29, 1970, their first Houston appearance, rescheduled from October 31 and November 1st.
An ad in the Houston, Texas newspaper Space City! for the MC5 at a club called Of Our Own in Houston, November 28-29, 1970.
The British group Badfinger made their Michigan debut at the Birmingham Palladium, November 28, 1970, supported by Julia and the Woolies. Poster for the Palladium by Chad Hines.
Edwin Starr on the front cover and Aretha Franklin on the back cover of the December 4, 1970 issue of the British music magazine Blues & Soul.
Photo of Iggy Pop by Kurt Ingham on the cover of the December 1970 issue of CREEM magazine. The issue carried Part Two of Lester Bangs’ review of the Stooges’ “Fun House” album. It was the second CREEM magazine cover of the year for Iggy
A two-page Columbia and Epic Records ad in the December 1970 issue of CREEM magazine, (color added to the record covers).
Two ads in the December 1970 issue of CREEM magazine, the second album by Frijid Pink, and the self-titled debut album by the band Black Merda.
The members of Black Merda were school friends, growing up in Detroit, they originally formed a group called the Impacts doing session work for Motown artists, in particular with Edwin Starr under the name the Soul Agents.
Influenced by Jimi Hendrix, the group adopted a harder rock sound and renamed themselves Black Merda. Black Merda signed to Chess Records through their work with psychedelic soul eccentric Fugi, who they also backed on his “Mary, Don't Take Me on No Bad Trip” album for Chess.
Black Merda – Black Merda (album) (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oekK4OVVKJk
One of Gary Grimshaw’s best cover illustrations, for the December 2, 1970 issue of The Ann Arbor Argus newspaper, with an eyeball-loaded masthead and a quote from Captain Beefheart.
Program cover for the Supremes at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada for an engagement ended on December 2, 1970. Book-ending the year, the group had also performed their final concert with Diana Ross at the Frontier Hotel in January 1970.
Promo ad in early December 1970 for the second Frijid Pink album.
Frijid Pink – Defrosted (album) (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBBGfuFpl1k
Record company ad for the only US tour by Derek & the Dominos. The date and venue for the listed Detroit show was changed to the Eastown Theater, December 3, 1970.
Duane Allman is known to have joined the band for two of the shows, it’s been fairly well confirmed that he was at the Tampa, Florida show on December 1, 1970 and the Syracuse, New York show on December 2, 1970, the two shows just prior to Detroit.
In a 2009 comment on a YouTube video of a bootleg performance of “Little Wing” (since deleted by the Hendrix estate) a “Motownharry” was adamant that Duane Allman performed with Derek & the Dominos at the Eastown in Detroit. He also states that there was a hell of a blizzard that night and perhaps only as few as eighty people were in attendance. This comment has propagated through the Internet, even becoming included on some Duane Allman chronologies.
However, in 2015, a “Dan In Vermont” had the excellent idea to check the weather in Detroit for December 3, 1970 and he was able to prove that not only was there not a blizzard on that day, it was, in fact unseasonably warm, with a downright balmy 44-degrees, with rain, at showtime.
“Dan In Vermont” is gracious in saying that the weather report alone does not disprove Allman’s appearance, but says it does “call Motownharry’s posted memory of that night into serious question”. We can easily take that next step since if such a key element of the story is as wrong as it could possibly be, we have to believe that “Motownharry” was trippin’.
In addition, Ron Domilici, who has the most complete, and most extensive record of “The 60’s – 70’s Detroit rock scene” on his Facebook page of the same name, has a photograph from the Derek & the Dominos show, and there is no Duane.
So, although a Detroit audience never experienced the rare treat of Eric Clapton and Duane Allman on the same stage, the Tampa show was recorded and although there may be a better sounding version elsewhere, this one isn’t bad and it is a remarkable moment in rock concert history, even if it, unfortunately, does not include “Little Wing”.
Derek & the Dominos – Live in Tampa, Florida (12/1/70)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT1AMMcggO0
https://www.duaneallman.info/note143.htm
https://tomcaswell.net/dominos-book/dominos-tour-dates/
Less than two weeks after appearing at the University of Detroit, Jane Fonda came to Ann Arbor, Michigan, December 3, 1970. Although her support acts in Detroit, the Stooges, the Brooklyn Bridge and Damnation, were a much better line-up, this one had a much better poster, made by Gary Grimshaw.
Two days before the Jane Fonda appearance in Ann Arbor that was documented with the Gary Grimshaw poster, it appears she gave another speech, December 1, 1970, with music supplied by the UP.
Newspaper ad for a “Holiday Festival” at Monroe Community College in Rochester, New York on December 4, 1970, featuring Buddy Guy, Alice Cooper, Catfish, Damnation, the Stooges, and Junior Wells, although the Stooges reportedly did not appear.
An ad for the Rascals with Bluebyrd at Oakland University in Rochester Hills, Michigan on December 4, 1970, along with artwork by an unknown artist from the same page in the student newspaper “Focus: Oakland”.
Gary Grimshaw poster for a Rock & Roll Dance Concert in Hancock, way up in the top of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, December 4, 1970. The location is misspelled, it should be the Paavo Nurmi Gym.
The band Mutzie will show up on a lot of posters over the next year as they try to build some momentum around the album they released on the Sussex label in August 1970.
Mutzie – Light of Your Shadow (album) (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir4GzKkUCvE
Palladium poster/handbill by Chad Hines, for Big Brother & the Holding Company with Works and Loki at the Palladium in Birmingham, Michigan, December 5, 1970.
The high school kids did it again, this time in Farmington, Michigan with a Holiday of Rock show with the Stooges, Detroit featuring Mitch Ryder, and The Coming, December 5, 1970. Poster by an unknown artist S.L. Donahue, possibly a student at the school, using an outdated photo of the band, but still very cool.
A mini blues festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan, December 6, 1970, as a benefit to raise money for the real thing the next summer. The 1970 Blues Festival had lost money, partly due to the fact that half of the state’s population of kids were over at the Goose Lake Festival the same weekend. This December benefit did well, but not enough to close the gap, and the 1971 festival was cancelled. They didn’t know it, but the 1972 effort would get assistance from, at the time, an unexpected source. Poster by an unknown artist.
A newspaper ad for a benefit show on December 6, 1970 at the Events Building at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor to save the Ann Arbor Blues Festival. The 1970 festival had lost money, partly due to the fact that half of the state’s population of kids were over at the Goose Lake Festival the same weekend. This December benefit show did well, but not enough to close the gap, and the hoped-for 1971 festival was cancelled.
A poster for the Supremes in Buffalo, New York on December 6, 1970.
A classic ad from November 1970 for Mickey Shorr’s Tape Shack. One of Detroit's favorite DJ’s from the golden days of AM radio DJ’s, had given up being on the radio, and devoted his talents to selling them, with soon to be a chain of auto audio equipment stores around Detroit.
Poster by San Francisco poster artist Greg Irons, the good friend of Gary Grimshaw who had given him a place to live during Grimshaw’s exile from Michigan. The December 7, 1970 show featured Commander Cody and the note at the bottom of the poster says “this show put together by Mouse”, probably Stanley.
A new bar in town, advertised, and recommended for cheap drinks, in the December 10, 1970 issue of The Fifth Estate newspaper in Detroit. Cartoon panel taken from “The Continuing Story of God” comic by Jay Gaulding and Dennis Harper.
Ad by an unknown artist in the Detroit Gay Liberator newspaper for a dance featuring the UP in Ann Arbor, Michigan, December 11, 1970.
Poster by an unknown artist for the Washington Avenue Armory in Albany, New York with Cactus listed for an upcoming show, opening for Richie Havens, on December 11, 1970. Cactus guitarist Jim McCarty’s former employer Buddy Miles preceded, opening for the Grateful Dead.
A newspaper ad for Grand Funk Railroad at Madison Square Garden in NYC on December 11, 1970. The first show was scheduled for December 18, but as that date sold out in less than four hours, this second show was added and a second midnight concert for the 18th was also being contemplated.
Nicely illustrated ad for the Tube Works television show from the December 12, 1970 issue of the TV Guide in Detroit. For those too young to know, the illustration is based on the pattern that would appear when a TV station was off the air (peace sign added). Full 24-hour broadcasting was not common until the late 1970’s.
Poster/handbill by Chad Hines for the Birmingham Palladium in Birmingham, Michigan, for a show by the Stooges with Catfish and the Jam Band, on December 12, 1970. This was supposedly the last show for the Stooges’ bass player Zeke Zettner, who had replaced original bassist Dave Alexander. Zettner would be replaced by Jimmy Recca.
A full-page Motown Records ad for Edwin Starr’s follow-up to his hit “War” called “Stop the War Now”. The new single entered Billboard's Hot 100 chart at #62 on December 13, 1970 and five weeks later it peaked at #26. It reached #5 on the R&B Singles chart.
Edwin Starr - Stop The War Now (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWkbiL9HblE
A radio concert by Elton John, broadcast on WXYZ-FM, December 14, 1970. Elton had made his Michigan debut a few weeks earlier, at the Eastown Theater in Detroit, November 27-28, 1970.
Iggy, and Ron Asheton, on the cover of the December 15, 1970 issue of Changes magazine from New York City.
Cover of the December 17, 1970 issue of The Ann Arbor Argus newspaper with artwork by Gary Grimshaw in collaboration with an unknown artist.
Poster by Gary Grimshaw from the December 17, 1970 issue of The Ann Arbor Argus newspaper. A nice color version will come up a little later.
If this poster wasn’t so awesome we would have skipped it since the best image we could make was to take two screen shots from a Poster Central video. A Globe Poster for the Temptations with Carla Thomas, the Bar-Kays and the Bohannon 10 Piece Band in Jacksonville, Florida on December 18, 1970.
Great lettering, over-sized and with three pictures of the Temps, but let Pete Howard at Poster Central describe it best in the video link below, and we nearly fell off our chair when, near the end, he mentions that he picked it up for four bucks!
https://blog.postercentral.com/2011/05/20/temptations-1970-concert-poster-jacksonville-fl/
One of the coolest posters we’ve seen, by an unknown artist for the Grand Valley Armory, with the Stooges, MC5, Riverun, and Cirrus, December 18, 1970. This outpost, outside Grand Rapids, Michigan, also known as the 44th Street Armory has been particularly active this year although none of these events appear in the concert database.
Smokey Robinson had a plan to retire from touring with The Miracles and settle in Detroit to spend more time with his family, concentrate on his duties as Motown’s vice-president, and begin to chart a solo career. A TV special, The Smokey Robinson Show, was taped to re-introduce Smokey as his own man and was broadcast on ABC on December 18, 1970.
But something else happened the week before the broadcast that would put his plan on hold for the next two years, as for the very first time, Smokey & The Miracles had a #1 hit.
It was a track that had been buried on an album that had been released in 1967, a track co-written with Stevie Wonder during the 1966 Motown Christmas party, called “Tears of a Clown”. In the absence of new material, radio stations in the UK began playing the song in July 1970 and when it hit #1 over there, Motown released a freshly re-recorded version in the US where it held the #1 spot for two weeks, December 12-18, 1970.
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles – Tears of a Clown (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2kxlZDOHeQ
Two full-page ads from the October 10, 1970 issue of Billboard magazine for Smokey Robinson & the Miracles’ single “Tears of a Clown”. As we described in an earlier post, the 1967 recording became an unexpected #1 hit in England, forcing Smokey Robinson to reconsider his retirement from performing. A freshly re-recorded version held the #1 spot in the US for two weeks, December 12-18, 1970.
Volume Six - 1970 - continues - HERE
Front cover illustration and subscription ad by Laron for the December 1970 issue of the Second Coming newspaper in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
A collection of ads from the Second Coming newspaper in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Zeke Mallory, the paper’s main artist and later one-half of Crow Quill, provided his talents to the benefit of the advertisers, particularly Ned’s Book Store and the Floating Meatball restaurant. He may have also been associated with the printers Heat Wave Energies and/or Journey Graphics.
Issue #5 of the Motor City Rock Roll News, dated November 25, 1970. This bi-weekly single sheet leaflet was available by mail only and was published by “the rock and roll committee of the Detroit Tribal Council, a coalition of music and media people based in Detroit and Ann Arbor”, with an address in the David Stott building in Detroit, Michigan. We know from this, and other issues we have posted, that the lettering, at least, was provided by Gary Grimshaw.
The leaflet would have a few short stories and the “where it’s at” listings of local band schedules, the list in this issue really shows the abundance of riches that we had at the time, as these were our local groups:
Alice Cooper, All The Lonely People, Amboy Dukes, Blues Train, Bob Seger System, Brat, Brownsville Station, Catfish, Cradle, Collection, Damnation of Adam Blessing, Frut, Funkadelics, Grand Funk, John Drake Shakedown, Julius Victor, MC5, Mike Quatro Jam Band, Mitch Ryder, My Friends, SRC, Stooges, Suite Charity, Tea, Teegarden & Van Winkle, The Ones, Universal Family, UP, Virgin Dawn, Werks, and the Woolies.
Subscription ad for The Ann Arbor Argus newspaper by Gary Grimshaw that appeared in the November 26, 1970 issue of The Fifth Estate newspaper. Wonder what the “purple Pun & Genie poster” bonus incentive looked like?
