A set of previously unseen photographs of The Band have been unearthed.
Taken by Ernst Haas, this series of never-before-seen photographs document the final date of The Band’s four-night residency at New York’s Academy of Music on December 31, 1971. There, The Band were joined by Bob Dylan, who played four songs with his former backing band: “Down In The Flood”, “When I Paint My Masterpiece”, “Don’t Ya Tell Henry” and “Like A Rolling Stone”.
The four shows were recorded and released as the Rock Of Ages album in 1972 – which turns 50 this month – and as part of the expanded 2013 release Live at the Academy of Music 1971: The Rock of Ages Concerts.
“Bob Cato, The Band’s long standing album designer brought Ernst Haas to my attention,” explained Robbie Robertson. “He spoke of Ernst as having a special gift with his use of colour. He was the first single-artist show of colour photography at New York’s Museum Of Modern Art. It would be unusual for Ernst to photograph a live concert but he agreed to shoot the Rock Of Ages shows. His pictures have depth and vibrate to the music and off the page. We were grateful and honoured that Ernst Haas helped capture this event for The Band.”
You can see the full set of photographs here.