On This Day in Art Rock History

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SAN FRANCISCO · THE PSYCHEDELIC ERA · 1960s

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The Doors / James Cotton / Richie Havens (night 2)

BG-75 · July 29, 1967
BG-75

BG-75 · Bonnie MacLean

Catalog Number
BG-75
Series
Bill Graham
Venue
Fillmore Auditorium
San Francisco
Date
July 29, 1967
Poster Artists
Nickname
The Doors / James Cotton / Richie Havens (night 2)
Performers
Doors
James Cotton Blues Band
Richie Havens

Saturday, July 29, 1967 was the second night of the Doors' half of BG-75 at the Fillmore Auditorium, with the James Cotton Blues Band and Richie Havens.

Bonnie MacLean's poster for the week is the one to stop on. Its central image is a drawn human face, framed by the feathers of a highly stylized peacock, and it is widely considered one of the best sheets of the entire psychedelic era. What makes it unusual is that it does not work the way the genre normally works: the colours are not electric and they do not vibrate against each other in the manner Wes Wilson had made standard. They are distinctive in a quieter register, and they command attention anyway. MacLean had taken over the Fillmore drawing board only months earlier, when Wilson walked out over money, and BG-75 is the sheet that settled the question of whether she could carry the series.

The original was printed on white index stock at roughly 13⅞ by 21¼ inches, and carries the printer's credit "Neal, Stratford and Kerr" to the right of the number 75 — a small detail that is how collectors tell a first printing from what came after.

The Doors were at their absolute peak week: "Light My Fire" had reached number one in the United States days earlier. Beneath them, James Cotton had spent a dozen years playing harmonica in Muddy Waters's band, and Richie Havens opened solo — two years from opening Woodstock and playing for nearly three hours because nobody else had arrived.

Verification Notes

ANTAGONIST-CHECKED. 1967-07-29=Saturday, Doors night 2 of the BG-75 run. Same poster as 07-25/07-28. Secondary. COAU Fillmore Auditorium listings (Hannan/Arnold), 29 July 1967: 'Doors, James Cotton Blues Band, Richie Havens'. Night 2 of the BG-75 Doors bracket. DEEPENED 2026-09-03 (pass 3). Bill per COAU Fillmore Auditorium listings (Hannan/Arnold), 29 July 1967: 'Doors, James Cotton Blues Band, Richie Havens'. Night 2 of the BG-75 Doors bracket (Jul 28-30); the Yardbirds held the 26th and 27th. MacLean's peacock, the 'one of the best posters of the psychedelic era' assessment, the colour observation, stock, dimensions and the 'Neal, Stratford and Kerr' printer credit all from classicposters.com product page (browser session 2026-09-03).

Were You There?

Do you have memories of this show, or an original BG-75 poster? On This Day in Art Rock History celebrates the people who lived through the psychedelic era. Your stories and collections matter to this archive.

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