Rare original color 27.5 x 22 poster for a concert by the Rolling Stones at the Maurice Richard Arena in Montreal, Canada, on April 23, 1965, which features a large image of the band posing with their instruments, with bold blue and red text above: "CKGM's Club 980, Bob Gillies / Lord Timothy presents The Rolling Stones." Blue information box to lower right reads: "Tickets on sale at the box office and CKGM." The poster is affixed to a same-size cardstock mount. In very good condition, with trimmed top edge, light edge toning, and areas of white-out.
Accompanied by a letter of provenance from the son of the original owner, a disc jockey at Montreal's CKGM radio station, in part: "[The poster] belonged to my father, Bob Gillies. In 1965 he was a Disc Jockey at CKGM in Montreal and hosted a Rock and Roll show. He co-produced the concert and his name appears on the poster. Legend has it he partied with the band after the show at a number of nightspots. This poster is one of only a handful created at the time that spelled his name correctly and I'm told was his prized possession."
A chapter from Ian Howarth’s 2017 book Rock 'n' Radio: When DJs and Rock Music Ruled the Airwaves, highlights Gillies’s history at CKGM and his time spent with the Stones following their Maurice Richard Arena show: ‘After the show, Gillies took a few of the Stones out to sample a taste of Montreal’s famous nightlife. With drummer Charlie Watts, bassist Bill Wyman and a few ‘arranged dates’ squeezed into the backseat of his car, Gillies suggested the Heidelberg, a German-style bar he frequented on Drummond Street. Wyman was apparently intrigued. This was not the usual post-concert decompression entertainment that Stones were used to. Nevertheless, Gillies, Watts, Wyman, and dates spent the rest of the night quaffing steins of German beer and listening to down-home oom-pah-pah classics. Wyman referenced that night at the Heidelberg in his 1997 autobiography, Stone Alone, where he pays tribute to Gillies’ esoteric taste in bars.’
The Stones' debut tour of North America in late April 1965 included their first four concerts on Canadian soil. Supporting the recent release of their album, The Rolling Stones, Now!, the 22-show tour began with a sold-out performance at the Maurice Richard Arena in front of 5,000 screaming fans. In addition to playing originals 'Off the Hook' and 'The Last Time,' the Stones jammed a myriad of upbeat covers, such as 'Time Is on My Side,' 'Little Red Rooster,' and 'Everybody Needs Somebody to Love.' An elusive, sought-after piece of Canadian rock history.
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