Legendary music photographer Henry Diltz and show producer Peter Blachley will launch a new tour of Diltz’s era-defining storytelling on Thursday, May 8. The tour will feature a stage presentation of his iconic photographs of music legends Neil Young, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Eagles, Jackson Browne, The Doors, and other luminaries.
The tour, California Dreamin’ – Behind the Lens, will begin at The Largo at The Coronet in Los Angeles, where Diltz will be introduced by his long-time friend Jackson Browne.
In music photography, the soft-spoken lensman occupies the upper strata of legendary photographers. His images from the 1960s and 1970s defined the musical landscape of that time when a photographer could create lasting friendships and document each artist’s rise to fame.
Diltz began his professional career in 1963 as a musician with the Modern Folk Quartet. While in the MFQ, he began taking photos of friends, a hobby which, when the MFQ disbanded, developed into a career. Starting with photo shoots for the likes of the Buffalo Springfield, The Lovin’ Spoonful, and The Hollies, Diltz’s laid-back, unpretentious style perfectly complemented the zeitgeist of the music scene, and Diltz soon found himself at the core of the rock and roll world that defined sixties and seventies America.
Keith Richards and Ron Wood in 1979 ( Henry Diltz Photography LLC)
Being a musician during those early days of the 1960s music revolution, his friends included Mama Cass and Crosby, Stills and Nash. Mama Cass’s music salon was a place where the likes of Joni Mitchell and Neil Young came to meet friends, make music, and develop potential collaborations. The unassuming and trusted Diltz mingled through those personal moments, documenting it all on film.
“I never thought of myself as a professional photographer, in capital letters,” Diltz said in a press release. “For me, it was always the experience of hanging out. Like that day with James Taylor, I had a great time listening to him play. I could listen to him play for hours, just watching and taking pictures. I have great patience in that regard because that’s where I want to be anyway.”
The tour will be produced by Peter Blachley, co-founder of The Morrison Hotel Gallery. Though Diltz’s historic work rests mostly with an earlier era, he remains active in the music industry. He still keeps in touch with his old friends Stephen Stills and Graham Nash and toured with Garth Brooks as his official photographer. Diltz’s photographs have appeared on over 200 album covers.
Other Southern California dates include The Belly Up, Solana Beach on Sunday, May 11, and The Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara on Saturday, May 31. A Northern California Tour will follow with dates confirmed in Mill Valley, Menlo Park, and Grass Valley.
To get more information and purchase tickets for the Los Angeles tour date visit here.
The Turtles (Henry Diltz Photography LLC)
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