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Vietnam/The Sixties 2, Sixties Literature 6

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RIMMER, Robert H. to RUBIN, Jerry


226. RIMMER, Robert H. The Harrad Experiment. Los Angeles: Sherbourne (1966). Influential novel about a fictional college where an experiment in sexual liberation is taking place--a book that anticipated, and helped precipitate, the changes in college life, including sexual mores, that took place in the late Sixties and early Seventies. The book was an underground bestseller in its paperback reprint, but the original edition, done by a small L.A. publisher, is quite scarce. Mild wear at crown and base of spine; near fine in a near fine dust jacket.

227. (Rock). Fillmore East. (NY): (Fillmore East), 1969. Program for a Creedence Clearwater Revival appearance, July 18-19, 1969, appearing with Terry Reid and Aum. Also in the program is a clip-out coupon for tickets to Woodstock, still at this time scheduled for Wallkill, NY. Near fine in stapled wrappers.

228. (Rock). HUDSON, James A. Fillmore East & West. NY: Scholastic Books (1970). A book for the junior high school set about the legendary rock venues and some of the bands that play them including The Band, The Who, Love, The Grateful Dead, and others. The book closes with an account of a night at the Fillmore East featuring Love, the Allman Brothers and the Grateful Dead. Rubbed; very good in wrappers.

229. (Rock). DACHS, David. Inside Pop 2. NY: Scholastic (1970). Paperback original, apparently published for junior high school-age students. Photos and capsule histories of two dozen groups or performers, along with a handful of more in-depth pieces. Includes Hendrix and Joplin and the Cowsills, among others. Near fine in wrappers.

230. (Rock). HOPKINS, Jerry. Festival! (NY): Collier Books (1970). Quarto, a book of articles and photographs of some of the major music festivals of the late Sixties, including Woodstock, the Newport Folk Festival, the Big Sur Folk Festival, and others. The issue in wrappers. Photographs by Baron Wolman and Jim Marshall. Spine deeply creased; very good.

231. (Rock). Playboy's Music Scene. (Chicago): Playboy Press (1972). A paperback original, with articles on The Grateful Dead (by Ed McClanahan), Mick Jagger, Frank Zappa, Arlo Guthrie and Janis Joplin, and with 8 pages of Playboy-style color photos of girls from the cast of Hair. Corner crease; near fine.

232. (Rock). SCULATTI, Gene and SEAY, Davin. San Francisco Nights. NY: St. Martin's (1985). The uncorrected proof copy of this illustrated history of the San Francisco music scene, 1965 to 1968, a key time and place in the development of the counterculture. Reproduces numerous posters of the era, plus photographs of the participants, although the photo quality in the proof is poor. Very near fine in wrappers.

233. (Rock). WOLMAN, Baron. Classic Rock & Other Rollers. (Santa Rosa): Squarebooks (1992). Quarto, a book of photographs by the chief photographer for Rolling Stone magazine from 1967-1970. Includes Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, and many more. This is the issue in wrappers. Inscribed by Wolman. Near fine.

234. (Rock deaths). HENDRIX, Jimi. Rolling Stone, October 15, 1970. (SF): (Rolling Stone) (1970). Within a 10-month period, three of rock's leading stars died, all of them of causes related to drug overdoses. Rolling Stone was, in effect, the newspaper of record for the counterculture at that time, and featured lengthy articles on each of the stars. This issue includes a cover article on Hendrix's life and death. Some surface wear, and pages browning; very good.

235. (Rock deaths). JOPLIN, Janis. Rolling Stone, October 29, 1970. (SF): (Rolling Stone) (1970). Cover article on Joplin's death and life. Address label peeled off, tearing through the cover, otherwise very good.

236. (Rock deaths). MORRISON, Jim. Rolling Stone, August 5, 1971. (Oakland): (Rolling Stone) (1971). Cover article on Morrison's death. Very good.

Illustrated Rock Handbills, 1966-67

The psychedelic poster art of the late 1960s developed into a distinctive art form and became the most lasting visual legacy of the counterculture. San Francisco was the epicenter of this movement, and five artists in particular represented its leading lights in the early, formative years: Alton Kelley, Stanley Mouse, Rick Griffin, Wes Wilson and Victor Moscoso. In July, 1967, the Moore Gallery in San Francisco approached the artists to do a "Joint Show" of their work, which became a landmark exhibition of its day. The artists borrowed from poster styles of earlier eras and fused them with a psychedelic design sense, creating a style that has left its mark on poster and graphic arts ever since. The earliest posters created were fairly simple, often traditional in design--at least partly because the rock venues commissioning them were on limited budgets and the artists and printers were also strapped for cash. Later, as the rock scene grew, the posters showed increasing sophistication in production and design. In general from this era, the earlier the poster, the scarcer, but also the more simple the design. From early 1966, when the first artistic rock posters began to appear, through 1967, the rock art evolved and more of the artists developed their own, identifiable personal styles. In this arena, as in other facets of the counterculture, the event celebrated as "the Death of Hippie" can be seen as something of a watershed. "The Death of Hippie" was a celebration on October 6, 1967 in San Francisco, in which the hippies of Haight-Ashbury gathered to decry the growing media attention being given to the counterculture and the resultant increasing commercialization of the scene. Before "the Death of Hippie," the hippie movement saw itself as a spontaneous, grassroots cultural uprising, triggered by alienation from the mainstream society, and fueled by psychedelic drugs and rock music. After media attention began to be showered on Haight-Ashbury, the movement saw itself as being invaded by corrupting elements of that same mainstream society: before the "Death of Hippie," the artifacts of the counterculture were art, afterwards they were commerce, or such was the generally accepted view of those involved at the time. These handbills, dating primarily from 1966 and '67--before "the death of hippie" and before the Haight-Ashbury scene began to deteriorate--are extremely scarce examples of an art form in the making, and they chart the evolution of the counterculture as well. As one progresses through 1966 and into 1967, one can see the designs becoming more complex, using more color, and becoming more stylized. The earliest of these images, therefore, while not as distinctive stylistically, are nevertheless important examples of a nascent, evolving art form, as uniquely American as jazz.

237. (Rock Handbill). THE ASSOCIATION. San Francisco: 1966. Handbill for a performance at the Fillmore, with Quicksilver Messenger Service and the Grassroots. 5 1/2" x 8 1/2". Blue on white. Faint corner creasing, still fine. An early handbill, featuring the soft-rock Association as top billing, with the little-known San Francisco band, Quicksilver, getting second billing.

238. (Rock Handbill). BIG BROTHER and the HOLDING COMPANY. San Francisco: Bindweed Press, (n.d.) [1967]. "The Hell's Angels present in Supersonic Psychedelic Sound and Color Big Brother and the Holding Co. and Blue Cheer." A Hell's Angel dance being held at California Hall in San Francisco, Feb. 3, 1967. Big Brother and the Holding Company, featuring Janis Joplin, was a favorite band at the Hell's Angels parties in the late Sixties. Blue Cheer was a newly formed, heavy psychedelic band that later became known for its association with the drug STP, a particularly powerful psychedelic. The band's manager, "Gut," was a Hell's Angel and also a poster artist; he created the image for this poster and handbill. The handbill is printed in red on black & white photographic background, and corresponds to the poster depicted in Rock Art, #2.248. 8 1/2" x 11". Fine.

239. (Rock Handbill). BIG BROTHER and the HOLDING COMPANY. [San Francisco], (n.d.) [probably 1966]. A dance concert at California Hall, November 23rd & 24th. Also performing, The Friendly Stranger. 5 1/2" x 8 1/2". Purple and blue on white.

240. (Rock Handbill). BIG BROTHER and the HOLDING COMPANY. San Francisco: Calliope Company, (n.d.) [probably 1966]. "Bilbo's Birthday Party," at California Hall, with The Great Society and The Amazing Charlatans. A different poster for this event is shown in Art of Rock, #2.156. Approximately 11" x 4¼". Left edge uneven, not affecting text; near fine. Green on yellow.

241. (Rock Handbill). BIG BROTHER and the HOLDING COMPANY. (n.p.): 1967. Big Brother and the Holding Company, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Sparrow, and the Charlatans, at the Mt. Tamalpais Outdoor Theater, April 8, 1967. A lineup of several of the most popular San Francisco bands for a concert to start at 12 noon and go until 7 P.M., according to the handbill. This image, like the one above, created by Gut. 8½" x 5½". Purple photographic design on white. Fine.

242. (Rock Handbill). BLUE CHEER. San Francisco: Soot Productions, 1967. Blue Cheer, the Mojo Men and the Jook Savages in "A Tribute to J. Edgar Hoover" at California Hall, February 10th, 1967--"a dream that is a public event." 8 1/2" x 11". Pink, orange and black on white, with a photograph of Hoover doctored to have him wearing a mod/psychedelic shirt and tie. Corresponds to the poster in Art of Rock, #2.150. One tiny corner chip, otherwise fine.

243. (Rock Handbill). BLUE CHEER. San Francisco, 1967. "Spirit of '67." Playing with Sopwith Camel, July 7th and 8th, 1967. Four color, with an Uncle Sam motif. 5" x 7". Corresponds to the poster depicted in Art of Rock, #2.149. This performance was at California Hall in San Francisco. Fine.

244. (Rock Handbill). BLUE CHEER. Denver, 1967. "Washday Detergent." A handbill for a performance of Blue Cheer and Superfine Dandelion in Denver on November 3rd and 4th, 1967. 5" x 7", done by Robert Fried. Art of Rock, #FD D-10. Fine.

245. (Rock Handbill). BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD. San Francisco: Bindweed Press [1966]. A dance concert at the Avalon Ballroom, December 2nd and 3rd, 1966,. With Daily Flash. This corresponds to poster #37, "Cake," in the Family Dog series. The artist was Ned Lamont (aka Tom Glass). 8½" x 11". Blue and yellow on white. A small corner chip; else fine.

246. (Rock Handbill). CAGE, JOHN. NY: Electric Circus, 1967. A performance by Cage on May 27, 1968, as part of the Electric Ear series, at New York's most renowned underground club. "An electronic sight and sound work whose form is determined by the moves of a chess game." 5½" x 9¼". Red and blue on white. Fine.

247. (Rock Handbill). COUNTRY JOE and the FISH. San Francisco [1966]. An extended series of performances at the Matrix ("no door charge Tues. -- Thurs. 75¢ Fri & Sat.") with Country Joe performing apparently from Tuesday thru Sunday. The Matrix was a concert hall opened in November of 1965 by Marty Balin, whose folk-rock band, the Jefferson Airplane, was to be the "house band." This is a very simple, hand-lettered image, done in black and white. 8½" x 7". Fine.

248. (Rock Handbill). COUNTRY JOE and the FISH. Berkeley, 1967. Together with Big Brother and the Holding Company and Melvyn Watchpocket, at the Golden Sheaf Bakery, February 10th and 11th, 1967. 5 3/16" x 7½". Artwork by Loren Rehbock (See Art of Rock, #2.269 & 2.270) and photograph by Tom Weller (see AR #2.280). Red, yellow and black on white. Fine.

249. (Rock Handbill). DIDDLEY, Bo. San Francisco [1966]. In performance at the Avalon Ballroom, with Quicksilver Messenger Service, July 28-30, 1966. Produced by Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley, this handbill corresponds to the poster in Art of Rock, #FD18, although the colors are different and the writing is clearer than that reproduced in the book. Pink and brown on white. 8 1/2" x 11". One very small corner chip; else fine.

250. -. Same title, same design. Red and orange on white. A half dozen small tape shadows. Near fine.

The Doors, Second-Billed to The Peanut Butter Conspiracy

251. (Rock Handbill). THE DOORS. San Francisco: Double-H Press (n.d.). "The Love Conspiracy Commune Presents Psychedelic Happenings with the Peanut Butter Conspiracy The Doors and the World's Greatest Light Show Whiskey A GO GO." An interesting handbill in that it shows The Doors, one of the most lasting groups from the Sixties, playing second billing to The Peanut Butter Conspiracy in a gig lasting for two weeks. The image corresponds to the poster depicted in Art of Rock #2.195, with different colors. 5 1/2" x 8 1/2". Black on tan. Fine.

252. (Rock Handbill). JEFFERSON AIRPLANE. San Francisco, 1966. Alton Kelley and Stanley Mouse produced this image for a concert put on at the Fillmore on Sunday, November 6th, by the Associated Students of San Francisco State College and billed as "an Edwardian Ball." The image corresponds to the poster depicted in Art of Rock, #2.81, with a similar color scheme. Four color; 8 1/2" x 11". Fine.

253. (Rock Handbill). JEFFERSON AIRPLANE. San Francisco, (n.d.) [1967]. With Quicksilver Messenger Service, Country Joe and the Fish and the Loading Zone, at the Fillmore, Sunday February 6, 1967. Art of Rock identifies this as a 1966 poster (#2.87) but if the day and date are correct it would have to be 1967. The concert was billed as a "Strike Benefit," probably for University of California students protesting the firing of the President of the University a few days earlier by newly elected Governor Ronald Reagan. 6 3/4" x 10 3/4". Four color. Tape on verso; near fine.

254. (Rock Handbill). JEFFERSON AIRPLANE. San Francisco, (n.d.) [1966]. A Family Dog production with the Great Society, at the Avalon Ballroom, July 22-23, 1966. The poster from which this handbill was derived was produced by Kelley and Mouse and has been nicknamed "Snake Lady" (see Art of Rock, FD17). 8 1/2" x 11". Purple on pink. One tiny edge nick; else fine.

255. -. Same title, same design, but maroon on yellow. Fine.

256. (Rock Handbill). LOVE. San Jose, 1966. At the San Jose Civic Auditorium, November 23, 1966, with Ray Columbus, the Leaves and the Tijuana Rejects. Love was an L.A. band, new to the San Francisco Bay Area at that time. 5½" x 8½". Red and black on white. Fine.

257. (Rock Handbill). MOBY GRAPE. San Francisco: (n.d.) [probably 1966]. Psychedelic favorite Moby Grape performing with American Dream, the New Tweedy Brothers and Lee Michaels. The image is a photograph of a Hindu holy man, seen in vertical mirror image, against a background of green with purple text. California Hall. Purple and green on white. 8½" x 11". Fine.

258. (Rock Handbill). MOBY GRAPE. San Francisco: Family Dog (1967). "Three Little Bares." A handbill (5" x 7") announcing a concert by Moby Grape and Canned Heat at the Avalon Ballroom, August 10-13, 1967. The artist was Victor Moscoso. (Art of Rock #FD75). Fine.

259. (Rock Handbill). THE MOTHERS. San Francisco, 1966. 5½" x 8½". Frank Zappa's band with Oxford Circle at the Fillmore on Friday, September 9, and the Scottish Rites Temple, Saturday, September 10. Purple and orange on white. A Bill Graham presentation. Tiny holes and tape shadows; near fine.

260. (Rock Handbill). QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE. San Francisco [1966]. With the Sons of Champlin and Blackburn & Snow, at the Avalon Ballroom, October 28-29. This poster image was nicknamed "Rooster" and was produced by Victor Moscoso, who later became one of the top San Francisco psychedelic poster artists, along with Mouse and Kelley, Rick Griffin, and Wes Wilson. This was Moscoso's first poster in the Family Dog series, and is a more restrained image, using more traditional design and lettering, than his later work. Corresponds to Art of Rock, #FD32. Purple and black on white. 8 1/2" x 11". Tape shadows showing from verso; near fine.

261. (Rock Handbill). QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE. San Francisco: Bindweed Press (n.d.) [1966]. "The Xmas Show" at Winterland, with Big Brother and the Holding Company and The Loving Impulse, on Friday and Saturday, December 16-17, 1966. 8½" x 11". Created by Gut, the Hell's Angel poster artist who also managed Blue Cheer. Red, green, yellow and black on white. Art of Rock, #2.207, although AR identifies it incorrectly as 1967. Fine.

262. (Rock Handbill). QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE. San Pablo: [1967]. 5½" x 8½". An appearance by Quicksilver with Ophelia's Death on January 10, 1967, at Maple Hall in San Pablo, California. Black on green. One small ink mark, minor scuffing; near fine.

263. (Rock Handbill). QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE. San Francisco: Family Dog (1967). "Sutter's Mill." Four-color handbill (5" x 7") by Rick Griffin for a performance of Quicksilver with Country Joe and the Fish at the Avalon Ballroom, May 19-21, 1967. Corresponds to Art of Rock, #FD62. Fine.

264. (Rock Handbill). QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE. San Francisco: Family Dog (1967). "Independance." Rick Griffin-designed handbill, 5" x 7", for a July 4, 1967 concert at the Avalon Ballroom, with Quicksilver, Siegal Schwall and The Phoenix. Fine.

265. (Rock Handbill). RAVI SHANKAR. NY: (n.d.) [c. 1968]. Okay, not rock, sitar. The Indian musician introduced to the youth of the West by the Beatles played six nights at Carnegie Hall. The handbill gives the highlights of each night's program. Shankar's adoption by the counterculture provided the seeds for the current widespread interest in "world music." 11" x 8 1/2". Black on white. One corner chip; near fine.

266. (Rock Handbill). THEM. San Francisco, 1966. Van Morrison's band, with the Sons of Champlin, presented by Bill Graham, at the Fillmore, "Last U.S. Appearances This Year." 5½" x 8½". Black on pink. One tape shadow; else fine.

Rare Handbill from the Trips Festival

267. (Rock Handbill). Trips Festival. [San Francisco]: 1966. 6 1/2" x 9 1/2". The Trips Festival, in January, 1966, was a catalyzing milestone for the hippie counterculture. Conceived by Stewart Brand, who was then one of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters and later went on to found the Whole Earth Catalog, the event grew out of the seminal Acid Test and Open Theater experiments. Kesey and the Pranksters, Big Brother and the Holding Company, the Grateful Dead and Allen Ginsberg all had a hand in planning it, and they hired Bill Graham as a coordinating producer. Graham's experience at the Trips Festival inspired him to later begin booking his own rock concerts at the Fillmore. Lou Gottlieb, a folksinger with the highly successful group, The Limelighters, was writing a music column for the San Francisco Chronicle at the time, and Brand approached him for publicity: Gottlieb's column on the Tuesday preceding the event touted the upcoming Trips Festival as "an event of major significance in the history of religion [and] an event of major significance in the history of the arts..." Gottlieb went on to found Morning Star Ranch, a hippie haven north of San Francisco [see above]. Despite Kesey's bust for marijuana the day before the event (and two days after he had just been convicted on another marijuana charge), the Festival went off as planned. Thousands of people showed up and Augustus Stanley Owsley's latest batch of LSD was passed around in a shopping bag, as well as being used to spike the ice cream. Big Brother, who had played their first gig just a week before, performed at the event, followed immediately by the Grateful Dead, who played intermittently throughout the three days of the festival. Microphones were available to anyone wanting to use them, and Neal Cassady spent much of the time delivering free-wheeling talks over the sound system, often backed up by the Dead's music. The handbill for the event was done by Wes Wilson, who had done printing for the San Francisco Mime Troupe and later became one of the five major San Francisco poster artists. Printed in black and white on both sides, with the verso listing the events and performers planned for each evening (as much as there were any fixed plans) as well as the participants. The handbill is reproduced in Art of Rock, #2.42. This copy has taped corners, a blue stain; several penciled annotations; only good. A rare, fragile artifact of one of the most important events in the history of the counterculture movement.

268. (Rock Handbill). THE YOUNGBLOODS. San Francisco: [1966]. A Family Dog production, at the Avalon Ballroom, with Sparrow and the Sons of Champlin also appearing, December 17, 1966. Mouse and Kelley did the artwork, which has come to be known as "Redskin" and corresponds to the poster in Art of Rock, #FD39. 8 1/2" x 11". Red, blue, yellow and black on white. Fine.

269. (Rock Poster). CHUCK BERRY / ERIC BURDON and WAR. San Francisco: Bill Graham, 1970. A joint poster for two separate shows--Chuck Berry, with Buddy Miles and Loading Zone, playing at the Fillmore West on September 24-27, 1970; and Eric Burdon and War, playing with Seals and Crofts, and Clover, on October 1-4. The poster artist was collagist David Singer, who did more of Bill Graham's posters during the years 1969-71 than any other single artist. He was commissioned by Graham to do the poster for the closing of the Fillmore West in 1971. This poster is identified in Art of Rock as BG250. 28 x 22 . This copy is signed by the artist in the lower margin of the poster. A few small spots; minor edgewear; near fine.

270. (Rolling Stones). HOTCHNER, A.E. Blown Away. NY: Simon & Schuster (1990). The uncorrected proof copy. Subtitled "The Rolling Stones and the Death of the Sixties." A book that contends that the idealistic period of the Sixties ended at Altamont Raceway, during the huge free concert that the Stones gave as a sort of West Coast response to Woodstock. The concert was marred by violence: the Hell's Angels had been hired for security and numerous fights broke out during the performances, culminating in one person getting killed by an Angel. Hotchner also contends that the death of Rolling Stones' guitarist Brian Jones a few months earlier was murder, not a drug overdose as had been widely reported at the time. Fine in wrappers.

271. ROMNEY, Hugh. "WAVY GRAVY." Song of Alive. (n.p.: n.p., n.d.)[c. 1959]. A poetry collection by Romney, who published a number of poems in the late Fifties and early Sixties, but later became more well-known as "Wavy Gravy"--perhaps the most high-profile of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters. This copy consists of folded sheets, unbound, possibly a proof copy of some sort. The photograph of the author on the rear cover was taken by Fred McDarrah, whose photos of the various Beat generation writers have been widely published and reproduced. Very good in wrappers and signed by the author with a chop, presumably the author's, in the upper right corner of the title page. Scarce.

272. RUBIN, Jerry. Do It! NY: Simon & Schuster (1970). The Yippie manifesto, and presumably the antecedent for the sneaker company slogan. This is the uncommon hardcover issue: because of the book's intended audience of young people, most copies were issued in softcover. The book has an introduction by Eldridge Cleaver, one of the leading members of the Black Panthers, who at the time of publication was living in exile in Algeria. It is heavily illustrated with photos, counterculture comics, collages, etc. Both Rubin and Cleaver later had dramatic mid-life changes of heart about their revolutionary activities--denouncing their earlier postures and taking paths that represented virtually 180-degree turnabouts from their previous positions: Rubin became a stock broker and Cleaver a born-again Christian, their lives, in effect, providing commentary--and damning commentary-- on this period of revolutionary fervor. Mild foxing to top edge; else fine in a very good, edge-rubbed dust jacket.

273. -. Same title, the simultaneous issue in wrappers. Near fine in wrappers and signed ("Yippie!") by the author.

274. -. Another copy of the issue in wrappers, unsigned. Near fine.

275. RUBIN, Jerry. Campaign Poster. (Berkeley): (n.p.)(n.d.). 13 1/2" x 19" four-color campaign poster for the Berkeley mayoral race--an unusual step toward the "Establishment" for the former yippie leader and advocate of self-directed anarchy (see Do It! above). A paradisal wilderness scene, extolling the platform "Peace in Vietnam/end poverty/stop police harassment/18 year old vote/legalize marijuana/rent control/black power/student power/fight racism/tax the rich/plant trees & flowers." A couple of small stains, mostly visible in the margins. A small piece of tape and foot scuffs on verso; very good.

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