Psychedelic Rock Posters: A San Francisco History

From the Haight-Ashbury to the Fillmore to the Great Highway, San Francisco has always been a hotbed for psychedelic rock. This blog explores the history of this iconic music scene through the unique perspective of vintage concert posters.

San Francisco’s Psychedelic Rock Scene

In the late 1960s, San Francisco’s Psychedelic Rock scene was in full swing. Bands like The Grateful Dead, Santana, and Jefferson Airplane were filling the airwaves with their unique sounds, and concertgoers were flocking to venues like the Fillmore and the Avalon to see their favorite bands. Posters advertising these shows were becoming increasingly popular, and the artists who created them were becoming household names. Let’s take a look at some of these iconic posters and the stories behind them.

The Summer of Love

The Summer of Love was a defining moment in San Francisco’s musical history. In the summer of 1967, hundreds of thousands of young people converged on the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, drawn by the promise of peace, love, and music. The music that came out of that summer would change the course of rock and roll forever.

San Francisco’s Psychedelic Rock Scene traces the origins of the Summer of Love back to the early days of the San Francisco music scene. From folk to rock to jazz to blues, the city was a hotbed of musical activity in the 1960s. The bands that would come to define psychedelia were all playing in San Francisco clubs before they found success on a national level.

The Summer of Love may have come and gone, but the music that came out of it has left a lasting impression on our culture. San Francisco’s Psychedelic Rock Scene tells the story of how this music came to be, and how it changed the course of rock and roll forever.

The Fillmore

The Fillmore was one of the most important music venues in San Francisco during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Located at 1805 Geary Boulevard, it was one of the first places to showcase psychedelic rock bands. The venue was originally opened in 1912 as a dance hall, but it soon became a popular stop for Jazz musicians. In the 1940s and 1950s, the Fillmore became known for its blues music scene.

In the 1960s, Stanford University’s Psycholand music festival popularized psychedelic rock on the West Coast. Many of the bands that played at Psycholand, such as Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead, went on to play at the Fillmore. The venue became known for its light shows, which were often projections of liquid light onto the performers and audience. The Fillmore also became known for its “acid tests,” parties where LSD was distributed to attendees.

The Fillmore closed in 1971, but it reopened a few years later and continued to be a popular stop for rock bands until it finally closed for good in 1987.

The Avalon Ballroom

Perhaps the most famous psychedelic rock venue in San Francisco was the Avalon Ballroom. Located at 1268 Sutter Street, the Avalon was originally opened in 1913 as a dance hall. In the 1960s, it became a popular destination for music lovers and hippies who came to experience the sounds of bands like The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Big Brother and the Holding Company. The Avalon was also known for its light shows, which were created by San Francisco artist Roky Erickson. Psychedelic rock posters were often used to advertise shows at the Avalon, and many of these posters are now collectors’ items.

Psychedelic Rock Posters

Psychedelic rock posters are a product of the counterculture movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The artwork is characterized by bright colors, bold patterns, and sometimes bizarre imagery. Psychedelic rock posters were used to advertise concerts and clubs, and they were often made by the same artists who created the album covers for the bands.

The Haight-Ashbury Scene

In the early-to-mid 1960s, Stanford students psychologist Timothy Leary and writer Richard Alpert — AKA Ram Dass — became well-known for their advocacy of LSD. In 1966, they were both fired from Stanford after conducting unauthorized psychedelic research on human subjects. They moved to Berkeley, where they continued to promote the use of LSD.

The same year, another group of Stanford students founded the Trips Festival, which featured music, light shows, and other psychedelic experiences. The Trips Festival is widely considered to be the first psychedelic rock concert. It featured Acid Test headliner the Grateful Dead, as well as Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin, and Jefferson Airplane.

In 1967, Leary and Alpert relocated to a house in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. This area had already become known for its hippie culture, and the influx of LSD advocates helped to make it a center for the counterculture movement. That same year, attendees of the Monterey Pop Festival began moving into the area.

The Haight-Ashbury scene reached its peak in 1967 during what came to be known as the “Summer of Love.” Tens of thousands of young people converged on Haight-Ashbury that summer, looking for drugs and “free love.” The massive influx of people strained resources in the small neighborhood, leading to crime and sanitation problems. The media coverage of the Summer of Love also led to an influx of tourists who were more interested in gawking at hippies than actually joining their ranks.

By 1968, many of the original residents of Haight-Ashbury had grown tired of the crowds and moved elsewhere. The neighborhood began to decline, further accelerating when news reports surfaceed detailing widespread drug use and crime in the area. In 1969, a massive police raid on a commune known as Morning Star Ranch led to the arrest of more than 100 people on drug charges. This event is often seen as a turning point in public opinion against the counterculture movement.

The San Francisco Sound

Psychedelic rock posters are a unique form of American pop art that flourished in the San Francisco Bay Area during the mid-1960s. The posters were produced to advertise concerts by local bands playing what came to be known as the San Francisco Sound.

The posters were printed in limited editions, often by underground press printers, and were distributed hand to hand, or posted in coffeehouses, head shops, and music venues. They were colorful and graphic, with bold designs that used new printing techniques to create visual effects that reflected the psychedelic experience.

The artists who created these posters were inspired by a wide range of sources, from fine art to comic books to popular culture. Many of them were associated with the underground comix scene, and their work frequently referenced drugs, sex, and social revolution.

The San Francisco Sound was a product of the city’s countercultural scene, which developed in response to the growing conservatism of American society in the 1960s. The sound was characterized by extended improvisation, experimentation with new musical styles and instruments, and a focus on creating an intense sonic experience. It was pioneered by bands such as the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Santana.

Psychedelic rock posters are now coveted by collectors and fetch high prices at auction. They remain an important record of a critical period in American history when music played a role in promoting social change.

The Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead is a legendary American rock band that was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1965. The band is renowned for its live performances, which often featured long jams and improvisation. The Grateful Dead’s music is rooted in the folk, blues, and country traditions, and they were one of the first bands to fuse these genres with psychedelia. The band’s signature sound was created byJerry Garcia’s guitar work, Bob Weir’s rhythm guitar, Phil Lesh’s bass playing, and Bill Kreutzmann’s drumming. The Grateful Dead released 13 studio albums between 1967 and 1989, and they are considered one of the most influential rock bands of all time.

The Legacy of Psychedelic Rock Posters

Psychedelic rock posters emerged in the countercultural scene of the 1960s in San Francisco. The vibrant and youth-oriented designs were created to promote rock concerts at iconic venues such as the Fillmore and the Avalon Ballroom. Psychedelic posters are now recognized as artworks in their own right, and they continue to enjoy popularity among music fans and collectors.

The San Francisco Art Scene

Psychedelic rock posters are a unique slice of American cultural history. They first gained popularity in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1960s, during the so-called Summer of Love. Psychedelic posters were often used to promote live music events, and they quickly became an essential part of the countercultural scene that developed in San Francisco at that time.

The 1960s were a tumultuous decade, and the San Francisco art scene reflected the political and social unrest of the times. Psychedelic rock posters were often critical of mainstream society, and they advocated for peace, love, and understanding. The visual style of these posters was inspired by psychedelic drugs like LSD, and they typically featured bright colors and intricate patterns.

Many of the most famous psychedelic rock posters were created by artist Stanley Mouse. His iconic artwork was used to promote concerts by The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix, among others. Mouse’s work has been credited with helping to define the visual language of psychedelic culture.

Today, psychedelic rock posters are highly sought-after collectibles. They remain popular because they offer a unique glimpse into a tumultuous period in American history. For many people, these posters represent the youthfulness, idealism, and freedom of the 1960s counterculture.

The Psychedelic Movement

ThePsychedelic movement began in the early 1960s as ashiftin countercultural values. Psychedelic music and art were inte- gral components of the “hippie” lifestyle, which rejected main- stream America in favor of peace, love, and freedom. The move- ment reached its peak in 1967, “the Summer of Love,” when thou- sands of young people converged on San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood in search of a new way of life.

Psychedelic posters were an important part of the scene in San Francisco. They were used to promote concerts by some of the biggest names in Psychedelic Rock, including The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and The Doors. Many of these posters were created by leading artists of the time, such as Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley.

Today, Psychedelic Rock posters are highly sought-after col- lectibles. They offer a unique glimpse into a time when American culture was undergoing a radical transformation.

The Counterculture

In the late 1960s, the counterculture began to adopt psychedelic rock as its music of choice. Psychedelic rock posters became a way for the counterculture to visually express its newfound freedom and peace of mind. These posters were often colorful and featured distorted images, which reflected the effects of LSD and other psychedelic drugs.

San Francisco became a hotbed of activity for the counterculture, and it was here that some of the most iconic psychedelic rock posters were created. These posters were used to promote concerts by popular bands such as The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and The Doors. Many of these posters were designed by artists such as Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelly, and Victor Moscoso.

Today, these posters are highly collectible and are considered works of art in their own right. They remain a vivid reminder of a time when music was used as a tool for social change.