The Seed

This week we celebrate “the Seed,” the poster which is credited with being the first psychedelic rock concert poster of the 60’s. The original art was created by Byron Michael Ferguson and George Hunter prior to the June 21st, 1965 grand opening of the Red Dog Saloon. Therefore, over the next few days I will be posting art related to “the Seed,” the Red Dog Saloon, historic Virginia City NV, signed material by members of the Charlatans, and the 50th anniversary of the Charlatans’ Red Dog Saloon summer-long run in the summer of 2015. I will begin with the 1991 commemorative silkscreen of the Seed. It was produced by Rusty Goldman in cooperation with the band leader of the Charlatans, George Hunter. The poster is 17% larger than the original lithograph, but the silkscreen lacks the image sharpness of the lithograph poster. The silkscreen poster measures 17 ½ x 23”. There were at least 150 of these produced in a numbered edition, hand signed and numbered by Rusty. Additionally, 25 were signed by Charlatans members George Hunter, Richie Olson, Mike Wilhelm and Dan Hicks, with others signed just by George Hunter. None of the band signed or Hunter-only signed posters are part of the numbered edition of 150. There are unnumbered Artists Proofs signed by Rusty on the front as “Professor Poster” with “A/P” on the right side. The remainder were signed by Rusty on the back. I will post my framed signed by four here. I also have the unsigned version, which is signed by Rusty as Professor Poster on the back. This is one quality poster, produced on thick bright white stock you’d be hard pressed to get a thumb tack through. Special thanks to Rusty Goldman, Kirk Rodgers and Dennis King for their contributions to this post. Enjoy!

/ Dave Lee