BG-105, Jimi Hendrix poster by Rick Griffin

This is the 4th printing, version A, of the famous Flying Eyeball poster, advertising four shows in February of 1968 at the Fillmore and Winterland. Performers were the Jimi Hendrix Experience, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, and Albert King (BB's brother). Rick Griffin was the artist and the poster is number 105 in the Bill Graham series, which is why it's known as BG-105.

This reprint is from 2006, and was printed in an edition of 1,000; dimensions are 13 1/2" x 21". Wolfgang's also printed another 1,000 in 2006 that are 1/16th of an inch thinner but just as tall. You can still buy one of either on Wolfgang's Vault for $145/$135, but I got mine for less than that. The reasons why I went for a reprint rather than a poster from back in the day is price (obviously) but also color and image quality. In fact, I generally hate reprints, but the colors on this one are so beautiful and bright, and the smooth cover stock really holds the ink well.

Griffin borrowed the flying-eyeball image from car customizer Von Dutch, so the image has one foot in hot-rod culture and the other in hippie culture. In 1968, Griffin did a second Hendrix poster (BG-140) for three more shows at Winterland in October. For those shows, he used a scarab as the main image and made the lettering even more intricate than on BG-105. He also collaborated with Victor Moscoso, whose dancing yin-yangs and rays of colors were recycled for another Griffin/Moscoso collaboration the following week for an Iron Butterfly poster.