This is one of the first indendently produced rock posters, almost all of the posters designed and printed for rock concerts and events had been produced by the promoters. I was 16 at the time, and I was inspired by my love for the Allman Brothers music, and my entreprenurial spirit, to do this poster to sell at their concert at Watkins Glen. 

I photographed the Allman Brothers Band, with my Nikon FTN and Tri-X 400 film, Leica, during their concert at Madison Square Garden on Friday, July 20, 1973. 

I went home to our artist’s loft at 365 Canal Street, and told my dad, Don Rubbo, Sr, about my idea and he immediately offered to do the lettering for the poster. I developed the photos in my darkroom, and we put together the design for a 23″x29″ poster.

My dad asked a family friend who owned a print shop to help, and I supervised the printing of 20,000 posters (although he reversed the plates and the photo is printed reversed, it didn’t detract from the beauty of the image!)

I went up to Watkins Glen on Friday, July 27, with some friends, and on Saturday, July 28, we went through the crowd and sold almost the entire stack of posters for one dollar each!

I recently found a few of the originals of this rare Allman Bros. poster, that I’ve had in storage. They are in excellent condition, and I may be persuaded to part with a couple of them, to the right people for the right price. They are collector’s items, rare and with great historical value.