Larry "L.A." Johnson: Hard To Forget

Larry "L.A." Johnson: 1947 - 2010

 

Today marks the 2 year anniversary since Neil Young's long time film maker and producer Larry "L.A." Johnson passed away. He was 62.

To say that it was a terrible blow to Shakey Pictures and the Neil Young community is a vast understatement. "L.A."'s contributions to the Neil canon are immeasurable and he is still missed tremendously.

Neil Young said in a statement:

"He never lost the eye and ear of an original artist, one unafraid to listen to himself first. Even more, he also kept his playful spirit and sense of humor, the things that sparked his heart for a lifetime spent doing what he loved best: listening to music and making movies."

Johnson was one of the original East Coast guerrilla documentary filmmakers in the 1960's. He worked on the legendary "Woodstock" film of the 1969 festival and was nominated for an Academy Award in the sound category.

It was at Woodstock where L.A. and Neil Young first met. Johnson went on to film CSNY at the Fillmore East in 1970 and produce Neil Young’s first film Journey Through the Past. 

From Youngtown Museum, a tribute to L.A. by Trevor Hosier:

Some guys are just hard to forget. I don’t know about you, but occasionally Ive found life allows for the rare opportunity of crossing paths with some very interesting people… some may have special skills or talents, some funny perhaps, some just have a personal quality about them that…well,…you just like them right from the start. Larry Johnson was one of those people. I only met him a few times over the course of several days but Ive been thinking about him as days draw closer to the second anniversary of his passing… January 21st., 2010.

More of Youngtown Museum's tribute to L.A. here.  

 

Larry "L.A." Johnson and Neil Young

 

Also, see Larry "L.A." Johnson: 1947 - 2010.

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