Jefferson Airplane Poster
Wes Wilson was fascinated with the sensory aspects of San Francisco dance-concerts, and the globular forms of BG004 suggest the oozing shapes of a liquid light show or the curves of the back-up drum section. The concert featured the popular Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service and blues great Lightnin' Hopkins.
The pre-concert 1st printing is green and purple ink on plain uncoated white stock. It measures 14" x 20 1/16".
The 1st printing A (see BG004-A) is a variant of the original with purple ink on coral uncoated index. It measures 14" x 20 1/16".
The 2nd printing is green and purple ink on blue stock, which presents a blue reverse. It was printed after the concert and measures 14 1/16" x 20" .
The post-concert 3rd printing, also in green and purple, is on white uncoated index and measures 14 1/16" x 20".
The 4th printing is on uncoated matte stock and has "W 2021" in the lower right hand margin. It was printed in 2021 by the Wolfgang's in a 100 copy run. This reprint measures 14" x 20". This would be considered the 5th printing in Eric King's Collector's Guide to Psychedelic Rock Concert Posters, Postcards and Handbills 1965 to 1973."
BG005\\tThe 3rd printing is on uncoated matte stock and has "W 2021" in the lower right hand margin. It was printed in 2021 by the Wolfgang's in a 100 copy run. This reprint measures 14" x 20".
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.