Final Auction Price
*Final prices include buyers premium
$5,100.00
Starting bid: $1.00
This poster has incredible provenance having been acquired by a fan who attended the concert - who received the poster outside the show afterwards and held this relic for the past 52 years in their possession. Read their fascinating recollections of the event below!
Presenting for the first time in our auction with CGC grading this 1969 Grateful Dead poster that is sure to receive intense bidder attention. This original poster was produced to promote the Grateful Dead appearing with Lou Reed's Velvet Underground and the Fugs at the Stanley Theatre in Pittsburgh PA on February 7th 1969.
The long lost poster is featured in “The Art of Rock” book Plate #3.160 and was designed by Gene King. Very few posters were produced to promote the show and just a tiny quantity have survived in ANY condition! When it comes to vintage concert posters that are in demand you can't get better than the Grateful Dead WITH The Velvet Underground AND the Fugs !
The consignor of this lot attended the show received the poster outside the show afterwards and held this relic for the past 52 years in their possession. Read their fascinating recollections of the event:
"My friends and I had looked forward with great pleasure to the Stanley Theater concert. Even at the time we realized it was going to be something special the very best three bands in the country at the time in one show: the West Coast The Grateful Dead; the East Coast The Velvet Underground (already established as the best in the East & called “Vampires” when they first toured the West) and the Political The Fugs who sang of everything from heifer sex to ancient Egypt and the holy marijuana.
When we went to the show I soon split from my friends and the only part of the show I saw from the audience seating was people screaming for Lou Reed to have the band do the song “Heroin”. Lou assured them they were going to hear it : ”But first here’s what you have to do to get it” and struck up the band to a monstrous version of “I’m Waitin’ for the Man.”
This was a time before much strong-arm security and I just got it into my head to get a closer view - IE to go sit on the stage. Well that’s what I did! As you would face the stage I was on the left side sometimes out of sight from the audience sometimes not. As I sat there no one said a negative thing to me with various roadies and performers out of the audiences’ sight either trying to get either to or away from what they told me were the Dead and friends going around with squirt guns filled with purported liquid Owsley purple.
While I sat there watching I noticed an envelope near me. On it was scrawled something like “to the Fugs” or “to One of the Fugs” something like that. Since it wasn’t sealed I opened the envelope and was shocked to high heavens: it was a missive written by a young woman I knew quite well seemingly more to Tuli Kupferberg than just any generic “Fug”. I don’t recall the exact content but I do remember it was a rambling irrational plea for understanding for some type of past happening. I couldn’t believe how crazy it was and knowing that the writer considered herself ‘a witch’ I decided not to pass the letter on to Tuli K who was no more than twenty feet away from me with his back to the audience staring at the blue and white light show amoeba being hand created by an unseen person and projected onto the back wall.
After the show I took the poster from a telephone pole luckily removing it with just a little tear in the corner. I consider it comparable to a “game worn jersey” in sports rather than being one never used. After all I have somehow kept this with me for over half a century.
There was one final neat ending to the show. As my friends and I were driving away we stopped at a light and there at the corner was the genius leader of the Fugs Ed Sanders. We did a “double- take” look at each other since there was a remarkable facial resemblance between us then we nodded to each other as the car drove away from the show.
Later after the concert my friends and I were so inspired by the Grateful Dead's performance we wrote a song called "Ridin’ in My Bardo Plane". We hand wrote a rough draft of the lyrics on the back of the poster."
The Bardo Thodol (commonly known in the west as The Tibetan Book of the Dead) outlines the experiences that the consciousness has after death (in the bardo) and the interval between death and the next rebirth. If you are looking for a vintage concert poster - very seldom seen surface - and oozing with the personal touch of "Back In The Day" the vibes of this poster are off the charts. This lot completely encompasses how we at PAE feel about our love for this material this spirit and this music.
Poster – Grateful Dead Stanley Theatre
Grade – CGC 3.5
Bands/Bill – Grateful Dead The Fugs Velvet Underground
Venue – Stanley Theatre
City – Pittsburgh PA
Date – 2/7/69
Dimensions – 10 1/4" x 16 1/2"
Printing – OP-1 Original Pre-Concert First Printing
Paper Type – Med Textured Index
A.O.R. #3.160
Condition Details – 100% Original with no restoration. Writing on reverse. View the detailed high res photo of this lot. Click on the thumbnail photo to see an enlarged photo. Click a second time on the magnifying glass in the upper right corner of the enlarged photo. A super high res image with every millimeter will now be clearly displayed. For a personalized eyewitness examination call 410-464-6180 11:00 am to 6:00pm eastern.
*****This poster is available for inspection at our gallery by appointment. *****
*A 20% Buyers Premium will be added to the final hammer price of this lot.*
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