Original 1966 concert poster printed in lithograph and designed by pioneering psychedelic artist Wes Wilson. Entitled “A Blues-Rock Bash” and catalogued as BG-3, it was created for a series of dance concerts presented by legendary San Francisco promoter Bill Graham.
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Jefferson Airplane performed at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco on 15 and 17 April 1966, with an additional concert held at Harmon Gymnasium on the University of California’s Berkeley campus on 16 April.
Wilson constructed the composition almost entirely from expressive hand-drawn lettering, arranging the musicians’ names and concert information into a monumental, face-like form. Its bold palette of brick red, warm orange and white gives the poster a powerful graphic presence.
Created during the earliest period of Bill Graham’s celebrated numbered poster series, BG-3 demonstrates the rapid development of Wilson’s revolutionary visual language. His increasingly fluid typography would soon become one of the defining elements of San Francisco’s psychedelic poster movement.
An important document from the formative months of the city’s countercultural music scene, this original poster combines two influential American bands with one of Wes Wilson’s landmark early designs. Its historical significance, striking typography and association with the Fillmore make it a particularly desirable example of 1960s rock memorabilia.
Original Poster
Music - Psychedelic - United States
Blues-Rock Bash - Bill Graham
San Francisco
Good condition
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