"I didn't know what to expect,” says Alex Bonis as he looks down from the balcony over the jam-packed gallery space called Not Fade Away just off Broadway on 20th Street in New York City. “I grew up with these photographs in my family's living room and in my Dad's office. They were part of my everyday life and now there out there for the whole world to see.”

The Dad Bonis is referring to is Bob Bonis, a talent agent and amateur photographer who remarkably became the road manager to both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones during their tours of the United States in 1964, 1965 and 1966. Bob took his camera with him everywhere, and captured some amazing, candid moments, more than 50 of which make up the show at Not Fade Away, which runs until April 14.

Bonis found nearly 3,500 negatives – including shots of Simon & Garfunkel, Cream, the Hollies and other 60's bands that may make up future shows – in a duffle bag full of memorabilia and brought them to Larry Marion, the founder/director of Not Fade Away. Marion helped Bonis appraise his find and, amazed at what he'd discovered, made him a partner in the gallery.

“My Mom used to play “Do you know your Beatle?” and “Name that Stone” with us all the time,” says Bonis. “These pictures were just shots that my Dad took that hung on our walls next to family photographs. He used to swap them out all the time to try to keep me on my toes. To see if I'd noticed. Just to stump me, I guess. But that one over there,” he says, gesturing to a striking, large black and white photograph of George Harrison tuning his Epiphone Casino backstage at a 1966 show, “my Dad never moved that one. It was the one that always stayed in the same place in his office.”

While the photographs may be part of Bonis' family history, they are also an amazingly candid look at some of the 20th centuries biggest icons when they were young and had just burst on to the world stage. The shots of the five original Rolling Stones – including some lovely shots of the late, great Brian Jones – capture the band backstage and horsing around so early in their careers that they are hardly recognizable, though clearly already aware of the image they were so carefully crafting even at that stage. But the shots of The Beatles are the revelation. Like the intimate shots of John Lennon that graced May Pang's recent “Instamatic Karma”, the pictures show a relaxed attitude and closeness between the band that is typically absent from more well-known images.

One image of John Lennon and Paul McCartney onstage in 1966 is particularly striking. When I point it out and tell Bonis that it looks like two guys at work, enjoying their jobs, without all the aura typically associated with images of the two legends, he picks right up on where I'm going. “You know what's great about that shot?,” he asks. “They're looking at each other. They aren't looking at the audience; you and me. They're looking at each other. They're singing to each other. They're totally into what they're doing. That's a great shot.”

As we look down again at the gallery floor, where hundreds jostle for wine and cheese and a better glimpse of the Beatles and the Stones, and I tell Bonis of the line down the block to get in, I ask if he's surprised by the turnout.

“I am,” he says, matter-of-factly. “It's easy for me to wonder what all the fuss is about. You know, I'm not the talent. But at the same time I feel really proud. Like, damn right all these people should be here to see my Dad's work. I really am a proud son.”

Update (3/3/09)

Update (3/2/09)

Update (3/1/09)

Lost Photos of Young Beatles and Rolling Stones (1964-66) to Open New NYC Gallery

Not Fade Away Gallery (NYC) presents "THE BRITISH ARE COMING!," a world premiere exhibition of previously unpublished, extraordinary photographs of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones at work and at play…as photographed by Bob Bonis, their first U.S. tour manager.

New York, NY -- Forty-five years after the The Beatles and The Rolling Stones first came to America, an extraordinary collection of "lost" photos of the young bands has just been discovered. The 3,500 photographs -- extraordinary, intimate and unpublished -- were taken by Bob Bonis, their U.S. Tour manager, during their first U.S. tours (1964, 1965 and 1966) and document perhaps the most critical point in their careers: coming to America.

Mick Jagger. All photographs by Bob Bonis, copyright 2009 by 2269 Productions, Inc.

The Bob Bonis Archive of photographs is now exclusively represented by the Not Fade Away Gallery, which has announced its first show, "The British Are Coming: The Beatles and The Rolling Stones 1964-66," to inaugurate the Gallery, March 4-April 14. The Not Fade Away Gallery is located in New York City at 901 Broadway, 2nd floor, at the corner of 20th Street.

The Gallery's first exhibition will feature 50+ images of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones that establish the unparalleled access and close friendship Bob Bonis (1932-1991) had with the young men who became the most significant rock musicians of the 20th century. Revealing a private, behind-the-scenes glimpse into the early days of rock 'n' roll, the photos show the boys in candid, intimate shots on stage, in rehearsal, in concert, backstage (tuning up, waiting to go on stage and clowning around), dressing and relaxing, on vacations or en route to shows or cities, getting haircuts, bowling, recording in the studio, at press events and just hanging around being themselves.

"The discovery of so many never-before-seen photographs of the two most influential bands in rock history, captured at the most pivotal time in their careers, is a once-in-a-lifetime event," says Larry Marion, founder/director of Not Fade Away Gallery (http://www.NotFadeAwayGallery.com) and an acknowledged expert in the field of music memorabilia. "In more than twenty years as a rock 'archeologist,' I've never come upon a discovery of this magnitude -- thousands of extraordinary unpublished photographs of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones -- young, innocent and unguarded. This is likely the largest single trove of such important unknown photographs ever uncovered."

For over forty years, the negatives and slides were safely stored away unbeknownst to anyone but Bob Bonis' family. Bob's son Alex recently unearthed them and brought them -- along with his father's collection of memorabilia from his Tour Manager days -- to Larry Marion for appraisal. In fact, the photos were at the bottom of a duffel bag of memorabilia--brought out almost as an afterthought. Now, Alex Bonis is one of the partners in Not Fade Away Gallery, which will begin to make these images available for exhibition and for sale as museum-quality fine art photographic prints (both black-and-white and color), in extremely limited editions, printed on era-appropriate paper, utilizing traditional photographic printing methods.

A private man, Bob Bonis never sought publicity and wasn't interested in pursuing attention based on his past exploits. He started out as a New York City talent agent in the late 1950s and through a series of unremarkable circumstances, he came to hold an extraordinary position at a pivotal time in rock history -- U.S. Tour Manager for both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones during their first U.S. tours in 1964 and continuing through 1966. Since his personal passion was photography, he took his camera along wherever he could and took photos of everyone he worked with--capturing incredibly intimate photos that the world is about to see for the very first time.

In addition to more than 3,500 photos he took of The Beatles and The Stones, Bob photographed Simon & Garfunkel, The Hollies, Cream, The Lovin' Spoonful, Buddy Rich, Frank Sinatra and many of the jazz greats he worked with. Not Fade Away Gallery has upcoming shows of these photographs scheduled for the coming year.

The extraordinary private moments Bob Bonis captured are now available for all fans and collectors of music and fine art photography to see and experience at Not Fade Away Gallery, honoring the life and work of Bob Bonis.

"The British Are Coming: The Beatles and The Rolling Stones 1964-66"
Not Fade Away Gallery, 901 Broadway (at 20th Street)
March 4th-April 14th
All photographs by Bob Bonis, copyright 2009 by 2269 Productions, Inc.

# # #