1968–AOR 2.164-OHB-B-Carousel Ballroom-Big Brother & The Holding Co Concert Handbill-CGC Graded 5.0

closed on Friday, November 30, 2018

Final Auction Price
*Final prices include buyers premium
$92.00
Starting bid: $1.00

This is only the third CGC Graded example of this rare handbill to appear in our auction. Big Brother did not perform at these shows. The band backed out at the last minute and a number of posters and handbills were distributed with the band's name crossed out with different colored magic markers. They were replaced on the bill by Mad River. The versions WITHOUT the magic marker cross outs (like this one) are actually much more scarce and harder to find!


The Carousel Ballroom was a short-lived venture by several of the San Francisco bands in managing their own music venue. The experiment which only spanned a few months in 1968 failed due to the bands obvious lack of business prowess. That paired with the questionable ethics of one time Dead manager Ron Rakow led to the Ballrooms demise. Additionally Bill Graham did not take well to the competition and did everything he could to make sure that the venture failed. The fate of the Carousel was that Bill Graham bought the floundering concert hall and renamed it the Fillmore West. Although the Carousel was short lived it inspired a series of posters and handbills that are amongst the best of the entire genre of 1960's psychedelic concert images.


Handbill – Big Brother & The Holding Company

Grade – CGC 5.0

Bands/Bill – Big Brother & The Holding Company Clara Ward Singers H.P. Lovecraft

Venue –Carousel Ballroom

City – San Francisco CA

Date – 5/24-26/1968

Dimensions – 7 3/32" x 10 8/32"

Printing – OHB-B Original Pre-Concert First Printing Version B (Paper Type)

Artist – Crazy Arab

Condition Details - 100% Original with no restoration of any kind! 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 Handbill is available for inspection at our gallery by appointment. *****

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