February 2014

I just watched a great movie this week. It is called “20 Feet From Stardom.” The film details the currant lives of some of the greatest backup singers the music business has ever known. The film centers on several people; Lisa Fischer, Merry Clayton and Darlene Love.

Lisa has been the #1 backup singer for the Rolling Stones since 1989. I first met her on the Steel Wheels tour, and we became friends. (I proposed marriage to he almost every day- she always just laughed). Several years later, she won a Grammy for best Female Soul performance. She started out as a backup singer for Luther Vandross and went on to work with the Stones, Sting and many others.

Merry Clayton is best known as the female voice on the Rolling Stones song “Gimme Shelter.” She got the call to sing one night and rushed to the studio in her pajamas and her hair in curlers and blew the band away with her voice and intensity.

I recently photographed Darlene Love at the City of Chicago Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony, and it was worth standing in freezing cold for an hour to hear her sing one song! Her story is amazing. From Phil Spector recording  her band “The Blossoms” doing “She’s a Rebel” and then having it released under the name “The Crystals” and having them perform it on tour, although it wasn’t recorded by them.

She performs “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” on the Letterman show every year at Christmas. She remembers, while trying to support her family, hearing that song on the radio, when she was cleaning a bathroom at some rich people’s house.

There are many other singers interviewed in the film, including:

Cindy Mizelle             Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen

Mabel John                Original Raylette

The Waters Family    Jacksons, Whitney Houston, Thriller.

Claudia Lennear        Ikette, Rolling Stones

Judith Hill                   Michael Jackson, The Voice

It is interesting how many singers have crossed paths with the Rolling Stones. I remember Cindy from the 1989 tour, and from seeing her backstage at a Boys to Men show.

Claudia Lennear (the inspiration for “Brown Sugar”) is an amazing story. One of the greatest singers on the planet, she is now a Spanish Teacher at a high school in New Jersey.

Next time someone tells me about a “great” singer recording today, I am going to suggest that they watch this film, to see what a real singer sounds like!!!

I wish the Olympics were on 52 weeks a year!! Best stories (and backstories) on television. I just finished putting in about 30 hours on the couch watching skaters and skiers jump around on TV this week. ONE MORE WEEK TO GO!!

There are some great human interest stories, along with the athletic stories that go with them. My favorites:

Alex Bilodeau, the Canadian freestyle mogul skier, who raced in honor of his older brother Frederic, who has cerebral palsy. He won the gold medal for the second Olympics in a row, with his brother cheering him on from the bottom of the hill. He has translated this success into a charity in Canada which raises money for medical research.

Noelle Pikus-Pace, the mother of two from Utah, who throws herself face first down an icy mountain at 90 miles an hour on what looks like a lunch tray with runners (called a skeleton). She retired with a fourth place finish at the last Olympics, but came out of retirement only under the condition that she could bring her family along for the journey. She won a silver medal and went charging into the stands to hug her family as the crowd went crazy

Then there is Katie Uhlaender, the daughter of former major league baseball player Ted Uhlaender. Her father died before the last Olympics, and she finished 11th. This year, after running her father’s farm in Kansas, she raced in the skeleton competition and finished 4th, losing a medal by 4/100th of a second! Hopefully she will be back in 4 years to get a medal.

These stories are great for many reasons, but especially because for the most part, these people are spending four years of their lives to perfect a skill that they probably can’t make any money from when they are done. They do it for the love of the game.

Went to two sold out shows this weekend. Never heard of either band till the day before! I need to start reading more!!!

Friday night- Amon Amarth, a Swedish Death Metal band. A bunch of very large Vikings screaming their lungs out and playing very loud and fast guitars. They were very nice. Been around for years and have 9 albums out. Most of their songs had very mythicle lyrics, hard to understand, but they were fun to shoot.

Saturday night- DR. Dog, a jam band from Philadelphia. Six laid back guys. Had a nice conversation before the show, and went up to shoot a very well lit and melodic show. These guys know exactly what their audience (college students) wants. Very good musicians, they kept on trading off instruments during the show- everyone pretty much playing everything. The audience sang along with every song.

Farm Aid 2013.

As the day was winding to a conclusion, and John Mellencamp was on stage, he invited Pete Seeger to take over the stage. Pete walked out and immediately took over the day. He had total control of the crowd from the first note till the last.

At 93 years old, he was pretty frail, but in good voice. After one song, he invited the four Farm Aid headliners up to sing “This Land is Your Land”. That moment will not soon be forgotten.

Pete died this week. His voice will be missed.