Marshall Tucker New Riders Armadillo World Headquarters Posters

Check out these Marshall Tucker Band and New Riders Armadillo World Headquarters posters! These are from Tut's Tomb Dallas. The second from the top poster is perhaps the most famous poster from the late, great Ken Featherston. Marshall Tucker Band later used this artwork for their album Searchin' For a Rainbow, which was released in 1975. The song Bound and Determined was recorded November 2, 1975 at Armadillo World Headquarters.

The New Riders recorded a live album at the Armadillo that was released in 2005.The New Riders had been making Austin a home away from home for a few years by the time this middle night of a three-night run of performances came about. Bassist Skip Battin had been in the band for a full year now. Live at the Armadillo was mastered directly off of the original 1/4 track reel to reel recording and captures this night just as it was—in all of its hot, sweaty, beer-soaked and smoke-filled glory.

Shiva's Headband Armadillo World Headquarters Posters

Check out these Shiva's Headband posters from the Armadillo World Headquarters. Shiva's were the House band of the Vulcan and went on to become the House Band of the Armadillo. Spencer used part of his Advance from Capital Records to start the Armadillo World Headquarters.

Armadillo World Headquarters Art - Porno Armadillo

Here’s an Armadillo World Headquarters art piece known as Porno Armadillo. This work is by Jim Franklin. This is a shot of the whole poster and a closeup.

Here’s part of an interview with former Shiva’s Headband Manager Eddie Wilson from Classic Posters. Here, he’s talking about the Armadillo image:

The Armadillo Image -

Eddie Wilson: There was a lot of vain glory. There was a lot of humorous…you know [laughs]… We were trying to figure out how to do something different and we had a couple of really good things going for us. Of course the band was a Whole Earth Catalog kind of perfect hippy band in some ways. The fact that Jim Franklin, the artist, had already been doing Armadillos in covers of The Rag… For a couple of years Jim had been the major visual influence in the friggin' city. He was an incredible artist and here's this ugly little newspaper with these gorgeous covers.

Michael Erlewine: Right.

Eddie Wilson: Jim had the alternative community eating out of his hand and, as I see it now, we have a genius artist who made a genius decision about adopting a symbol. And the quality of that symbol was so perfect that it made all that weirdness possible. And the fact that the Armadillo was so much like the hippies, maligned though it was… though it was a benign creature.

Clementine Hall Easter Everywhere Print

As you all might know, former 13th Floor Elevators, Ms. Clementine Hall is producing a print of the "Easter Everywhere" 13th Floor Elevators lineup. This will be for sale directly from Ms. Hall very soon. Look for the announcement. Here is some feedback I have gotten from Ms. Hall recently:

FROM CLEMENTINE:

I have decided what graphics I want on the poster. As we are staying in the image of Easter Everywhere, I don't want to use any unrelated psychedelic images above, below or around the five guys. Here's how I see it: Over the tops of their heads I'll use the "eyebrows" Tommy came up with to spell out 13th Floor Elevators on the "Easter" album - these will fit exactly above the heads. Then underneath the guys, I'll use the very beautiful lettering of the Easter album to spell out Easter Everywhere, and under that, in smaller plainer letters, "In Our End is Our Beginning." I think that since this re-uses the very minimalistic graphics used on the front cover of the actual album, the lettering will not compete with the images of the five guys (as would some obviously psychedelic graphics), but will still recall the album in question. The back of the album, incidentally, is pure Eastern mysticism, with the Buddha and the chocras and so forth - I prefer less religious-specific graphics. After all, the idea of Christian resurrection is more related to "Easter" than is Buddhism. I like to think of the Elevator music as "revealing" all major religions, even though I am completely Christian.

I remember a very deep discussion my mother had with Tommy (she used to say he was a genius, and he recently told me he believed she was brilliant). Both of them were religious "seekers." Tommy was asking Mother to consider Buddhism, but she responded, "All the major religions seek identical things; what is differs is the path and the rituals used." For her, the rituals of the Christian religion were as beautiful as they were familiar, but she understood that the rituals of Buddhism were more appealing to Tommy (although he later became a fanatical Christian for a while). They discussed their differing views for a whole afternoon, in detail, but that particular exchange between them is what I remember best. I completely agreed with her at the time, and still do.

Gilbert Shelton Freak Brothers Piece

Check out this signed and numbered piece by Gilbert Shelton. It features the Fabulous, Furry, Freak Brothers. Again, we are peeking into Tut's Tomb Dallas.

The Freak Brothers were first published in that Rag, the Austin State University underground paper, in 1968. The next year, Shelton and three Texas friends founded Rip of Press in San Francisco. To read more about the Freak Brothers go HERE.

Armadillo World Headquarters Posters

Check out these Armadillo World Headquarters posters from Tut's Tomb Dallas. This is just another taste of the stuff that will be published on this blog over the next few months. 

New Atlantis Vulcan Gas Company Piece

Check out this New Atlantis Vulcan piece by Jim Harter. Tut’s Tomb Dallas owns this. Many thanks to this collector for making his images available to the fans.

New Atlantis was a hard rock outfit composed of Jim Mings, Danny Galindo, Mike Reid and Jay Meade. There was also another (later) version of New Atlantis with Donnie Erickson (Roky's brother) and Bob Galindo who were the guitar players for New Atlantis - ver. 2.0.

To read more about New Atlantis, and listen to some song bits, go HERE.

Here’s a quote about New Atlantis from my friend Marti Sivers:

There were actually two New Atlantis lineups. The first had the amazing Austin guitar player Jim Mings in it. I never heard the 2nd New Atlantis, but heard the 1st several times. They were a pretty good band. I think one of the times I heard them was at some kind of party in a back yard near the UT campus. It was a deep backyard, & part of it was higher than the other. Most of the people sat at the very back, like at the bottom of a small hill. The bands were playing on a patio, not a stage. There were ALOT of people, it was packed. I think we were just hanging around the Drag & someone invited us. I've often wondered where (& exactly what---a party?) it was. If anyone else who was in Austin was there, would love to know those things. It was spring of '68 because I was still in high school & just in Austin for the weekend. Anyway, New Atlantis was pretty good.

Here’s a quote from New Atlantis ver. 1.0 Guitarist Jim Mings:

I may have told you that I had the marvelous opportunity to accompany some of the re-emerging blues artists in the 1960s. We discovered that they weren't dead yet! Maybe some day I will write about the fantastic nights I had at a place called the Vulcan Gas Company (Houston White! God Bless you!) Briefly let me say that I got to hang play with John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed, Johnny Winter, Big Joe Williams, John Hurt, Fred McDowell, Muddy Waters and others who came when invited. You could get Muddy Waters do drive to Austin from Chicago in his station wagon - with his classic band - for about $500 a night in 1967 money. I got to play their guitars and if I didn't get to play I was "There"! I was 18/19 and in the "house band," New Atlantis. When you stand on stage with John Lee in front of a lot of people you get a strong dose of "conception." I learned, along with much else, that having something to say always whips empty dexterity. Fortunately, I was smart enough to play it cool. That's why I got the gigs.

Here’s another quote from my dear friend the late, great, Doug Walden:

...seems like we played a few shows together with New Atlantis at the Vulcan (I was with the Grits), but I cant remember a thing... could it have been the drugs?

13th Floor Elevators - the Third Voice

Jerry Lightfoot told me about a concept of the 13th Floor Elevators known as the Third Voice. When we interviewed Clementine Hall in 2004 she talked about the Third Voice too. This concept has never appeared in print about the band and it was something that Roky and Stacy and the bass player strove to accomplish.

I dunno, maybe Paul Drummond mentioned it in his dog of a book about the 13th Floor Elevators and never gave us credit as the original source for this information. But the Third Voice first appeared on the Clementine Hall interview from 2004. Before that, Jerry told me all about it.

Basically, the Third Voice stated that the two guitarists (Stacy and Roky) or the guitars and the bass could be so in synch and in tune that they could play completely different parts and a "Third Voice" could emerge from the two parts. Or that Roky and Stacy could play so closely together that their guitar parts appeared as one sound or one melody. That was the Third Voice Concept and it was something that Roky and Stacy worked very hard to accomplish together.

I can (sort of) hear it in action on the 'Elevators' music. Me? Sometimes I don't know where Roky leaves off and Stacy starts. It all sounds like one guitar to me. I have always thought that Roky and Stacy were the PERFECT Rhythm Guitar / Lead Guitar combo.

Then the bass would be listening to the Third Voice from the two guitars and then try to meld in and produce a second Third Voice from the guitars and bass. That was the magic of the 'Elevators music.

And they actually thought this shit up and practiced making it happen.

Shiva's Headband Business Card

Check out this Shiva's Headband business card from back in the day. It's signed by Spencer Perskin. It sports artwork by Jim Franklin. See the outside view and the inside view. This is from Tut's Tomb Dallas.

Muddy Waters Vulcan Gas Company Poster

Check out this sick Muddy Waters Vulcan Gas Company poster! And look who was the the warm up band - Johnny Winter! Supposedly, when Johnny was wailing out, Mud called Chicago and screamed into the phone at Willie Dixon *that* was a white boy wailing out! This poster has been folded but nothing some tender, loving, professional restoration couldn't fix.

Gilbert Shelton Piece - Rag Benefit 5/19/67

Here's an extremely rare Gilbert Shelton piece from Tut's Tomb Dallas. It promotes a Rag Benefit which was the "underground" newspaper at the University of Texas at Austin. To read more about the Rag go HERE. It looks like this piece could really use the services of Kiloh's expert poster restorer but what-the-hey it's rare-as-hen's-teeth!

Steppenwolf Hemisfair Arena 10/13/68 Poster

Check out this, rare-as-hen's-teeth, Steppenwolf Hemisfair Arena 10/13/68 poster by Gilbert Shelton. It's often mistaken as a Vulcan Gas Company poster because it's by Gilbert and this poster maintains the same dimensions as a Vulcan poster (BIG).

This poster is from Tut's Tomb Dallas where that big time collector is breaking it all out for the fans to see.

Austin Inner Sanctum Records Poster and More

Here’s a nod to your friendly Head Shop / Record Store. See, poster for Inner Sanctum Records by Jim Franklin; poster for some head shop by Jim Harter; Oat Willie’s by Gilbert Shelton. Go HERE to read the Wikipedia article on Inner Sanctum Records. Go HERE to read about Oat Willie’s. 

Bruce Springsteen Armadillo World Headquarters 6/15/74 Posters

Check out these two Bruce Springsteen Armadillo World Headquarters 6/15/74 posters. Springsteen played the Armadillo four times in 1974. These two posters are out of Tut's Tomb Dallas. Enjoy.