The Rock Pile was a beautiful, amazingly detailed, 34 inch high pull-out poster insert created in watercolor by the great illustrator/caricaturist Robert Grossman for EYE magazine in 1968. The poster proudly hung in my boyhood bedroom for years:
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| The Rock Pile by Robert Grossman (self portrait, lower right) Click to enlarge |
All the obvious 1968 R&R/R&B contenders are included, From the Beatles to the The Mother's of Invention, along with some interesting choices, among them, Tim Buckley, Janis Ian, Bobbie Gentry, Ravi Shankar, Leonard Cohen & The Fugs. EYE was the Hearst corporation's short-lived attempt (15 issues) in 1968-69, to cash in on the "youth market" and/or "counter culture" as the media had dubbed it, marketing it mainly to college students, but mostly young women, based on the abundance of ads and articles geared towards them, (Helen Gurley Brown was a senior editor). It was oversized, formatted like LIFE magazine, with a Peter Max inspired logo, and included "hip" fold out posters, flexi records and comic book inserts, (including Spiderman), in almost every issue to (hopefully) lure the kids. It didn't work, but this poster is fabulous.
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this isssue featured the Grossman poster and also a short story ("The Liberal"), by my father,
Bruce Jay Friedman
An EYE exclusive |
Some of EYE's covers:
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| Cover subject John Lennon photographed by Linda Eastman |
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Brian Wilson-less Beach Boys
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Literally, the Stones
EYE was attempting to cover every base. This issue featured a Spider-Man insert, and
a feature on R. Crumb |
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I think EYE published (in '69?) a pivotal article on the then-popular free-form radio format, that included a favorable nod to WFMU. Not 100% positive about which mag, but I recall it being an early example of "corporate hippiedom" with a short name.
ReplyDeleteI used to love Eye, but I never had this issue. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI was a kid so this mag escaped my notice. Kind of unfortunate it was so short-lived. The Robert Grossman poster is fascinating!
ReplyDeleteI admit it, Drew. You're an addiction. There! Happy? I have all 15 loving issues of EYE in a box in my garage. Living in the hinterlands, these types of mags were instruction books on being cool and hip, something I needed so much to do back then! There were others, all pretty short-lived, such as Cheetah, Earth, Paper Bag, and Us (which was in paperback form and edited by Richard Goldstein. And besides these, there was always Playboy, if the guy at Bob's Book Store would sell me one. Thanks for great stuff, Drew!
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ReplyDeleteAs I was saying, because of a Google Glitch, all the previous comments on Robert Grossman's Rock Pile poster have disappeared.
ReplyDeleteOy Vey...
This brings home so many memories for me. I remember the beautiful poster hanging on the wall over my head board. I used to study it, like a researcher. I didn`t think I'd ever see it again. I love rock'roll! May it live foreverš
DeleteI've left a couple of comments that never made it through to you. Got caught in some kind've loop. Happens so often on my blogspot that people send their comments to me as emails.
ReplyDeleteA Drew blog? Okay, I admit it, I'm an addict! Happy? Good! I have all 15 issues of EYE in a box in my garage. Mags like Eye, Cheetah, Paper Bag, Earth, The Realist, Us! (actually a recurring paperback edited by Richard Goldstein from Crawdaddy), they were all instruction books for us poor slobs in the provinces on how to be cool. And, of course, there was Playboy. Eye and Playboy in particular got me paying attention bigtime to illustrators. I just had to somehow get to NY and meet them, which I did! Keep going, Drew... I'll follow you anywhere!
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know how I might purchase a copy of The Rock Pile poster ? I had one as a youth and it was lost over the years. I've searched for one for quite a long time. If you know any way I might buy or find one, please email me at jimrhill@aol.com . Thanks immensely !
ReplyDeleteI pulled that poster out of an old magazine given to me by a former employer, ex hippy, around 1986. I still have it.
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