The mid to late 1960s brought a huge cultural shift to Austin. Young people were creating new ways to express themselves through music, art, and community involvement. It was this energy that brought forth the creation of the Armadillo World Headquarters that opened on August 7, 1970.

The Austin poster scene of the late 1960s was helped along by the patronage of the Vulcan Gas Company music club, which booked rock and psychedelic acts. Over the two-and-a-half years that the club operated, a series of designers—Gilbert Shelton, Jim Franklin, others—produced posters for visiting acts. They drew quickly, sometimes producing a poster in a night. Many also drew comic books.

Bobby Earl Smith (of the band Freda and the Firedogs) told the book’s editor Alan Schaefer: “The poster artists went to the gigs; they knew the band members; we all smoked dope and joked and drank beer together.” Poster art didn’t pay well, but the artists’ work was an integral part of the music scene. One of the Vulcan Gas Company’s artists told Nels Jacobson, who wrote a historical essay for the book, that he remembered “being paid with coffee cans full of coins and wadded-up bills.” Yet, Jacobson adds, “The posters were so popular the printer would find young enthusiasts rooting through his trash in search of misprints and rejects.”

• Excerpt From Wild, Weird, and Funny Austin Music Posters of the 1960s and 1970s by Rebecca Onion, February 20, 2015

This poster for the 31st Annual Student Art Show, while not hosted at the Armadillo World Headquarters, exemplifies the work of artist Jim Franklin - the Father of the Texas Armadillo, who was the first house artist at the Armadillo World Headquarters.

Poster by Jim Harter

Jim Franklin was the first in-house artist at the ‘dillo and created a huge number of concert posters for the club. He also created out of this world surrealistic comics that turned some notions of normalcy on its ear.

Performances Featuring Freddie King backed by Storm with Wildfire, October 2 and 3. Mance Lipscomb with Storm and Ginger Valley, October 9 and 10.

Freddie King, a consummate blues-man, was a huge supporter of the Armadillo World Headquarters from the very beginning and performed there so frequently the ‘dillo was referred to as the House that Freddie built.

Unravels and Good Twine

Doug Kershaw, the Ragin’ Cajun, earned himself legendary status by the end of the 60s and performed at the Armadillo World Headquarters to enthusiastic audiences.

Vaseline Machine Gun - For waking up nude in a sleeping bag on the shore of the Atlantic surrounded by a volleyball game at high noon, and for the end of the volley ball game. - Leo Kottke