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Splatt Gallery's History of Michigan Concert Posters
Volume Seven - 1971 - Page Eighteen
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Poster by Gary Grimshaw for the Ohio Theater in Columbus, Ohio, November 1-2, 1971, with the Sunday Funnies opening for Quicksilver.
A call for a rally to support John Sinclair at a Michigan Supreme Court hearing in Lansing , Michigan on November 2, 1971.
Ad by an unknown artist for a concert by the Gershon Kingsley’s First Moog Quartet at the University Auditorium in East Lansing, Michigan, November 2, 1971. Now we realize we’ve been pronouncing it wrong all our lives.
The debut album by Commander Cody & his Lost Planet Airmen was released in November 1971. The cover art designed, of course, by the Commander's brother Chris Frayne (Ozone), does not actually say the title of the album or the title track.
Commander Cody & his Lost Planet Airmen – Lost in the Ozone (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heK8QjhWGag
No more Gary Grimshaw “checkerboard” posters for The Alley in Ann Arbor, Michigan, but the venue continued to book top blues acts, Muddy Waters, November 5-7, 1971.
What at first looks like a bizarre dream bill of Roberta Flack, Zappa and the Mothers, and Michigan’s Rare Earth at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, is actually a poster for three different shows. Zappa on October 9th, Roberta Flack on December 10th, and Rare Earth on November 5, 1971. A really rare poster (got $1,200?) by an unknown artist, most likely an art student at the school.
“If you missed the show…” (because there were no freaking posters), Leon Russell at the University of Detroit, November 5, 1971.
Poster by Hugh Surratt for the Lansing-area band Spider with folksinger Stephen Reynolds at the Union Ballroom in East Lansing, Michigan, November 5, 1971.
An ad for the fourth album by Bloodrock in the November 5, 1971 issue of the Nola Express in New Orleans, their first without producer Terry Knight.
The front and back gatefold cover of the fourth Bloodrock album, with artwork by Robert Lockart who also was the art director for the covers of Bob Seger System’s “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man” album and SRC’s “Milestones” album.
Poster by Dennis Preston, for the Melody Ballroom in Inkster, Michigan, November 6, 1971. Bands were the UP, Cecil, and Francoise Duval from Windsor, Ontario, Canada, a Jerry Patlow presentation.
Dennis Preston was becoming one of the most prolific poster artists in the state. In addition to posters for shows around his Lansing home base, posters for Jerry Patlow’s Melody Ballroom in Inkster, Michigan, and cover art for the East Lansing newspaper Joint Issue, his work was also in demand by Lansing/East Lansing area businesses. We’ve already seen some examples for Rebirth Waterbeds and Sounds & Diversions, and there is much more to come. He developed an everlasting logo for Sounds & Diversions that appeared in the November 1, 1971 edition of the Joint Issue.
Poster by Dennis Garascia for John Mayall with Supa and Guardian Angel at the Cinderella in Detroit, November 6, 1971. "Scorpios with this handbill admitted free!"
Concert program cover for the Four Tops with Esther Marrow at The Dome in Brighton, England on November 6, 1971.
An ad for Lily Tomlin “in concert” in Santa Monica, California on November 6, 1971.
The hit list for the week of November 7, 1971 for radio station WFRS-560 in Big Rapids, Michigan with the Sunday Funnies in the Number One spot with the song “Walk Down the Path of Freedom”.
An ad for Alice Cooper at the Rainbow Theatre in London, England, November 7, 1971.
Poster by an unknown artist for Alice Cooper at the Rainbow Theatre in London, England, November 7, 1971. Allegedly, this was the first show to feature a snake, which by the way, was drummer Neal Smith’s pet snake Kachina that was seen on the cover of the “Killer” album.
Alice Cooper’s fourth album, “Killer” was released on November 9, 1971 (many sources put the release date as November 27th, but the Sick Things website makes a convincing argument that that it had to be the earlier date). Johnny Lydon (Rotten) of the Sex Pistols called it the greatest rock and roll album of all time. With two hit albums, and a European tour behind them, Alice Cooper was no longer part of “the Motor City Three” package tours, they were headliners now and they belonged to the world.
Reviewing the album in the International Times newspaper in London, England, Mick Farren wrote, “Alice Cooper are supreme pooff-rock, they leave David Bowie a long way behind and Marc Bolan really can stay in bad.”
“The telephone is ringing.”
Alice Cooper – Under My Wheels (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsBrCX5Y5GA
A fullpage Warner Bros. Records ad for the release of the Alice Cooper single “Under My Wheels” from the Killer album.
A full-page Warner Brothers Records ad for the fourth studio album by Alice Cooper, “Killer” released on November 9, 1971, featuring the shot used on the detachable 1972 calendar included with the gatefold album cover.
A poster by an unknown artist warning against five dangerous drugs from the Joint Issue newspaper in East Lansing, Michigan, November 1971.
Frank Zappa’s movie “200 Motels” opened in Ann Arbor at the State Theater on November 4, 1971 and it’s run was extended for a full three weeks, which meant that we were treated to twenty-one days of a daily picture of Frank in the newspaper.
Frank Zappa – Magic Fingers (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H_SsrNE8eI
Newspaper ad for Jethro Tull at the IMA Auditorium in Flint, Michigan, November 10, 1971.
Alice Cooper had just landed back in the United States from their European and UK tour, and the very next day they were down in Florida, performing at the Florida State Fairground with local bands Duckbutter and Rush on November 10, 1971.
The Ark, a venerable Ann Arbor institution to this day, began operations at the end of 1965. A scathing review, written all too cutely by Joyce Winslow in the January 25, 1966 issue of The Michigan Daily newspaper, dismissively described The Ark as “another two-bit enterprise bound to be beached”.
“Noah’s Ark had two horses, two camels, two snakes. This place has too little, and will bomb out. Bare wooden tables and non-matching chairs have been interspersed among three rooms in a rambling grey house on Hill Street. Bead curtains drop from doorways and candles flicker in an attempt to appear bright. Joan Baez wails from a phonograph. That’s it.
“Not even Jerry Badane’s electrifying poetry reading could charge rooms full of bored people glancing disbelievingly at tepid menus. I don’t mind checking my pot, LSD, and glue at the door, but for what? Squirt, orange drink, or cola? There’s got to be more ballast than that in an Ark, and what is a coffeehouse without at least a cappuccino?
“Any student could cut the lights in his own room, turn on his record player, and stir two sugar cubes into his coffee. Take head, Ark, or like Noah’s, you won’t float for more than 40 days and 40 nights either.”
The Ark transcended the critique and flourished, The above ads are for an appearance by Malvina Reynolds for the weekend of November 12, 1971.
Cover illustration from the November 11, 1971 issue of the Fifth Estate newspaper by artist Jim Van Hollebeke who went on to found the Canovanograms greeting card company.
The front cover of the November 12, 1971 issue of the Ann Arbor SUN newspaper, a special free issue with a photo of Leni Sinclair.
Artwork by Gary Grimshaw on the back cover of the November 12, 1971 issue of the Ann Arbor SUN newspaper in Ann Arbor, Michigan, altered slightly to include the logo, also designed by Grimshaw, from the front cover.
Allen Ginsberg recorded a poem (or a chant) and sent it to the Ann Arbor Sun newspaper, who provided copies to WABX and WRIF radio stations and encouraged their readers to request plays in their November 12, 1971 issue.
On November 12, 1971, the Ann Arbor Sun announced that the Tribal Council had achieved the first step in their goal to establish a Community Center that would be large enough to consolidate all of their current community services such as the Ozone House and the Free Clinic, with room to spare for their long-desired People’s Ballroom, when they acquired the lease on the old Fisher Cadillac building at 502 E. Washington in Ann Arbor.
Illustration by Mike Brady.
Poster by Hugh Surratt for the Fifth Dimension at the Jenison Fieldhouse in East Lansing, Michigan, November 12, 1971.
Ad by Doug Huston for the Fifth Dimension at the Jenison Fieldhouse in East Lansing, Michigan, November 12, 1971.
Two poster/ads by Hugh Surratt for the Fifth Dimension at the Jenison Fieldhouse in East Lansing, November 12, 1971.
Poster by the Washington Poster Company for the Temptations in Eugene, Oregon, November 12, 1971. The supporting act, Brenda & the Tabulations from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, had just scored one of their biggest hits earlier in the year, written and produced by Van McCoy.
Brenda & the Tabulations – Right on the Tip of My Tongue (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvNJ0AD617A
King Crimson appeared at the Eastown Theater in Detroit, Michigan, November 12-13, 1971, opening both shows for Procol Harum. Their performance on the second night was recorded and was released through the King Crimson Collectors Club in 2001, the cover erroneously gives the date as December 13th.
The version of “Court of the Crimson King” as performed on this night is apparently well known among hardcore Crimson fans as the “Court of the B.B. King”, a rare chance to hear Robert Fripp play the blues.
King Crimson – Court of the B.B. King (live in Detroit) (11/13/71)
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2rvt7u
Poster by an unknown artist “Goodsun” for the Alley in Ann Arbor, Michigan, November12-14, 1971, with Buddy Guy and Junior Wells. These appear to be the final shows held at the Alley.
Ads for Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes, with Ormandy and Julia, at the McMorran Arena in Port Huron, Michigan, November 13, 1971.
A Globe Poster for a Soulhawk Records presentation, the label owned by Richard “Popcorn” Wylie, in Ypsilanti, Michigan on November 13, 1971.
Popcorn Wylie – Funky Rubber Band (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_WrMSf8lGY
A Globe Poster for Syl Johnson in Flint, Michigan on November 14, 1971. He would later have his biggest hit in 1974 with the song “Take Me to the River”, originally written and recorded by Al Green, but Green did not release it as a single. Johnson’s version uses the same musicians and the same producer, Willie Mitchell, it peaked at #7 on the Billboard R&B chart. The best known version may be the one by the Talking Heads in 1978.
Syl Johnson – Take Me to the River (1974)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-2PSp87dN0
Ad for The Gables in East Lansing. Michigan with the Ann Arbor band Salmagundi performing on November 14, 1971. The band, which was formed by a group of University of Michigan students in 1969, is still active today.
Ad for Discount Records in East Lansing, Michigan by Terry Echterling in the November 15, 1971 issue of the State News newspaper. Echterling will produce more ads for Discount Records under the name of Jive Comix.
Grand Funk Railroad continued their breakneck pace, releasing two albums in 1971, “Survival” in April, and “E Pluribus Funk” in November.
A full-page Capitol Records ad for the fifth studio album Grand Funk Railroad, which was released on November 15, 1971. It would be their final album to be produced by manager Terry Knight.
“E Pluribus Funk” had a round die-cast album cover, designed as a large silver coin, with a picture of Shea Stadium on the back side to commemorate Grand Funk’s record-setting sell-out of their show in July. The package was designed by Ernie Cefalu who had also worked on the zipper cover for the Rolling Stones’ “Sticky Fingers” album and also on the Stones’ lips and tongue logo.
Other album covers designed by Cefalu include Alice Cooper's “School's Out” school desk with panties, Alice Cooper’s “Billion Dollar Babies” wallet and Cheech & Chong's “Big Bambu” rolling papers cover. A major contributor to what is referred to as "The Golden Age of Custom Packaging”, Cefalu has assembled a large collection of original album cover art that can be found at:
http://originalalbumcoverart.com/
Grand Funk Railroad – Footstompin’ Music (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59QCx38n5sM
A nearly wordless full-page Capitol Records ad that includes “E Pluribus Funk” by Grand Funk which was released on November 15, 1971.
The person selling these posters on ebay says that he was the promoter of this show on November 16, 1971 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and that these reproductions “are the correct colors, etc”. We can neither confirm nor disprove that this show happened. If it did, it was an all-Michigan line-up of Bob Seger, Teegarden & Van Winkle, Ted Nugent, Mike Quatro’s Jam Band, and Cradle, although Suzi Quatro would have no longer been in the band at this date.
But another thing that makes this suspicious is that the Jam Band’s album “Paintings”, shown on the poster was not released until 1972. The seller also claims that the original poster was a silk-screen, which we believe would have been fairly impossible to produce with the number of colors and the various resolutions of the photographs. Finally, the picture of Cradle is from the cover of an anthology CD called “The History” that was not released until 2011. We say “fake”.
Poster by Gary Grimshaw for the Finch Field House in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, November 17, 1971. Opening band for the Guess Who was the Whiz Kids.
The third album by the Faces was released on November 17, 1971, their second album release of the year, plus a solo album from singer Rod Stewart. The huge (48 x 32 inch) poster that came with album was a photo collage using pictures taken by Frank Pettis.
Pettis had become great friends with the band through their numerous Michigan visits, remember, they played here at least 13 times in 1970, and Pettis even sang on-stage with the band at the Birmingham Palladium on April 18, 1970. He took pictures of the Faces partying with fans and groupies at a local Holiday Inn on I-94, and he always gave Rod Stewart a copy of every photo he took.
Those photos that made up the poster collage included some nudity and pharmaceuticals, and Warner Bros quickly re-issued the album without the poster, turning it into a highly sought-after collector’s item.
Faces – Stay With Me (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtqF0qBqzZo
Rod Stewart – Maggie May (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD_6KqP7K0g
An ad with Ruth Copeland appearing at the Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood, California, opening for Jackie Lomax, November 17-21, 1971.
Poster by an unknown artist for a production of Jesus Christ Superstar at the Eastown Theater in Detroit, Michigan, November 18-19, 1971.
Newspaper ad for the tenth Michigan appearance by The Beach Boys, at the Masonic Auditorium in Detroit, November 19, 1971.
Poster/ad by Zeke Mallory for Donovan at the Bowen Field House in Ypsilanti, Michigan on November 19, 1971.
Poster by an unknown artist for Donovan at the Bowen Fieldhouse in Ypsilanti, Michigan, November 19, 1971, six nights after his appearance in Detroit at the U of D.
Volume Seven - 1971 - continues - HERE
Ad for Discount Records in East Lansing, Michigan by Terry Echterling in the November 5, 1971 issue of the State News newspaper that also happens to have an illustration of the Bloodrock album.
