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Rick Griffin: Album Cover Artist for "Grateful Dead" Became Born-Again
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______________ Have you received Christ as your Lord and Saviour? Find out how to do so on our page: Plan of Salvation ______________ Tell others about Jesus like Rick Griffin did: We are all called by God to share our faith (witness) with those who are not Christians. Some Bible verses that you will find helpful for doing this, and that you may want to commit to memory are found on other pages on our web site (see: Memory Verses; 2nd Set: Salvation!, Plan of Salvation, and Statement of Faith). ___________
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Sunday,
June 24, 2007 Jimi
Hendrix, The Grateful Dead Richard Alden Griffin was born on June 18, 1944 in Los Angeles. Over the course of his life he influenced and led in several cultural fields of art: surf, psychedelic, popular music, and Christian. His earliest known art (early 60’s) was comic-based, akin to Mad magazine artist Don Martin; creating characters for Surf magazine that now have ‘cult’ status- Murphy, being the most popular. Incidentally, the surfing company, Hurley, now has a line of Griffin shirts with Murphy images. Haight-Ashbury As Griffin expanded as an artist, so did his experiences with the culture of the 1960’s. Griffin attended Ken Kesey’s Acid Tests in Watts in 1966, and shortly after headed north to the blossoming Haight-Ashbury hippy scene. In San Francisco, Griffin became one of the leading poster artists of the era, creating posters and art for the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, The Who, and Janis Joplin. In 1969, Griffin created some of his most popular images for album covers: Grateful Dead’s, Aoxomoxoa, and The Beatle’s, Why Don’t We Do It in the Road (Beatles Illustrated Song Book). ________________________________ Related Pages: ________________________________ Photo of "Skellig Michael" Copyright Irish Tourist Board. (Except Text by Brian Nixon and accompanying Photos) Copyright © 2007 S.G.P. All rights reserved. ________________________________ |
Towards the end of 1969, Griffin takes a surfing trip to Santa Barbara, ending up in at Hollister Ranch, and documented in Joe Severson’s movie, Pacific Vibrations (soon to be re-released). After a short trip to New Mexico, Rick is inspired to create a “cosmic comic book,” Man From Utopia. In 1971, Griffin opens his first one-man show at Long Beach State College. But more importantly, Griffin has a personal experience with Jesus Christ, becoming a Christian and infusing his work with Christian themes and symbolism. In the early 70’s Griffin continues to paint surf-based work, create album covers (Mustard Seed Faith and Grateful Dead), and create characters for his art. In 1977, Rick moves to Santa Ana, California and begins a project for Maranatha Music (commissioned by Chuck Fromm and written by Pastor Chuck Smith). The work is an illustration of the Gospel of John. For this work, Griffin paints scenes from the Gospel in acrylic and ink. The magazine was a success and is still in print to this day. Additionally, Rick created posters for Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa and Harvest Christian Fellowship. Throughout the 1980’s, Griffin creates album covers for Maranatha Music and Surf albums (Pray for Surf). Additionally, Griffin continues his poster artwork with R.E.M, Jefferson Airplane, and Bob Dylan. In 1989, Griffin moves to Santa Cruz, California, and creates the artwork for the famed, Dylan and the Dead, album cover. In 1991, Griffin is involved in a fatal collision on his motorcycle, and goes home to be with the Lord on August 18, 1991. The last picture Griffin created was for The City magazine. “It is a self-portrait of Rick with a pen in hand, kneeling in front of an open Bible at Heaven’s gate (McClelland, page 153). Heart and Torch will continue at the Laguna Museum of Art through September 2007. * Information and dates were provided by Rick Griffin’s friend and art historian, Gordon McClelland (McClellend is an expert in Griffin art, as well as other California artists- see Hillcrest Press).
You may republish this story with proper
attribution:
By Brian Nixon
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