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It has been said that this German Jimi Hendrix tour poster from 1969 was Jimi’s favorite of all concert posters ever done for him and given the number of great Jimi Hendrix posters that is quite an endorsement to say the least! Looking at the design by Gunther Kieser, it is easy to see why this was a favorite. What a stand-out, or perhaps a better phase would be, what a “knock-out” poster. Could not be better image to promote the most famous rock guitarist of all time. It certainly speaks to the period with its psychedelic design – no doubt about it.
This particular poster was used and displayed at the actual venue in Cologne at the Kolner Sporthalle where the show took place. The poster came from the manager of that venue who had saved it from the time of the performance where it was posted in the venue's show window.
There are many versions of this poster design in existence, but the official tour poster came in two sizes (both rather large around 2x3 feet and 3x4 feet). They were originally printed as tour blanks and many of the originals have printed venues in the bottom section. This one as you can see has the venue written in and I believe it is the only known poster for this particular venue – it is the large version of the poster.
Some of these large versions were also sold at the show, which were machine folded into 12”x12” squares and had the program, along with the profile of the musicians from the Jimi Hendrix Experience printed on the back along with information on the opening acts - all written in German of course.
The original tour posters can be distinguished from the after the show printings primarily by size, quality of the printing and the white lettering of “Jimi Hendrix displayed on the top section of the poster. The more common poster that you will see displays a date of 15.1.69 with a made up venue of Stuttgart and Jimi Hendrix printed in black at the top. No such show took place on this date or location.
In summary, this poster has stood the test of time as one of the best rock posters of all time, a true masterpiece of art of one of the most loved and respected rock stars , whose life was cut way too short for his talent and what he was giving back to the world. |
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