The Grass Roots Poster
Image may not exactly match item shipped.
The 1st printing is 14 1/8" x 20" on vellum and shows "The Bindweed Press San Francisco" in the lower right corner. There was a late change in the billing that is reflected on some copies of the 1st printing; the words "FRI. AND SAT. NIGHTS ONLY" have been altered with the addition of a sticker over the word "SAT." The word "SUN" is hand-written on the sticker. Some of the 1st printing posters have this sticker. This original poster was printed prior to the concert.
The post-concert printings were done on different paper stocks and both bear the "No.15-2" notation in the lower left corner. Both versions show the Washington Street address in the lower right corner and omit the Bindweed Press credit.
2nd printing A is on a thin 5.5 point paper stock and measures 14 3/16" x 20 1/2". The colors are more muted, and the figure shows less detail.
2nd printing B is on a thick, 8 to 8.5 point glossy paper stock and measures 14 1/4" x 20 1/2". The colors are more intense and the figure more detailed.
When the Avalon Ballroom and Bill Graham's Fillmore Auditorium began to hold weekly dance concerts, Wilson was called upon to design the posters. He created psychedelic posters from February 1966 to May 1967, when disputes over money severed his connection with Graham. Wilson pioneered the psychedelic rock poster. Intended for a particular audience, "one that was tuned in to the psychedelic experience," his art, and especially the exaggerated freehand lettering, emerged from Wilson's own involvement with that experience and the psychedelic art of light shows.