The Paul Butterfield Blues Band Poster
BG003 is the second poster in the series to feature the Jefferson Airplane prominently in the artwork. Bill Graham quickly realized that the Airplane's sound and name recognition made them a strong draw for San Francisco audiences, and he booked them frequently in the early days. Wes Wilson's artwork reflects his fondness for the human head, and the lettering design in BG003 suggests the facial features.
The pre-concert 1st printing measures 14" x 20" and is printed on vellum. The right hand border of the image is straight.
The 2nd printing measures 13 13/16" x 20" and is also printed on vellum. On this 1967 post-concert reprint, the right hand border curves significantly inward towards the middle of the image and curves back out at the top and bottom.
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.