The Paul Butterfield Blues Band Postcard
The Jefferson Airplane and Butterfield Blues Band helped draw the first-night crowd for blues-legend 'Big Mama' Mae Thornton. By the third and final night of her gig, however, word had spread, and fans needed no inducement to hear the original singer of "Hound Dog" and "Ball and Chain" belt out her music.
The postcard was first printed after the concert with the 2nd printing of the poster. It presents platinum lettering and measures 4 5/8" x 8 3/16".
The post-concert 3rd printing A matches the gold ink of the 3rd printing poster but displays "October 16" in the center of Mama Mae's figure. It measures 4 5/8" x 8 3/16".
The post-concert 3rd printing B postcard matches the 3rd printing poster, deleting the "October 16" date in the center. It shares the same gold ink and measures 4 5/8" x 8 3/16".
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.