Otis Redding & His Orchestra Handbill
Bill Graham discovered that Otis Redding was it, the ultimate musician to anyone in the business, so he flew to Macon, Georgia, and booked Redding for December at the Fillmore. Graham considered this concert, "... the best gig I ever put on in my whole life," and had his pick of any artist in the city to open. He chose the Grateful Dead, Johnny Talbot and Country Joe and the Fish on consecutive nights. The relative simplicity of Wilson's poster reflects Redding's draw.
The handbill was only printed once before the concert and measures 4 7/16" x 7 1/4".
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.