GoCollect Blog: July Concert Poster Chartbusters: Elvis, Beatles, and More (july-concert-poster-chartbusters-elvis-beatles-and-more )

July Concert Poster Chartbusters: Elvis, Beatles, and More The month of July saw some epic firsts in the world of concert poster sales. As the collectible market continues to grow, iconic pieces advertising groundbreaking artists are starting to appear at auction. And not just appear - they are achieving some impressive sales along the way. Here's a look at the top earners from the month of July.

Elvis Presley Mississippi-Alabama State Fair 1957

This is an original cardboard window card advertising Elvis Presley making a homecoming appearance "Tonight Only" at the Mississippi-Alabama State Fair in his birth city of Tupelo, Mississippi. This was just three days after RCA Records had released his latest #1 single, "Jailhouse Rock."

This July 11th sale marked the first sale of this poster at public auction and landed with a splash at $30k. Not bad for a first appearance on the block, yeah? It's also worth noting that this piece also came with paper documents used to get accurate information about the show out to the press and public.

From Heritage, "The support materials in this lot are wonderful, too. That first general announcement, from the Community Development Foundation, explains that there were no reserved seats and admission was $2.00. Then there's a postcard from that agent, repeating much of the information and stating that 10,000 tickets will be sold. And then finally there's the quaint list of Hotels & Motels in Tupelo which also informs people where they could eat."

FD-5-OP-1

This Wes Wilson classic is the first poster in the Family Dog series to be produced in full color. It also advertises the first show that the group put on at the Avalon Ballroom. Additionally, it is the first poster in the series to feature The Family Dog's motto: "May the baby Jesus shut your mouth and open your mind"

This was a record sale for this piece, decidedly besting the previous 9.8 high price of $6,900 (5/16/22, ConcertPosters.com). This is only the second FD-5 poster that Heritage has sold in the last 15 years, and the first-ever graded one.

FD-26-RP-2

This reprint on vellum has "26(2)" in the lower left corner and "(c) Family Dog Productions 1966 1725 Washington Street San Francisco (415) 673-3050" in the lower left.

From Heritage, "Following in the footsteps of April's world-record price that Heritage Auctions set for an FD-26 and any psychedelic concert poster in history, $137,500, we are proud to present, also from the KC Murphy Bindweed Press Collection, a second strike of the famed Grateful Dead poster that was printed in November 1966, just three months after the first printing. And this specimen is graded even one step better: a scorching CGC grade of 9.8 Near Mint/Mint.

New information has surfaced, in the form of Bindweed Press invoices, that the second printing of FD-26 occurred just two months after the concerts took place at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco. So the first printings of this trophy poster were done in the summer of '66, and the second printings in the fall. So in July 2022, the first printings will be 670 months old, and the second printings 667 months old."

This sale was definitely impactful. It is the first sale at public auction of a CGC 9.8 (one of only 2 in existence) and set a record for the highest price paid for this piece. The next closest is a CGC 9.4 that sold on 12/05/2021 for $6,325 (ClassicPosters.com).

Stevie Wonder & The Jackson 5 Regal Theatre 1968

This Nov 28, 1968 concert featured an EPIC lineup, with performances by Stevie Wonder, The Jackson 5, Jo Ann Garrett, Syl Johnson, The Passions, and Dion Jackson. This was another inaugural public auction sale, and it definitely set a high bar.

Check out the info Heritage gives on the piece, "This is a stunning and previously unknown poster until it was turned up in a small group of unused Chicago concert posters a couple of years ago.

The J5 would not start hitting the charts until a full year after this... Thanksgiving 1969 with "I Want You Back" on Motown. Stevie, on the other hand, was sitting in the national Top 10 this week with "For Once in My Life." Earlier this year, he had done the same with "Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day."

Ironically, although blown away by the competition, Johnny Taylor is also right under Stevie's name, and this very week he held the bragging rights: Taylor's "Who's Making Love" was one spot ahead of "For Once in My Life" on Billboard's pop singles chart, sitting at #6. Taylor would burn up the R&B charts for about the next 10 years.

Syl Johnson is one of the bottom-billed acts here. He had a Top 10 R&B hit in 1975 with "Take Me to the River," which the Talking Heads notably covered at the end of the '70s.

The Beatles Cleveland Stadium 1966

On Aug. 14, 1966, The Beatles played Cleveland Municipal Stadium. This was part of their last tour and the third stop of the tour. Shea Stadium would be the 11th, Candlestick Park the 14th and then their live career would be gone forever.

From Heritage," (This is) an exquisite concert poster that's even a little bit rarer than the Shea Stadium poster and much rarer than Candlestick Park. "Beatles Concert - Tix on Sale Here!" it proclaims. Well, right away that makes it different from any of their other posters. That presumably eliminated all random postings like fences, telephone poles, and other scattered places around town. "Here!" indicates that this piece of advertising was only used in record, musical-instrument, drug and department stores - wherever tickets were actually sold. "

Fans broke through both a fence and police barrier to rush the stage, causing the Beatles to retreat to their trailer. This is yet another first sale of an iconic piece - what could it reach in the future?