Band - Book - Elliot Landy/The Band Photographs 1968-1969
by Keith How
published: 21 / 7 / 2016

intro
Keith How examines Elliott Landy’s photographs of the Band which are presented in a new published book
The year was 1968. The flowers of the summer of love were becoming a faded memory. Change was in the air. Bob Dylan was living in Woodstock, New York. His “backing band” cunningly named “The Band” (having shed the Hawks name when Dylan enlisted them) were holed up in Woodstock also in a house they called 'The Big Pink' that Dylan had rented for them. It was here that the legendary 'Basement Tapes' were recorded. Elliott Landy recounts how he first encountered the group in his opening introduction to his book. He had an assignment to take pictures for the album 'Music from Big Pink' that featured a Dylan painting on the cover. His relationship with The Band began then. He joined their inner circle and the results of that friendship are revealed in the evocative works reproduced in this publication. Landy is a fortunate man in the right place at the right time with the right people. His sepia-toned pictures perfectly capture the dignity and beauty of the Band. They appear as ghosts of older times taking Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s 'Deja Vu' cover to a different level. The intimacy is clear. Whether the guys are drinking coffee, hanging around or posing in the landscape the honesty and authenticity is breathtaking. The legendary photographer, now in his 70s, maintains he doesn’t feel old but felt that he needed to complete his project that featured The Band. This body of work gives a sweet picture of the “family” that was The Band. Landy tells a story revealing the group’s iconic status as musicians who did things in their own way shunning popularity and modern trends. Some would say they are the inventors of what we now call “Americana”. The book itself is magnificent. It is a large coffee table affair that will keep you occupied for hours. Before I opened up my copy I slipped 'The Basement Tapes' on my Hi Fi and was transported to those halcyon days. The photographs are grainy and sometimes blurry yet completely capture a sense of time and place. Posed images sit alongside casual moments of shared friendship and leisure. The famous images of the band appearing as Wild West characters returning from Church in their Sunday best are just wonderful. Landy’s work is genius. I had to keep reminding myself that these were taken in the days before digital photography. There appears to be experimentation with styles and lighting. The photographer is more concerned with his photography than presenting an image to be sold. A nice addition is colour and infra red experimentations. Most of the photographs on the 160 pages are previously unpublished and selected from around 8,000 original negatives and presented in a sensitive uncluttered fashion with an index at the back of the book. John Simon’s essay 'The Band' is a great addition to what can only be described as an historical document of a moment of rock history presented with integrity and honesty. A real treasure.
Article Links:-
http://www.landyvision.com/https://www.facebook.com/ElliottLandyOfficial
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliott_Landy
Band Links:-
http://thebandofficial.com/https://www.facebook.com/thebandtheband
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Band
Play in YouTube:-
Picture Gallery:-



profiles |
The Band (2013) |
![]() |
Carl Bookstein reflects on new five CD box set, 'Live at the Academy of Music 1971' |
1940-2012 (2012) |
features |
The Music of The Band (2009) |
![]() |
In the latest in our 'Soundtrack to Our Lives' series, in which our writers describe the personal impact of music on their lives, Carl Bookstein writes about the revelation for him of discovering the music of The Band in his late teens |
digital downloads
most viewed articles
current edition
Sarah Cracknell - InterviewDouglas MacIntyre - Interview
Jann Klose - Sugar My
Jimmy Webb - (With support from Ashley Campbell and Thor Jenson), Cadogan Hall, London. 27/5/2022
Jarvis Cocker - Good Pop Bad Pop - An Exhibition of Objects and Keepsakes of Jarvis Cocker
Loop - Interview
Tom Newman - Interview
Rolling Stones - Anfield, Liverpool, 9/6/2022
Simply Red - La Marina, Valencia, Spain, 7/6/2022
Dwina Gibb - Interview
previous editions
Stewart Copeland - Police Deranged For Orchestra - Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, 11/9/2021World Party - Interview
Music Festivals - Profile 2022
Cliff Richard - Vs Elvis Presley
Sam Brown - Interview 2008
Cathal Coughlan - Interview
Dire Straits Legacy - Interview
Gypsy Dave Mills - Interview
Jimmy Nail - Interview
Ruskin Arms - The Image That Made Me Weep
most viewed reviews
current edition
Def Leppard - Diamond Star HalosLucky Ones - Slow Dance, Square Dance, Barn Dance
Various - Heroes & Villains – The Sound Of Los Angeles 1965-1968,
Dave Stewart - Ebony McQueen
Bonnie Raitt - Just Like That...
Gabi Garbutt and the Illuminations - Cockerel
Emile Sande - Let's Say For Instance
Girls At Our Best! - Pleasure
Soup Review - Go and See
Norah Jones - Come Away With Me: 20th Anniversary Edition
related articles |
Davey Woodward: Interview (2020 |
![]() |
The Brilliant Corners and the Experimental Pop Band's Davey Woodward talks to Dixie Ernill about 'Love and Optimism', his second album under the moniker of Davey Woodward and The Winter Orphans. |
Roger Ruskin Spear: Interview (2020) |
Tom Robinson: Photography (2018) |
Last Waltz 40 Tour: Live Review (2017) |
Band of Holy Joy/Cathode Ray: Feature (2016) |
Karen: Live Review (2016) |
Rick Danko: Profile (2015) |
Nils Lofgren: Interview (2015) |
Morton Valence: Interview (2014) |
Francis Macdonald and Harry Pye: Interview (2014) |
Celebrating Alex Chilton: Live Review (2010) |
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart