Rock ‘n’ Roll Memorabilia: A Roadie’s Collection

The son of a Disney Studios animator, Stanley Mouse grew up in Detroit around both animation and the Motown music scene. He was trained in Detroit’s School for the Society of Arts and Crafts but honed his artistic style by detailing hot rods. Mouse would later join the counterculture movement of the 1960s by creating advertisements and promotional art for the leading rock bands. He worked for the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Journey, and many others. Available in Turner Auctions + Appraisals’ upcoming Rock ‘n’ Roll Memorabilia sale is an oil painting from Mouse. It shows a group of blue-tinted skeletons playing instruments, reminiscent of the artist’s work with the Grateful Dead. Examples of Mouse’s psychedelic music posters are also available, including an Edgar Allan Poe print for Country Joe and the Fish.

This auction offers over 130 lots from the collection of an avid rock ‘n’ roll roadie. Posters dating between the 1960s and 1970s dominate the auction, with some earlier and later items. Among the leading lots is a pair of posters, one advertising a 1953 concert for the Swallows, an American R&B group. The other poster promotes a 1967 Shakespeare Festival in Santa Clara, California in shades of navy and magenta. A collaboration between Stanley Mouse and fellow poster artist Alton Kelley, this piece advertised The Comedy of Errors and The Taming of the Shrew. 

Also notable is an unused ticket for a 1965 Beatles show at the San Francisco Cow Palace, a fold-out poster for Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits, and a “Flying Eyeball” Jimi Hendrix promotional piece. Several lots offer groups of backstage passes and ticket stubs from Grateful Dead concerts. To view the full catalog and register to bid for these items, visit Bidsquare.