Owsley Stanley (born Augustus Owsley Stanley III, January 19, 1935 – March 13, 2011) also known as Bear, was a former underground LSD cook, the first private individual to manufacture mass quantities of LSD.[1][2][3]
Between 1965 and 1967, Stanley produced more than 1.25 million doses of LSD—a catalyst for the emergence of the hippie movement during the Summer of Love in the Haight-Ashbury area,[1] which one historian of that movement, Charles Perry, has described as “one big LSD party.” He was also an accomplished sound engineer and served as the longtime sound man and financier for psychedelic rock band the Grateful Dead.
Stanley designed some of the first high-fidelity sound systems for rock music, culminating in the “Wall of Sound” electrical amplification system used by the Grateful Dead in their live shows, which, at the time, proved to be a highly innovative feat of engineering. He was involved with the founding of high-end musical instrument maker Alembic Inc and concert sound equipment manufacturer Meyer Sound.
Stanley died in an automobile accident in Australia on March 13, 2011.[4][5]