Steppenwolf / Staple Singers / Santana (opening)
BG-134 · Lee Conklin
San Francisco
Staple Singers
Santana
Tuesday, August 27, 1968 opened the front half of Lee Conklin's BG-134 at the Fillmore West: Steppenwolf, the Staple Singers and Santana.
The poster is the reason this week is remembered. Conklin's design is a dense pen-and-ink tangle of interlocking bodies that resolves, if you let your eye settle, into the head of a lion — and Graham, who generally preferred colour for his advertising, was persuaded enough by the drawing to send it to press in its original pen and ink. It is one of the very few sheets in the series that is essentially monochrome by choice rather than by budget.
Santana, third-billed and listed under a single word, asked Conklin to redraw the lion for the cover of their first album the following year. The record came out in August 1969 just after Woodstock, spent better than two years on the Billboard chart, and made the lion far more widely seen than the poster ever was — to the point that many people who know the image have no idea it began as an advertisement for a Tuesday-through-Sunday run at Market and Van Ness.
The sheet carries two headline bills across six nights: Steppenwolf through the 29th, then the Grateful Dead with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band from the 30th. One poster, two completely different shows.
Verification Notes
ANTAGONIST-CHECKED. COAU Fillmore West, 27 August 1968: 'Steppenwolf, Staple Singers, Santana Lights: Holy See'. OPENING night of the FRONT HALF of the BG-134 split sheet (front Aug 27-29 / back Aug 30-Sep 1). start/end_date bound the STEPPENWOLF leg only, NOT the poster's full week. COAU Fillmore West listings (Hannan/Arnold), 27 August 1968: 'Steppenwolf, Staple Singers, Santana Lights: Holy See'. Opening night of the BG-134 front half (Aug 27-29); the Grateful Dead take the back half from Aug 30. DEEPENED 2026-09-03 (pass 2). Bill per COAU Fillmore West listings (Hannan/Arnold), 27 August 1968: 'Steppenwolf, Staple Singers, Santana Lights: Holy See'. Opening night of the BG-134 front half. The pen-and-ink-to-press detail is corroborated by the poster literature; the Conklin lion to Santana LP redraw was verified 2026-08-26 across TRPS, Bahr Gallery, Collectors Weekly, Recordmecca and PosterCentral. DEEPENED 2026-09-03 (pass 2). Bill per COAU Fillmore West listings (Hannan/Arnold), 27 August 1968: 'Steppenwolf, Staple Singers, Santana Lights: Holy See'. Opening night of the BG-134 front half. The pen-and-ink-to-press detail is corroborated by the poster literature; the Conklin lion to Santana LP redraw was verified 2026-08-26 across TRPS, Bahr Gallery, Collectors Weekly, Recordmecca and PosterCentral.
Were You There?
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