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Small Collection of 1968 Music Autographs

I wanted to show a small collection of autographs that I have been most fortunate to have obtained recently. I thought of putting them up in the ‘What’s new…’ post, but then thought they are so lovely (IMHO) that, to give them their dues, they deserved a little post of their own. So I hope you will indulge me.

For a bit of background, they were all obtained from the original owner and acquirer of the autographs. This guy owned a music store in Portland Oregon which supplied many of the travelling musicians of the time (these autographs date from around late 1968). Each piece is signed on a large page (approx. 11 inches high) with the music stores information printed near the top.

I’ll start with what is probably the least valuable from a monetary perspective but, as is sometimes the way with these things, possibly the rarest of the lot. It’s a fully signed New Buffalo Springfield page. ‘New’ Buffalo Springfield only lasted a few months and were born out of the break-up of the ‘classic’ Buffalo Springfield band earlier in 1968. It consisted of Dewey Martin, from the original band, with Jim Price, Dave Price, Don Poncher, Bob Apperson and Gary Rowles. I love the fact that they conveniently left off the ‘New’ word when signing this page! These autographs were obtained following the bands show at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland on 22 December 1968:

Next we have a personal favourite of mine; Canned Heat. This is the ‘classic’ line-up containing the great Alan ‘Blind Owl’ Wilson, the man who helped Son House learn how to play like Son House when he was ‘re-discovered’, and who sadly passed in 1970 taking his place as a member of the 27 Club. Additionally it is signed by Bob Hite, Larry Taylor (twice), Henry Vestine and Adolfo ‘Fito’ De La Parra. I love this page for a number of reasons, firstly that the band have given their ages, then that they have included instrument information and finally that Bob Hite has added ‘Boogie With’ before his name (in reference I guess to their album ‘Boogie With Canned Heat’ released in the same year). The date these autographs were obtained is unknown for sure, but it is believed it was during November 1968:

Now we have a great set of ‘Mark I’ Deep Purple autographs. ‘Mark I’ having Rod Evans on vocals and being softer than later incarnations of the band, it released one of my fav songs of theirs ‘Hush’. This page, like the Canned Heat one, contains the great touches of age and instrument information. It’s signed by Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Paice, Jon Lord, Rod Evans and Nick Simper. There aren’t many autographs of this line-up around. The date is not known but the age information would place it around November – December 1968. The guy who got them remembers them playing at Elks Temple in downtown Portland and partying with them after their gig:

For the penultimate set we have Led Zeppelin. A nice and early set here being signed following the bands show at the Civic Auditorium in Portland on 29 December 1968, just a couple of months after the band changed from being the ‘New Yardbirds’ to ‘Led Zeppelin’. This was only the 4th date in the bands first US tour and this show saw them supporting Vanilla Fudge and being credited as “Led Zeppilen”, by the end of this tour their first album had been released and their reputation had grown exponentially. The original owner remembers going to the pub with them before the show and due to weather difficulties he supplied them with most of their instruments, including a Ludwig drum set for Bonham and an Epiphone Casino guitar that Jimmy Page played in the part of the show where he used a violin bow:

Finally we have the Jimi Hendrix Experience. This was the first set of autographs the original owner obtained (not a bad place to start!). He got them after their show at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland on 9 September 1968. Also on the bill that night were Vanilla Fudge, Soft Machine and Eire Apparent. Not much else to say about these:

Tags: Alan Wilson, Buffalo Springfield, Canned Heat, Deep Purple, Jimi Hendrix, Jimi Hendrix Experience, John Bonham, Led Zeppelin, New Buffalo Springfield, Ritchie Blackmore

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Permalink Reply by Paul on April 27, 2016 at 1:50am

I was thing you may have to part them out, unless someone wants to pay for the lot, which wouldnt be cheap.

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Permalink Reply by Paul on April 27, 2016 at 1:51am

Are the sets in pen or pencil?

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Permalink Reply by Nate on April 27, 2016 at 2:12am

They're all in pen except the Zep set which is pencil.

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Permalink Reply by Paul on April 27, 2016 at 2:24am

What would you value the zep set at Nate?
Hope you dont mind me asking.

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Permalink Reply by Nate on April 27, 2016 at 2:50am

I don't mind the question. Though, if these were for sale, I would look to sell them as a collection rather than individually. So my answer is hypothetical, and actually not very helpful, in that auction results seem to show (like many of these artists) prices are on the increase: Iconic just selling an OK LP for $23k, and RR having an OK set up in their next auction with an estimate of $5k+, so that may give a steer, but I know sets have gone for less.

Not a great answer, sorry. Maybe others can give their views?

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Permalink Reply by Paul on April 27, 2016 at 2:55am

I had a look at rr past auctions and one sold for 3k.
They ask a fair amount for starting prices but yes i agree rock memorabilia is goingbsky high.

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Permalink Reply by Nate on April 27, 2016 at 3:13am

Certainly seems to be.

And yes you are right about sold prices, I think in fact some have gone for less. I believe Paul H paid around $4k for his a couple of years ago (looking at those RR sold prices).

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Permalink Reply by Paul on April 27, 2016 at 3:23am

You should be able to get a few thousand pounds out of the hendrix, how about the deep purple?

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Permalink Reply by Nate on April 27, 2016 at 3:52am

No idea, and the same goes for Canned Heat and New Buffalo Springfield. All ultra-rare but, for many, they don't have the same desirability as Hendrix or Zep.