Buddy Holly, Dion di Mucci, Jerry Allison, Duane Eddy, ‘With The Crickets, Backstage’

© Lew Allen
Rochester, U.S.A. 15 October 1958
Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity

This photography work depicts singer and songwriter Buddy Holly backstage at the Community War Memorial Theatre. He produced some of the most distinctive and influential work in rock music. Buddy split with The Crickets shortly after this tour in November 1958, this capture is most likely one of the last taken of him and his drummer Jerry Allison together. If you look closely at the cover of the programme that Buddy is holding, it presents the Master of Ceremonies Harold Cromer.

This series of stunning images were captured by Lew Allen in Cleveland and New York from 1956 to ‘58, Allen’s work features a stellar assemblage of early rock ’n’ roll icons. His lens embodies one of the last links to visually document those early days when rock was just beginning. This remarkable work takes you back to a time before these rock pioneers rose to legendary status.

‘Looking back, I realised that I had witnessed and captured the birth of rock ’n’ roll.’ Lew Allen

About Lew Allen
Currently residing in America, Lew Allen received a Bachelor’s degree of Fine Arts from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1961 and studied with photographers Minor White, Ralph Hattersley and attended lectures from Ansel Adams and other noted photographers. Lew Allen’s photography was exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in London -in conjunction with a BBC documentary featuring his story of Elvis. The Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery selected his work for their permanent collection.

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