In this poster for the final tour of the British psychedelic band Traffic, Günther Kieser uses the acoustic-guitar motif best associated with his work for the many iterations of the American Folk Blues Festival. Rather than referencing some element of Americana, however, Kieser has molded the head of a woman around the neck of the instrument as if it were a traditional figurehead on the prow of a ship. The delicately featured female head with hair streaked in blue paint may refer to the band’s song “Evening Blue” that appeared on its 1973 album Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory and would become extremely popular with concert audiences. The On the Road tour announced by this poster was recorded live in West Germany, giving it an added element of interest for local audiences.
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