By October 1968, Jimi Hendrix had already changed what a guitar could do. He'd set his Stratocaster on fire at Monterey, released two albums that rewired rock music — with a third, the double LP Electric Ladyland, only days away (its US release came October 16, 1968), and become the most electrifying performer on the planet. Now he was at Winterland for three nights — October 10 through 12 — with the Buddy Miles Express and Dino Valenti opening.

The poster for this run is BG-140, a collaboration between Rick Griffin and Victor Moscoso — two of the "Big Five" San Francisco poster artists. Griffin's design centers on a luminous scarab beetle, rendered in the Egyptian-mystical style that was becoming his signature. The scarab became another classic Hendrix image, joining the growing visual mythology that surrounded the guitarist.

Griffin had grown up in Southern California surf culture, working on the staff of Surfer magazine and creating the beloved cartoon character Murphy. After moving to San Francisco in 1967, he began combining eclectic typefaces and decorative borders with brilliant psychedelic color in his concert posters. His work for Bill Graham — including this piece — represents some of the finest graphic art of the era.

The original poster was printed on plain uncoated index stock, measuring approximately 14⅛" × 21½". It was printed before the concert and distributed through the Bay Area's network of head shops, record stores, and community bulletin boards — the same underground distribution system that had been moving posters since the Red Dog days three years earlier.

Bill Graham also booked Buck Owens and His Buckaroos at the Fillmore West the same weekend — a characteristically Graham move, programming country alongside psychedelic rock. Tom Brumley's pedal steel reportedly caught Jerry Garcia's ear and influenced the Dead's later country explorations.