McClure, Neal Cassady, Kenneth Rexroth, Ralph J. Gleason, and others. The Family Dog Denver In 1967, Helms and budding rock promotor Barry Fey agreed to open a Family Dog Productions concert dance hall in Denver, Colorado. They called it The Family Dog Denver, and brought in acts like The Doors, the Grateful Dead, Van Morrison, Jefferson Airplane, Buffalo Springfield, Chuck Berry, and many others. The San Francisco psychedelic poster artists were commissioned by Helms to do posters for the shows. Little has been known about the venue until the 2021 release of the documentary, The Tale of the Dog, which unearthed the story through interviews with the venue staff, bands, posters artists, attendees and Denver police, detailing the full history and lasting impact of "The Dog" for the first time. Artwork and Posters To promote their concerts in both San Francisco and Denver, Family Dog published a series of innovative psychedelic posters, handbills and other ephemera, created by a group of prominent young San Francisco artists including Wes Wilson, Alton Kelley and Stanley Mouse (Mouse Studios), Rick Griffin, Steve Renick and Victor Moscoso. Often printed using intensely colored fluorescent inks, they typically featured a mixture of found images and specially drawn artwork. The posters of Griffin, Mouse and Kelly, in particular, were known for the intricate and highly stylized hand-lettering in which the concert details were written out, which sometimes took considerable time and effort to decipher. Original Avalon posters are now collector's items. In a slide show published with the obituary at the time of Wilson's death in 2020, The New York Times included an apparent portrait watercolor of Helms—a book in the foreground has Helms' full name on it. Helms was also involved in joint productions/promotions at the Fillmore, Longshoreman's Hall, and Haight Street's Straight Theater (not all formal Family Dog Dance-Concerts). Style as promoter While Graham was an aggressive businessman and professional promoter, Helms presented a philosophical and intellectual business approach. He was the visionary along with Boots Houghston. He related easily to the San Francisco hippie subculture since, in essence, he was one of them. It wasn't the money he was after, that was the by-product of artistic talent; it was the creative unity of new emerging music sounds that enriched Helms and the community he was talking to, which spread worldwide. The San Francisco Chronicle called Helms "a towering figure in the 1960s Bay Area