The Doors Billboard on Sunset Boulevard
Doors fan will recognize the pictures of Bobby Klein, he was the first official photographer of The Doors. His most famous pictures of The Doors is of them “handling” the sections of the billboard Jac Holzman put up for the band on Sunset Boulevard, or perhaps the shot on Venice Beach where Morrison has a noticeable erection.
There are other photographs you’ll recognize, The Doors at the Bronson Caves and on Venice Beach. What makes Klein’s site unique is with almost each picture there’s an audio clip of Klein telling the story around the picture. Such as the Sunset Boulevard billboard shots, Klein says the hardest part was getting the band up at 7 in the morning for the photo shoot. Klein also relates the story around the Venice Beach picture of the band and how Morrison snuck off behind a tree and came back and Klein never noticing the erection until he developed the pictures. And a picture of Jim and Pam and Klein relates the story of when he lived behind Jim and Pam on Laurel Canyon and one morning Pam is pounding on his door because Jim had set fire to the closet. This tale, of course, was later illustrated in the Oliver Stone movie The Doors.
Like many photographers of his time Klein wasn’t a professional, he took pictures, put together a portfolio and started taking it around to record companies until he convinced an art director to hire him. His career was started, he would take pictures of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Dennis Hopper, Igor Stravinsky, and Steve Martin. The pictures for Steve Martin would later find their way into Martin’s book Cruel Shoes.
Rhino Records has a site set up for Bobby Klein’s fine art photographs. All the pictures on the site are for sale, they are quite pricey for the average fan, but you can look at them, listen to Klein’s stories, he has a lilting voice and an open minded demeanor that is clearly of the 60’s, and that let him experiment and take pictures that fans are still seeking out today.
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Comments
The link to the Bobby Klein photos at Rhino does not connect. Are they still offering these prints for sale or, where can I obtain them?
Thanks so much for the help...John Shepherd
Hi John,
Thanks for letting me know the link wasn't taking you to the right place. I checked it, got the right link & reinserted into the hyperlink in the story. Just in case though here is the link to Bobby Klein's site: rhinorecords.com/doorsprints/gallery.lasso
Thank you!
Jim
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