The Lost Rock & Roll Negatives of Michael Friedman and the Stories Behind Them
After 50 years buried at the bottom of a file cabinet, Michael Friedman’s never-before-seen collection of photos from his time in the music industry was discovered by his wife, Donna Vita. This time capsule of the images and behind-the-scenes stories offers a front-row seat to music history. Music Manager and Producer Michael Friedman launched his career in the mid-1960s working with folk, blues, and rock & roll musicians who became legends. As an avid photographer with Pentax camera in hand, he kept a visual record of the artists he worked with and their performances, but he lost track of the negatives before he had a chance to print them. His book, EXPOSED: The Lost Negatives and Untold Stories of Michael Friedman by Michael Friedman and Donna Vita features 200 never-before-published photos of the best musicians of the late 60’s and early 70’s. Among them are Janis Joplin, The Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger, The Band, Levon Helm, Todd Rundgren, Kris Kristofferson, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, James Cotton, Ian & Sylvia, Johnny Winter, Gordon Lightfoot, Tom Rush, Rita Coolidge, and Albert Grossman. Other stories from inside the music business feature Bob Dylan, Bob Neuwirth, Clive Davis and George Harrison. Many of the photos in this book were featured at exhibitions at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019-2020 and California Heritage Museum in 2018. Michael will take us through his photographic history and insider’s stories.
Michael Friedman’s career in the music industry began in the early 60’s while in college at the University of Arizona where he started Borchetta/Friedman Productions & Coastline Records. In 1966 he worked in promotion and publicity for The Mamas and the Papas, Herman’s Hermits, The Turtles, The Hollies, Glen Campbell, and the Bee Gees. He transitioned to management when he signed and produced an unknown band from Philadelphia called Nazz, whose leader was Todd Rundgren.
In 1968 Friedman joined Albert Grossman, one of the most influential personal managers in the music industry. As Grossman’s assistant and later partner he worked with Bob Dylan, The Band, Janis Joplin, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Odetta, Ian & Sylvia, Ritchie Havens, Gordon Lightfoot, and Peter, Paul and Mary. In Woodstock Michael helped Grossman create Bearsville Studios and produced some of the first albums for Bearsville Records.
In 1972 Friedman joined Bert Block managing Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge. Friedman later joined Clive Davis as his Executive Assistant and Director of Associated Labels at Arista Records, where he also headed up the formation of Arista’s music video department where he worked with Time-Life Films to release the industry’s first video concerts for both The Kinks and Dionne Warwick.
In addition to music, Friedman’s other interests included antiques and design, and in 1983 he opened Friedman Gallery in Westport with a wide range of antiques including early American, folk art, art deco, native American and western antiques. His book Cowboy Culture; The Last Frontier of American Antiques was published in 1992. Friedman also founded Artafax, a European design store in Westport, the Ash Creek Saloons in Fairfield and Norwalk, and The Goose American Bistro in Darien.