folks yu wont believit buta friend told me about this artist dennis
loren who is famed for the early sanfancisco Rock poster art.. Dennis
loren Mopos Greg Dougls knows him well as he did a cd cver recently for
him..this gust bio is excellent..
get this he will be a a bilding abou 2 blcks from my home in Toledo at
the st clement catholic school fora record show and showing his art as
he lives between Calif and detroit...
so i hpe to meet him and see his stuff maybe even buya few signed pieces
if I can afford it..plus i see he stared in 1967 while inthe service,,so
i havea piece to present to him a 1967 freak out usa magazine with Rock
poster art,the beatles and the doors and others on the cover that will
send him back in Time.. to whenitallstared...i was able to get mint
copies back 30years ago whenthe warren publishing was auctioned off..so
they are mint,,,,it has some of the art from then inside..anyways
thought youall may be interest as beside movie postesr i always liked
the music art window cards and actually fora short time hung them
indetroit for PIne knowb shows and cbs records..i did Maddna ,santana
and dan Foglbberg and a few others like newer groups..
anyways i me Drew struzan so this will be my 1st rock artsits i meet..he
did paul McCartney and hendrix m zappa on and on see he bio
hes on facebook also.
Biography
Dennis is an accomplished graphic designer specializing in music related
marketing materials & publication design. He has created album covers,
posters, and print ads for Roky Erickson, Frank Zappa, Johnny “Guitar”
Watson, Marty Balin, Denise Williams, The Blues Project, Barry White,
Jesse Winchester, Willie Nile, The Bobby Fuller Four, Rick James, Muddy
Waters, Jimi Hendrix, Big Brother & The Holding Company, Moby Grape,
Paul McCartney, Jefferson Starship, Joan Baez, The Velvet Underground
and many others.
Dennis was born in Detroit in 1946. After graduating from Edsel Ford
High School in 1964 – he worked full time – while attending evening art
classes at the Center For Creative Studies. He was drafted in September
1965 and was later stationed overseas in Sinop, Turkey. In the spring of
1967, he was sent to the Presidio in San Francisco. After his discharge,
he decided to stay in SF Bay area, because of the vibrant art and muisc
scene. Dennis formed a band called “Mercury Vapor,” with guitarists Joe
Toschi & David Green. His musical high point was jamming with BB King at
The Fillmore West in February of 1970.
He returned to Detroit in July 1970 where he continued doing graphic art
and music. In 1975, Dennis recorded his song “Let Go” for the “Stone
Soup” album. On this recording, he was accompanied by Ted Lucas (of The
Spike-Drivers), Bill Long (of The Tidal Waves) and Mike Waddell. “Stone
Soup” was a compilation of 11 Detroit area singer-songwriters. Dennis
worked with Stanley Mouse on the Ted Lucas solo album cover design. In
1976, he worked at the Detroit Sun with Gary Grimshaw and John Sinclair.
In 1978 Dennis became the Art Director for Goldmine magazine. During
this time he also began to work with Detroit indie labels (Spider, IDBI,
Tremor, FTM, Maverick, Westbound, Sound Of Gospel and others) as a
freelance designer. Throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s he did hundreds of
flyers, posters, record sleeves in Detroit for groups, such as, The
Rockets, Sonic’s Rendezvous Band, Patti Smith, The Romantics, The
Mutants, Cinecyde, The Ivories, Destroy All Monsters, Natasha, The
Reruns, Flirt, The Torpedos, Natasha and The Hysteric Narcotics.
In 1986, started working again with Gary Grimshaw at Creem magazine.
Cambray Publishing (who owned Creem and its sister magazines Metal and
Rock Shots) relocated to Los Angeles 1987 and Dennis became the Art
Director. After Creem was sold in 1991, Dennis started freelancing
fulltime with labels, such as, Rhino, Bomp, Del-Fi, Vanguard, Priority,
Curb, Bellmark, Solid/Navarre, Ichiban and others. While living in
Hollywood, he also designed posters for The House Of Blues, The Roxy,
The Hollywood Bowl, The Whisky A Go-Go, The El Rey Theater and The
Palladium.
Dennis now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and continues to produce
illustrations, CD & LP packages, posters and other music related
merchandise. In 2004, he worked with Mark London on the packaging for
Brian Wilson’s SMiLE CD & LP. Dennis maintains a very strong connection
to his Detroit roots, which can be seen in his concert poster designs
for contemporary bands, such as, The White Stripes, The Dirtbombs, The
Detroit Cobras and may others.
Some of his concert poster work appears in “The Art Of Modern Rock” by
Paul Grushkin and Dennis King (Chronicle Books). He and his art also
appear in “American Artifact – The Rise Of American Rock Posters,” a
documentary film about rock posters and artists. The film was written
and directed by Merle Becker of Freak Films, Inc. Dennis co-wrote and
co-compiled the "Classic Rock Posters" book with the late Mick Farren.
It was published in the Fall of 2012 by Sterling's Metro Books imprint.
The book was also published in England, Italy, France and Germany.
Dennis continues to design concert poster for San Fracisco Bay are band
like Moonalice and a variety of venues.
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