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Splatt Gallery's History of Michigan Concert Posters
Volume Seven - 1971 - Page Fourteen
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Gary Grimshaw poster for The Park in North Baltimore, Ohio, August 21, 1971. Alice Cooper with other Michigan bands, SRC and Ormandy. This was the seventh show at The Park and Grimshaw’s second poster for them.
Alternative color versions of the Gary Grimshaw poster for The Park in North Baltimore, Ohio, August 21, 1971, plus the Park Press newspaper for the show.
Meanwhile, down in Cincinnati, Ohio, a funk band called the House Guests were about to make a move to Detroit. The band had started as The Pacemakers in 1968, and two of its members, the guitarist and bassist Collins brothers, had just come off an amazing year-long ride as part of the J.B.’s, the backing band for James Brown, playing on some of Brown’s funkiest recordings, “Sex Machine”, “Super Bad”, “Soul Power”, and “Talking Loud”, and accompanying Brown on a European tour. Returning home to Cincinnati, the brothers reformed The Pacemakers as the House Guests and released two singles on their own label in 1971.
Their singer, Philippe Wynne, who had been born in Detroit, had been picked to replace his cousin, C.G. Cameron, as one of the lead singers of The Spinners. Wynne invited his House Guests band mates to join him, however, on the advice of a friend, singer Mallia Franklin, the brothers, Phelps, better known by his nickname “Catfish”, and William, better known by his nickname “Bootsy”, agreed to meet with George Clinton.
House Guests – What So Never the Dance (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQvUKJ440fI
Gary Grimshaw poster for the Sunday free concert at Diana Oughton Memorial Park in Ann Arbor, Michigan, August 22, 1971. Bands were UP, Guardian Angel, Otis, and Bob Goldenthal & his Blues Band.
Poster by an unknown artist for a Rock! Concert at Barberton Speedway in Norton, Ohio, August 23, 1971 with Michigan bands Alice Cooper and Catfish.
An awesome Globe Poster, as always, for the Edwin Starr Revue at Mr. Kelley’s in Detroit, Michigan for a four-day stand with at least six shows, August 26-29, 1971. The poster has a curious list of Edwin Starr’s “hits”, with “Stop the War Now”, the less successful follow-up to his only #1 hit “War”, the non-charting 1968 record “I Am the Man for You Baby”, and “Love is My Destination”, which was the B-side to his second biggest record, 1968’s “Twenty-Five Miles”.
Also shown on the poster, Miss Orthea Barnes was the sister of the legendary J.J. Barnes.
Edwin Starr – Twenty-Five Miles (1968)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oCfjzmXuU0
Edwin Starr – Love is My Destination (1967)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXNAO77U3iU
The Undisputed Truth on the cover of the August 27, 1971 issue of the British music magazine Blues & Soul.
Dennis Preston illustration for a back to school sale at the Free Spirit stores in Lansing, Michigan, August 27, 1971.
Poster/handbill, probably by Chad Hines, for Wampler’s Lake Pavilion in Onsted, August, 28, 1971. Bands were MC5, Springwell, and Insanity’s Horse.
Poster by Dennis Preston, and his second for the Melody Ballroom in Inkster, Michigan, August 28, 1971. Bands were Rumor, Cecil, and Comstock Lode, a Jerry Patlow presentation.
A fantastic poster, possibly Gary Grimshaw’s most unusual, his third one for The Park in North Baltimore, Ohio, August 28, 1971. Michigan bands were Brownsville Station, Guardian Angel, and Mutzie.
Gary Grimshaw poster for the Sunday free concert at Diana Oughton Memorial Park in Ann Arbor, Michigan, August 29, 1971. Bands were SRC, Walrus from Marquette, Michigan, and mystery band of the poster, Sweet Pain.
We first saw the Detroit band Bump at the Grande Ballroom, opening for the Rationals on July 17, 1967, and we’ve earlier high-lighted their 1969 single and 1970 album. The band had recorded a second album before they broke up in 1971, but it remained un-released until the German label, Shadoks Music, that specializes in rare psychedelic and underground records, released it in 2011.
Bump – Boris the Black (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjW6ovxuwlY
The September 1971 issue of CREEM magazine, the first with the new title logo, designed by Bob Wilson, which would live on and become as synonymous with the magazine as R. Crumb’s Boy Howdy mascot.
The issue also timed nicely with the climax of a “Jacksonmania” year for Motown’s newest, biggest stars, the Jackson Five. They hit the ground running on the second day of the year, launching a five-city tour that ended with a hero’s welcome in the home town of Gary, Indiana on January 31.
At the beginning of the summer, they embarked on a forty-city tour, including a mid-tour show at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit and wrapping up with a show at the Michigan State Fair Grounds on September 9th (they treated themselves to one final gig in Hawaii three days later). Also in September, the Jackson 5 cartoon show began airing on ABC-TV, with their character illustrations, as rendered by Bob Wilson, gracing the cover of CREEM magazine.
The back cover of the September 1971 issue of CREEM magazine. Along with the new, permanent logo by Bob Wilson, the magazine had its new, permanent format as an 8 x 11 with glossy color cover.
A full-page Reprise Records ad for the second album by Savage Grace in the September 1971 issue of CREEM magazine.
The ad text reads, "Savage Grace lives up to its name with a mixture of music which is simultaneously raw and delicate, pounding and classical, screaming and subtle. The newest Savage Grace album is 2, recorded in Los Angeles, where the group is alive and well after moving from its native Detroit.
"The quartet consists of John Seanor, keyboards, Al Jaquez, vocals and bass, Ron Koss, vocals and guitar, and Larry Zack, drums and percussion. Savage Grace is a live band whose sound has finally been faithfully embedded in the grooves of a record, a lifelike Reprise disc, produced and engineered by John Haeny.
"It snarls and whispers, warms and cools, rocks and rolls. Available on Reprise records (and tapes, via Ampex)."
Front and back covers of the Savage Grace’s second album “2”, released in 1971.
On September 1, 1971 the movie Private Duty Nurses was released by Roger Corman’s New World Pictures, the sequel to the company’s Student Nurses which started a string of “nurse” movies. Private Duty Nurses was also the first movie written and directed by George Armitage. Armitage had heard about the band Sky and after seeing them perform at a high school dance, he signed them to write the soundtrack and to appear in the film.
Sky – Theme from the film Private Duty Nurses (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qksKuiVq5zs
Sky – Band set in the film Private Duty Nurses (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs084nsgZTo
Sky’s second album, released in 1971, was again produced by Jimmy Miller who further augmented the group’s sound with the addition of lead guitarist John Uribe and the Rolling Stones’ trademark horn section of Bobby Keys and Jim Price. The album is now considered as one of Miller’s finest productions, but it did not sell well at the time, and so despite two fine albums and a star turn in the movie Private Duty Nurses, the band broke up.
Guitarist John Coury went on to work with Don Henley and Randy Meisner, drummer Rob Stawinski worked briefly with the band Badfinger, and later became the drummer in Bobby Lewis’ Crackerjack Band. And bassist/vocalist Doug Fieger most famously went on the form The Knack, but that won’t happen until a long seven years from now.
Here are a couple of tracks from the “Sailor’s Delight” album, which should have been a smash, but perhaps better yet, is a long-lost classic.
Sky – Bring it Back (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rusKihFQGQ
Sky – Let it Lie Low (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scV5g5xJHhc
Poster by Dennis Preston, for Sherwood Forest in Davison, Michigan, September 1, 1971. Bands were Chuck Berry with the Woolies, Silver Hawk, Sunday Funnies, Springwell, Rumor, Mike Quarto’s Jam Band, and mystery band of the poster, Moog Synthesiser.
Gary Grimshaw poster, his fourth, for The Park in North Baltimore, Ohio, September 3-6, 1971. Since it was Labor Day weekend, there was a Monday show in addition to the Friday show. Michigan bands were Amboy Dukes, Parliament-Funkadelic, and Cactus (half-Michigan).
Inside fold of The Park Press for the Labor Day weekend, September 3-5, 1971, with Gary Grimshaw illustration originally used for the cover of a December 1970 issue of the Ann Arbor Argus newspaper.
Inside centerfold of the Park Press newspaper for September 3-5, 1971 with a line-up of Amboy Dukes, Parliament-Funkadelic, and Cactus joining the Velvet Underground, Savoy Brown, Atomic Rooster and.others.
Newspaper ad for the Labor Day weekend, September 3-5, 1971, at The Park in North Baltimore, Ohio.
Poster by an unknown artist for the Vanity Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan, September 3, 1971, This was the twelfth time that the Velvet Underground performed in Michigan, and it would be their last. Michigan bands opening the show were Heresy and Mike Quatro’s Jam Band.
Record company ad for Savoy Brown with the announcement (bottom left) for their appearance at the Eastown Theater in Detroit, Michigan, September 3-4, 1971.
Savoy Brown was one of the most popular British groups in Detroit. When they performed at the Eastown Theater on September 3-4, 1971, it was their 24th and 25th shows in the Motor City. The band had just released their seventh album, “Street Corner Talking”.
Savoy Brown would return for two more shows in 1971, again at the Eastown in November. At all four of these shows (the two in September and two in November), they brought along country-mates Atomic Rooster to open for them. These would be the only Atomic Rooster appearances in Michigan.
Savoy Brown – Tell Moma (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZM8z_jF8Os
A Globe Poster for a Black Freedom Festival at Hines Farm in Swanton, Ohio on Labor Day weekend, September 3-6, 1971, that included three Detroit acts – J.J. Barnes, Carl Carlton, and our personal favorites, Mad Dog & the Pups, with a bonus photo of the group.
Mad Dog & the Pups – Come In To My Love Shop (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQsKpvtHswM
Poster by Dennis Preston, and his third for the Melody Ballroom in Inkster, Michigan, September 4, 1971. Bands were the Woolies, Tea, and Mongoose, a Jerry Patlow presentation.
On September 4, 1971, the final show for the 1971 season at Wampler’s Lake Pavilion took place with Brownsville Station, Bullfrog, Guardian Angel, Julia, and Jonathon Round. They would not return next year, making this the final show after a solid three-year run.
We come up with a total of 53 shows in the 1969-1971 period (there were also a few one-off shows in the earlier years before the summer programs). For the 53 shows, we have only found sixteen on posters, which shows how our futile task will be never-ending.
On September 4, 1971, the final show of the 1971 season at Wampler’s Lake Pavilion in Onsted, Michigan took place, bringing to an end a solid three-year run of rock concerts at the facility.
The 1969 season, from May through October, had over 20 shows, frequently featuring the Bob Seger System, Wilson Mower Pursuit, Catfish, and Brownsville Station, while nearly every other major Michigan band also performed there as well. Out-of-state groups included Procol Harum, Three Dog Night, Box Tops, Spencer Davis Group, Electric Prunes, and a few others. Most of the shows featured only two or three acts, although an August 30 show presented six groups.
Only a handful of posters for the 1969 season have been located so far, mostly by unknown artists, although the distinctive lettering by Dave Baker of the Ann Arbor Argus newspaper stands out above.
The 1970 season had fewer shows, about fifteen, but almost a third of those were larger shows with four groups or more. It appears to have been an all-Michigan groups season, with the Stooges, Savage Grace, and SRC each making repeat performances.
It was a stand-out season for posters, thanks to an unknown artist who used the comic book cover format to make superheroes out of the Stooges, Frost, and Savage Grace. (Also shown above is a poster made by the same artist for the Amboy Dukes at the Birmingham Palladium.) For the final show of the season, the poster featured Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen collecting Superman’s super-tears, as Supe was sad the season was ending.
The 1971 season was again an all-Michigan bands roster, but the shows were even bigger, the “season opener” featured six groups and a July 3rd “Rock Show” had eight bands take the stage.
Another unknown artist produced a series of collages over which were listed the long list of acts, and poster artist Chad Hines employed a few of his “geometric shapes” motif for some of the posters.
The title treatment for John Sinclair’s “Dragon Teeth” column in the September 4, 1971 issue of the Ann Arbor SUN newspaper, using a David Fenton photograph of the UP’s bassist Gary Rasmussen.
With David Fenton as the photographer for the Ann Arbor SUN newspaper, and the UP essentially the “official” band of the SUN (singer Frank Bach was on the staff), Fenton became, more or less, the band’s “official” photog, and many of the classic UP photos that you’ll automatically remember were Fenton’s work.
Brat, the “brother” band to the UP, also benefited from having photographer David Fenton on the staff of the Ann Arbor SUN newspaper to capture their moments.
Gary Grimshaw poster for the final Sunday free concert of the season, at Diana Oughton Park in Ann Arbor, Michigan, September 5, 1971. Bands were Black Ensemble, Iron Horse Exchange, Hawg Tate Group, and J.Z. Terramine.
Poster by an unknown artist for a benefit to support a People’s Ballroom, at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan, September 6, 1971. Bands were SRC, UP, Brat, Frut, and Harvey Khek.
Handbill by an unknown artist for the benefit to support a People’s Ballroom, at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan, September 6, 1971.
An ad for the benefit to support a People’s Ballroom, at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan, September 6, 1971.
A Globe Poster for the National Guard Armory in Flint, Michigan with a dance and show by Parliament Funkadelic, “the Parliafunkadelic Thang” on September 6, 1971.
Poster by Artcraft Litho for Sly & the Family Stone at Madison Square Garden in New York City, September 8-10, 1971, with two Michigan support acts, Rare Earth and Ruth Copeland.
Copeland’s touring band consisted of P-Funk musicians Eddie Hazel, Bernie Worrell, Tiki Fulwood, Tawl Ross, and Billy Bass Nelson, and she took to introducing them onstage as Funkadelic, much to Sly’s annoyance. The final straw came when she allowed the band to take one of her encores. Sly told her to either lose the band or leave the tour. She lost the band.
The following track was written by Copeland and appeared on Parliament’s first album “Osmium”, this version for Copeland’s first album was presumably recorded during the same sessions.
Ruth Copeland – The Silent Boatman (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8tSCnGL-OI
A full-page Atlantic Records ad declaring “Aretha Franklin Month” with the release of her fourth greatest hits album on September 9, 1971.
A full-page Atlantic Records ad for “Aretha’s Greatest Hits” compilation album by Aretha Franklin, released on September 9, 1971. In addition to eleven previously released tracks, the set included three new recordings: "Spanish Harlem", "You're All I Need to Get By" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water".
Here is a clip of a 1971 live performance of "Bridge Over Troubled Water".
Aretha Franklin - Bridge Over Troubled Water (live) (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro1Yqbal-Bo
An ad for B.B. King at Olympia Stadium in Detroit, Michigan on September 10, 1971, with a supporting line-up of Fanny, Jackie Lomax, the Patterson Singers, Bobby Wright , and the Up-Down & Out. Acknowledging the bad acoustics at the 15,000 seat hockey rink, the ad says, “a special sound system will be built for this performance”.
Gary Grimshaw poster for the Alley in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for three weeks, September 10-26, 1971. This poster set the template for a series of posters to come that Grimshaw will make for the Alley, we’ll refer to them as the “checkerboard” series.
Gary Grimshaw poster, the second in the “checkerboard series”, for Luther Allison at the Alley in Ann Arbor, Michigan, September 10-12, 1971.
Gary Grimshaw poster, his fifth for The Park in North Baltimore, Ohio, September 11, 1971.
A different color version of Gary Grimshaw’s poster for The Park in North Baltimore, Ohio, September 11, 1971.
Poster for Alice Cooper with the MC5 and Lee Michaels at the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium, in Atlanta, Georgia, September 11, 1971. This is a missing show for the MC5 gateway timeline, which is noted on the timeline for September 1971 without a date or correct venue:
“Then they played w/ A.Cooper in Hollywood, Florida (?)”
Poster by Dennis Preston, and his fourth for the Melody Ballroom in Inkster, Michigan, September 11, 1971. Bands were Frost, Silver Hawk, and Hollow Ground, another Jerry Patlow presentation.
A newspaper ad with nifty illustrations of the band names for a concert in Ann Arbor, Michigan on September 11, 1971 with Ragamoffyn, New Heavenly Blue and Leaves of Grass.
A poster for the Jackson 5ive Saturday morning cartoon series that aired on ABC from September 11, 1971 to October 14, 1972.
Volume Seven - 1971 - continues - HERE
