Michael Friedman

Michael A. Friedman (born May 3, 1943) is a former music manager and producer, photographer and author.

Career From 1966 to 1982, Friedman was a music publicist, artist manager, music producer and amateur photographer. He was a publicist for the Mamas and Papas, Glen Campbell, Herman’s Hermits, The Hollies, The Turtles, and The Bee Gees. In 1968, Friedman went to work Albert Grossman and helped run Grossman’s management firm ABGM in New York. At ABGM, Michael worked with Bob Dylan, The Band, Janis Joplin, Paul Butterfield, Odetta, Ian and Sylvia, Ritchie Havens, Peter Paul and Mary, James Cotton, Todd Rundgren, Professor Longhair, Tom Rush, and Gordon Lightfoot.

In the 1970s, Friedman moved to Woodstock, NY, to help establish Grossman’s Bearsville Records and Bearsville Studios, signing several of Bearsville’s first artists and producing some of Bearsville's first albums: Todd Rundgren - Runt, American Dream, Jesse Frederick and Hungry Chuck. He subsequently joined Bert Block in Connecticut, managing Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge. The since published photos include The Band, Janis Joplin, The Rolling Stones, Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge, Paul Butterfield, Todd Rundgren, and other artists. Friedman's photographs have been the center of exhibits at the California Heritage Museum in Los Angeles, RE Hotel in Phoenix, and a year-long exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will be archiving his photographs in perpetuity as The Michael Friedman Collection.

Friedman later went on to form The Empire Project, a music production and management firm in New York. In the early 1980s, Friedman opened Friedman Gallery, a high end antique & design gallery, and Artafax, a European high tech design store, both in Westport, Connecticut. In 1992, he opened the Ash Creek Saloon, the first of his three restaurants. Also in 1992, Friedman authored, "Cowboy Culture, The Last Frontier of American Antiques".

Personal life Friedman grew up in Westport, Connecticut. In the mid-'50s, he formed the first rock band in his hometown and played as a drummer. In 1961, Friedman graduated Staples High School in Westport, Connecticut.