Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs Poster
Tex-Mex band Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs headlined this billing with their chart singles, "Wooly Bully" and "Li'l Red Riding Hood". Although Wooly Bully remains an all-time garage band favorite, the band never succeeded in breaking out the novelty act image they created.
The 1st printing was produced before the concert, bears union logo 221 below and to the right of the "10" and measures 14" x 20 1/16".
The 1st printing A (see BG022-A) is a rare variant of the original pre-concert poster. This version displays only blue ink and measures 14" x 20 1/16".
The 2nd printing has a union logo in the same place as the 1st printing, but the number 221 is missing. This 1967 post-concert printing measures 13 13/16" x 20 3/16".
When the Avalon Ballroom and Bill Graham's Fillmore Auditorium began to hold weekly dance concerts, Wilson was called upon to design the posters. He created psychedelic posters from February 1966 to May 1967, when disputes over money severed his connection with Graham. Wilson pioneered the psychedelic rock poster. Intended for a particular audience, "one that was tuned in to the psychedelic experience," his art, and especially the exaggerated freehand lettering, emerged from Wilson's own involvement with that experience and the psychedelic art of light shows.