Quicksilver Messenger Service Poster
The 1st printing of the poster displays a tan/gold border that ranges in color throughout the pre-concert print run. It measures 14 3/8" x 21 11/16".
The 2nd printing A (see FD069-A) is actually a stock certificate that was produced by Rick Griffin in 1974. It presents a smaller blue image on thin, almost translucent white stock, and most copies are embossed with a heart emblem in the bottom right hand corner. This "poster" measures 10 7/8" x 17 3/8".
2nd printing B (see FD069-B) is a variant of the stock certificate and displays the same smaller blue image, but this version has a gold seal on the lower right hand corner. It measures 10 7/8" x 17 3/8".
Rick Griffin grew up in the surfing culture of Southern California, a milieu which had a profound influence on his art. After high school, he worked on the staff of Surfer magazine and created the best-known surfing cartoon character of the time, Murphy. After his move to San Francisco in 1967, be began combining eclectic typefaces and decorative borders with brilliant colors in his concert posters. Griffin's compositions were complex without being illegible. A perfectionist, Griffin often applied dozens of overlays and redrew lettering again and again until he was satisfied. In the early 1970s, Griffin became a born-again Christian and religious themes dominated his work until his death in a motorcycle accident in 1991.