No Matter how how you spell it Jo Ann was where the action was in the 60s. Proof is her remarkable collection of concert show programs from the Charlotte Coliseum in North Carolina. What a time she must have had. She taped her ticket stubs on the inside cover of every booklet. Always Row A, a middle seat. $3.50. Twice a year, she was there. Slipping backstage with Stars in her eyes she asked them to sign her program.
Was she in the biz? Daughter of the some bigwig? A groupie? It seems she was a familiar face, known to the artists, not a pest. And these were not run-of-the mill acts she’s mingling with, but the top performers at the time. Irvin Feld, the man behind G. A. C. — Super Productions (with many a variation on the name), organized these touring shows from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. Circus tours also. That’s about all we know.
A cautionary tale to all you aspiring preservationists. Jo Ann, or worse the person who got these programs before us, decided to save the signatures by placing adhesive tape over them. The result is a 60 year harrowing yellowing blur on many of the artist’s autographs.
But that still leaves us with 72 perfectly legible signatures of some of the greatest R&B and early rock performers of the era. Artist like those above along with Ben E. King, Bo Diddley, Chuck Jackson, Jeanette ‘Baby’ Washington, Little Anthony, The Drifters, The Tams, The Orlons, Johnny Thunder and so many more, all signed. Thanks Jo Ann… See a complete list on the next page. read more >>
Become immortal! Forever link your name to a record or book you love.