Tuesday, November 27, 2007

California Dreaming by Henry Diltz













please click on images to view larger


A few weeks ago there was a knock on the door and a package was sitting on the doorstep. It was a huge box addressed to John Hartmann (my husband) and I carried it inside and we slowly unwrapped a magnificent treasure. On top was a letter from the publisher. Then came a bag with California Dreaming by Henry Diltz printed on it, then a tie-dyed book box and then the book. It is huge, beautiful and brimming with pictures and album covers of some of the greatest musicians of our time. Photographs and commentary by Henry Diltz with interviews by friends and associates that were there. But way more than that, it is Henry's daily schedule written out in his lovely writing style, a journal by the picture taker of his photoshoots and relationships with all the artists. If you get to have your dream book published this would be the one! It is perfectly put together, the pictures are memories of a great time in music, art and life. I was surprised John received this large present and he then mentioned that he had been interviewed for this book... He is on 15 pages! A wonderful surprise and an amazing tome. There was a big book party in LA & New York and a lot of the people in the book showed up for Henry. Henry has taken so many amazing pictures that we all know and love. Joni Mitchell, CSN, Neil Young, Poco, America, The Mamas and the Papas, Eagles, Jackson Browne are just a few of the people that grace the pages. He even took some pictures for us at our reception 10 years ago. This is one of the all time greatest books I have ever seen and of course it was published in England, where they do know books. I know that there is a limited amount of these books so I wanted everyone to get a chance to see some of the contents and if you get a chance to view one up close I highly recommend it! Michael Walker, the writer of Laurel Canyon has quite a few posts about the book signings, Henry Diltz and the pictures in the book.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! That is so cool I haven't been able to pee all day. Pax et Amo. Bad Dog

Unknown said...

I love it when you do posts like this one. It takes me back to younger years. (cough ;) ) What a treasure you and John have received!

Cream said...

What a fantastic gift!
And California Dreaming, what a title for a book!
I love that song, too.

bog_art said...

Wonderful gift!!.. and it is really funny how we both used an elephant for one of our posts in this month..

isay said...

what a wonderful gift.

ohh and the title is great uhmmmm I like that song, too a lot.

Ces Adorio said...

This is amazing! The photographs evoke a time etched in memory. The fashion, the long hair. I especially love the image with the hilly pasture and the cows in the background. What a gift.

studio lolo said...

Wow Val, unbelievable! That's the coolest thing. I'm very happy for you and your husband...you deserve the remembrance, obviously! And how cool is the choice to use denim for the book cover!

kj said...

how did i miss this post?

oh, it must have been because of my surgery.

i love this, val. what a rich part of your life. the only thing that excites me more is imagining standing in your (two) studios, ces and i, and you, good friends sharing and catching up...

Andrea said...

I loved Laurel Canyon, I'll have to check this out.

If you have a minute drop by my blog, I am doing some holiday giveaways! Cheers, Val!