Jefferson Airplane-Grateful Dead Original Handbill, CRL680315-HB,
1st Printing, Mar 15-17, 1968 at Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, CA, Alton Kelley, VERY RARE
1st Printing – This is the original handbill for this show. It was printed on white stock and measures approximately 5″ x 7″.
PERFORMERS: Jefferson Airplane and Grateful Dead
LIGHT SHOW: North American Ibis Alchemical Co.
ITEM #: CRL680315-HB
ARTIST: Alton Kelley
DATE Mar 15-17, 1968
VENUE: Carousel Ballroom (San Francisco, CA)
SIZE: 5″ x 7″
Condition: Very Good – light corner creases, sticker residue on rear (see photos)
The poster became known as the “Sore Thumb.” It was created by Alton Kelley. It advertises a show for the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane at the Carousel Ballroom on March 15-17, 1968. This handbill is a small version of the poster.
ABOUT HANDBILLS:
Concert promoters created handbill versions of many of their posters and used them as sidewalk handouts and dashboard fliers to promote upcoming shows. Many of the handbills are double-sided, with poster art on one side and a calendar of upcoming shows on the other. They represent an important element of rock concert history because they were hands-on marketing tools that united promoter and patron.
ABOUT ALTON KELLEY:
As a founding member of the Family Dog, Kelley handled promotions for the events at the Avalon Ballroom, drawing posters and handbills. He soon met up with Stanley Mouse, and their association nurtured Kelley’s success as an artist. Kelley had a natural talent for collage and a keen eye for culling and combining imagery and styles from diverse sources. Teamed with Mouse’s drafting skill, collaborations became increasingly sophisticated, yet irreverent. Kelley always worked by hand, producing posters and other print graphics for a wide array of entertainment-oriented clients.
PROVENANCE:
I collected some of these old Haight-Ashbury concert cards when I was living in San Francisco in 1966-1968. But Bill Graham sent most of them to me in 1968 after I queried him about carrying posters of their concerts in the bookshop I was opening in Baltimore, MD -the Aquarian Age Bookstore.
I received a postcard from each concert as a sample of the posters that were available. Some I stuck on walls where I lived or pasted in journals, but most were secured in a leather zippered binder. It amazes me that I kept them in such fine shape all these years given all the wandering I’ve done.
