David Edward Byrd Has Died

Iconic Artist Of The Golden Age Of Rock

Art - any art like music, writing, design - is always… always about more than the art itself. None of it exists in a vacuum. Every song, every novel, every painting, sits surrounded by its own, separate, distinct universe.

Add into the mix each our our own tastes, cultural background, history and experience, and it’s clear to see why art can appeal to one person, but not to another.

To use an extreme example, the Mona Lisa is decidedly NOT just a painting. It’s a story, a history. The physical work is absolutely buried in cultural myth and lore passed down over generations. When you gaze at that painting, you are not just seeing a canvas and paint and an image. You become part of a lineage of thousands, hundreds of thousands, of humans.

I mention all this because I learned this week that the da Vinci of rock and roll art passed away at the age of 83. Honestly, I had no idea that David Edward Byrd was still alive when I heard the news.

I can’t think of a single artist more influential in helping to identify listeners with the Golden Age of rock and roll than him. If you looked at his name and didn’t recognize him, it doesn’t matter because you will recognize many of his iconic posters.

If you don’t recognize, at least, that Godspell image, well then I can’t help ya! Google his name, hit IMAGE and just scroll through his work. In 1968, Byrd was hired by promoter Bill Graham to create posters for the single most famous rock venue of its (or any) time, the Fillmore East in Manhattan. Allman Brothers. The Doors. Jefferson Airplane. Hendrix. Ravi Shankar. The Grateful Dead. Byrd worked with them all.

Outside of the Fillmore, Byrd worked with The Who on Tommy, the Rolling Stones on their 1969 tour and KISS when they all released solo albums - Byrd created them all to fit together into one huge montage.

In later years he went to Broadway for Godspell, Jesus Christ Superstar and Little Shop of Horrors. And he worked for Carnegie Hall, where he created the iconic Ziggy Stardust poster above.

No single artist defined the look of rock and roll during that period better than him.

I wanted to just bring him to your attention today because for a certain generation of rock fans, that art was captivating, intense and particular. If you saw a Byrd poster, even if you had no idea who the band was, you sort of knew what you were getting.

I’m sure there’s some modern day equivalents, but for this old rock and roll fan, those images - even when I see them today, decades later - evoke not just music, but how I feel when I hear that music.

And that’s art, you know? That’s certainly music. How does a song, or an image, or a poem, make you feel?

David Edward Byrd was a master of making you feel, and what a fine thing to be known for.