Album Art

Tons of Beatles Rock Memorabilia Found in Jersey

Not to be mistaken for “Jersey Shores” U.S.A., our story comes from across the pond.  In August of 1963, world supergroup The Beatles toured The Channel  Islands.  This leg of the tour incorporated different ballrooms and auditoriums  throughout crown dependancies of Jersey and Guernsey in The English Channel.  The Beatles Rock MemorabiliaPosters and all types of Beatles rock memorabilia are being made available to commemorate their debut concert tour from 1963.  August 6, 2013 (Next Tuesday) begins a 50th Anniversary celebration of  The Beatles coming to The Channel Islands. The original tour of the Islands lasted August 6th-10th 1963.

Tracks, LTD.

Tracks, LTD. is  one of the world’s largest dealer in Beatles rock memorabilia. During the celebration, they are encouraging the public to submit any Beatles artifacts for free appraisal. This (of course) includes rock posters, concert programs, handbills and ticket stubs etc. It works the same way as the TV show “American Pickers”. People have junk in their attic’s or basements they haven’t cleaned out in decades. Only to find artifacts of rock or Beatlemania ephemera that are rare, collectible and sometimes very, very valuable.   Tracks, LTD. says for some reason The Beatles rock memorabilia have doubled in value within the last five years. This major increase is much quicker and higher than most other rock ‘n roll collectibles.

Here are a few examples of how much your posters and stuff may be worth:

  • A Channel Islands Beatle concert poster may go for as much as $12,000
  •  Signed record albums could go from $9,000 -$12,000
  • Signed record album of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” is one of the most coveted. it will go at auction for around $37,500
  •  Also, the value of printed pieces, programs and photos of The Beatles has increased tremendously.  They are now more collectable & popular than any other rock stars memorabilia.

Beatle Investing

The general public and collectors are watching rock memorabilia allot more closely and more seriously as investments these days.  It is becoming, not just a nostalgic whimsical kind a thing, but something worth investing in.  Especially with the sharp increase in value on Beatles rock memorabilia.  You actually have a “better than fair chance” of turning pieces around for a profit in a relatively short period of time.  Remember, their value has doubled or tripled  in the past 2 to 5 years. That’s smart money.

Along with Beatle posters and signed Beatle record albums,  written material, autographs, fab four clothing, personal items and original posters from The Channel Islands tour are in very high demand. These items will fetch some high bids when auctioned. Also, artifacts of other rock stars are on the rise.   Jimi Hendrix,  The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Who and Bob Marley.  Rock memorabilia from these artists are highly valued,  but not as much as items from the fab four.

Links of interest:

Tracks, LTD. – Best in The Beatles Memorabilia

The Beatles.com

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60s Psychedelic Poster Artists Illuminate A Decade

To explore famous rock posters in detail you may have a hard time separating them from the works of the 60s psychedelic poster artists. There are many reasons for this.

60s Psychedelic Poster Artists - Victor Moscoso
The Blues Project by Victor Moscoso

The “rock” poster was invented to advertise events both musical and social that were growing larger and larger in the San Francisco area. The seeds of the counterculture (or hippie movement) were coming of age. This movement was bound to remove itself from the ideals and rigidness of the 1950s. Creating a new culture, with its own ideals, experiences, music, fashion and sustainability.

The 60s psychedelic poster artists were very much a part of this experimentation.  The three martini lunch was out! LSD and marijuana would take its place in the new counterculture. It was as much a rebellion as it was a mind expanding new frontier.

What was black-and-white in the 1950s was now bright and vibrant colors in the 1960s. The light switch had been turned on. Experimentation in all types of media would push the limits of good taste in order to be different or original. But then, bad taste could be good taste in these newfound freedoms of expression.

Whatever the case, there was much art being created around this time. Some hang in museums and some were swept away as trash. I’m speaking particularly about rock posters and handbills made usually for concerts at ballrooms and auditoriums.

The music drove the 60s psychedelic poster artists to aspire to what they did. Mostly commissioned to do concerts rock concerts, but, many would create the posters and put the shows on themselves. A good example of that would be the Pinnacle Rock Concerts that were put on in LA.  (See Pinnacle Concerts posts on this site)

Although we concentrate mainly on the art, artists and famous rock posters of the 1960s–many great changes in our country were made because of the ideals and grasp for a better world from the counterculture.

Links of Interest:

The New Acid Tests – Current LSD Study and Timothy Leary

60s psychedelic poster artists Biographies

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What was the connection of Blue Cheer with Pinnacle Rock Concerts?

I learned some very interesting facts today about the connection of 1960s psychedelic rock band Blue Cheer with Pinnacle Rock Concerts. Pinnacle Rock Concerts (or Pinnacle Productions) put on many shows at the Shrine Auditorium and adjacent Exhibition Hall in Los Angeles California in the 60s.  It looks like they were most influential in exposing Blue Cheer to the public.

Blue Cheer with Pinnacle and JImi Hendrix
1st Pinnacle Rock Concert

As a matter of fact, Blue Cheer (Dickie Peterson, Paul Whaley and Leigh Stephens) did the first Pinnacle Concert at the Shrine Auditorium along with Jimi Hendrix and The Electric Flag.

From what I see, Pinnacle Productions promoted many bands that would otherwise may not have been seen or heard of. Actually, I was doing some research on artist John Van Hamersveld and discovered he was one of the founding partners of Pinnacle Rock Concerts. You may not know the name immediately, but you know his art. He did the Endless Summer movie poster and The Beatles – Magical Mystery Tour album cover.  Both, very iconic.

Van Hamersveld knew Allen “Gut” Turk, Blue Cheer’s manager. He was working on an album Blue Cheer with Pinnacle Rock Concerts 1st Albumcover design and asked Van Hamersveld to photograph the band. That was Blue Cheer’s first album (Vincebus Eruptum).  It was a huge success and the award winning cover is still recognizable and an iconic image from the 60s. So for the first time I’m seeing a San Francisco based band playing in Los Angeles on a lot. it seems.

The combination of Blue Cheer with Pinnacle Rock Concerts at the Shrine Stadium were obviously very popular. 4,000 strong they would storm the gates.  I’m not from California and am just discovering these Pinnacle Production concerts. Of course, I had heard about the famous Shrine Auditorium, but didn’t realize they promoted rock concerts in the 1960s.

Strangely, there were not a lot of rock art posters being done in Los Angeles. It looks like Van Hamersveld did most or allot of the posters for the Pinnacle Rock Concerts (an obvious choice) and shrine Auditorium promotions. But, they are arguably some of the best of the genre.

The Blue Cheer band was very, VERY loud (maybe the loudest) and possibly abrasive/abusive onstage.  More than once getting into tussles with other bands on the same bill, like the Grateful Dead and the Jeff Beck Group. Nonetheless, they are attributed to being the godfathers of metal music or the beginings of  heavy rock. At the time it was just very original and experimental music they were doing.

What was the connection of Blue Cheer with Pinnacle Rock Concerts? (I believe) they were destined to be partners. Gut Turk, Van Hamersveld and the other managers saw them (Blue Cheer) as innovators and way ahead of their time.

As you might imagine from this post, yes I was a fan back in the day and I would say, still am today. It was some of the most animal, raw, unbridled and original rock ‘n roll I had ever heard. Liberating.

Also, the relationship of Blue Cheer with Pinnacle is relevant to this blog.  Because it is believed to have been born from the collaboration of an album cover design no less.

“Vincebus Eruptum” (pronounced ‘win-kay-bus’) is Latin for “Conquering Attack” or “Conquering Explosion.” It’s the best translation I could find.  Dickie Peterson (however) defined it as”control of chaos” or “controlled chaos” on a Blue Cheer appearance of the Steve Allen Show.

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