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The Art of Rock

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East Coast Tour: Joan Baez and Bob Dylan, 1965. Artist: Eric Von Schmidt.By 1965 Baez and Dylan were recognized as folk musics two brightest stars, so it was natural that they would team up, however briefly. As the two were about to embark on an East Coast tour, folk singer Eric Von Schmidt presented their managers with a concert poster he created in their honor. An homage to Toulouse-Lautrec, it has become one of the classic American posters. However, Dylan was not entirely pleased with it, and only a dew were printed; fewer still actually carried a concert date and place.Between 1960 and 1964, Baez and Dylan were featured attractions within a self-defined folk music scene. By 1965, the year of his electric stage appearance at Newport, Dylan had matured into his own singular stage presence. To some degree, this spelled the end of the traditional, close-knit folk community, whose music was now forced to contend with the huge commercial popularity of the late-1960s.

Doors; Peanut Butter Conspiracy. Whisky A-Go-Go, San Francisco, 1967.Between 1965 and 1968, during the ferment of Haight-Ashbury, many unusual events were staged in a variety of halls, some of which were large and well established, such as Winterland, regularly used by promoters like Bill Graham, and others now only obscure footnoted to musical history, like the Whisky A-Go-Go, short lived counterpart to the more famous Whisky in Los Angeles.

Elvis Presley; Jordanaires. Florida Theater, Jacksonville, 1956. Artists: Hatch Show Print.He will forever be known as the King of Rock n Roll. But in February 1955, when the Faron Young Poster was printed to advertise a local appearance at the Memphis Auditorium, Elvis was only just developing his wild rockabilly style. He was rightfully billed at the bottom. By October, he was on the brink of becoming a national sensation. Much of his success was due to the promotional savvy of his new manager, Col. Tom Parker, as well as the eagerness of RCA--which had bought his original Sun Records contract--to exploit a major discovery. In January 1956, RCA released ”Heartbreak Hotel,” which soared to the top position on Billboard charts. National television appearances, followed, as did more hit singles, including ”Hound Dog.” Small wonder that Elviss August 1956 appearance in Jacksonville, Florida, was heralded by a poster altogether different in design and content from that of the year before. From 1956 until the year of his death in 1977, Elvis Presley was never less than a stupendous attraction. There was little need to depend on traditional street posters to sell out shows. The few surviving posters from Elviss first years are particularly rare collectibles.

Command Performance--The Beatles. Palladium, London, 1963.The Beatles Royal Command Performance in November 1963 confirmed their status in England. Just before their first, 1964, visit to America, during which they appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show and played Carnegie Hall, the ”Royal Command Performance” poster was created. Printed in America and widely distributed, it became one of the earliest Beatles icons. Between June and November 1964, the Beatles played over fifty cities on four continents, including twenty-six American concerts. The result of this touring, coupled with the release of chart-topping singles and albums along with their first movie success, Beatlemania achieved hysterical proportions. The 1965 tour was even more stupendous, an appearance at Shea Stadium in New York drawing 55,600.

Tina Turner; Annie Rose. University of Washington, Seattle, 1983. Artist: Art Chantry.With some exceptions, 1970s posters from the Pacific Northwest are a stodgy lot. But as the end of the decade approached, excellent work began to emerge from the burgeoning new wave and punk scene. Indeed, relatively isolated from the rest of the country, Seattle developed its own indigenous punk aesthetic.Art Chantry is currently one of the best poster designers working in the Pacific Northwest. Not only an excellent illustrator and draftsman, he has chronicled the popular aesthetics of his region with a book on the Seattle punk and new wave poster art, called Instant Litter (1985).

The Art of Rock
Posters from Presley to Punk

By Paul Grushkin
Size: 10 1/2 x 13"
Cloth, 516 pages
1,500 color illustrations, 100 black-and-white photographs
Published 1987
ISBN: 978-0-89659-584-2
In Stock
Available
$85.00

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Electric, outrageous, erotic, blatant, vital. The adjectives that describe rock music also apply to the artwork created to sell it. Add to this list sumptuous, dazzling, definitive, ultimate, and youve described The Art of Rock as well.

From the 1950s through today, here is the complete visual history of the rock concert poster: the funkiest bills advertising Elvis, B.B. King, and Howlin Wolf; the multicolored psychedelic hallucinations promoting the Grateful Dead, Dylan, and the Doors; the deliciously tasteless art for the Sex Pistols, Crime, and the Clash. From the Red Dog Saloon in San Francisco, where the psychedelic scene started, to CBGB, New Yorks punk Mecca, and beyond. 1,500 images searched out world-wide from clubs, attics, and bedrooms—as well as more formal collections—are reproduced in their original blazing colors.

Replete with firsthand history—including exclusive interviews with scores of insiders, poster artists, musicians, and promoters—this is the ultimate high for the rock music fan, required reading for the poster collector, a treasure trove for the graphic artist, and a riotous feast for anyone who digs pop culture.

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