Two photos of ex-Beatle John Lennon and his wife, the artist and performer Yoko Ono, taken at Hell’s Kitchen recording studios feature in a retrospective of renowned photojournalist Bob Gruen’s work at City Winery at Pier 57 (W17th Street & West Side Highway).
The show, Rock Seen, spans Gruen’s decades-long career capturing the images of music stars, and is on display through April 30.
Gruen took the photo at the Hit Factory (421 W54th Street, now converted to condominiums) in the fall of 1980, while John and Yoko were mixing the Double Fantasy album. Like many of Gruen’s photos, the black-and-white image of Yoko on a couch knitting while John is at work captures a lesser known, intimate side of the iconic duo’s life.
“A lot of people don’t know how domestic Yoko actually was, that she could knit and she was actually a very good cook,” Gruen told W42ST. “John and Yoko had a domestic life outside of the pop star world.” He believes Yoko was knitting a sweater for their son, Sean Ono Lennon.
The photo at The Record Plant (321 W44th Street) was taken in front of a larger-than-life guitar that John had made for the annual ‘avant garde’ parade during the 1970s. The guitar was so big, Gruen recalled, that it didn’t fit into the elevator at the Dakota. On a December night he visited the couple at the studio to take some pictures for the Village Voice, and asked them to pose in front of it.
“My relationship with them was very much as a friend who could take pictures, kind of a friend with benefits,” Gruen said — quick to clarify he means only in “a photo way.”
“They enjoyed my company, I enjoyed being with them,” Gruen said of his relationship with John and Yoko. “They would give me access to take pictures, but they wouldn’t necessarily hire me to be there. But then I would have access to get pictures that no one else had.”
Some nights he wouldn’t take any pictures at all, and instead would chat with the couple — it really depended on “if they looked good.”
Gruen first met John and Yoko while taking pictures of them for After Dark magazine. That morning he was supposed to meet them at a hotel uptown, but the artists hadn’t realized anyone was coming and at first they were a little grumpy, he recalled.
“I remember walking down the hall to the room and I was so nervous, I was shaking,” Gruen said. “And I realized I couldn’t take pictures shaking like that. I could only work if I could just calm down and be steady, you know, not have my camera shaking like that. So I took a breath and I relaxed a bit and I went in.”
Years later, Yoko told him he was “one of the very few photographers who ever showed up who was calm,” because “most photographers were very nervous when they saw them,” Gruen said.
A couple weeks later, “Yoko told me that she wanted me to come up more often. And I could take pictures whenever I want, as long as I show them the pictures and use only pictures that they approved of. And I prefer to work that way — working with the artist to help promote the image that they want. And I’m still friends with Yoko today.”
Gruen’s works on display at City Winery include shots of Bruce Springsteen, Courtney Love, Elvis Costello, Bob Marley, Tina Turner and more. Many of the photos are black and white because that’s what magazines in the US wanted until the 1980s, he said, unlike magazines in Europe and Asia that would print in color.
“It wasn’t any artistic or altruistic idea” to photograph so many stars, he said. “It was just you know, trying to get every picture that mattered that I could.”
“It’s a very low budget business, and you had to photograph a lot of people if you were gonna pay your rent,” Gruen added.
Another shot features Tina Turner, the “Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll,” at the Honka Monka Club on Queens Boulevard in 1970 — one of the photos that kick-started his career, said Gruen. He took it as he was about to run out of film on his camera, while strobe lights were flashing on the rock star.
“Really, you can’t capture the excitement of Tina Turner in one picture,” he said. “And this is five pictures in one, it really captures that energy and excitement of Tina.”
Prints of Gruen’s photos at City Winery are on sale, with prices ranging from a few hundred to over $2,000.
“City Winery is an amazing venue that has the most eclectic performers of any venue in New York,” Gruen said. “I’m really proud to be part of the City Winery’s presentation.”
Remembering fondly his friend John Lennon, Gruen said, “He was a funny guy. He was a brilliant guy. I wish I could see him. I wish he could write on Twitter nowadays. The world lost a lot when they lost John Lennon.”
“He was always very inspiring,” Gruen added. “The world misses his voice today.”
Rock Seen by Bob Gruen is on show at The City Winery at Pier 57 (25 11th Avenue) until April 30. More details here citywinery.com/new-york-city/wine-series/bob-gruen-rock-seen
I love this story! I saw this show a few weeks back, on a Sunday, just by chance. On the way out the wonderful CW staff asked which pics I liked best (+ gave out free wine) and I said the ones of John and Yoko… little did I know some were from right here in HK! So many iconic shots. Thanks again for this awesome profile.