June 26, 2025 The Best Source of News, Culture, Lifestyle for Culver City, Mar Vista, Del Rey, Palms and West Los Angeles

Legends Through the LENS: An Intimate Portrait of Rock & Roll History

By Kyle Knoll

 

A random discovery of old negatives in an attic has culminated in a stunning new photo exhibition opening tomorrow, April 14, at the California Heritage Museum, Santa Monica.

Former rock n’ roll manager and music producer Michael Friedman’s wife Donna Vita recently stumbled on what ended up being a plethora of amazing images of her husband’s oldest and dearest friends: Janis Joplin, Todd Rundgren, Paul Butterfield and The Rolling Stones.

“Rock & Roll Legends: The Lost Negatives of Michael Friedman,” is an exhibition of photographic prints made from a collection of the more than 1,000 negatives recently found in Friedman’s attic and will open to the public April 14 until July 15.

The collection offers rare insight into what it was like to be standing just offstage during some of the most influential performances in American music from the late 1960s through the early 80s, when rock n’ roll ruled the airwaves.

“It is a peek into the musicians as people,” Friedman told The Mirror. Friedman was the same age as most of the famous artists he worked with and captured them on film as various stages in their performing careers.

“We all started out right when rock n’ roll grabbed a hold of everybody in the country, and some of us decided to go with it.…It was kind of easier in those days because it was all very new,” Friedman explained.

The similarities in life experience between Friedman and the artists he worked with were often not only generational, but literal. “My wife always says, ‘Was everybody in the music business at that time born in 1943?’” he mused.

Friedman was born only one month apart from and worked closely with iconic rock vocalist Janis Joplin, and only two months apart from influential musician Robbie Robertson, lead guitarist and songwriter for the group The Band.

“I was expected often to be the grownup in the room, but I really wasn’t,” Friedman recalled, explaining that he wore suits to work daily at Albert Grossman Management in an effort to project an air of business authority and an illusion of social distance from the artists he worked with.

“I was one of them. My habits weren’t really any better than theirs,” he said.

The intimacy and the mutual comfort of the relationships that Friedman enjoyed with the likes of Joplin, Rundgren and Paul Butterfield lends an authenticity and a vulnerability to the photographs in the “Lost Negatives” exhibit. “Nobody was posing for me in any of these pictures,” Friedman explained. “They were my friends.”

Referring to a prominently featured portrait of Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger that is being hung as a 20-foot banner on the California Heritage Museum building to publicize the show, Friedman said: “I was onstage because Janis played that show, so I had an all-access pass. I was standing offstage…at the same level. I wasn’t shooting up and into the stage like most of the shots you see of performances that are up people’s nose.”

When asked about his process for taking the photographs, Friedman said that he was “try[ing] to catch a moment…to see something happening and catch what you think is a moment that you want to remember.”

Following its exhibition at the California Heritage Museum, the collection of prints and negatives is expected to travel to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, where it will be archived in perpetuity as the Michael Friedman Collection.

Janis Joplin 1969.
Robbie Robertson & Levon Helm 1969.
Mick Jagger, MSG 1969.

The California Heritage Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and is located at 2612 Main St., Santa Monica, California 90405. More information about the exhibit can be found at californiaheritagemuseum.org or at michaelfriedmanphotography.com.

Related Posts

Michelin Stars Shine Bright on LA: Somni West Hollywood and Providence Earn Top Honors

June 26, 2025

June 26, 2025

Two Restaurants in Los Angeles Receive Three Stars as Michelin Guide Celebrates Bold Flavors The MICHELIN Guide California 2025 celebrated...

Cherished Culver City Ice Cream Vendor Abducted in Broad Daylight

June 26, 2025

June 26, 2025

Ambrocio “Enrique” Lozano’s Disappearance Led To Grassroots Action Ambrocio Lozano, also known in the neighborhood as Enrique, was abducted around...

Culver City Leaders Address Youth Safety Crisis After Teen’s Death, Gunfire at Vigil

June 25, 2025

June 25, 2025

Leaders Respond Following Tragedy and Shooting at School Vigil Culver City officials convened a press conference Wednesday morning to confront...

Brentwood Home by Landry Design Group Wins Top National Architecture Award

June 25, 2025

June 25, 2025

Landry Design Group Wins Gold Nugget Awards for Brentwood, Crestwood Projects Landry Design Group (LDG) earned two top honors at...

(Video) WISE & Healthy Aging Helps Loved Ones Boost Their Quality of Life

June 24, 2025

June 24, 2025

See How the Nonprofit’s Innovative Programs Advance the Dignity of Life for Older Adults See How the Nonprofit’s Innovative Programs...

Masked Federal Agents Detain Iranian Asylum Seeker and Wife in Westwood

June 24, 2025

June 24, 2025

31-Year-Old Woman was Hospitalized After Possible Medical Emergency On Tuesday, June 24, between 11:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., near the...

Culver City Pride Rolls In with Sunset Ride and Rally June 28

June 24, 2025

June 24, 2025

Celebrate With a 6-Mile Pride Ride and Free Block Party Culver City will mark its fifth annual Pride celebration on...

Los Angeles Leaders Push to Ban Masks for Federal Agents Amid Immigration Raids

June 24, 2025

June 24, 2025

Concerns Grow Over Anonymous ICE and CBP Officers in Los Angeles   A growing coalition of California lawmakers and local leaders...

Squatter-Plagued Beverly Grove Buildings Could Be Razed After Hazard Cleanup

June 24, 2025

June 24, 2025

Demolition of Three Abandoned Apartments May Begin in Two Weeks Three abandoned apartment buildings in Beverly Grove may soon be...

From Westwood to DTLA, Angelenos March Against Military Escalation in Iran

June 23, 2025

June 23, 2025

Protestors Rally at the Westwood Federal Building This Weekend Following President Donald Trump’s authorization of airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear-related...

Overnight Traffic Stops in Culver City Lead to Felony Arrests, DUI Bust

June 23, 2025

June 23, 2025

Culver City Police Nab Suspects Wanted for Burglary and Identity Theft Culver City police officers arrested three individuals in separate...

LAPD Sergeant Killed Assisting Crash Victims on 405 Freeway in Brentwood

June 23, 2025

June 23, 2025

Tragic Early-Morning Collision Claims Two Lives, Including Veteran Sergeant Two people, including an LAPD sergeant, were killed early Monday in...

Recent Homebuyer Down Payments Slip for First Time in Nearly Two Years

June 23, 2025

June 23, 2025

April’s Median Down Payment Fell as Buyers Lean Toward Lower-Cost Homes The median down payment made by U.S. homebuyers dropped...

Del Rey Affordable Housing Project to Rise on Former Charter School Site

June 23, 2025

June 23, 2025

Community Corp., Local Faith Group Team Up to Build 122 New Apartments Plans are moving forward for a new residential...

Paris Hilton Buys Mark Wahlberg’s Beverly Park Mansion for $63.1M

June 22, 2025

June 22, 2025

The Heiress and Media Mogul Joins a Star-Studded Neighborhood Paris Hilton and husband Carter Reum have purchased a high-profile estate...