Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Henry, you've mentioned these slideshows several times now - it sounds
like these are pretty exciting for you.  What are they?  They almost
sound like 'events'.
  

    
E-mail from Diganzi:

Henry
I won't be in NYC to visit your gallery. Is there another way I can own
an original print by you? I'm really interested in a picture of
Morrison/Doors.
  

    
Here's the thing about slideshows:   When I started taking pictures
almost by accident as a folk musician on the road in 1964, the first
roll of film I bought happened to be slide film.  What actually
happened was my pals in the group ( Modern Folk Quartet ) and I were
driving across the country in a motor home playing colleges and clubs,
and we parked outside a 2nd hand store in East Lansing, Michigan, went
in to blow a few bucks on stuff we didn't need, and all came out with
funky little used cameras.  Mine was called a Pony and it was Japanese
and it chewed up the sprocket holes on the bottom of the film .  One of
the other guys ( Cyrus Faryar ) who knew something about it, bought us
film at a drugstore, showed us how to load it  and we started snapping
maddly away at each other and every thing we saw for the rest of the
trip...cows, flowers, audiences etc.

When we returned to LA we got it all processed, invited all our
friends and had a big slide viewing get together.  As this was in the
60s of course we all had a bit of God's magic herb, which served to
heighten the whole visual trip.  I was so blown away by these huge
glowing images on the wall of everything I had seen and done, that I
couldn't wait to take more so we could all get together and do it
again.

From that point on I always had my camera ( a Pentax by this time )
with me and spent all my musician money on film and processing.  Every
single day I photographed my friends and anybody I was hanging out
with, which were fellow musicians for the most part.  I had slide file
boxes each with the name of a friend and as they filled up over the
years I began to amass a history of each person and my slide shows
would hold many surprises for each person there.  My days were also
spent looking for views I could spring on my "high" friends that would
"knock their socks off."  Unexpected visions, strange angles, bright
colors, odd categories, funny moments and close ups of little thing
like bugs and snails that became amazing at 8ft x 5ft.  

At the same time, I began to amass hundreds of pictures of various
groups that I crossed paths with frequently, like the Buffalo
Springfield and the Turtles and the Mamas & Papas, and magazines began
to call me to use them and pay me.  That was a revelation! I thought,
"you mean people will give me money for doing what I love to do?"

So that's how I got into photography by way of slide shows.  To this
day I still look at life and the things I photograph as more stuff for
slide shows.  I still do them with my friends and occasionally on
opening nights at gallery shows of my work.
  

    
Thank you for asking, Martha.   You can view all the prints that are
in my NYC gallery ( 76 Greene St.) on my website :  henrysgallery.com
,and you can purchase them online, or you can call a toll free number
to order by phone: 800-778-9988.
If you like the Doors, take a look at the Morrison Hotel album cover
photo...a favorite of many people.
  

    
Henry, that was a question from e-mail I was passing on, but I'm sure
Diganzi is pleased for the answer!
  

    
Yeah Henry's website is worth checking out.  (Though it's navigation 
can seem a little Myst-like at first.)  

Henry, I was interested in the way you've implemented the limited
editions.  I think it is a great idea to leave the 8x10's unlimited.
When I read that I thought it made so much sense. It helps ensure that
'average' folks who like your images will mostly likely always be able
to afford and obtain one.

Do you ever get any grief for this approach?
  

    
Hi Henry, "Uncle Dave" here. Great to see you on inkwell.vue. A
question I've always been meaning to ask you is ... what are your
favorite examples of "spontaneous magic" during a photo/album cover
shoot -- when a background, setting or expression that you weren't
looking for just appears out of nowhere?
  

    
That's the way I feel too Chrys...If thousands of people ultimately
want to own a "Sweet Baby James" print I want them to be available.  I
don't really sell 8 x10's much anymore, but my 11 x14's are un-numbered
( they are signed, tho ).  The 16 x 20's are in an edition of 275, and
20 x24's & 20 x 30's are in editions of 100.  I've never had any
problems with this system...it just takes careful book keeping to keep
an accurate record of the numbers.
  

    
Hi there Uncle Dave.  That's a really good question.  I'm not so sure
I have a  really good answer but let's see...One photo that comes to
mind is of Kurt Cobain at his last LA concert in 93.  I went to that
concert to bring my teenage daughter, Zoe, and I wasn't planning to
shoot, but sitting in my seat during the first song and seeing all the
photographers in the pit, I changed my mind.  His management had put a
photo pass in with our tickets which was good for only 3 songs ( which
was why I wasn't going to bother ).  During the second song I made my
way forward and into the pit,  That left only one song to shoot and the
lights were very low...almost too low for the slow film I had ( 200
pushed to 400 ).  I went thru the motions thinking I wouldn't get much,
and I was almost right except for one magic frame which caught him in
motion and was all glowing red and purple!  I'm still not sure how it
got on my film.  That was a happy surprise!

One other time comes to mind when I was photographing James Taylor in
1969.  His manager, Peter Asher, asked me to take b/w publicity
pictures and we had gone to my friend 
Cyrus's house where there were some old wooden sheds.  James was not
very talkative and so we were walking around rather quietly, pausing
here and there to click off a few frames.  We came to a tall wooden
post which he leaned his arms on. He looked so calm and yet so direct
and it framed up so nicely that I knew we were happening.  I asked him
to stay there a bit so I could take some color as well as the b/w they
wanted...( thinking, as always, of my slide shows ). Anyway, that
picture became the cover of his "Sweet Baby James" album.  I have
always preferred the b/w version though as the color cover was enlarged
to the point of being too grainy and was cropped oddly by the art
director at WB Records...another reason why I much prefer working with
my ole friend Gary Burden.

One last example ( you've got  me going now, Dave ) would be Stephen
Stills' first album cover taken in the snow in Goldhill, Colorado.  We
had been up all night ( a standard thing in the music world ) and
suddenly noticed the ground was covered with snow. Stephen grabbed his
guitar and went for the door saying, "Get your camera!"  He sat on a
stump and I was just getting started when he said, "Wait a minute!",
ran back in the cabin and came back carrying a big red wooden giraffe
which he set in the snow beside him.  I took a few shots and said, "OK,
we got that," meaning lets loose the damn giraffe and get the real
picture.  Stephen glared at me and said, "I WANT THIS IN THE PICTURE!' 
   
Sometime later this photo became the cover of his first solo album and
to this day I don't know what it means, but if I cover the giraffe up
with my hand I can see it wouldn't  be nearly as interesting without
it.

  
  

    
And now, dear friends, I must announce my departure for a week.  I
leave tomorrow for New York City where I must attend an opening at my
Soho photo gallery ( Thur. 10/24 ). Before that I will be doing some
promotions for our DVD on VH1 classics ( a digital channel ).  This
Sunday ( which is today ) The New York Times is running a small piece
on the gallery and the DVD.

I will be back Sunday the 27th and would love to answer more questions
and talk with you then.  I'll meet you all back here at that time.  
  

    
Thanks, Henry! We'll be waiting! Have a great trip...
  

    
I'm back online, after a case of the flu that had me laying awake,
shivering from chills, and wondering about biowarfare. Ugh.

Anyway, I had a GREAT time with the disc, and I'll hold my questions
till Henry gets back.

Sorry I'm late, but you wouldn't have wanted me in here, hacking and
moaning...
  

    
Henry, are you back yet?
  

    
I just saw Henry this weekend in Soho, and he mentioned he was heading back
out west Sunday so he ought to be checking back in here later today...
  

    
Yes indeed...here I am, back in LA and ready to continue!
Hey Chris...nice to meet you at the gallery the other day.  Your last
post says, "4:51 AM"...were you just going to bed or just getting up?  
So many great people came into the gallery while I was there.  John
Sebastian from the Lovin' Spoonful dropped in at closing time on
tuesday and we went out to dinner and walked through our old 60's
neighborhood. Matt Damon bought a couple prints the next day, and we
got a visit from Steve Hillenburg, the creator and animator of "Sponge
Bob"...my teenage son's favorite cartoon.  New York is like a bee
hive!..( only with people instead of bees ).
  

    
As an aside to the photography issue, Henry, whose idea was it to apply the
Hi-Los style harmonies to folk material?
  

    
Probably it was 7:51 here on the East Coast, but came in as 4:51 on the
Well's West Coast servers. So I was up early, but not insanely so (although
I did have a fire call in the middle of the night that night, so I might
have been checking in at an insane hour...).
  

    
Yes, Henry -  I was a big MFQ fan and I had been a long time Hi-Los
afficianado before that.  Loved those harmonies.  By the way, what's
Cyrus doing these days?
  

    
I first was the name Cyrus Faryar in connection with the Firesign Theater, on
one of their albums.  What was his involvement with them?
  

    
Thanks for the MFQ questions folks...We started out in Honolulu in the
early 60's when I was supposed to be studying psychology at the Univ.
of Hawaii but instead was hanging out at the Greensleeves Coffeehouse. 
Various combinations of singing partners were tried there but the one
that stuck was a trio of myself, Stan White ( a Hawaiian flamenco
player ), and Chip Douglas Hatlelid ( raised on a sugar cane
plantation, and a huge Kingston Trio fan ). The 4th member, Cyrus
Faryar,( who owned the coffeehouse but had left to sing with Dave Guard
(K.Trio) in his new group, "The Whiskeyhill Singers" ) returned to
Hawaii to join us at our steady gig at "Dolan's Steakhouse" in Waikiki.

With 4 of us in the group, Chip, our arranger, had to go from the
simple 3 part harmonies to the more esoteric 4 parts.  Luckily he was
also a big fan of the "Four Freshmen," ( like Brian Wilson was ) and he
was able to write out vocal charts for us to learn.
We perfected this sound nightly and eventually made it to the West
coast, The Troubadour  folk club and Warner Bros. Records.

After reunions in the 70's and 90's and 8 albums, we are contemplating
another get together.  This would happen in Hilo, Hawaii where Chip
and Cyrus now live and where we have a little studio.

Cyrus, Chip and Jerry Yester ( who replaced Stan early on ) all became
record producers.  Cyrus produced an early Firesign Theater album
among others; Chip produced the Monkees, Linda Ronstadt and the
Turtles; and Jerry produced and arranged for Tim Buckley, Tom Waits,
the Association and many others, and became a member of the Lovin'
Spoonful and still is.
I became a photographer.
  

    
I remember hanging at Cyrus's house in Laurel Canyon (mid '60s) while
on "shopping trips" from the bay area.  I was there one afternoon when
Dino Valente dropped by and sang a new song he's just written, "Get
Together," to us.  Cyrus has the greatest smile in the world!
  

    
Let us know if you do that gig in Hilo -- I'd love to go back there some
time, adn that would be a fine excuse.
  

    
Yes David...I also remember those days in the early 60's when Dino was
hanging out with Cyrus in Laurel Canyon.  I lived just up the hill . 
Dino played the guitar like a thunderstorm and sang like a cyclone.  To
see him sing "Me and My Uncle" was like going to the movies...a John
Wayne movie.  The story is he sold his song "Lets Get Together" for a
hundred bucks.  "Smile on yer brother...Love one another."  It's a song
more people need to hear these days.
  

    
If we do something in Hilo it will be to record another album.  We've
always intended to record an album of Hawaiian music with 4-part
harmony and Chip's amazingly good slack key guitar playing.  If we
actually do it, David, you're most welcome to come and hang out.
  

    
Heh - I see this in my mind as a bunch of guys with guitars in psychedlic 
Hawaiian shirts, playin' and shakin', with a pig roasting on a spit in the 
background and perhaps a few hula groupies in grass skirts, looking for a 
good lei!