DALLAS, TX.- In his 1971 book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson writes about California and the end of the 1960s:

“...look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark — that place where the wave finally broke, and rolled back.”

In this country, the year 1969 brought us culturally seismic events that not only ended one of the nation’s most hopeful and tumultuous decades, but that to this day represent the polemical split within the American psyche. The four national events people most associate with 1969, in chronological order: the Apollo 11 Moon landing, the Manson murders, the Woodstock Festival. And Altamont.

Look at this poster that’s in Heritage’s April 11 - 13 Music Memorabilia & Concert Posters Signature ® Auction: The words “Altamont Speedway” jump out, especially alongside two others: “Rolling Stones.”

The word “Altamont” is so historically loaded that at its mention people are struck dumb by its symbolic weight: It is the most notorious music festival, if not concert, in rock history. December 6, 1969 was the day Age of Aquarius crashed and burned.

What started out as a plan to bring Woodstock’s epic good vibe to the West Coast ended in confusion, chaos, injury and murder. The Rolling Stones, at the very top of their game, were asked to headline the Altamont Speedway Free Festival in Livermore, a town not far from San Francisco; the event was so hastily and disastrously organized that the band suggested using the Hells Angels as security detail. Around 300,000 people attended, and during the Stones’ set, the stabbing murder of festival attendee Merideth Hunter, a young black man, at the hands of the Angels was caught on film and is the bleak spiritual centerpiece of the iconic Maysles Brothers’ documentary Gimme Shelter. Three other deaths occurred, accidental and tragic, and scores were injured.

The lineup included the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, and Santana, but by far the act most associated with Altamont is the Rolling Stones, and the rarest piece of historic memorabilia tied to this moment is this elusive and much-discussed event poster, almost certainly made on the cheap and sly, that in hindsight is so much more powerful due to its simplicity: A ripped-off, recent publicity photo of the band sloppily printed and accompanied by only a few words added: “Rolling Stones, Free Concert, Dick Carter's Altamont Speedway, Livermore, December 6, 1969.”

As legend has it, this particular run was printed too late to advertise the event, so it was sold for a buck and given away at the festival. The weird anonymity and evident slapdash process of its making is of a piece with the hectic momentum of Altamont’s planning. In hindsight, this Altamont poster harbors a near-mythic quality; it has absorbed something dark, and reflects back at its viewer one of the most infamous moments in the 20th century.

Naturally, it comes from the sweeping collection of music memorabilia collector extraordinaire David Swartz, whose trove has unspooled for a new generation of collectors via Heritage over the last two years. It is the first time Heritage has offered this poster.

“A poster this rare tends to find me,” says Swartz. “The only rival that comes to mind in emblematic power is Woodstock, which epitomized a movement and features its now-iconic dove-on-the-guitar poster. The most valuable version of that poster pales in comparison to the scarcity and value of an Altamont.” This Heritage offering is graded Near Mint condition. Of its origin, Swartz says, “I see a poster that was rushed and done on the cheap as the lack of time allowed for. It was from a full-color photo by Ron Rafelli for a novelty poster shot in a London Alley in ’69, not long after Mick Taylor replaced Brian Jones.”

The Stones were back in the States for the first time since 1966, and just as they tried to recapture some of the counter-culture magic of their ’66 U.S. tour, they instead found themselves in a crossfire hurricane partly of their own making. “I believe that what makes this poster so valuable and desirable is that it has all the ingredients,” says Swartz. “It commemorates a tragic event; it features a major band headlining, with photo; controversial characters (Hells Angels as security); and scarcity. Not many of this poster survived. And not to mention: Condition: This poster is as near-mint as it possibly can be.”

Says Pete Howard, Heritage’s Director of Concert Posters: “Altamont — the highlight of a packed auction — is a jarring newbie that we’ve never sold before; the Altamont Free Festival is one of the most consequential festivals in music history. This was the Let It Bleed Stones whose latest hit ‘Honky Tonk Women’ had been #1 for a month — the biggest hit of their career. And according to Joel Whitburn's Billboard chart books, Let It Bleed first entered the magazine's Top LPs chart in the issue dated December 6, 1969 — the exact date on this poster.”

Where the Altamont-era Stones lead this Heritage event, a spectacular slice of Beatles history comes in hot on its heels: This Beatles 1966 Shea Stadium concert poster comes from the office of the man whose name is printed at the top of it — the famed concert promoter Sid Bernstein. While Heritage holds the record many times over for editions of this famous poster, the provenance of this particular one is remarkable.

“Fred Lyman worked with Sid Bernstein for many years,” says Toni Lyman, Fred's widow. “They really were a two-man operation. Fred worked concerts acting as Sid's bookkeeper, running the office, arranging tickets, organizing leaflets and working the phones while Sid worked on promoting concerts.” She emphasized that her late husband’s all-time favorite concert was working at the Beatles’ last concert at Shea.

“He told me that on the night of the concert the air was electric with energy and excitement, and he loved the experience so much that he took home one of the concert posters as a memento. He immediately put it into a frame along with two unused tickets, to remember this special night, not thinking it would ever have worth or anything.” The poster hung in Fred and Toni’s home over the coming decades. “I have family photos that show the poster hanging in the background. The poster was always attached to his hip. Wherever we moved, or went, it came with us.”

On the topic of iconic concert posters with a leading edge: Grateful Dead’s 1966 “Skeleton & Roses” Avalon Ballroom concert poster is another that Heritage has consistently broken records for — in 2022 Heritage sold one for $137,500. It was graded Near Mint Plus 9.6. But the one offered on April 13 is graded 9.8. The story behind this poster, also known as FD-26 and one of Mouse & Kelley's most iconic creations, is well-known in the psych poster world, and the artists’ sublime psychedelic lettering and gorgeous coloring resulted in a colorful masterpiece that looks better with each passing decade.

“April 11-13 will be electric for Heritage and for rock history collectors around the world,” says Howard. “The Beatles Shea Stadium from promoter Sid Bernstein’s right-hand man, a Rolling Stones Altamont concert poster for the first time in our history, and another vaunted Grateful Dead Skeleton & Roses poster, at 9.8, are just the tip of this springtime iceberg. On April 12 and 13, no fewer than 400 concert posters will go under the hammer. Everybody in the hobby is buzzing about it already.”