ESQ&A with Alison Martino of Vintage Los Angeles

By David Beard

Introduction —

On Wednesday, Sept. 28, the Morrison Hotel Gallery [MHG] hosted the premiere of Good Vibrations, an exhibit honoring The Beach Boys and their iconic first decade. For Good Vibrations, the MHG gallery is offering 30 never-previously-released images, along with a very limited edition of co-signed prints signed by Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, and Bruce Johnston for sale online at The Beach Boys Gallery. The event, spearheaded by curator Chris Flannery of 1966 Americas, features image highlights consisting of photos taken by photographers Ken Veeder, Earl Leaf, George Jerman, Guy Webster, and Julian Wasser, and was attended by Mike and Bruce, Henry Diltz, Jerry Schilling, and others. ESQ conducted this exclusive interview with Vintage Los Angeles‘ Alison Martino about the evening’s event.

ESQ: What makes The Beach Boys Good Vibrations gallery exhibit special?
Alison Martino: I’m a Los Angeles native, so I was raised on The Beach Boys. Plus, The Beach Boys were on Capitol Records, which was my dad’s [Al Martino] label too. So, I was exposed to The Beach Boys at a young age because Capitol Records always used to give my family records by other artists on the label. I grew up listening to the whole Capitol Records catalog. The California sound, surf culture, and the beach … it was so great to be from L.A., to go to the locations and get to see the places that The Beach Boys were singing about … I always felt that The Beach Boys were ‘our band.’ I’m a big fan of The Doors too but have always felt that The Beach Boys are the quintessential California band. I learned harmonies from them because my dad was a singer, so I guess I always paid attention to lyrics when I was a young girl. It was amazing to have my dad on the same label as The Beach Boys and The Beatles.

ESQ: What type of impact did the images have?

Alison: The photographs were incredible, and the gallery included photos that Jonah and Justyn Wilson hadn’t seen before. It was really amazing what they found in the Capitol Records vault. I’m glad the roots of rock and roll are still around in L.A. It’s not gone, and the Morrison Hotel Gallery is all about celebrating rock and roll history. Seeing Henry Diltz at the event, hearing all his stories about photographing everyone here in L.A. – everything from Laurel Canyon, Sunset Strip, Venice, etc. – he always has that camera with him [laughs].

I love photography so I love looking at the record albums, opening them up, smelling the vinyl, and reading the liner notes. I still have my record collection. I live next door to the Morrison Hotel Art Gallery, so my whole life has been planned out for this [laughs]. I used to work at a store called the Rock Shop, which was on Melrose Avenue, and then I worked for a gallery called L’Imagerie Gallery; it’s still around. They sold rock and roll posters and I wanted to get into the rock and roll memorabilia world at a very young age, so I was selling Bill Graham posters, Fillmore posters, etc., out of L’Imagerie. We were selling Henry Diltz’s photographs in the store, so I go back with him for thirty-two years. The gallery used to sell his photos for $50 apiece. Who would have thought that all these years later, Henry would have this art gallery and we would have so much history together?

I know Henry very well, and I’ve interviewed him five times for Spectrum News. They have so many events at the Morrison Art Gallery. They’re always having a new event or photograph collection that Henry finds. This was a Beach Boys collection and I really wanted to cover that because I knew Henry would be there, Mike Love was coming, Jerry Schilling would be there, as well as Jonah and Justyn Wilson. That was the first time I had met Justyn, but Jonah and I have known each other all our lives and were actually delivered by the same doctor [laughs] in Beverly Hills. Jerry gave me such a great interview, and it was nice for everyone to get together because I think some of them hadn’t seen each other since before Covid, so it was nice that everyone hung out for a while.

I’m really excited that The Beach Boys got this exhibit. When I interviewed Mike, I asked him how the younger people respond to songs like “God Only Knows,” and he said, “It’s remarkable how well they respond.” I wasn’t born until 1970, so I wasn’t alive in the sixties, but I can still experience it. Mark London’s my best friend, so I feel very connected to The Beach Boys because Mark works for Brian Wilson. And Brian has always been so kind to me. He always remembers me and my dad, so I feel proud that there’s a connection to me and The Beach Boys through my father and – in a sense – Capitol Records.

For ESQ’s exclusive interview with Chris Flannery subscribe to ESQ. Additional coverage, event images, and attendee quotes and testimonials from Henry Diltz, Mike Love, Jerry Schilling, Rodney Bingenheimer, and Mark London appear in the Winter 2022 edition of ESQ due for individual purchase in December.

To view order prints, visit The Beach Boys Gallery.

Follow Alison Martino at Vintage Los Angeles.

©2022 David M. Beard/All Rights Reserved