January 2016

Still one of th3 greatest performers on the planet!

15 shows down, 1 to go.

Guest stars- Sinead O’Conner??? Simon Kirke of Bad Company!!

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.

 I think that we, people of privilege, take certain things for granted in this world. One is that we can put our stuff down in our house and sit down to a nice meal. I wish that was true all over.

1/18/16- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in Chicago. I was one degree outside with a minus 25 degree wind chill factor. I was at a homeless shelter on the south side of Chicago. I met 6 young adults. They had been outside all day in the weather, carrying backpacks with all of their possessions. They told me about a friend who broke two ribs carrying a 75 pound backpack around. Another story concerned a young man who took the SIM card out of his phone every night and put it in his ear so if someone in the shelter stole his phone he wouldn’t lose all his documents.

I was there to photograph the installation of 65 lockers to be used by homeless people to store their stuff so they don’t have to find abandoned buildings to hide their stuff instead of carrying it all around all day. A friend of mine is spearheading a program to install these lockers around the city.

So where is Dr. King’s equality and brotherhood? It is a sad world we live in.

It is getting really difficult to write about people dying. Especially this week. My friend Otis Clay passed away on Saturday. A nicer person cannot be found. Warm, friendly and humble, Otis walked through the world with a smile on his face and a good word for everyone. A fabulous singer, he infused every one of his shows with great performance and show biz moments.

The last time I saw Otis was at a book signing event for our soul food book in December. We did not have a large budget for entertainment, but knew that Otis was the perfect choice. We told him what we could pay him, and he immediately said yes. The night of the event, Otis appeared with full band- backup singers-horns. The whole show. He must have lost money on the deal, but he wanted to put on a great show. That was his last performance in the Chicago area.

He will be sorely missed by any one that appreciates great music and show biz move!

Another person that passed away this week was someone who I never met, but greatly admired. Haskell Wexler was a Chicago film maker and cinematographer. In 1969, he made his first film, the Chicago based film “Medium Cool.” Centered around the 1968 Democratic convention, it opened with a scene that is forever burned into my brain. The protagonist, a news cameraman, is driving home from work in the early morning, He happens upon a one car wreck on the highway and pulls over. He sees people dying in the wreckage. He has a choice- help the people or film the wreck for the news. He films it- then calls it in to the station!

He went on to become the cinematographer for “Days of Heaven,” “In the Heat of the Night,” “American Grafitti,” and “Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Wolf,” among others.

Both of these guys, giants in their fields, will be sorely missed!

It is really difficult to write about a second death in a band within a two month period. Lemmy from Motorhead died this week , marking 2 thirds of the band passing away in 2015.

Lemmy was one of the nicest people I have met in this business. Although ferocious on stage, he was a soft spoken gentleman off stage. Very smart and thoughtful. One fateful day in August 0f 1983, I was asked to do a photo shoot with the band. I arrived at their hotel, and the guys were standing out front waiting for me. Lemmy jumped in the front, the other two in the back. He was armed with provisions- a bottle of Jack Daniels, a bag of pot and a bag of some kind of pills! (I didn’t ask!!). For some strange reason, they wanted to go to a McDonalds, and who am I to argue. Some great fun ensued, and some of my best pictures were taken!