Library Rock's Backpages

Psychedelia: Poster Artists

Ben Edmonds, MOJO, June 1997

IT COULD BE SAID THAT THE POSTER ART WAS THE best thing that ever happened to psychedelic music. As concert posters they didn’t just advertise the event, they disseminated the spirit that animated these tribal gatherings. The musicians, light shows, and paying participants all had to work their tripped-out asses off just to fulfil the expectation generated by the best artwork. Well before the underground music had made any significant inroads outside its Bay Area cocoon, the swirling lettering and vibrating colours of the posters were already out there in the heartland doing advance work.

Total word count of piece: 1382

Subscribe

Becoming a member is easy. Membership gives you access to all the thousands of articles in the library.

Click here to go to Subscribe page.

Click here for academic and other group subscriptions.