Who's To Blame For Your Rock 'N Roll T-Shirt Obsession ?

Are concert and band t-shirts among your favorite items of clothing and most prized possessions? If so, you are most certainly not alone.

The first Beatles T-Shirts date back to 1962. It was around this time that legendary concert promoter Bill Graham began using T-shirts to create "band awareness" and generate extra income for performers. Graham, a true visionary who owned the famous Fillmore venues in New York City's East Village and San Francisco, was the original rock marketing genius, and the precursor to today's "band as brand" promotional strategies. Graham was also known for engaging artists to create amazing original psychedelic posters to help advertise his shows. He recognized the power of T-shirts to become collectible souvenirs, and founded Winterland Productions, the first T-Shirt and merchandise retailer that enabled artists to be paid royalties from the sale of promotional items.  Prior to this, band and concert tees were generally printed in very limited quantities made exclusively for rock groups and their crew. Basically one might say a bit on the dull side !

As time went on and the concept of possibility making REAL MONEY was an actuality the product got a bit better. Overall this obviously pales to where not only the Band T-Shirt business went but T-Shirts in general.

Innovations in textile printing such as Plastisol and heat transferrable decals led to a boom in more intricate designs being used on T-Shirts, and the bands and their promoters began to recognize   these garments as not only statements of their music's individuality but also as an important source of revenue. The trend quickly caught on as devoted fans pledged allegiance to their favorite groups and commemorated their attendance at special events by wearing shirts emblazoned with images such as  Icarus (Led Zeppelin), a big tongue ( Rolling Stones) and a triangle (Pink Floyd) among others.

As is usually the case, this intersection of music and fashion gave birth to many cheaply made imitations, and the heavy bootlegging of rock band and concert T-shirts flourished into the 1970s and 1980s. Although it still exists today, the enforcement of strict copyright laws protecting artist's rights  have helped to curb it.

If you are lucky enough to have held on to one (or many) of these original wearable works of art- treasure it (them). if not, check out our great collection of vintage inspired and officially licensed Rock N Roll band and concert T-shirts at www.brendaandeddie.com

Here are just some reminders of what are actually today some of the BEST selling Band T-Shirts from nearly 40 Years ago. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Woodstock Era, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd still dominant the officially licensed T-Shirt industry. It will certainly be interesting 10, 20 years from now as to how this entire multi billion dollar industry will look like ? 

Mick Jagger, Andy Warhol, Blue Jeans, Tighty Whities and The Best RockAlbum Cover of All Time

As a true Rock fan I’m sure you can easily identify the Rolling Stones iconic big tongue logo. But do you know the story behind the original Sticky Fingers LP, on which it first appeared, and is considered to be the best album cover of all time?

Joe Coscarelli’s recent article in The New York Times shed light on the  creation of the unique cover art for the 1971 release. “This album heralded an age of really imaginative and provocative packaging,” Rock critic Richard Harrington is quoted as saying. ‘It also introduced the greatest band logo of all time.”

In 1969, following the debut of “Let it Bleed”, The Stones cut ties with their original record label, Decca, to start their own, Rolling Stones Records. At the time, they were considered the bad boys of Rock N Roll, identified with their raw, emotional songs about lust, sex and anger. For their new label’s first release, they wanted to combine the edge of new tracks such as “Sister Morphine” and “Cant You Hear Me Knocking” with an exciting and innovative visual statement. 

Enter Craig Braun, the owner and creative director of Sound Packaging Corporation. who in  the 1960s and 70s, was known as a genius in creating album covers, among them, the peelable banana on 1967’s “T’he Velvet Underground and Nico”  concept by Andy Warhol. Mr Braun and his team brainstormed on several  artistic concepts for Sticky Fingers- including the oversized rolling paper that was later used by Cheech and Chong for Big Bambu,- but it was Mick Jagger who was set on using Andy Warhol’s idea of blue jeans with a big zipper. Mick wanted the zipper to be functional, and to show something behind it. Mr Braun contacted Warhol’s Factory, to try to find some art that might work well for the reveal behind the zipper. He was sent several polaroid shots of a male model clad in men’s white briefs, which he used behind the open zipper. Although many assumed these photos were of Mick Jagger, the exact identity of the underwear model is to this day unknown. However, the model is more than likely one of The Warhol Factory kids, perhaps Jay Johnson, Corey Tippin or Joe Dallesandro.  

At the same time, in London, Royal College of Art student John Pasche began work on the new logo for The Stones and their record label. Mr Jagger was intrigued by illustrations of Hindu goddess Kali, but Pasche says “ I didn’t want to do anything Indian because I thought it would become dated very quickly.” Still the goddess’ mouth “triggered something”, and along with Mr Jagger’s own distinctive lips and tongue, the idea took form. 

Back in NY, Mr Braun needed the logo to meet his deadline, and since Pasche’s tongue design wasn’t completely ready, he settled for a rough version, which was faxed to him by Marshall Chess, the founding president of Roliing Stones Records. Mr Braun’s illustrators finished the logo, adding white accents and a black void for the throat, then blew it up to cover the inside sleeve of the Sticky Fingers album’s American release. ( Mr Pasche’s version was used later internationally). It’s interesting that, at the time, Mr Braun admits to being nervous about adding touches to the logo, but he knew they were necessary to meet his deadline. He had no way of knowing that his touches on the logo, which are adapted in size and color for different Roling Stones merchandise and events, would become one of the most universally recognized images in Rock history. The logo has remained, to this day, a part of Rolling Stones official ads and merchandise and is included in promotions for their new Zip Code Tour. 

The Times reports that Mr Pasche sold his copyright for the tongue logo to the band in 1984 for about $40,000, and in 2008 sold the original artwork to The Victoria and Albert Museum for $92,500. Craig Braun estimates that he was paid in the six figures for creating the Sticky Fingers packaging. ‘The merchandising for The Rolling Stones is in the billions now’” he says. “I should have stayed in that business.” He does, however, still own an exciting piece of memorabilia-. those polaroids, in their original envelope.

Check out our Rolling Stones officially licensed T-Shirts for men, women and kids at www.brendaandeddie.com

Who ever thought "The Revolver Album " by The Beatles would have such impact then and still today !

On August 5th, 1966 little did the world know that when The ‪#‎Revolver‬ album debuted it would have such impact in the world of music. Music Critics said it redefined the parameters of rock and roll music. The albums 14 tracks weren't all written by the iconic #Lennon/McCartney duo this time. This time #GeorgeHarrison wrote 3 of the 14 for this album.

The first single released from the #Revolver was "Yellow Submarine". The album hit number only 7 days after being released and spent 34 weeks on the "UK Album Charts". The music on the LP wasn't the only success - the album's cover design by Klas Voormann also earned the distinction of winning a Grammy for best album cover.

One fact that many people in the United States never realized was that the 14 tracks released in the UK was reduced to 11 in the states. Capitol Records decided that " I'm Only Sleeping ", "And Your Bird Can Sing " and "Doctor Roberts " were going to be released for the " Yesterday and Today " in June 1966. The result of moving 3 of the songs from the US version left John Lennon only 2 songs as the principal writer compared to 9 songs by Paul McCartney. Another result of moving those 3 songs off the US version was that it left George Harrison having written more songs than John Lennon for the album.

My personal 3 favorite songs are " Taxman", written by George Harrison who describes the lyrics as being about a protest against the high marginal tax rates paid by top earners such as #TheBeatles, where sometimes as much as 95% of their income went to the government.

My 2nd favorite which has became a children's classic is #TheYellowSubmarine, which was written by Paul McCartney. McCartney characterizes the song as a "kids' story". It was a perfect vehicle for Ringo, whose vocal range was limited at that time.

My 3rd favorite is "Eleanor Rigby",  another song predominantly written by McCartney. It's many characters such as the lead title and " Father McKenzie" make this one of the most popular songs from the #Revolver album.

Almost 50 years have passed since this masterpiece was released and the demand and almost cult following that this album has is simply amazing.

You can find this amazing t-shirt at www.brendaandeddie.com at the following link:  http://bit.ly/1J7NVxs. Many thanks to those 4 Lads from Liverpool and executive producer "George Martin" for delivering such a masterpiece for so many people to enjoy then and still today.

The Beatles in NYC, New York, USA on 9th February 1964

Brenda and Eddie Rocks New Collection of Cool Beatles T-Shirts from Liverpool

All Beatle Fans,

Like so many of you, we are lifelong Beatles fans, always on the hunt for hidden treasures having to do with the band. Now, with great excitement, we have made an amazing connection with the official  distributor in Liverpool. These designs are all 100% authentic and Apple approved.

As a result, we are pleased to announce our newest arrivals of Mens T-Shirts in a variety of sizes.   

Five incredible new Beatles styles- True T-Shirt collector's treasures from across the pond. Each style is unique in its own way, including cool colors and details that will appeal to the most discerning and enthusiastic Rock N Roll fans. 

This T-Shirt features the classic Beatles logo, with letters made up from Fab Four song titles:

The colors on this Grey T-Shirt with blue details and Apple Records logo are awesome:

      This amazing Black T-Shirt features The Beatles Reverse Revolver Motif with Silver Motif details :

And of course, all of these officially licensed Beatles T-Shirts are made from the super soft and comfy fabric you've come to expect from Brenda and Eddie. To see the entire collection of these amazing Beatles T-Shirts check out : http://bit.ly/1NZNR4a

New Arrivals from the Liverpool Collection arriving weekly so please continue to check our site. 

Ann & Nancy Wilson (Heart) - Stairway To Heaven - Kennedy Center Honors ...

Flipagram - What A Face- #BulldogFever - Song By Train ( Cadillac Ranch )

www.breWndaandeddie.com