Alton Kelley, psychedelic poster creator, dies

[Kadie]

Alton Kelley, psychedelic poster creator, dies
Joel Selvin, Chronicle Senior Pop Music Critic

Tuesday, June 3, 2008


Alton Kelley, one of the founding members of the '60s San Francisco rock scene, died Sunday at his home in Petaluma after a long illness. He was 67.

Mr. Kelley will be remembered as the creator (with his artistic partner, Stanley Mouse) of hundreds of classic psychedelic rock posters, such as the famed "skull and roses" poster for a Grateful Dead show at the Avalon Ballroom. Mr. Kelley and Mouse created 26 posters for just the first year of the Avalon's operation.

But Mr. Kelley was also one of four people who called themselves the Family Dog and decided to throw the world's first psychedelic dance-concerts at Longshoreman's Hall in September 1965, essentially starting the San Francisco scene. The quartet had just returned to the Bay Area after spending an LSD-drenched summer restoring a silver rush dancehall in Virginia City, Nev., called the Red Dog Saloon.

Mr. Kelley, a motorcycle enthusiast since his New England youth who painted pinstripes on bike gas tanks, designed the flyers advertising the original Family Dog shows, but lacked drafting ability. When he met Stanley Mouse, who had recently relocated from Detroit where he made a name for himself doing hot rod art, Mr. Kelley found the draftsman he needed. The two formed Mouse Studios and cranked out art together, Mr. Kelley's drawing skills eventually improving to the point where left-handed Mr. Kelley would be working on one side of the easel, right-handed Mouse on the other.

more...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/03/BAQS111UJ4.DTL&hw=alton+kelley&sn=001&sc=1000





edited to add...



The famous Grateful Dead 'skull and roses' poster designed by Alton Kelley and Stanley 'Mouse' Miller is seen in this undated photo provided by Evolutionary Media Group. Kelley, who created the psychedelic style of posters and other art associated with the 1960s San Francisco rock scene, has died. He was 67. Kelley died Sunday of complications from osteoporosis in his Petaluma, Calif., home, according to his publicist, Jennifer Gross.
(AP Photo/Evolutionary Media Group, Mouse Kelley)


A poster created by Alton Kelley and Stanley 'Mouse' Miller is seen in this undated photo provided by Evolutionary Media Group. Kelley, who created the psychedelic style of posters and other art associated with the 1960s San Francisco rock scene, has died. He was 67. Kelley died Sunday of complications from osteoporosis in his Petaluma, Calif., home, according to his publicist, Jennifer Gross.
(AP Photo/Evolutionary Media Group, Mouse Kelley)
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Artist Alton Kelley is seen in the 2005 photo provided by Evolutionary Media Group. Kelley, who created the psychedelic style of posters and other art associated with the 1960s San Francisco rock scene, has died. He was 67. Kelley died Sunday of complications from osteoporosis in his Petaluma, Calif., home, according to his publicist, Jennifer Gross.
(AP Photo/Evolutionary Media Group, Chet Helms)

[Breeze54]

1. Oh no... I lauded and loved his art work!!

RIP... and thanks for all your very cool posters, Alton!!

:(

[seemslikeadream]

2. .........

[Breeze54]

3. In Memory of Alton Kelley

In Memory of Alton Kelley

http://www.rockument.com/kelley.html

Original art created by Alton Kelley for the Haight-Ashbury in the Sixties CD-ROM

produced by Rockument

Alton Kelley died on June 1, 2008 (see Joel Selvin's obit in the S.F. Chronicle).
He was a legendary poster artist who created some of the most well-known album
covers and posters from the 1960s.

Site: Tony Bove

Alton Kelley was one of the founders of the Family Dog, responsible for some of the legendary shows
of the Sixties in San Francisco at the Avalon Ballroom and actively putting on shows today, such as
the Chet Helms Tribute. Below is the Janis Joplin collage for the Haight-Ashbury CD-ROM.


Hippies on the Web.
A collection of commented links to sites related to the Haight-Ashbury.
Includes many of the organizations and bands that contributed to the
Summer of Love and helped define the hippie counterculture lifestyle.

[musette_sf]

11. i went to the Chet tribute at the GAMH

what a night.

[Breeze54]

12. I'm jealous....

I was a kid back then but I had Alton posters (unknown to me at the time) all over my bedroom walls! ;)

I wish I could've gone to it.

[musette_sf]

4. say hi to Chet for us, Alton

till we meet again

[annabanana]

5. He did some beautiful stuff. .

(take that however you like)

RIP

[Runcible Spoon]

6. just looking at his pieces invokes all of the sensations associated with the times...

very sad, very big loss.

[Sal Minella]

7. The Aubrey Beardsley of my era.

and/or Maxfield Parrish. And/or Charles Dana Gibson. *sigh*

[G_j]

8. Happy Trails!

It was good, wasn't it?
Thanks for the wonderful art!

[Blue-Jay]

9. Damn. That's too bad.

I always loved his work. :(

[clovis29]

10. WOW! That was a sea change in pop art

Fantastic and iconic

[The_Casual_Observer]

13. He led a charmed life. Farewell Alton Kelley.

[madrchsod]

14. another old hippie is gone...

i`m starting to feel old.......

[Blue_In_AK]

15. I hate it that all these old hippies are dying...

I guess we're mortal, after all. :cry: