Although the concert posters of the 1960s are our primary focus here at Psychedelic Art Exchange, our love for rock n' roll music and counterculture history is what truly drives our passion.
Much of the history of the community that sprung up in Haight Ashbury in 1965 is held in the oral history of the original residents. Through their storytelling and recollection, we learn the fun stuff from back when. To preserve this history, whenever possible, we like to record the experiences of our consignors. The essay below has been written by the consignor of our current specialty auction, The San Francisco Rock Poster Explosion. The collection currently on the block was gathered and preserved by collector Remo Mezzetta. Remo shares the story of what brought him to the world of psychedelic rock posters. We hope you enjoy it!
I first became exposed to the Psychedelic movement from my brother, Luciano, who attended the University of California Berkeley and had rented a room in an old Victorian boarding home. One weekend he came home to replenish his food & laundry, mom always took care of him.
On one of those fall weekends that my brother visiting, I asked how he was doing and about his boarding home experience.
He began telling me how difficult it was to take a bath in his flat because it was taken- over by a couple of roommates who were studying to be chemists and were filling the tub by making large amounts of a drug called LSD. I was curious to know what LSD was, and he explained that it was a mind-expanding drug, and that there was a new movement across the country started by Timothy Leary and other scientists to “Turn on, Tune in, Drop-out!”. I found out later that one of the chemists rooming with my brother was Owsley Stanley. He was associated with a local garage rock n’ roll band called The Warlocks which later became the Grateful Dead.
About half a year later my friends and I heard about a concert at Golden Gate Park, which was the first Human Be-In gathering. We took a bus to the front of the park and ran into a man who looked like he came out of the Wild West with long black curly hair and a beard leaning against a big eucalyptus tree. He had a box hanging on his body reading “turn on, tune in, drop out", and he asked us if we wanted to turn on to LSD. I immediately remembered my brother’s experience at Berkeley, and we all agreed and took a capsule before proceeding to the open-air concert. The place was rocking– we saw the Grateful Dead, Big Brother and the Holding Co., Quicksilver Messager Service, and many more acts. The whole place had this huge prevailing high and everyone was enjoying the sounds without any restraints. It was a Love-in.
Within a few weeks, my friends and I became regular rockers at all the local concert halls; California Hall, Avalon Ballroom, The Matrix, The Fillmore Auditorium, and all the Bay Area hotspots.
The San Francisco Sound had begun, and all genres of music had resurfaced into the Sixties Cultural Renaissance & Revolution.
Now that I’m in my seventies, I want to share my experiences with the music and art of the 60’s and 70’s sounds of San Francisco, and pass on my extensive poster collection to a new generation of collectors.
-Remo Mezzetta
The San Francisco Rock Poster Explosion Specialty Auction closes SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15th, at 9:00 PM ET. CLICK HERE TO ENTER!
