During the late Sixties, a young Elliott Landylanded the gig of a lifetime – Woodstock (1969
Asked to photograph the spirited three-day gathering of “Peace and Music”, Elliott worked out an “all access” entry that allowed him free rein to memorialize the largest rock festival of all time.
Loaded up with canisters of film, Elliott worked his way backstage, up front and around some of the top artists of the day, including: Richie Havens, Janis Joplin, Carlos Santana, Country Joe and the Fish, Canned Heat…and more.
Roaming through his book, Woodstock Vision: The Spirit of a Generation, we’re gifted with images of Woodstock that capture moments of festival performers and staffers, and expansive crowds that filled the bucolic landscape. The book also includes more casual images of some artists of formidable talent, as well as striking confrontational photos of protesters and police.
The book historically informs, couching within its pages an array of musician heroes, like Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Frank Zappa, Doc Watson, Joan Baez, and of course, Bob Dylan and The Band. Inside Fillmore East, NYC, Elliott catches The Who, a group both strident and destructive in performance, and low key, nearly sedate, in more relaxed settings.
And the book’s story line weaves a path, taking us along to join him and it’s stunning in its reach, whether he’s at a Beatles’ press conference, looking up at the masterful folk-jazz-fusion master, Tim Buckley, or harnessing the energy of the legendary Pete Seeger, under some hot klieg-lights. Folkies get touching, poignant photos of Mimi Farina and Joan Baez, a phalanx of performers at The Newport Folk Festival that include: Arlo Guthrie, Alan Lomax, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and more.
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