Woodstock to Winterland, Musichead Marks Fifty Years Since The Last Waltz
Elliott Landy’s Big Pink era portraits and Larry Hulst’s farewell concert shots of The Band open October 10 on Sunset.
Musichead Gallery will open From Woodstock to The Last Waltz, an exhibition of photographs of The Band by Elliott Landy and Larry Hulst, on Saturday, October 10, with a free opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. at 7420 Sunset Boulevard. The show marks 50 years since The Last Waltz, the group’s farewell concert at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom on November 25, 1976.
Before they were The Band, Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson were Levon and the Hawks, backing Bob Dylan as he moved from folk to electric rock. In Woodstock they recorded the informal sessions that became known as The Basement Tapes, and their first two albums, Music from Big Pink and The Band, helped steer rock back toward country, blues, gospel, folk and early rock and roll.
Landy photographed them as they settled into life around Woodstock, with rare access at home, out in the landscape and between performances. His pictures landed on the covers of Music from Big Pink and The Band, as well as Dylan’s Nashville Skyline and Van Morrison’s Moondance. He was also one of the official photographers of the 1969 Woodstock Festival, and his work has been shown at the Whitney Museum.
Hulst caught the other end of the story. He photographed The Band at The Last Waltz, where they shared the stage with Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, Neil Young, Eric Clapton and Van Morrison. Working mostly from the audience rather than backstage, he has built an archive of more than 100,000 black and white negatives over five decades, capturing the musicians the way the crowd saw them.
Admission is free with an RSVP, and the gallery lists the show on view through November 14. On Saturday, November 14, from 2 to 5 p.m., Landy will give an artist talk and sign The Band Photographs, 1968 to 1969, a two-volume set of nearly 400 images documenting The Band during the making of Music from Big Pink and The Band and their formative Woodstock years. Tickets are $100 and include a signed and dedicated copy of the book, a 5 by 7 inch print of The Band signed by Landy, refreshments and hors d’oeuvres.
Sam Milgrom founded Musichead in 1998, and the Sunset Boulevard gallery now represents more than 80 photographers whose archives trace the big moments of music history. Velvet also covered Vinyl and the Lens on Melrose, Wrensilva Shows Linda McCartney’s Album Photography.
