Jeff Beck Group - Fillmore West

Lee Conklin loved to fill his posters with faces, fruit, body parts and other objects in an adult-sized game of Hidden Pictures. Indeed, he is off the charts in this 1968 poster for The Jeff Beck Group which featured Rod Stewart on lead vocals. Take a look at the detailed close-ups of the lettering and background to find dozens and dozens of crazy, wild, and imaginative representations of Conklin's fertile mind.

The Jef Beck Group formed in London in early 1967 and included former Yardbird Jeff Beck on lead guitar, vocalist Rod Stewart, and rhythm guitarist Ronnie Wood, with bass players and drummers changing regularly.

During 1967 the band released three singles in Europe and two in the United States, the first, "Hi Ho Silver Lining", being the most successful, reaching No. 14 on the UK singles chart; it included the instrumental "Beck's Bolero" as the B side, which had been recorded several months earlier. The line-up for that session included guitarist Jimmy Page on rhythm guitar, John Paul Jones on bass, Keith Moon on drums, and Nicky Hopkins on piano. But times were hard and there was infighting.

By early 1968 the band was ready to throw in the towel, and again to his credit, [future Led Zeppelin Manager] Peter Grant convinced them not to break up, and booked a short US tour for them. Beck is quoted as saying "We were literally down to one change of clothing each". Grant's first stop for them was in New York City, for four shows at Fillmore East, where they played second on the bill to the Grateful Dead. They apparently took the town by storm. The New York Times wrote, "Jeff Beck Group Cheered in Debut," with the byline "British Pop Singers Delight Fillmore East Audience" proclaiming that Beck and his group had upstaged the Dead. The reviews from The Boston Tea Party were just as good; "By the time he got to his last number ... (the fans) were in a state of pandemonium the likes of which hadn't been witnessed since the Beatles hit town." By the time they wrapped up the tour at San Francisco's Fillmore West, Grant had secured them a new album contract with Epic Records.

Their first album, Truth, was released in August of 1968 and these shows were part of their third tour of the U.S. which included pianist Nicky Hopkins who elected to go on tour with Beck instead of Led Zeppelin.