Rare original art produced for a billboard promoting The Rolling Stones Let It Bleed found.

The Rolling Stones are certainly not strangers when it comes to the art of self promotion.

They rule. Plain and simple.

There has been no other band in the history of rock n’ roll that knows how to stir up controversy and buzz over what they are doing or about to do, better than Mick and company.

And Sunset Blvd in LA is where we saw a lot of their ideas come to life.

Shown here are several examples of billboard advertising, an all but dying medium these days, where the Stones strutted their stuff.

Usually the Stones used billboard advertising to promote a new album.

The LA scene is where you can find about every artist during the 70′s and 80′s using this larger than life opportunity to deliver their message.

And as we know the Stones didn’t shy away from imagery that would infuriate and disturb anyone who looked at it. The infamous “Black and Blue” board whose image of a bound and beaten woman eventually had to be pulled down.

Even in announcing their upcoming “50 And Counting” tour, the Stones took to the streets to create anticipation and buzz around the announcement.

The above original art was recently found looks to be created to promote the Stones new London album “Let It Bleed.” It is unknown if in fact the art was ever used or made it’s way to a billboard. This is first major introduction of Mick Taylor as well.

As you can see from the recognizable clothing, Mick is his iconic omega shirt and scarf, this is clearly from the 1969 Ya Ya’s period.

I’m thrilled to now own this incredible never before seen rarity, coming from my good friend Jeff Gold of Recordmecca.

Thanks Jeff.

This one is a keeper.

Happy Hunting.

Gary Rocks

….Off we go to the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame for the “Rolling Stones: 50 Years Of Satisfaction” exhibit.

Suffice to say when THE Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame called me and asked if I’d be interested in putting some of my collection on loan for the upcoming “Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction” exhibit, I was freakin’ blown away.

Let me think about it….Aaaaaah, YES! YES! YES!

So, off I went to pack up and say goodbye to my babies for the next two years. I mean seriously, how do you say no to this???

Sniff, sniff….separation anxiety is beginning to set in.

“Bye, bye kids….Call me every once in awhile and let me know you’re okay.”

“Okay?”

Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction will be the Museum’s first ever major exhibition capturing the band’s legendary career spanning more than 50 years.  It will include personal items and extraordinary collections that have never been seen before by the public. The exhibit will be open till March 2014.

“The Rolling Stones are the epitome of rock and roll,” said Greg Harris, president and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. “This first-ever exhibit gives us an opportunity to tell the story of one of the definitive rock and roll bands. The experience should be on every music fan’s destination list this summer.”

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum presents Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction will be a comprehensive retrospective exhibit that chronicles the band from the mid-1960s until today.  The exhibit, which takes up two-and-a-half floors of the Museum, will celebrate the Rolling Stones’ incredible contribution to popular music from their earliest days playing small clubs, to their era-defining recordings such as “Gimme Shelter,” “Paint It Black,” “Jumping Jack Flash,” “Tumbling Dice,” “It’s Only Rock And Roll” and sold-out global tours. Through the use of artifacts, film, text and interactive technology, generations of music fans will have the opportunity to get up close and personal with rare items from nearly every aspect of the Stones’ astonishing five decades at the top.

Throughout the exhibition’s run, the Museum will host a range of free public programs that explore the significance and legacy of the Rolling Stones, including interviews, films, and special lectures.

http://rockhall.com/exhibits/rolling-stones-50-years-of-satisfaction/

These are the hand picked pieces from my collection the Hall Of Fame chose to exhibit and that will be traveling around the country.

Mick’s handwritten marketing notes for “Tattoo You.”

Keith’s Bobby Lee guitar strap used during The 1975 “Tour Of The Americas.”

Keith’s linen pirate shirt worn on tour during the mid 70′s and in the “Respectable” video.

Keith’s leopard lined leather jacket from the 70′s.

Cockroaches t-shirt and stub from the Stones secret gig at Sir Morgan’s Cove in 1981.

Mick’s handwritten selections for singles from “Tattoo You.”

Mick’s handwritten rehearsal set list for the Sir Morgan’s Cove show.

and the letter back….. pretty cool.

The Rolling Stones autographs. The “real deals” are there, you just have to do your homework.

Probably the one question I’m asked constantly by those who know I collect or have seen my collection is, “How do you know it’s real?”
My answer is usually, “I just know.”
As easy as that sounds, it’s not that easy.
But with a little work you will know, and you can protect yourself and your collection.

Start with the simple notion that 95% of autographs sold on eBay and through memorabilia sites are fakes.
Yup, 95%.
Why is that?
Easy.
These alleged reputable dealers are looking for people who don’t know what they’re are looking at.
People that want to believe at that price, it’s too good to be true.
Want to believe that the dealer is reputable.
And to borrow a quote, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

Check out this link to find out who really said this.

http://www.historybuff.com/library/refbarnum.html

So how do you know if a set of signatures you’re buying is fake?
If there’s a certificate of authenticity offered, it’s fake.

Any a-hole can print up a impressive looking “certificate”, sign it, offer a lifetime guarantee, and sell pretty much anything.
People think this is their protection.
Sorry, it don’t mean shit.
You need to know your stuff. Buy from the right people. Get knowledgeable.
Read up.
Study.
It’s work.
But like anything else, you want to make good decisions, you do your homework.
I own many signed Stones items.
Frankly it’s easier to buy a legit set of vintage autographs from the Brian Jones era, than a set from today.

Begin at the beginning.
Familiarize yourself with the earliest signatures of the band.
What did they sign like in the 60′s say. Gather images you find online and through eBay and compare them.
Try to think of the circumstances in which they might have signed these items, how much time they had, what they were signing. A card, paper, magazine.
All bands in the 60′s signed in ballpoint pen.
There were no sharpies.
Study how their styles changed throughout the years.
Usually over the years, not unlike us all, our signatures deteriorate and get sloppy.
We get lazy.
No different for rock stars.
Look at Charlie Watts today, barely understandable or readable.
A large C and B.
Stands for “Charlie Boy”, the way he used to originally sign his name back in the 60′s.
A signature reduced to letters.

I found on eBay a year or so ago a signed album.
It was a “Get your Ya Ya’s Out,” signed by all the original Stones, including Brian Jones.
The album as recorded in 1969 and released in September of 1970.
See where I’m going with this?
How could this be signed by Brian Jones if he died in July of 69 and the album was released in 1970?
This is the kind of crap that goes on all the time.

Of course it came with a certificate of authenticity.

Buy from reputable dealers. If you do your homework and ask around you can find them.
I buy from Recordmecca in LA, and Tracks in the UK.
These guys know their shit.
They give a lifetime guarantee and it means something.

Some examples I own are shown here. Bought from the dealers listed above.

Beautiful exmaple from Recordmecca

1966 The Rolling Stones Tour of Britain. And another great signed program.

The Rolling Stones‘ 1966 British Tour was a concert tour by the band. The tour commenced on September 23 and concluded on October 9, 1966.

I’ve been fortunate to have been able to pick up my second signed program from the 1966 tour, the first being the American tour seen below.

The newest is from the 1966 British tour with a beautiful clean set of signatures on the “A Biography By Charlie Watts” page inside the program. Artwork by of course, Charlie Watts.

I usually end up buying another program to frame up with the one I have signed. I was attracted to this set and example because of the page they decided to sign on. The signatures are large and super clean.

It’s hard to find items from the early days signed on white background, lighter paper or album. Most of the Stones early album covers were all pretty much dark and black making it difficult for them to sign in pen on the covers. It was also hard to sign over the dark photos.

So most of the early signed Stones albums you see are usually signed on the back.

Depending on much text was on the reverse of the album, usually a lot, will often effects how appealing the signatures are and how clean they appear to be. This can also be a huge factor in determining value. It’s why signed albums are the most rare of all signed items. Really great ones are just super hard to find.

Remember, there were no sharpies in the 60′s.

Peace and happy hunting.

Gary Rocks

Update. Rolling Stones signatures on eBay, what should you expect to pay? $1500, $2500, $5000?

These days on ebay and in auction autographs are hot items.
But the prices I see run the gamut from freaking absurd to are you kidding me?!
Rarely in the past year have I seen a early set of signatures from the Stones fairly or very reasonably priced.
I have to assume the people selling these are hoping for collectors who don’t know better, and are capitalizing on the continued popularity of The Stones.

Here are a few examples that have shown up recently on ebay.

The first one the price is priced at 1000 pounds
A  fancard in great condition. I think a super price.

Here’s another signed fancard priced at 699 pounds but missing Brian Jones signature. Also a great piece.

This item sold a few weeks back. the seller was Rockaway Records in LA. A signed 12×5 album by all except Brian Jones.

This didn’t sell unfortunately. A great piece at great price, $999.00

Here are a couple of items from my collection.

A great set of signatures on stationary from a hotel the Stones stayed at in 1965. You can tell they spent their time signing their names. They also all signed at the same time giving the piece a sense of evenness and overall design to it.

Another amazing signed program I wrote about a few posts back. From a concert in Winnipeg, Canada, 1965 tour.

I think with some work a nice set of early signatures can still be bought at a fair price ranging from $1000-1500 plus, depending on condition and what it’s signed on. A signed piece of paper brings down the cost, say torn from an autograph book.

Some tips….

Be willing to pay more if the signatures are super clean and readable.
If it’s on a unique item, expect to pay more as well. Like a program, album or photo.
Also items that tend to frame up better than others, often bring more money.
Records/albums are always on the higher end and are the rarest of all signed items from the 60′s.
Depending on where they are signed also makes a difference.
Front vs. back.
Usually they are signed on the back over all the text.
Sometimes it makes the signatures hard to read.
Concert programs are very desirable as well. Usually signed on the photo page of the artist.

Photos show up often and are fairly common.
The are usually photo pages, posters, pulled from magazines.
They don’t hold up well because of the cheap quality of the paper they were printed on, and were often taped or tacked to the walls of fans.
Again most of these items being signed for teens back in the mid 60′s.
They would pull apart their magazines, rip the posters out and bring them to the shows where the band was playing.

These were items at the time they cherished, but did not plan on preserving over the years.
They would bring these signed posters home, maybe paste them into scrapbook with glue or tape with their ticket stub and toss them under their beds.

A letter from Keith to a fan. Tape from a scrapbook and all……and a picture of Angela came with this.

This kind of provenance makes the piece worth even more.

“Welcome To My Jungle.” Some rare Guns N’ Roses memorabilia.

I’ve been fortunate in my years in advertising to have met some pretty cool people.

Like say, Slash for instance.
I’ve always been a HUGE Guns N’ Roses and Slash fan.
Their critically acclaimed debut album “Appetite for Destruction” is still one of my top five favorite rock albums.
Most if not all critics agree it set the bar for heavy metal rock in the 80′s.

I just finished up a TV campaign for the L.A. Zoo promoting a new exhibit called The Lair in which Slash and the venerable wise cracking octogenarian, Betty White starred.
We shot 5 different TV spots over the course of a day at the zoo.
They were both a joy to work with.

And Slash is the real deal.
The rock icon you would expect him to be.
But down to earth and soft spoken.
A true gentleman.

I was completely beside myself.

I happened to have a few rare GNR items in my collection, one I brought along to the TV shoot to have Slash sign for me.
An original ticket and flyer, circa 80′s, from one of their gigs at the famed Troubadour in West Hollywood.
The band’s stomping ground and where they played several of their most memorable performances.

Here are a few pictures from the shoot, as well as some other rare items from my collection.

 

Okay…you’ve seen what I have, here’s some stuff I want.

Figured it might be time after roughly three years to maybe post some pictures and descriptions of some things I’m looking to add to my collection.
Most of what I’m looking for can be best described as what I don’t know about. It’s always more fun and exciting to stumble upon something you’ve never seen or heard of before.
But, there are some items I would love to add to my collection.
If you have any of these items or know where they are, I’m always interested in talking.

Rock and Roll Photography. Visual storytelling at it’s best.

Copyright Rob Shanahan.

Copyright Rob Shanahan.

I’m going to be giving a talk at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Boston, February 16th in conjunction with their current exhibit on Rock and Roll photography.

Some of the featured photographers are: Mike Mitchell, Herb Greene, Bob Bonis, Ron Pownall, Astrid Kirschherr, Melissa Mahoney and Brian Babineau to name a few.

Many of these photographers have had a enormous impact on me.
Their enduring and powerful images have inspired me to make photography a major part of my collection.
It prompted me to write a post on Rock and Roll photography and how important it is as an art form.

Photography has brought new meaning and importance to items I have purchased over the years. Whether serving as photographic reference, or adding depth and history to the items I have.

The story and photo behind the piece I have often found is more interesting and meaningful to me than the piece itself.

They are everywhere we want to be.

Backstage and onstage.
In limos.
In the studio.
Standing in front of the stage.
Sitting in dressing rooms.
Riding the elevators.
Grabbing a bite in a restaurant…..catching moments no one would see, if not for them.

Thank you all.

The prints shown here are those of Rob Shanahan.
These two beauties are in my personal collection.

You can see more of Rob’s exceptional work on his website.

robshanahan.com

….And he’s just published a book.
I had the pleasure of finally meeting Rob in Anaheim at the NAMM show this past January just a few weeks ago where he was signing and promoting his book.

Here’s a bit more info on this super talent.

Rob is recognized as one of music’s most published photographers. He’s also Ringo Starr’s personal photographer. “Volume 1” is his first book of photographs and it features photos of such iconic musicians as Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, Eddie Van Halen, Joe Walsh, Christina Aguilera, Sheila E, Tommy Lee, Dave Navarro, and many more. It includes intimate shots of the musicians not only behind the scenes, but also in the studio, onstage and backstage as well. Along with the photos is a foreword by Ringo Starr, artist quotes, and personal anecdotes shared by Shanahan.

Rob has been getting a lot of good press about his book. Check out his interview on Good Day LA and slideshow at Spin Magazine.

My room is not only filled with memorabilia, it’s filled with books on Rock and Roll Photography.

Copyright Ken Regan. Keith Richards, San Antonio, 1975. (I own the guitar strap.)


Copyright Michael Putland. The Rolling Stones 1978. (I own the shirt Keith is wearing.)

Copyright Paul Natkin. Keith Richards portrait. (I own the attitude.)

Here’s a few other wonderful prints I own.
All I need is the room to hang them.
If I stop buying prints, I could maybe build an addition.

Enjoy.

A rare Rolling Stones signed tour program, Winnipeg, Canada 7/14/66….and a friendship to boot.

I was contacted several weeks ago by someone researching early signed items.
He found my blog about early signed Stones items, posted a question hoping to get some advice.
We spoke over the next several weeks and talked about our personal passions and lives as much as the item pictured.
So not only was I able to acquire this wonderful signed program, but more importantly made a friend as well.
I’m proud to own this and the memories of his Dad that came with it.
Thanks Todd, it has found a great home.

Here’s the email he sent me regarding the piece pictured.

“My father, Jim Paulson, was a prominent radio/TV broadcaster in Canada up until his passing in ’07. Right from his teens in the ’50′s he was a serious autograph collector starting with various people who were on the covers of the current TIME magazines. In ’66 he was working for Winnipeg radio station CKRC as one of their top DJ’s and that’s how this collection of Rolling Stones autographs came about. He (as he had told me in the past) was the show’s MC for the station that night, therefore was able to have access to the boys. As well as the Stones, he’d met many people throughout his career and since these are really HIS memories.“

The Rolling Stones’ 1966 American Tour was a concert tour by the band. The tour commenced on June 24 and concluded on July 28, 1966. On this tour, the band supported their album Aftermath. The last gig of the tour in Honolulu, Hawaii was broadcast in the Hawaiian radio K-POI.

An ad from the show.

Mr. Keith Richard, The Directors of The National Jazz Federation request the pleasure of your company.

Unfortunately, Mr. Richard was unable to attend.
Here’s his personal handwritten invite from 1966.
The band played two years prior. They were on tour in America in 1966, see the schedule below.

A great rare item from Recordmecca and Jeff Gold.
Another great addition to my collection.

The Rolling Stones’ 1966 American Tour was a concert tour by the band. The tour commenced on June 24 and concluded on July 28, 1966.
On this tour, the band supported their album Aftermath.
The last gig of the tour in Honolulu, Hawai was broadcast in the Hawaiian radio K-POI.

Tour dates

24/06/1966 Lynn, Massachutsetts, Manning Bowl
25/06/1966 Cleveland, Ohio, Arena
25/06/1966 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Civic Center Arena
26/06/1966 Washington, D.C., Coliseum
26/06/1966 Baltimore, Maryland, Civic Center
27/06/1966 Hartford, Connecticut, Dillon Stadium
28/06/1966 Buffalo, New York, War Memorial Auditorium
29/06/1966 Toronto, Canada, Maple Leaf Gardens
30/06/1966 Montreal, Canada, Forum
01/07/1966 Atlantic City, New Jersey, Marine Ballroom
02/07/1966 New York City, Forest Hills Tennis Stadiums, ‘Music Festival’
03/07/1966 Asbury Park, New Jersey, Asbury Park Convention Hall
04/07/1966 Virginia Beach, Virginia, Under The Dome Theater
06/07/1966 Syracuse, New York, War Memorial Hall
08/07/1966 Detroit, Michigan, Cobo Hall
09/07/1966 Indianapolis, Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum
10/07/1966 Chicago, Illinois, Arie Crown Theatre, McCormick Place
11/07/1966 Houston, Texas, Sam Houston Coliseum
12/07/1966 St. Louis, Missouri, Kiel Convention Hall
14/07/1966 Winnipeg, Canada, Stadium
15/07/1966 Omaha, Nebraska, Civic Auditorium
19/07/1966 Vancouver, Canada, Pacific International Exhibition Forum
20/07/1966 Seattle, Washington, Center Coliseum
21/07/1966 Portland, Oregon, Memorial Coliseum
22/07/1966 Sacramento, California, Memorial Auditorium (2 shows)
23/07/1966 Salt Lake City, Utah, Davis County Lagoon
24/07/1966 Bakersfield, California, Civic Auditorium (2 shows)
25/07/1966 Los Angeles, California, Hollywood Bowl
26/07/1966 San Francisco, California, Cow Palace
28/07/1966 Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu International Center

Hawaii set list:

Intro / Not Fade Away
The Last Time
Paint It Black
Lady Jane
Mother’s Little Helper
Get Off Of My Cloud
19th Nervous Breakdown
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction