1968 Johnny Cash Carousel Ballroom Hand Drawn Original Art AND Original Poster Collection

This is the First & Only appearance of this unique set of both the Original Artwork + First Printing Concert Poster for the historic, groundbreaking Johnny Cash concert held at the Carousel Ballroom (future home of Fillmore West) on April 24th, 1968, in a PAE auction EVER! 

This lot contains the Hand-Drawn ORIGINAL ART for this very VERY POPULAR 1968 early Carousel Ballroom poster featuring the man in black, Johnny Cash! Included is an original first printing of the poster as well. The design was created by S. Elvin. The concert took place on April 24th 1968 with Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks in support. Original art is incredibly rare and valuable, as pieces like this are generally traded privately and seldom come up for public offering. This is a ONE OF A KIND insider item! 

The Original Fine Line Concert Poster Artwork is in Black ink on white artist's illustration paper. The piece is one of a kind and hand signed in black ink by the artist, S. Elvin, in 1968 when he completed the artwork.  As you can see, the piece is in great shape, with only minor blemishes, including a tape stain at the top edge. 

Check out this CBS Bay Area story on this particular Johnny Cash concert event at the Carousel Ballroom and it's recording.

The Carousel Ballroom, in the heart of Haight-Ashbury, was being poorly managed by The Grateful Dead & Jefferson Airplane, who were attempting to escape from Bill Grahams type of promotion and promote their own shows, as well as those of other musical groups, Unfortunately their experiment ended about six months later, then Bill Graham took it over and renamed it "The Fillmore West". This Carousel Ballroom performance by Johnny Cash was unleashed just two weeks before Columbia released his groundbreaking & pivotal "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison" album, and it soared up to #13 on Billboard's Top LPs chart, not too shabby of a showing for a "country" album, although the single "Folsom Prison Blues" climbed all the way to #1 on the country chart, staying in that position for a month. 

Owsley Stanley (aka Augustus Owsley Stanley III) had recently initiated soundboard tape "experiments", by recording concerts in order to provide The Grateful Dead musicians with a recording of what their music sounded like to their fans in the audience. Owsley, utilizing his methods of isolating the sound from each performer, recorded JOHNNY CASH at this concert, and after the tape was unearthed in his stash of tapes, having earmarked it for preservation since after listening to the tape of the Cash concert, he knew he had captured something special, due to Johnny's rapport with the audience, obviously at the height of his charismatic powers, in powerful and playful dialogue with his new bride (they were married on March 1st of that year) June Carter, being back by his legendary band would work better as being backed by his legendary band, "The Tennessee Three", he made certain he kept it and thus it eventually was resurrected & released by the Owsley Stanley Foundation. That same recording was presented by "The Owsley Stanley Foundation" & released to the public on September 24, 2021, as part of their "Bear's Sonic Journals" concert series via Renew Records, entitled "Johnny Cash At The Carousel Ballroom April 24 1968." A press release from the record label describes the origins of this 1968 gig "Stanley delivers a mix that's been described as 'probably the closest to what it actually sounded like to be in the audience for a Johnny Cash show in 1968."  

“Featuring Cash entirely on the right channel and the Tennessee Three all on the left - a decision even Starfinder Stanley, Owsley's son, admits is ‘a bit weird until your brain adjusts’ - he sets the listener right between Johnny and his band, as if they were center stage at the Carousel that evening. It's a testament to the unconventional genius of a sonic innovator whose avant-garde techniques are accepted as gospel today.” - From the press release. 

--CRITICAL DETAILS--
--TITLE: Johnny Cash Carousel Ballroom Hand Drawn Original Art AND Original Poster 
--GRADE: NG
--PERFORMERS: Johnny Cash, Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks
--VENUE: Carousel Ballroom
--CITY: San Francisco
--DATE: 04/24/68
--DIMENSIONS: 15 in. x 8 in. , Original Art Measures 13.63 x 16.88
--PRINTING: OP-1; Original Pre-Concert First Printing Poster , and Original Art.

A 20% Buyers Premium will be added to the final hammer price of this lot. 
High resolution HD photos available on request. 
For a personalized eyewitness examination call 410-464-6180, 10:00 am to 5:00pm EST.