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Splatt Gallery's History of Michigan Concert Posters
Volume Seven - 1971 - Page Ten
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A poster signed by D.B. Smith for two Michigan acts, Rare Earth and Ruth Copeland, whose touring band included P-Funk musicians Eddie Hazel, Bernie Worrell, Tiki Fulwood, Tawl Ross, and Billy Bass Nelson, in Orlando, Florida, on June 11, 1971.
Here is Copeland’s version of “Gimme Shelter” with the P-Funk lineup, including the smoking, as usual, guitar of Eddie Hazel. Check it out.
Ruth Copeland – Gimme Shelter (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df_91AH0_Lo
Poster for Detroit with Mitch Ryder, and Brownsville Station, at the Overton Shell in Memphis, Tennessee, June 11, 1971.
A poster for Frijid Pink with Moose & Da Sharks in Inkster, Michigan on June 11, 1971, a Jerry Patlow Presentation.
The front cover of the June 11, 1971 issue of the Ann Arbor SUN newspaper, with photo by David Fenton.
Tucked away on the “Funnies” page of the June 11, 1971 issue of the Ann Arbor SUN newspaper was this single-panel comic by MC5 lead singer Rob Tyner.
The Chairmen of the Board on the cover of the June 11, 1971 issue of the British music magazine Blues & Soul. They had been awarded “Most Promising Act for 1971” in the magazine’s annual poll. Their Invictus label mate Freda Payne was awarded “Best Record of the Year for 1970” for "Band of Gold", which had been a #1 single in the UK for six consecutive weeks.
Nostalgia started to become a big business as the folks that grew up in the 1950’s began to reach middle-age in the 1970’s. Aimed directly at that emerging new market, Buffalo Bob Smith brought “Howdy Doody Time” to the stage, appearing at Orchestra Hall in Detroit, Michigan, June 11-12, 1971, poster/ad by an unknown artist.
Newspaper ad and inside of program book for Alice Cooper opening for Glass Harp and Bloodrock at the Fillmore East in New York City, June 11-12, 1971. Also noted is the closing of Bill Graham’s Fillmore East, the final concerts by the Allman Brothers, June 25-27, 1971.
A poster for the final concerts at Bill Graham’s Fillmore East in New York City with Alice Cooper, Glass Harp, and Bloodrock appearing, June 11-12, 1971.
Gary Grimshaw poster for a free concert at the Forest Street Co-Op in Ann Arbor, Michigan, June 12, 1971, featuring the indefatigable Steve Mackay (Trombone Heaven) with Carnal Kitchen.
Flyer/ad with Brownsville Station opening for Mott The Hoople at the Warehouse in New Orleans, Louisiana on June 12, 1971.
On June 13, 1971, The New York Times ran the first excerpts from The Pentagon Papers, leaked to the press by Daniel Ellsberg. At first, President Richard Nixon planned to take no action against the publication of the secret documents because they put the Kennedy and Johnson administrations in a bad light, but not his own. Members of his administration, however, convinced him that this could set a bad precedent and the government began to go after the growing number of newspapers that were publishing the materials with injunctions and sought to convict Ellsberg of treason.
With the CIA Conspiracy Trial against John, Jack, and Pun, unraveling into a question of unwarranted wire taps, the May Day marches on Washington and other cities around the country, and now with the release of the Pentagon Papers, Nixon and the Honks were feeling embattled.
Gary Grimshaw’s 64th poster for the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan, June 13, 1971. Bands were Assemblage, Frut, UP, Guardian Angel, Brat, Barbara Holliday, and Still Eyes.
An uncut sheet of Gary Grimshaw flyers for the “Free John Now! Rock And Roll Marathon” at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan on June 13, 1971. Featuring the groups Assemblage, Frut, UP, Guardian Angel, Brat, Barbara Holliday, and Still Eyes.
Newspaper ad for the Guess Who at Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan, June 13, 1971, with Detroit featuring Mitch Ryder, and Sweathog.
Poster for Alice Cooper in Alexandria, Virginia on June 13, 1971.
Brownsville Station may have been the hardest-working band of all the Michigan bands, as they seem to turn up everywhere. Here they are headlining the Winnebago County Fairgrounds in Pecatonica, Illinois on June 14, 1971.
A 1970’s personality poster and show poster for John Lee Hooker in Heidelberg, Germany, June 14, 1971.
Poster by the unknown artist, possibly Carol Ann, for the Palladium in Birmingham, Michigan, June 15, 1971. The figures in the top center were taken from Jesus Christ Superstar. The “Superstar” album had been released in 1970, but the first stage production did not occur until July 1971, and did not open on Broadway until October.
According to the database, the Velvet Underground may not have made it to this show. In their place, the database lists singer Yvonne Elliman, who ironically, was on the Superstar album and in the Broadway cast of the show. Local support band Tea.
An ad for the Teen Scene ’71 Rock Fair at the Alabama State Fairgrounds in Birmingham, Alabama, featuring six days of continuous music from seventy great groups, including an appearance by Alice Cooper on June 15, 1971. Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes are also said to have performed during this event.
Ticket for the Teen Scene ’71 Rock Fair at the Alabama State Fairgrounds in Birmingham, Alabama, June 11-20, 1971.
Newspaper ad for an MC5 show that is not found in the database or the gateway, opening for the Velvet Underground and Buddy Miles at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri, June 16, 1971.
Poster by Dennis Preston, at The Dells, in Haslett, Michigan, June 16, 1971. Bands were Danny Hernandez & the Ones, Universe, and two mystery bands; Sidartha, and Archangel.
Newspaper ad for Brownsville Station and the Sunday Funnies at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana on June 16, 1971.
The events calendar from the Ann Arbor SUN newspaper showing Parliament-Funkadelic back in the USA, with an appearance at the Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan on June 18, 1971.
The impressive list of other acts that the calendar was tracking include, Alice Cooper, Amboy Dukes, Assemblage, Blue Scepter (formerly SRC), Boone’s Farm, Brat, Brownsville Station, Carnal Kitchen, Cecil, Collection, Cradle, Detroit (Mitch Ryder), Frijid Pink, Frut, Guardian Angel, Insanity’s Horse, Hollow Ground, Maxx, MC5, Mr. Flood’s Party, Mutzie, Ormandy, Otis, Rumor, Silverhawk, Springwell, Parliament-Funkadelic, STV (Bob Seger, Teegarden & Van Winkle), Sunday Funnies, Tea, Third Power, Universe, UP, Virgin Dawn, Whiz Kids and Werks.
The June 18, 1971 issue of the Ann Arbor Sun reported that Bob Rudnick returned to Detroit for a visit, to help put together a taped show about John Sinclair to be broadcast across FM radio stations. While he was in town, he re-teamed with his Kokaine Karma partner Dennis Frawley, still at WABX, to write a record review for the Sun. In classic form, they chose to review an album by the local evangelist Jack Van Impe, called “Marked For Death – Can America Survive?”, one of the numerous albums that Van Impe released, with his wife Rexella.
On this particular album, Van Impe took on the evils of rock and roll, specifically describing and quoting John Sinclair. Start at the 18:38 mark.
Jack Van Impe – Marked For Death (album) (1969)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiHs3Bo1PgQ
Another appearance of the “Motor City Three”, the package of Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes, and Brownsville Station, at the Toledo Sports Arena in Toledo, Ohio, June 18, 1971.
Poster/flyer by an unknown artist “Collins” for the Vanity Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan, June 18, 1971. This time, the Velvet Underground is confirmed in the database. Support groups were Guardian Angel, Magic Ring, The Coming, and MC Dan Carlisle from WRIF RAF.
An illustration of singer/songwriter Tim Hardin, appearing at the Poison Apple in Detroit, Michigan, June 18-19, 1971. Local singer/songwriter Jonathon Round opened both nights.
A flyer by “Rowland” for a show that does not appear in the MC5 timeline, but does not conflict with it either, for the MC5 at the Barrie Fair Grounds and Curling Rink in Barrie, Ontario, Canada on June 19, 1971.
Poster for a “Rock Revival II” in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on June 19, 1971, featuring Detroit artists Jackie Wilson and Hank Ballard & the Midnighters.
An ad with Savage Grace at the Aquarius Theater in Los Angeles, California on June 19, 1971. We featured this venue earlier, when it was known as the Hullabaloo, opened by KRLA DJ Dave Hull in late 1965. You may recall the excellent run of the KRLA BEAT newspaper that lasted, like the Hullabaloo, until 1968.
From Los Angeles Magazine, we story pick up from there:
“In 1968 the venue became the Kaleidoscope, which was run by Canned Heat’s booking agent, John Hartmann (who’s brother was comedian Phil Hartman), and its manager, Skip Taylor. Canned Heat was the house band for a spell, but Jefferson Airplane performed on the club’s opening night, March 22, 1968. The Kaleidoscope’s mission was to replicate the success of San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditoriums by booking acts that were based in Southern California, like Love, Iron Butterfly, and Eric Burdon and the Animals. All sorts of hippie bands, including the Grateful Dead, played the Kaleidoscope during the summer of 1968. The hangout held movie nights, too, and the great Don Ellis Orchestra, a super-hip big band, performed on Wednesdays. Sadly, the venue was too small to stay afloat, and the Kaleidoscope closed before Labor Day of that year. The venue did, however, release some pretty amazing posters that are collectibles today.
“A talented young set designer, Michael Baugh, stepped in next and transformed the club into the Aquarius Theatre. Under his direction, crews worked around the clock for two months redesigning and reconstructing the venue’s interior to ready it for a production of Hair.
“In addition, they replaced the portrait of Beryl Wallace with a wraparound mural painted by The Fool, a collective of Dutch and English artists best known for creating a mural on the Beatles’ Apple Boutique in London. In psychedelic style, the theater’s painting depicts the coming of the Age of Aquarius. Nearly overnight the mural-wrapped theater became a late 1960s Hollywood landmark.
“Hair played six nights a week. On Mondays, the venue was rented out by Elektra Records, which put on affordable concerts. The label’s most famous group, the Doors, recorded bits of their performances at the Aquarius for the album “Absolutely Live.” Frank Zappa, the Mothers of Invention, and Jethro Tull played at the Aquarius on March 31, 1969.
“Unfortunately, the Aquarius Theatre’s walls were not primed properly before the psychedelic murals were painted. After just a year and a half, the portion along the building’s west wall began to peel. It had to be completely painted over in 1971.
“In the mid-’70s, the theater became a go-to location for live concerts taped for TV. Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert filmed there, and so did Star Search for some seasons. The theater was renamed the Chevy Chase Theater in the fall of 1993 and began serving as the venue for Fox’s unsuccessful late-night show The Chevy Chase Show. Nickelodeon acquired the theater in 1997 and still owns it today.”
A story on the band Harvey Khek and review of their show at the Forest Theater in Detroit, Michigan on June 19, 1971.
“Rainbow Warrior” poster by an unknown artist in the June 21, 1971 issue of the Ann Arbor Sun newspaper.
The growing movement of Jesus People and Jesus Freaks, made the cover of Time magazine, June 21, 1971.
Another poster by the fantastic German poster artist Gunther Kieser, for Grand Funk Railroad in Offenbach, Germany on June 21, 1971. Curiously, GFR tour timelines list shows in Germany the day before and the day after this date, but are missing this one. We have seen “tour blank” versions of this poster, with no date or location information, but the only one we’ve found with the information so far, is this one.
Grand Funk Railroad “tour blank” poster by Gunther Kieser.
Detail of the train car on the Gunther Kieser poster for Grand Funk Railroad, 1971.
A fantastic poster for the “Celebration of Life”, an overly-ambitious eight-day event in McCrea, Louisiana, planned for June 21-28, 1971 by the same group of promoters who had put on the 1970 Atlanta Pop Festival, the New Orleans Pop Festival, and the Toronto Rock & Roll Revival. Plagued by problems from local officials, the event was re-located several times at the last minute, delaying the start of the festival by four days, causing the cancellation of most of the acts.
A multitude of problems at the festival caused the last day to be cancelled. Michigan bands that did perform were the Amboy Dukes and Brownsville Station (who were both singled out in a show review as two of the best performances). John Lee Hooker was among the many acts that cancelled.
An ad in Rolling Stone magazine for the “Celebration of Life” in McCrea, Louisiana, planned for June 21-28, 1971, but which did not start until June 24th and also ended a day early.
Poster by Dennis Preston for Wild Wednesday at the Sherwood Forest in Davison, Michigan, June 23, 1971. Bands were Amboy Dukes, Brownsville Station, Bob Seger, Teegarden & Van Winkle, Ormandy, Universe, SRC, Maxx, Rumor, and Whiz Kids. The “and Others” may have included the poster artist’s band, the Dennis Preston Band.
In his excellent book “Local DJ”, Peter C. Cavanaugh, the DJ at WTAC in Flint, Michigan, and the originator of the Wild Wednesdays, the Super Sundays, and the Michigan Monster shows, tells the story of this show on June 23, 1971. Bob Seger had been performing as a solo artist, accompanying himself on guitar and piano, and playing songs from his “Brand New Morning” album.
Peter C. was skeptical that this would go over well with his audience, and sure enough, according to his account, Seger began to lose them and started to bomb after a couple of songs. As boos and catcalls began rising, Cavanaugh looked at the next band in the line-up, setting up on the two-sided stage, the duo Teegarden & Van Winkle, and with quick work between himself, the artists, and Seger’s manager Punch Andrews, an abrupt change was made with Seger picking up an electric guitar and running through a set of standard rock and roll favorites with Teegarden & Van Winkle backing him up. The crowd was instantly turned around and the new trio worked through the rest of Seger’s set, the entirety of Teegarden & Van Winkle’s set, followed by a fifteen minute encore.
The newly formed group, sometimes referred to as “TVS” (Teegarden & Van Seger) continued to do shows together and would end up recording Seger’s next album together.
Alternate color version of Dennis Preston’s poster for Wild Wednesday at the Sherwood Forest in Davison, Michigan, June 23, 1971.
Peter Cavanaugh liked to use The Who’s song “The Ox” as the background music for his on-air announcements of the Wild Wednesdays.
The Who – The Ox (1965)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTheG4lh94I
A logo for WTAC’s “Wild Wednesday”
The back page of a Flint, Michigan newspaper called “Freedom Rider” with a poster by an unknown artist, presumably by staff illustrator Keith Stillwagon, promoting the June 23, 1971 Wild Wednesday show at the Sherwood Forest in Davison, Michigan.
Newspaper ad with Savage Grace opening for John Baldry at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles, California, June 23-27, 1971.
An ad for the “Apple Pop” series of shows at the Poison Apple club in Detroit, featuring the first Michigan shows by Apple Records recording artist Jackie Lomax, June 23-27, 1971. He is best known for the 1968 single “Sour Milk Sea”, although the single is more notable for being a non-Beatles song that featured three Beatles, George Harrison wrote, produced, and played guitar, with Ringo Starr on drums and Paul McCartney on bass. On top of that, Eric Clapton supplies the lead guitar. A rollicking rocker, it was favorably reviewed, but the record was overshadowed by being released on the same day as “Hey Jude” by the Beatles and “Those Were The Days” by Mary Hopkins, as part of the formal launch of Apple Records.
It's interesting that Jackie Lomax also appears on the previous ad for the Whisky a Go Go for shows in July.
Jackie Lomax – Sour Milk Sea (1968)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZJTxNlvUyE
The cover of the June 25, 1971 issue of the Ann Arbor SUN, which looks like Gary Grimshaw’s work, but is actually by George Pennewell from the magazine Good Times. The same illustration appeared earlier in a January 1970 issue of the Fifth Estate newspaper in Detroit.
A Gary Grimshaw ad for Head Sound recording studio in Ypsilanti, Michigan, in the June 25, 1971 issue of the Ann Arbor SUN newspaper.
MC5 at the Indiana University Auditorium in Bloomington, Indiana, June 25, 1971, poster by an unknown artist.
Re-using the same image by artist Fred Vocino that was used for the opening night of the Vanity Ballroom in April, this version has the line-up for June 25, 1971, with Catfish, Third Power, Frut, “and more”. It has the same winged bird as appeared on a poster by Collins for the Grande Ballroom on March 31, 1971.
Volume Seven - 1971 - continues - HERE
