Alton Kelley, creator of psychedelic posters, dies

Alton Kelley, an artist who helped 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 home, according to his publicist, Jennifer Gross.

Kelley and his lifelong collaborator, Stanley "Mouse" Miller, churned out iconic work from their studio, a converted firehouse where Janis Joplin first rehearsed with Big Brother and the Holding Company.

The pair created dozens of classic rock posters, including the famous Grateful Dead "skull and roses" poster designed for a show at the Avalon Ballroom, as well as posters and album covers for Journey, Steve Miller, Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles.

Kelley and Miller's work influenced other well-known names in the genre such as Rick Griffin, who moved to San Francisco in 1966 after seeing their psychedelic posters and soon started producing his own.

For inspiration, the pair scrutinized old etchings and photos, took in the youth culture of the time and dug through public libraries, often breaking out into laughter until they were asked to leave by the librarian, Miller recalled.

"We were just having fun making posters," Miller told the San Francisco Chronicle. "There was no time to think about what we were doing. It was a furious time, but I think most great art is created in a furious moment."

Born on June 17, 1940, Kelley met Miller in 1965, at the epicenter of the hippie movement - San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district - and soon recognized their ability to work together, in their words "riffing off each other's giggle."

In recent years, Kelley's artwork focused on paintings of hot rods and custom cars, which were sold as fine art and printed on T-shirts.

He is survived by his wife Marguerite Trousdale Kelley; their children Patty, Yosarian and China; his mother, his sister and two grandchildren.

(This version CORRECTS that collaborator's name to Stanley "Mouse" Miller.)