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Joni Mitchell to James Taylor: classic photos from the LA folk scene

Photographer Henry Diltz on his photos of folk and rock stars from the classic West Coast scene

Monterey Pop was the first great big music festival that we had - before that it was just coffee houses and clubs. The festival was halfway up the coast and united the San Franciso crowd with the LA crowd: it had the Mamas and Papas from LA and Janis Joplin from San Francisco and everyone inbetween. It was a great concert, just amazing. The Who went on first on the last night. We had heard about this group that smashed their instruments and this was interesting to us. We loved seeing bands like The Beatles and the Rolling Stones and The Who. Here they were live playing and smashing all their instruments. And then Jimi Hendrix came on and lit his guitar on fire. It was the first time people had really seen Jimi Hendrix, so it was quite amazing. Above: Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones and a fellow audience member enjoy an act at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 Both Sides Now: Moments in American Music is at the National Theatre until 14th June Picture: Henry Diltz / Corbis Credit: Henry Diltz / Corbis
By this time I was doing album covers with a graphic artist called Gary Burden. And this was going to be one of her album covers – though it never became one. We drove out to the desert in the early morning hours and took photos out there. 'Mama' Cass from The Mamas & the Papas was an earth mother type – always making sure everyone was happy. She was brimming with energy, good positive energy, and funny as a stitch to be around. She was great, everybody absolutely loved 'Mama' Cass. Above: 'Mama' Cass Elliot in Middle Eastern garb, 1968 Both Sides Now: Moments in American Music is at the National Theatre until 14th June Picture: Henry Diltz / Corbis Credit: Henry Diltz / Corbis
That was the day 'Mama' Cass had her backyard picnic for Eric Clapton, because he didn’t know anybody [in Laurel Canyon]. I met Eric that day, and Joni Mitchell that day. Mama invited David Crosby up, thinking that he and Eric were both musicians and they’d relate to one another. She was playing the earth mother again. We used to call Mama Cass the Gertrude Stein of Laurel Canyon because she would get people together - she introduced Graham Nash to David Crosby and Stphen Stills. Crosby brought this young girl he’d just discovered – Joni Mitchell. She sat on the grass playing her guitar and Clapton sat there mesmerised with her playing. Joni Mitchell played differently, she tuned her guitar to a chord, and Eric Clapton had never seen that before. Above: Eric Clapton and David Crosby, February 1968 Both Sides Now: Moments in American Music is at the National Theatre until 14th June Picture: Henry Diltz / Corbis Credit: Henry Diltz / Corbis
That's 'Mama' with her daughter Owen. When I started taking photographs, they all started saying ‘oh I need a publicity photo, or a poster, or a record cover’. And my hobby turned into a kind of job – but it was always really a fun thing. I was photographing all day long – flowers and dogs and cats, pretty girls, old pickup trucks. It was just good when taking photos could pay for itself. Above: 'Mama' Cass Elliot and daughter, 1968 Both Sides Now: Moments in American Music is at the National Theatre until 14th June Picture: Henry Diltz / Corbis Credit: Henry Diltz / Corbis
That was the first moment I’d ever seen James Taylor. The phone rang one day and it was [British record producer/manager] Peter Asher. And he said ‘Henry, I have this musician here, James Taylor, and we need a publicity picture’. So I went to the Peter's house, and he opened the door and there was James, sitting just like that. He was playing a song called Oh Suzanah, fingerpicking. It sounded like a music box - as a musician, it blew my mind. I went over and just fell to my knees a little in front of him. And as I listened I started taking pictures. Later that day we went out to my friend Cyrus Faryar’s, who had this place called The Farm, a little commune with little sheds and barns there. And so we went out there to finish the day, taking photos, and one of those became the album cover for Sweet Baby James. Above: James Taylor playing guitar, 1969 Both Sides Now: Moments in American Music is at the National Theatre until 14th June Picture: Henry Diltz / Corbis Credit: Henry Diltz / Corbis
That’s at Cyrus Faryar’s place again. There was a lady there at his little hippie commune named Tie Dye Annie. And John Sebastien, who was great friends with all of us in our group, had moved from New York to California and set up a tent there in this little commune, and met Tie Dye Annie, and learned how to tie dye. He tie dyed every single piece of clothing that he owned – even his sheets and tent that he lived in. It was an expression of freedom and a new take on life – let’s be a little more colourful and open and have some fun. Above: John Sebastien from The Lovin' Spoonful, 1969 Both Sides Now: Moments in American Music is at the National Theatre until 14th June Picture: Henry Diltz / Corbis Credit: Henry Diltz / Corbis
I got to Woodstock two weeks before the festival. I remember hippie carpenters building this great big thing that looked like a wooden aircraft carrier in the middle of a green alfalfa field. Two weeks later, there were about 20 people sitting up on the hillside. The next day there were maybe a thousand people, and the next day there were 400,000 people. It grew very quickly. As you stood on that stage that first Saturday there were people as far as you could see, to the back, the left, the right. We didn’t quite understand the scope of it until someone brought a copy of the New York Times and they had an aerial photo. I remember standing on stage with a little crowd of people looking at the front page of the newspaper and thinking ‘Oh my God, look at that, and we’re right there in the middle of it’. And it turned out to be such a wonderful time. Above: John Sebastien from The Lovin' Spoonful, 1969 Both Sides Now: Moments in American Music is at the National Theatre until 14th June Picture: Henry Diltz / Corbis Credit: Henry Diltz / Corbis
That was at the entrance to the Morrison Hotel – and the famous Doors album cover was taken behind the window. Ray Manzarek had seen this old hotel, and we went down there just to investigate and take some photos. I wasn’t a big fan of the Doors but they were friends of mine. We were fellow musicians – I had played in the same clubs as them, like Whisky a Go Go, when my band became folk rock. So I knew Jim Morrison from around town. Above: The Doors sat outside Morrison Hotel, LA, December 1969 Both Sides Now: Moments in American Music is at the National Theatre until 14th June Picture: Henry Diltz / Corbis Credit: Henry Diltz / Corbis
Jackson Browne sits in a Chevy Bel Air during a photo shoot for his 1974 album Late for the Sky
This was going to be for Jackson's Late of the Sky album, but it wasn’t in the end. The car was an old ’57 Chevy. The feet you can see pressed against the window are the girl’s who owned the car. That car was originally a present to Jackson from Glenn Frey of the Eagles. Jackson in turn gave it to an old girlfriend. We had to borrow the car for the afternoon and she was laying down in the back seat - you can see her feet. Above: Jackson Browne at Late for the Sky photoshoot, 1974 Both Sides Now: Moments in American Music is at the National Theatre until 14th June Picture: Henry Diltz / Corbis Credit: Henry Diltz / Corbis
That’s the house Jackson’s grandfather built out of river rocks. He built this home all by himself, by hand. I loved Jackson's music. He was always very earnest, like his songs. He famously said: 'The first time I heard Bob Dylan I thought, "Oh I get it, it’s kind of a pop song, but it’s personal"'. Above: Jackson Browne in Courtyard, 1970s Both Sides Now: Moments in American Music is at the National Theatre until 14th June Picture: Henry Diltz / Corbis Credit: Henry Diltz / Corbis
We went out to the desert to photograph Joni for a book about the California music scene by art critic Anthony Fawcett, called California Rock California Sound. Joni was quite a true artist: deeply creative, very thoughtul. A lot of art is imitation but for Joni it was original, from her heart. She was really a poet, and she was a painter before she made music. She was lots of fun to photograph because she spoke so brilliantly about everything. It was fun to hang out with her and listen to her talk about whatever was on her mind. She’s a grand lady now, she holds forth if there’s anybody nearby to listen. You’d see her at a party with a whole bunch of young people sitting at her feet listening to her hold forth about religion, art, the generations, life, everything. Above: Joni Mitchell in the desert, 1978 Both Sides Now: Moments in American Music is at the National Theatre until 14th June Picture: Henry Diltz / Corbis Credit: Henry Diltz / Corbis