Splatt Gallery
Double click here to add text.
Splatt Gallery's History of Michigan Concert Posters
Volume Seven - 1971 - Page Thirteen
************************************************************
Extremely nice, rarely seen poster by Gary Grimshaw for the Ann Arbor Blues Recital at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan, July 24, 1971.
Newspaper ad by Gary Grimshaw for Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan, July 24, 1971.
Poster for Open Air Celebration II in St. Paul, Minnesota on July 24, 1971, with the Mike Quatro Jam Band as part of the line-up that included Poco, Allman Brothers Band, It’s A Beautiful Day, Little Richard, John Baldry, Joy of Cooking, Redeye, and “Li’l Sun” Tony Glover.
A second poster for the Open Air Celebration II in St. Paul, Minnesota on July 24, 1971, with the Mike Quatro Jam Band as part of the line-up that included Poco, Allman Brothers Band, It’s A Beautiful Day, Little Richard, John Baldry, Joy of Cooking, Redeye, and “Li’l Sun” Tony Glover.
The third weekend at The Park in North Baltimore, Ohio, July 25, 1971 was a Sunday show headlined by Ike & Tina Turner, with Michigan bands SRC and Brat. Additional local bands were Loco Weed, Dove, and Sunflower.
We don’t find a Gary Grimshaw poster or a Park Press newspaper for this one, and we haven’t found anything at all yet on the second weekend, but they’ll start to roll on from here with some nice work coming.
Poster by an unknown artist for Spirit at the Musicarnival in Cleveland, Ohio on July 25, 1971. Opening the show was Ann Arbor, Michigan’s Floating Opera in what might have been their final gig.
A story on the band Floating Opera in the Northeastern Ohio Scene magazine from the time of their appearance in the region in May 1971. Also shown is the band's only album, released in 1971.
Gary Grimshaw logo for the Rainbow People’s Party Tribal Council from the July 27, 1971 issue of the Ann Arbor SUN.
The stately columns of Gaelic Park in the Bronx, New York announce a show with Alice Cooper opening for Black Oak Arkansas and Black Sabbath on July 28, 1971.
Gary Grimshaw’s 65th poster for the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan, July 29, 1971. Bands were MC5, Frijid Pink, UP, Carnal Kitchen, and Trunion Brothers.
A Gary Grimshaw ad for the July 29, 1971 show at the Grande Ballroom.
This might be the last poster that we’ll see with a nice band photo, so let’s stick this one here:
MC5 – Sister Anne (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu32QpGkO2A
Gary Grimshaw two-sided handbill for the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan, July 29, 1971, with the backside for an August 3, 1971 show at the Union Ballroom in Ann Arbor.
A very clean design with a nice wrap around for the letters of “Commander Cody & his Lost Planet Airmen”, at the Berkeley Community Center in Berkeley, California on July 30, 1971.
The Park Press newspaper and centerfold from the July 31, 1971 issue, the fourth weekend of operation. Michigan bands Ormandy and UP supported the Allman Brothers, Rotgut, Cowboy, and Hannibal Gum.
A night of Michigan acts in Monticello, Indiana, July 31, 1971, with SRC, Bob Seger and Teegarden & Van Winkle, and with Alice Cooper coming up.
A Tribune Press poster for Jackie Wilson at the Met Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, July 31, 1971, and August 1st. In true “boxing style”, the event is billed as a “Battle of Super Stars”, with Wilson “versus” Otis Clay.
A full-page Motown Records ad for the Diana Ross single “I’m Still Waiting”, released in July 1971. Initially intended only as an album track, BBC Radio 1 disc jockey Tony Blackburn featured it heavily on his morning program, and persuaded EMI—which at the time issued all Tamla Motown material in the UK—to release it as a single. It reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart for four weeks in August 1971. However, it was only a modest success in the US, reaching No. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, and No. 40 on the R&B chart.
A full-page Invictus Records ad, and a poster that came with the second album by Ruth Copeland, released in July 1971. As with her 1970 debut album “Self Portrait”, “I Am What I Am” contains contributions from George Clinton and the musicians from Parliament-Funkadelic, as well as local Detroit session players such as guitarist Ray Monette.
An Atlantic Records ad for the Allman Brothers’ “Live at the Fillmore East” and the MC5’s “High Time” albums, both released in July 1971.
The August 19, 1971 issue of the Fifth Estate newspaper carried the story of a brutal murder of a black man named Calvin McWhite inside the Eastown Theater in Detroit, Michigan during a Leon Russell concert on August 2, 1971. According to the story, McWhite was beaten, robbed, stabbed and thrown out a third floor fire escape door into the alley below. He was discovered in the alley at 11:30 that night and died at Detroit General Hospital ten days later.
We have not been able to confirm this through any other source, ( a goggle search for a murder in Detroit in 1971 is, predictably, a hopeless cause), and a Leon Russell appearance at the Eastown on August 2, 1971 cannot be found in any database (we did find a Leon Russell show in Cleveland the following day, on August 3, so he was in the area, and a show the night before in Detroit is feasible).
The Eastown Theater was notorious for being dangerous, death-drug infested, and overcrowded, although many people remember it for good times and great shows, it was the location of many artist’s first appearances in Michigan, including Mountain, Chicago, Jack Bruce, Eric Burdon with War, Cactus, Elton John, Derek & the Dominos, Captain Beefheart, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Buddy Miles, Allman Brothers, Yes, King Crimson, and Leon Russell (on an earlier date than this one in question). Alice Cooper has said it was his favorite venue to play, and as we saw earlier, it was the location where Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes recorded their live album “Survival of the Fittest”.
At yet, mainstream sources reported at least two deaths (presumable drug overdoses, oddly no record of Calvin McWhite’s murder), numerous arrests, and twenty violations issued by the Detroit Fire Department over a four month period. Detroit Mayor Roman Gribbs had ordered the Eastown’s business licenses pulled in December 1970, but the theater’s lawyers kept being granted injunctions against the ruling, and maintained operating without a formal license for nearly a year. The final straw will be broken in December 1971, as we will get to.
The Fifth Estate and Ann Arbor Sun newspapers were no fans of part-owner Gabe Glantz and part-owner/manager Bob Bageris and the Fifth Estate cited Bageris’ seeming indifference to Calvin McWhite’s death as another example of his callousness. Bageris once famously told The Detroit Free Press, “the Eastown is not a place for dope, I try to keep the dope out”.
Gary Grimshaw poster for the Union Ballroom in Ann Arbor, August 3, 1971. Bands were Amboy Dukes, UP, Brat, and Otis.
Gary Grimshaw newspaper ad for the Union Ballroom in Ann Arbor, August 3, 1971.
Poster by the Colby Poster Printing Co. and a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Free Press for John Lee Hooker with Canned Heat and Southwind in Santa Monica, California on August 4, 1971.
Gary Grimshaw’s 67th poster for the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan, August 5, 1971. Bands were Detroit with Mitch Ryder, UP, Third Power, Pride, Rumor, and Iron Horse Exchange.
Gary Grimshaw handbill for the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan, August 5, 1971. The band Salvage are listed in place of Rumor on the previous poster.
Another flyer for the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan, August 5, 1971. Both bands, Salvage and Rumor are listed, while Pride and Detroit with Mitch Ryder, who were on the earlier two posters are missing here. This could have been the earliest of the flyers for this show as it promises, “stay tuned in for some big last minute surprises”.
Newspaper ad and simple handbill by Gary Grimshaw for a “Jam Night” at the Alley in Ann Arbor, Michigan, August 5, 1971, featuring members of the bands, MC5, SRC, Brat, Savage Grace, Guardian Angel, and Carnal Kitchen. We sure would like to know which band members participated and how it went.
Diana Ross on the cover of the August 6, 1971 issue of the British music magazine Blues & Soul.
Gary Grimshaw illustration of WRIF DJ Dan Carlisle that looks like it was modeled by this photo of Carlisle that appeared in the August 6, 1971 issue of the Ann Arbor Sun newspaper.
Photo of the Rondeau Park Pavilion in Morpeth, Ontario, Canada with a big poster, or hand-painted sign, outside announcing a show by Brownsville Station on August 6, 1971, followed by “All Girl Band” Cradle on August 11th. Lower photo of Brownsville Station performance.
Newspaper ad for Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes with Black Sabbath in Macon, Georgia on August 6, 1971.
A full-page Rare Earth records company ad in the August 7, 1971 issue of Billboard magazine for the second single by Stoney & Meat Loaf.
Stoney & Meat Love – It Takes All Kinds of People (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtMAy-OWogQ
A full-page Capitol Records ad in the August 7, 1971 issue of Billboard magazine for the second single from Grand Funk’s fourth album “Survival”. Earlier, we posted Ruth Copeland’s (essentially Parliament-Funkadelic’s) version of the Rolling Stones’ classic.
Grand Funk – Gimme Shelter (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z69hmH3zHPQ
Poster by an unknown artist for the fifth weekend at The Park in North Baltimore, about twelve miles north of Finley, Ohio, August 7, 1971, with Michigan bands, MC5, Amboy Dukes, Bob Seger, Teegarden & Van Winkle, and Catfish.
The Park Press newspaper for The Park in North Baltimore, Ohio, August 7, 1971. It mentions that there had been four previous shows. The headliners had been as follows:
July 10, 1971 – Paul Butterfield, Velvet Underground
July 17, 1971 – Edgar Winter’s White Trash, Canned Heat (deduced from the article)
July 25, 1971 – Ike & Tina Turner
July 31, 1971 – Allman Brothers
The article points out that all of the shows, except Ike & Tina Turner, were only $2.50 for advance tickets, that there had been no trouble and no arrests, but that the crowds had been “meager”, attributing that to lack of exposure rather than as sign of failure.
Poster by an unknown artist for the show that the Stooges cancelled, scheduled for August 7, 1971 at Wampler’s Lake Pavilion. The bands Rumor and Tea may still have performed.
Poster for a Sunshine Country Boogie, outside of Grand Rapids, Michigan, August 8, 1971 (we think), that looks like a Dennis Preston poster (untypically unsigned). Bands were Days (formerly Home), Hal Beveridge & the Space Cowboys, Trax, and Mint.
Poster by Dennis Preston, for Sherwood Forest in Davison, Michigan, August 11, 1971. Bands were Parliaments-Funkadelic,. Detroit with Mitch Ryder, Frijid Pink, Mutzie, Julia, Frut, and mystery band of the poster, Glitchball Griffin.
Funkadelic – Super Stupid (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVHrvx-Ua68
Gary Grimshaw poster for the Union Ballroom in Ann Arbor, Michigan, August 12, 1971. Bands were Parliament-Funkadelic and UP.
Funkadelic – Can You Get to That (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rrOdcnFbAY
A poster for Merle Haggard at the Jackson County Fair in Jackson, Michigan on August 12, 1971.
The Park Press newspaper for August 14, 1971, the sixth weekend show at The Park in North Baltimore, Ohio. The line-up for this show is provided in the next post.
Feature stories in the Northeastern Ohio Scene magazine on The Park in North Baltimore, Ohio with the line-up for the August 14, 1971 show of Damnation of Adam Blessing, Savage Grace, Sunday Funnies, Third Power, Brat, and Ormandy.
Alice Cooper would appear at The Park on August 21st, along with Ormandy and SRC.
Poster by Dennis Preston, for the Melody Ballroom in Inkster, Michigan, August 14, 1971. Bands were the Dogs, Universe, and Silver Hawk.
Jerry Patlow became involved in the music business while still a student at Mackenzie High School in Detroit. He became a promotor and booking agent, and started his own Patlow Records label which released a couple of singles by Ronnie Putirka and the Motor City Bonnevilles.
In 1971, he converted the Melody Theatre in Inkster, Michigan, a movie house that was occasionally used for church services, into a concert venue, with the opening show on June 26 featuring the UP, The Rumor, and Salvage. Following a month’s worth of shows in July, he booked the Dogs, Silver Hawk, and Universe for August 14th.
Through his association with shows at Sherwood Forest in Davison, Michigan, and some Lansing-based shows, Patlow was familiar with artist Dennis Preston whom he enlisted to make posters for the Melody. (Preston has said that his very first concert poster was for a 1969 Jerry Patlow presentation of the Dogs and two Detroit bands at Michigan State University’s Union Ballroom in East Lansing, a show and poster we have not been able to find).
Preston has mentioned that the posters he made for Jerry Patlow were always split-fountain (where one color blends into another), although Preston rarely had a say in the colors of the inks or the colors of the paper, those decisions were usually made by Patlow or the printer.
A pair of newspaper ads declaring that the show by The Who at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan on August 14, 1971 was sold out. It was the band’s 12th Michigan appearance.
Two-sided flyer/handbill by an unknown artist for the 1st Indianapolis Rock Festival at Bush Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana on August 14, 1971, with Cactus on the bill, along with Sea Train, Savoy Brown, Delaney & Bonnie, Buddy Miles (guitarist Jim McCarty’s former boss before McCarty joined Cactus), Rastus (similar in name to Cactus), Pure Prairie League, Glass Harp, and Skid Row (not the’80’s metal band).
Poster for the Jackson 5 in Tulsa, Oklahoma on August 18, 1971, nearing the end of their second US tour, which had been year-long, beginning on January 2nd, and ending on December 30th.
The back cover subscription page of the August 19, 1971 issue of the Fifth Estate newspaper in Detroit, Michigan with artist Michael Leonard’s painting of the Beatles which also appeared in Alan Aldridge’s 1969 book “The Illustrated Beatles Lyrics”.
Two versions of a poster by Gary Grimshaw, in collaboration with SUN staff artist Bill Goodson, for the Union Ballroom in Ann Arbor, Michigan, August 20, 1971. Bands were UP, Guardian Angel, Brat, Carnal Kitchen, and mystery band of the poster, Bad Luck & Trouble Blues Band.
Another cool poster by an unknown artist for the 44th Street Armory in Grand Rapids, Michigan, August 20, 1971 with Savage Grace, Frut, Trax, and The Generation Gap. Light show by Phantasmagoria. Artist signature on the bottom right is just barely beyond our optical ability.
A Hatch Show Print poster for Jimmy Lynch at Mr. Kelly’s in Detroit, Michigan, August 20-22, 1971. Also known as “Mr. Motion” and “The Funky Tramp”, Lynch was a comedian, singer, dancer, actor, emcee, “a total entertainer”. His comedy was typically X-rated, he appeared in the films of his longtime friend Rudy Ray Moore, aka Dolemite. He recorded a number of comedy albums in his persona of the Funky Tramp, and a handful of pure funk singles as Mr. Motion.
Jimmy Lynch – Notions of Mr. Motions (1968?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ1tnUkbhCs
Poster by an unknown artist for a series of three “Love Inc” shows outside of Peoria, Illinois. Of interest to our story is the show on August 21, 1971 with Brownsville Station and Teegarden & Van Winkle with Bob Seger, illustrated on the top of the right-hand side, with Seger singing “Rambin’ Gamblin’ Man”.
Artist signature in lower right corner, but just illegible, nice, how the artist made it look like the middle fold of a book or magazine.
Poster by an unknown artist for SRC, Third Power, and the Whiz Kids at Wampler’s Lake Pavilion in Onsted, Michigan, August 21, 1971.
Volume Seven - 1971 - continues - HERE
