On Saturday, April 28 at 8pm the “thoughtful man with a blinding vision” (Keith Richards / The Rolling Stones), Ethan Russell takes to the stage at the Luckman Center (www.luckmanarts.org – 5151 State University Drive, LA) to recount his extraordinary journey from the vantage point of “The Best Seat in the House: True Stories & the Pictures to Prove it.” Russell — a Grammy-nominated photographer, author, and director — is one of only a handful of people who toured with The Rolling Stones at the peak of their career. Russell was backstage at Altamont to witness the tragic unfolding of events that many define as the end of the ’60s and was with The Beatles during their last days together and was at Apple Studios during iconic moments in music history. Now, the rest of us can experience the iconic work of the only photographer to have shot album covers for The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who.Russell’s extraordinary life is experienced through an historic collection of iconoclastic photos, a soundtrack of rock classics, and the perspectives and personal anecdotes of a thoughtful, intelligent writer, storyteller, and gifted photographer. Russell guides us on a behind-the-scenes journey through music history. You’ll leave feeling like you were there, too. In revealing the moments behind the photographs, and in showing the audience the world that extended beyond the photograph’s frame, Ethan Russell ensures that you, too, get to relive this era in the history of music from the best seat in the house.
General: $30, $40, $50
Available via Ticketmaster or the Luckman Box Office.
Cal State L.A. students: $20
Other students: $25
(in-person only at the Luckman Box Office)
Presented in conjunction with his stage show entitled The Best Seat In The House, a retrospective exhibition of acclaimed photographer Ethan Russell’s prolific career will be on display in the Luckman Gallery. A preview reception will be held at the gallery on Thursday, April 26, 6pm – 9pm.
SEE VIDEO OF ETHAN RUSSELL’S WORK HERE
In 1968, Ethan Russell was a young American with a Nikon camera living in London and aspiring to become a writer. A few years later he was one of the foremost rock and roll photographers in the world. He is the only photographer to have shot album covers for The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Who.
“Ethan has taken some of the greatest pictures in rock and roll… maybe the greatest ever.”
-Bill Wyman, Rolling Stones
Hired as the photographer for The Rolling Stones 1969 American tour, The San Francisco Chronicle described him as “one of only 16 people on the tour, including the band. With unprecedented access to The Rolling Stones, he captured photos that have become classics.”
For years, Russell’s images documented a virtual “who’s who” in rock and roll history: Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, The Moody Blues, Cream, Traffic, Eric Clapton, The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Rickie Lee Jones, Rosanne Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carlos Santana, and Phil Everly, among many, many others.
