One Reason I Take Rock n Roll Photos is....
to remember... I think that's why people take photos in the first place...
Then... how come I don't remember this? Darby Crash jumps on stage with F Word, I'm thinking its 1977... right around Thanksgiving... F Word were playing that week, and so were the Germs...
Other Thanksgiving holiday weekends... or other November weekends I kind of remember, and only because there are photos include 1973... Bob Dylan and The Band recording what would become Planet Waves at the Village Recorder in West Los Angeles. Those few days helped me in my career eventually...
Bob went to see Eric Clapton, and obviously, so did I...
And on Thanksgiving Day in 1976, when 99.9999% of my friends were with their families... I was driving up to San Francisco for The Last Waltz. The Band's swan song... just in time for me to lose interest in going to the big concerts where bands played the kind of rock n roll they were playing and devote myself to the punk rock shows that were so much more fun, chaotic and immediate... the Band did go out in style, however, and it was a great way for the best band of its kind to end its tenure as a live performance unit. One of the highlights for me, aside from Eric Clapton's guest spot on "Futher On Up The Road" was seeing Ronnie Wood, who I had been seeing around town ever since he moved to LA after joining the Rolling Stones.
This photo of Ronnie Wood with Faces bandmate Ian McLagan was taken in 1984... but this is a familiar pose from these two guys. Ronnie Wood was one of the Merry Pranksters of transplanted British rock n roll. Right after Thanksgiving's Last Waltz extravaganza, former Velvet Underground icon and leading edge punk godfather Lou Reed played an intimate show at the Roxy on the Sunset Strip. Lou Reed's show brought out a big crowd of disparate types.
Punk rockers like me and Marcy Blaustein were there... right in front of the stage (Lou serenaded us directly during "Berlin," where he looked dead into my eyes, and then left his lighter at Marcy's fingertips! We were thrilled, yes indeed) and many of our friends were at surrounding stage side tables. In the back, celebrities held court and watched the show... on this night it was Cat Stevens, Neil Young, Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart.
Because my sister and I were huge fans of the Faces, I could not wait to tell her all about my evening... of course, she was still living at home, and when I called her at 3 in the morning... well... it wasn't well received by my folks, especially since I had made a major faux pas by missing Thanksgiving just a few days before... because of my rock n roll bug. Nevertheless, I chatted with her at length, reporting on what songs Lou performed and what our rock n roll heroes were doing in the audience... Neil Young was joking about Ronnie Wood's solo album ("its so low," Young remarked, and in 1976... it was actually the first time I'd ever heard that now hackneyed turnabout of "solo" into "so low;" I in fact laughed at his joke!) Neil was also drinking a Tequila Sunrise, which I thought was rather, well... girly. Cat Stevens was quiet but he did give me his autograph. Ronnie Wood was alternately basking in the glow of being a new father (son Jesse James was born on Halloween of that year) and then ran up to the dressing room with Rod Stewart to pull one of their famous Faces pranks.
Of course, at the time, no one knew they were pulling such a prank. They had de-tuned all of Lou's guitars!
I read about it in BAM. Of course, until that issue of BAM hit the streets, no one believed my sister when she told her friends about my rock star sighting at the Lou Reed show, nor that I had even seen Lou Reed.
Thankfully, I had not only BAM to back me up... I had my own photos of Lou Reed... up close and personal to prove I was there. Every incident like this one gives me yet one more reason to love my trusty camera (I am using the very same camera to this day - a Nikon FM). You can make up all kinds of shit, but the camera does not lie!
Then... how come I don't remember this? Darby Crash jumps on stage with F Word, I'm thinking its 1977... right around Thanksgiving... F Word were playing that week, and so were the Germs...
Other Thanksgiving holiday weekends... or other November weekends I kind of remember, and only because there are photos include 1973... Bob Dylan and The Band recording what would become Planet Waves at the Village Recorder in West Los Angeles. Those few days helped me in my career eventually...
Bob went to see Eric Clapton, and obviously, so did I...
And on Thanksgiving Day in 1976, when 99.9999% of my friends were with their families... I was driving up to San Francisco for The Last Waltz. The Band's swan song... just in time for me to lose interest in going to the big concerts where bands played the kind of rock n roll they were playing and devote myself to the punk rock shows that were so much more fun, chaotic and immediate... the Band did go out in style, however, and it was a great way for the best band of its kind to end its tenure as a live performance unit. One of the highlights for me, aside from Eric Clapton's guest spot on "Futher On Up The Road" was seeing Ronnie Wood, who I had been seeing around town ever since he moved to LA after joining the Rolling Stones.
This photo of Ronnie Wood with Faces bandmate Ian McLagan was taken in 1984... but this is a familiar pose from these two guys. Ronnie Wood was one of the Merry Pranksters of transplanted British rock n roll. Right after Thanksgiving's Last Waltz extravaganza, former Velvet Underground icon and leading edge punk godfather Lou Reed played an intimate show at the Roxy on the Sunset Strip. Lou Reed's show brought out a big crowd of disparate types.
Punk rockers like me and Marcy Blaustein were there... right in front of the stage (Lou serenaded us directly during "Berlin," where he looked dead into my eyes, and then left his lighter at Marcy's fingertips! We were thrilled, yes indeed) and many of our friends were at surrounding stage side tables. In the back, celebrities held court and watched the show... on this night it was Cat Stevens, Neil Young, Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart.
Because my sister and I were huge fans of the Faces, I could not wait to tell her all about my evening... of course, she was still living at home, and when I called her at 3 in the morning... well... it wasn't well received by my folks, especially since I had made a major faux pas by missing Thanksgiving just a few days before... because of my rock n roll bug. Nevertheless, I chatted with her at length, reporting on what songs Lou performed and what our rock n roll heroes were doing in the audience... Neil Young was joking about Ronnie Wood's solo album ("its so low," Young remarked, and in 1976... it was actually the first time I'd ever heard that now hackneyed turnabout of "solo" into "so low;" I in fact laughed at his joke!) Neil was also drinking a Tequila Sunrise, which I thought was rather, well... girly. Cat Stevens was quiet but he did give me his autograph. Ronnie Wood was alternately basking in the glow of being a new father (son Jesse James was born on Halloween of that year) and then ran up to the dressing room with Rod Stewart to pull one of their famous Faces pranks.
Of course, at the time, no one knew they were pulling such a prank. They had de-tuned all of Lou's guitars!
I read about it in BAM. Of course, until that issue of BAM hit the streets, no one believed my sister when she told her friends about my rock star sighting at the Lou Reed show, nor that I had even seen Lou Reed.
Thankfully, I had not only BAM to back me up... I had my own photos of Lou Reed... up close and personal to prove I was there. Every incident like this one gives me yet one more reason to love my trusty camera (I am using the very same camera to this day - a Nikon FM). You can make up all kinds of shit, but the camera does not lie!
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