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.

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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)