Splatt Gallery
Double click here to add text.
Splatt Gallery's History of Michigan Concert Posters
Volume Seven - 1971 - Page Twenty
***********************************************************
Poster by Dennis Preston, for the Melody Ballroom in Inkster, Michigan, December 4, 1971. Bands were Universe, Tacklebox, and mystery band of the poster, Raffles, a Jerry Patlow presentation.
Rainbow News Service Issue #1, December 4, 1971.
Poster by an unknown artist for Little Richard at the Cinderella Music Hall in Detroit, Michigan, December 4, 1971.
Poster for Sha Na Na with Sam Lay and his band at the Grand Valley State Colleges, near Grand Rapids, Michigan, December 4, 1971.
Record company ad with tour schedule showing an appearance by Cactus in Detroit on December 8, 1971 (they opened for the Faces in a sold-out show at Cobo Hall) reprinting a story from the Cleveland Plains Dealer newspaper about an unnamed rock group who shocked an airline stewardess with their flagrant inflight pot smoking.
Cactus would play two more shows in Detroit, December 26-27, at the Grande Ballroom, after which guitarist Jim McCarty quit the band and returned to Detroit. Vocalist Rusty Day was fired shortly after that and he also returned to Detroit. Carmine Appice and Tim Bogert enlisted a set of replacements for one more Cactus album, and then they finally teamed up with Jeff Beck, which had been their original intention before Cactus, to form Beck, Bogert & Appice.
Cactus – Mean Night in Cleveland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTuoMM20LA4
Full-page Atco Records ad for the third, and final, album by the original Cactus line-up, with tour dates that include a show, opening for the Faces, at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan on December 8, 1971.
Here is the title track from the album:
Cactus – Restrictions (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un5gMtrdei8
Poster for the Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, December 9, 1971. Apparently, Carolyn Heines was so impressed with the band that she traveled to Detroit to see them again (which would likely be in February 1972 at the Cinderella Ballroom).
Interestingly designed poster and ad with Commander Cody performing in Berkeley, California on December 9, 1971, with Cat Mother and Grootina.
Humble Pie performed in Michigan six times in 1971, all of them at the Eastown Theater in Detroit, with Johnny Winter for two shows in March, with Yes, Savage Grace and Soft Machine for two shows in July, and with J. Geils and Frut, December 9-10, 1971. In between, they released the album “Performance Rockin' the Fillmore” in November, which had been recorded at the Fillmore East in New York City in May. Shortly before the album's release, guitarist Peter Frampton left the group.
An edited version of their cover of the Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson song "I Don't Need No Doctor" was released as a single.
Humble Pie - I Don't Need No Doctor (live – album version) (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lxyRjzXvxo
The original Gary Grimshaw poster for one of the most celebrated moments in Michigan music history, the John Sinclair Freedom Rally at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan, December 10, 1971. Bob Seger and Stevie Wonder also performed although they were not listed on the original poster.
Here is a clip from Bob Seger’s performance on that night:
Bob Seger – Carol (live 12/10/71)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKWCm6QFNIE
A later reprint of Gary Grimshaw’s poster for the John Sinclair Freedom Rally at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan, December 10, 1971 with Bob Seger and Stevie Wonder added to the list.
Alternate color version (handbill?) of the Gary Grimshaw poster the John Sinclair Freedom Rally at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan, December 10, 1971.
Program for the John Sinclair Freedom Rally in Ann Arbor, December 10, 1971. Back cover photo of Sunny Sinclair.
Inside fold of the program for the John Sinclair Freedom Rally in Ann Arbor, December 10, 1971, the source of the orange poster.
The main attraction at the John Sinclair Freedom Rally in Ann Arbor, December 10, 1971 was, of course, the appearance of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. They finally took the stage at around 3 A.M. and performed three songs, lasting ten minutes.
John Lennon – John Sinclair (live in Ann Arbor) (12/10/1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U_kJWhS3Jk
A page from the program for the John Sinclair Freedom Rally in Ann Arbor, December 10, 1971, with Gary Grimshaw’s logo for the Psychedelic Rangers.
A quickly-pressed single on the Rainbow label, with the Up on Side One and a poem by Allen Ginsberg on the flip-side, was given away to the concert goers at the John Sinclair Freedom Rally in Ann Arbor on December 10, 1971. A snarky comment in one of the newspapers noted that the Up couldn’t even give their music away for free, the floor of the arena was littered with discarded copies.
Up – Free John Now (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcXtDVEPyQE
Mr. Flood’s Party in Ann Arbor, Michigan (the bar, not the band), showing solidarity with “Free John Now!” in an ad drawn by “Copely”, in the program for the John Sinclair Freedom Rally, December 10, 1971. Copely is John Copely, who will formed the design team known as Crow Quill with Zeke Mallory in 1973.
We’ve seen the band Mr. Flood’s Party listed on the poster for a Wild Wednesday concert at the Sherwood Forest back on 7/14/71. Our intrepid research has found two bands named Mr. Flood’s Party, and that both the bar and the bands were named for a 1921 poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson.
One of the bands was a psychedelic rock band from Long Island, New York, they released a self-titled album in 1969 and broke up shortly after. Two of the principle members released an album in 1971 under their names Corbett & Hirsh, so it’s unlikely that they were the band that played the Sherwood Forest show.
The second band is even more mysterious, but their one single, a cover version of “Compared to What” was released in 1971 on the Detroit-based GM label. The GM label was the product of the GM Studio, and leads us into a whole new spiderweb that includes producers, artists, and the Bump Shop, all of which we’ll explore in more detail when we reach 1972.
Mr. Flood’s Party – Compared to What (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io4tDJQTbcs
Mr. Flood’s Party – Unbreakable Toy (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk5M1S6w_rg
Mr. Flood’s Party (NY) – The Liquid Invasion (1969)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQlhACS-L90
Logo for WRIF radio station by an unknown artist run as a half-page ad in the program for the John Sinclair Freedom Rally, December 10, 1971. The same circle of tubes design can be found in the NOLA Express underground newspaper from a month earlier, the same NOLA Express issue had another optical-illusion newsprint masterpiece.
A pretty sweet poster by an unknown artist for Alice Cooper in Indianapolis, Indiana, December 10, 1971.
Newspaper ad for Alice Cooper in Indianapolis, Indiana, December 10, 1971. It was an early show, featuring five bands, including REO Speedwagon, Pure Prairie League, Dr. John and Canned Heat.
Poster by an unknown artist for Alice Cooper in Dayton, Ohio, December 11, 1971. This may have been one of the last shows by Cactus in their original line-up, including Jim McCarty and Rusty Day.
The third band on the bill, Atomic Rooster, had performed four times at the Eastown Theater in Detroit earlier in 1971, opening for Savoy Brown each time, in their only Michigan appearances. They had started out as the remnants of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, but they were constantly going through multiple line-up changes, including one at the end of this tour that saw their vocalist Pete French leave the band to coincidentally replace Rusty Day in the band Cactus.
Newspaper ad for Alice Cooper in Dayton, Ohio, December 11, 1971, with Atomic Rooster and Cactus.
A nice show put together at the Centennial Secondary School in Windsor, Canada on December 11, 1971 with Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes, SRC, and the Whiz Kids. Right after the show, SRC hustled back across the border to play the Melody Ballroom in Inkster, Michigan later that same night.
Dennis Preston poster for the Melody Ballroom in Inkster, Michigan, December 11, 1971. Bands were SRC, Dogs, and Geyda, a Jerry Patlow presentation.
Poster by Rainbow Zenith for Commander Cody at Pepperland in San Rafael, California on December 11, 1971.
On December 11, 1971, Mountain, Belle Arc, and Cradle played the final show at the Eastown Theater in Detroit, Michigan. Detroit Mayor Roman Gribbs finally succeeded in his year-long quest to close the place down. The tipping point had come from a story published in the Detroit Free Press, the result of investigative reporters who described rampant drug dealing inside the theater and an aloof, money-hungry management (no budget for posters, obviously).
There had been over 250 shows at the Eastown since its opening in the Spring of 1969. As the de facto replacement for the Grande Ballroom, it was the place for the Michigan-debuts of Mountain, Faces, Elton John, Cactus, Free, Allman Brothers, King Crimson, Black Sabbath, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Yes, J. Geils Band, the Buddy Miles Express, War, Chicago, Flamin’ Groovies, Argent, Manfred Mann, Wild Man Fischer, and yes, even Grand Funk Railroad.
The group that played the most shows at the Eastown was Savage Grace with at least 24 shows, ten more than the next closest (Alice Cooper and the Stooges, each with 14). The non-Michigan bands with the most appearances were Mountain, Savoy Brown, and Lee Michaels with 13 each, the same number for the local band Cradle. Rounding out the rest of the “top ten”, all with 12 shows each, were the Amboy Dukes, Frost, Mylon, and, somewhat surprisingly, the little-known local band Head Over Heels.
Poster for Grand Funk in Frankfurt, Germany on December 11, 1971.
A full-page Brunswick Records ad for the single “Love is Funny That Way” by Jackie Wilson. Not a chartbuster, it peaked at #95 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on December 11, 1971. It fared better on the R&B Singles chart, reaching #18. It’s not a terrible tune, but we don’t really get the hooker reference.
Jackie Wilson – Love is Funny That Way (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6IkirpDjf4
Alice Cooper, with Michigan support acts Teegarden & Van Winkle featuring Bob Seger, and Jonathon Round, at the Toledo Sports Arena, December 12, 1971.
And it freakin’ worked! Maybe it was just a matter of timing, the Michigan State Legislature had significantly reduced the penalties for marijuana, effective April 1, 1971, and John Sinclair’s case was being reviewed. Or maybe it was because A BEATLE had come to the state to support his cause, but for whatever reason, just three days after the rally in Ann Arbor, Sinclair was released from prison on December 13, 1971. He had served 868 days, or two years, four months, and fifteen days behind bars.
John Sinclair’s release from prison on December 13, 1971 made headlines across the Underground Press Syndicate.
The center-spread of the December 17, 1971 issue of the Ann Arbor Sun newspaper, (festooned with a little greenery), in the edition that celebrated John Sinclair’s sudden release from prison, and included reviews of the December 10th rally with photographs by David Fenton and an iconic shot of Bob Seger by Stan Livingston that will be used on show posters for years to come.
John Lennon’s famous “flower power didn’t work” quote, spoken from the stage, was not as defeatist as that might sound. The full quote was, “We came here tonight to say that apathy isn’t it. And that we can all do something. So flower power didn’t work. So what! We can start again.”
Gary Grimshaw poster for the Grateful Dead and New Riders of the Purple Sage at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan, December 14-15, 1971. The concert was, as were most Dead concerts, recorded.
Grateful Dead – Live at Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor (12/14/71)
https://archive.org/details/gd71-12-14.sbd.deibert.12763.sbeok.shnf
Newspaper ads for the Grateful Dead and New Riders of the Purple Sage at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan, December 14-15, 1971.
A story in the Oakland Observer campus newspaper for Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan with Ted Lucas making an appearance at the campus coffeehouse Abstention on December 15, 1971.
Nice Warner Bros Records ad for Alice Cooper’s “Killer” album, from the International Times newspaper in London, England, December 16, 1971, and full color version.
An all-Michigan bill for the WILK Holiday Festival in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, December 16, 1973, with Mitch Ryder & Detroit, Bob Seger, and Teegarden & Van Winkle.
Poster by P. Williford with Cactus opening for the Faces in Buffalo, New York on December 16, 1971.
A full-page Recordland record stores ad (color added) in the December 16, 1971 issue of the Northeastern Ohio Scene magazine with a Christmas sale on the Alice Cooper catalog. (I got the “Killer” album as a present that year.)
The front cover of the December 17, 1971 issue of the Ann Arbor SUN newspaper with the word “Free” now after John Sinclair’s name, after so many posters, buttons and t-shirts with the words the other way around.
Progress continued on the new People’s Community Center and People’s Ballroom on 502 E, Washington Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Poster from the December 17, 1971 issue of the Ann Arbor SUN by Mike Brady.
Poster by an unknown artist for an all-Michigan show with the MC5, Mitch Ryder & Detroit, Teegarden & Van Winkle featuring Bob Seger (both names misspelled), and Brownsville Station at the Fenway Theater in Boston, Massachusetts, December 17-18, 1971.
A newspaper clipping showing the total assault of Michigan bands on the Boston – Providence area, with the December 17-18, 1971 shows at Fenway described previously, plus another show on December 21st, with MC5, Amboy Dukes, Mitch Ryder, Bob Seger, Teegarden & Van Winkle, and Jonathan Round.
A sweet little poster/flyer that looks like a ticket but is about 8 x 16 inches in size for an all-Michigan bill at the Fenway Theater in Boston, Massachusetts, December 17-18, 1971. A show review described how there was supposed to be two shows each night at 6 and 11 pm, but due to late arrivals of the performers and a sparse crowd of only about 200 turned into one long show that commenced at 7:25 with Brownsville Station, followed by Mitch Ryder & Detroit, the MC5, and capped off by Bob Seger with Teegarden & Van Winkle.
Published on the day of the second show, the review mentioned that the upcoming evening’s show would also be a single show starting at 8 pm and hoped for a better turnout.
Newspaper ad for the WCHB radio Annual Christmas Show at the Fox Theater in Detroit, December 18, 1971 featuring headlining acts by women that had scored hits in 1971 for Holland-Dozier-Holland’s Hot Wax label.
Laura Lee – Women’s Love Rights (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuVSj83oKYk
Honey Cone – Want Ads (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8q58HdGkBE
Volume Seven - 1971 - continues - HERE
Newspaper ad for Sly & the Family Stone at the Olympia in Detroit, Michigan on December 16, 1971, a Steve Glantz production.
When the Dramatics headlined at the Cleveland Public Auditorium on December 16, 1971, it capped a busy year for Michigan Soul and R&B groups in the Northeastern Ohio scene. Marvin Gaye, Eddie Kendricks, Rare Earth, the Spinners, Detroit Emeralds, Main Ingredient, and Funkadelic made multiple appearances, but the common thread was the Dramatics. Whether headlining or opening shows for Isaac Hayes, Al Green, Lou Rawls, Staple Singers, and James Brown, the Dramatics were on almost every bill. More than a dozen of are shown above.
A full page advance ad for the photo book “Shots” in the program for the John Sinclair Freedom Rally, December 10, 1971. The book, edited by Ann Arbor SUN photographer David Fenton, was formally released on January 1, 1972.
