Another important figure in rock & roll history has left us. Last Sunday (June 1), legendary psychedelic poster artist Alton Kelley died at his Petaluma, California home due to complications from osteoporosis.Kelley and his partner Stanley Mouse teamed up with the Family Dog Collective, and effectively radically changed graphic art styles related to advertising music acts, concerts, and record albums. He gave the Grateful Dead their skull and roses iconography. Kelley and Mouse influenced not only the San Francisco Bay Area, but their ground-breaking psychedelic art (along with artist Peter Max) also had far-reaching influence into popular culture, particularly the advertising and commerce aimed at the baby boomers.
The Los Angeles Times had a very fine obituary about Alton Kelley. I'm sorry I never got to meet him, although my husband and I met Stanley Mouse a few years ago. I do have two original Family Dog handbills from the late '60s that they designed. I'm sad that we've lost another person who changed the face of rock & roll. Rest in peace, Alton.
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