Poster artist Alton Kelly whose graphics defined the San Francisco psychedelic rock scene died this week of complications associated with osteoporosis. Kelly designed posters and album covers for Journey, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix and even the Beatles, but is probably most noted for creating The Grateful Dead’s skull and roses logo. He was 67.

Revolving World wishes the Yes-man a speedy recovery.

YouTube-Spirit-Nature\’s Way

“The Filter combines purchase, consumption and browsing data (it tracks accounts on Netflix, Flixster, etc.) to create an experience map. The next level, Gabriel said, will be to meld your profile with someone else’s.” — L.A. Times

“Yes, yes, I know. It’s easier to download music, and probably cheaper. But what’s playing on your favourite download store when you walk into it? Nothing, that’s what. Who are you going to meet in there? Nobody. Where are the notice boards offering flatshares and vacant slots in bands destined for superstardom? Who’s going to tell you to stop listening to that and start listening to this? Go ahead and save yourself a couple of quid. The saving will cost you a career, a set of cool friends, musical taste and, eventually, your soul. Record stores can’t save your life. But they can give you a better one.”

Nick Hornby, author, “High Fidelity”

Personal note: I used to save up all of my measly allowance and hard-earned cash from mowing lawns just to make the trip to Dearborn Music on Michigan Ave. to soak up the atmosphere, talk to the clerks and check out the discs. When I finally got a steady part-time job I graduated to the import albums section, which opened up a whole new world for me. I was able to make the trip to Europe via vinyl that I could never afford in real life. It was so much cooler than buying records at a department store. Here I discovered early electronic music from Germany by Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze. There were bands that I only read about in Melody Maker (a British music zine that amazingly enough was carried at my little local bookstore) like Gong, Camel and Gentle Giant. There was a whole musical world available to me that extended beyond Pink Floyd and I was ready to take that trip. 

 There used to be a gazillion record stores out there, but alas they’re going the way of the dinosaur. I’m heartened to know that Dearborn Music has managed to still hang in there during this age of digital downloading. Mr. Hornby’s right, there’s something special about an afternoon spent in a record store and I cherish all the hours I spent perusing the racks.

Some new photos of The King performing at Madison Square Garden in 1972 have recently surfaced. George Kalinsky who was the official photographer for the Garden was rummaging through his file negs for an upcoming campaign on “Great Moments in New York” when he located the unpublished images. It appears that there are around 40 “crisp, clear professional photos of Elvis.”

The collection will appear at Graceland starting on Memorial Day along with an exhibit of his famous jumpsuits.