I am reading Neil Young’s autobiography “Waging Heavy Peace.” My first impression is that this is some batty old guy talking into a tape recorder. Then, upon further reading, his true genius comes out. In between all of his ramblings, the soul of an extremely passionate environmentalist comes out. Who else would fund the building of a zero energy automobile, then when one of his guys burns it (and the garage that it was being invented in) to the ground, get some new guys and start over?

I have had the opportunity to hang with Neil many times (mostly at Farm Aid each year) and see his true passion come out. His speeches at the Farm Aid press conference each year are the high point of the day, and show how much he cares about the farm community and it’s survival.

I had the opportunity several years ago to go to his house on the top of a mountain overlooking San Jose, Ca. I was touring with Brian Wilson and we were asked to play at Neil’s Bridge School Benefit. The night before, all the bands are invited to his house for a bar-b-que. At the appointed hour, two vans pulled up at the hotel and we jumped in. Fifteen minutes later, we were on a terrifying ride up a one lane road around the mountain to the top. My only thought was – If it was this scary with daylight, what would it be like when we came back down in the dark?

We came to the top and saw llamas and ducks walking around on the front lawn, and the host manning the bar-b-que grill. After a night of great food and music (Sheryl Crow and Eddie Vedder were singing campfire songs around a bonfire) we made the perilous journey down the mountain to our beds.

The next day, we came to sound check, and I heard some of the other bands check, and I knew we had to do something to make Brian stand out. So, I walked around backstage and asked every headliner I knew (and some I didn’t know) if they knew the wrds to the classic Beach Boy’s song “California Girls.” Everyone said they did, so I asked them to meet me on the side of the stage during the preceding song. During that song, I looked around and saw myself surrounded by:

Neil Young

Eddie Vedder

Sheryl Crow

Roger Daltry

When the song ended, I turned to them and said “Go out and grab a microphone- you are on.” That song got a huge standing ovation, and Brian was thrilled- so thrilled, in fact, that he asked the crowd if they wanted to hear “Good Vibrations” a song the band had not turned acoustic and had not rehearsed. Somehow they played it and the crowd went crazy. So, in the middle of the night, It dawned on me that Neil had a pump organ on stage, which sounded just like a theramin. So at 7AM, I called Neil’s road manager and told him to tell Neil that he was playing the pump organ on Good Vibrations that afternoon. When I saw Neil backstage, he gave me a dirty look and said, “What are you doing to me- I don’t know that song!” I hooked him up with one of our keyboard players for a quick lesson, and the song was done to perfection!

I have been doing some interviews this week connected with an exhibit of my work that is coming up this summer, and I recounted my favorite rule of music photography:

“Whenever someone in the band climbs up on something on stage, there are only two ways that that person can get down, and only one of those ways looks really cool.” That is how most of the great jumping through the air shots happen.

So…..this week I showed up at the House of Blues to photograph two bands that I had never heard of before that day. The headliner was a band called Imagine Dragons, guys from Las Vegas who are obviously doing pretty good for themselves (two sold out House of Blues shows) The opener was a three piece band from Australia called Atlas Genius. Both bands had an interesting photo policy- everyone can shoot the whole show unless it interferes with security. Most of the photographers had no idea what to do with all that time and left early, but I stayed till the end of each bands set. At the end of Atlas Genius’s set, the singer climbed up on the bass drum, turned around, pulled out his iPhone and took a picture of the crowd. He then put the phone back in his pocket, turned toward the crowd and jumped off the drum. It was almost too easy!! Too bad all the other photographers left!!!

When I was touring with Brian Wilson, I learned a lot about harmony. Watching him tell eight singers how to sing one of his songs was a fascinating process. They would sing a verse. He would stop them and start pointing to people and saying stuff like “ Go up a half octave and sing a little louder.” I didn’t really know what he was talking about, but the result was amazing. One night, while sitting backstage with him watching a World Series game, I asked him where he learned all of that stuff, and he told me about the Four Freshmen, a fifties vocal group that he idolized. As a kid, he bought all of their records and studied their arrangements. Later that year, one of the surviving members of the Four Freshmen showed up at a show we did in Las Vegas, and I was able to make an introduction!

This brings me to last night, when I rounded the corner to park at the Riviera Theater and saw a line around the block waiting to get in to see a band I had not heard of till I heard them do 2 songs at a trade show in California in January. They are the winners of season 3 of NBC’s The Sing-Off, and are forging a successful career out of that. I met them at the theater in the afternoon and did a ½ hour photo shoot, and came back for the show that night.

An empty stage, except for some platforms and steps. Five people playing for 90 minutes with no instruments- just 5 microphones and five voices (except for 10 minutes in the middle of the show where Kevin, the beat- box guy in the band picked up a cello and harmonized between cello and beat-box vocals! Their loyal audience screamed the whole show and a good time was had by all.

They also have a great sense of humor, covering PSY’s Gangnam Style on video (they attribute their success to YouTube. Check this out:

http://www.ptx-official.com/?page=video&gallery_id=&video_id=4233&filter=

Speaking of videos, people are always sending me links to crazy shit on the web. Here are two that are so weird and disturbing that I have to pass them along!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kppx4bzfAaE&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBiR2rKU69U

Very disturbing!!!

Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife Sandi both pled guilty this week to an amazing list of felonies and thievery. Its good to see that marriage became a training ground for a new criminal! How much she stole finally came out and she will probably spend some time in jail. Adjoining cells, maybe? While they both represented one of the poorer areas of Chicagoland, they were busily acquiring a vast collection of memorabilia, as they charged running their personal lives to their campaigns. It will be fun to see how long it will be before they try to get back into politics once they do their time. After all, a convicted child molester is running for Jesse’s seat (one of 20 or so people circling around for the power).

My guess is that there will be a cool auction of all the loot soon. Should be the social event of the year! Then we can go back to the business of Michael Bloomberg financing the campaign of the winner of the seat.

Rihanna

During Buddy Guy’s January run of shows, he had a different act open for him each night. One night, the opener was a young girl from Iowa named Samantha Fish. When she finished her set, I was standing near the merchandise counter with about four of the clubs regulars. Although we are all hetero, we all came to the same conclusion- she was not doing herself any favors dressing like a sexpot on stage. I for one, appreciate the female form as much as the next guy, but, although she is a pretty good guitarist, and a very good singer, all anyone was talking about were her legs. I was reminded of this when I was watching the Grammy’s last week, and they announced that Rihanna was coming on after a commercial break. My first thought was that we were going to see a half naked bimbo singing in a few minutes. To my (and I am sure everyone else) surprise, she came out dressed very demurely, and sang great! The best performance I have ever heard her do.

The Theramin

In 2000, I was on the road with Brian Wilson. The question arose- How was the band going to play the Theramin parts on Good Vibrations? The Theramin is an impossible instrument to play onstage within the context of a band. One of the band members, a resident Beach Boys savant did some research and discovered a guy named Paul Tanner, a musician living in Austin, Tx. Who played the Theramin on the original recording. He contacted him and found out that Mr. Tanner had invented a mechanical version of the Theramin, which he called the Electro Theramin. He sent one to us and one of the guys in the band learned how to use it and played it every night on the tour. When the tour hit Austin, we invited him to come visit. He was a wonderful man. He passed away last week at the age of 95.

Jesse Jackson, Jr.

In the continuing saga of Illinois elected officials, we had a husband and wife team indicted at the same time this week! Jesse and his wife Sandi (an alderman) were indicted for a bunch of financial malfeasance. Jesse was nailed for spending $750,000 in campaign money on cool stuff like Michael Jackson, Jimi Hendrix and Bruce Lee memorabilia, an Eddie Van Halen guitar, and a 43,000 dollar Rolex! This is while he is representing one of the poorest districts in the state. His wife was only indicted on one count of stealing from the campaign fund. She will get off easy. Chicago politics- a great spectator sport!!!

From a press release I got yesterday:

STEVEN TYLER has gone from breaking the law, to making the law with his new proposed Senate bill.

Hawaii Senate Bill 465, also known as the Steven Tyler Act, would create a civil cause of action for “constructive invasion of privacy” in the state of Hawaii. Tyler initiated–and is a proponent and vocal supporter of–the bill and will appear with fellow Hawaii resident Mick Fleetwood on Friday, February 8 as the bill is presented in a Senate hearing at the State Capitol in Honolulu, Hawaii.  At this writing, the bill is being endorsed by 2/3 of the Senate.

The proposed bill (SB465) was modeled after the California Civil Code Section 1708.8, which was adopted by the California state legislature in 1998.  SB465 would add a cause of action for constructive invasion of privacy in addition to the current cause of action for physical invasion of privacy in Hawaii.  In the simplest terms, the proposed bill would provide a legal remedy for celebrities photographed while they are engaged in “personal or familial activity” and have a reasonable expectation of privacy.  This new law would go beyond the more traditional invasion of privacy, which generally requires a physical trespass, by imposing liability on people who use zoom telephonic lenses or other high tech audio devices to capture images or audio of public figures as they are in their homes, or other private places, and then turn around and sell those images or audio files.

I guess if you get attacked by paparazzi enough times, you have to try something! My feeling is that there is no solution to photographing people in public, but at least in Hawaii pretty soon, it will be against the law to photograph someone on private property.

“The paradise of Hawaii is a magnet for celebrities who just want a peaceful vacation,” TYLER says.  “As a person in the public eye, I know the paparazzi are there and we have to accept that.  But when they intrude into our private space, disregard our safety and the safety of others, that crosses a serious line that shouldn’t be ignored.”

One more step! Lets see what happens. My guess is that if Justin Bieber comes to Hawaii, all bets are off and he will be photographed everywhere.

Man, air travel ain’t what it used to be!!

Last week was my yearly trip to Anaheim for the NAMM show. Bunch of wankers playing at top volume in a large drum that we were all standing in! Marching bands walking through the aisles. Yikes! Don’t think I will ever hear the same again. Went out to the airport to find out that my flight was canceled. Went back to the hotel and checked into the same room again. Half hour later I got an email from American telling me my flight was cancelled! Thank you very much for the 80 dollar cab trip!!!

Got on the phone with them, and figured out that my best option was a 6AM flight out of LA the next morning. So I hopped on the Disneyland Express bus and headed to LA. Checked into a hotel across the street from LAX and left a 4AM wake up call. Got to Chicago at noon.

Left last Wednesday morning for Hershey, Pa. to photograph the touring company of Million Dollar Quartet. That involved an 8AM flight to Philadelphia, and a small plane to Harrisburg (after walking across the entire Philly airport- and taking a bus to a far distant terminal that might have been in a different state!) That flight was a flight to remember! 25 minutes of terror. I can only remember one similar flight. In 1983, I was asked to fly to Florida and accompany Tom Petty on his triumphant Gainesville, Fla. Homecoming. The short flight from Miami to Gainesville was like riding an out of control roller coaster. My only though during the flight was- if we die, my name won’t even make the obituary news story. It will say “Tom Petty and a bunch of other guys died in a fiery crash yesterday.” A few people got on their hands and knees on the runway and kissed the ground when we got off the plane. When we landed in Harrisburg, I felt like doing the same thing! When I got on the same plane to go to Philly Friday morning, the flight attendant smiled at me and said “Don’t worry, this won’t be as bad as the last one!” Reassuring.

Back home to watch the Super Bowl and then off to Las Vegas Monday AM to shoot the Vegas cast of Million Dollar Quartet. Hope it is warm out there!

A couple of weeks ago, Jesse Jackson, Jr. resigned  from his job representing the good people of Chicago. This week, it was his wife’s turn. Sandi Jackson resigned from her job as Alderman before she was indicted. (Family that works together gets caught together!!)

A discussion started about who would replace her, and she suggested her chief of staff. Unfortunately, her chief of staff does not live in the ward she would have been representing, so the mayor suggested a transparent search for a replacement. Imagine that!!

Not good enough for Sandi, though. She is insisting that her chief of staff take the job, even though it is illegal for he to do so! And…she said that if that  is not done, she is taking all the furniture from her office home with her, as her campaign bought it all!!

I love Chicago politics- if she doesn’t like the way things go, she is taking her furniture and going home. Truly Chicago politics at it’s best!!

In the middle of the Buddy Guy residency at his club. Thursday through Sunday 4 weeks in a row. It always amazes me how I think I am going to be bored, but every night he surprises me. Brings out an old Muddy Waters song one night, runs outside in the rain the next.

Never a dull moment.

There is always someone that shows up (like Shemika Copeland) there who jumps onstage with him.

One more weekend to go and then off to California for the NAMM show. Quite a January!

Is a picture of Justin Bieber’s car worth your life? I think not! But the world doesn’t make sense any more. The frenzy for celebrity photos is so great that people will step out in traffic to get a picture, not even knowing what they are shooting.

From The Examiner:

A member of paparazzi killed while taking photographs of Justin Bieber‘s white Ferrari. Justin Bieber is okay, because he wasn’t in the car, his friends had borrowed the car. Tuesday night he let his friends drive his car on the Los Angeles 405 freeway, one of the deadliest freeways in California. CHP had pulled over the friends in a routine traffic stop, when a 29-year-old photographer crossed the road to photograph the event. Moments later the man identified by TMZ as Chris Guerra, was killed by a motorist.

What is wrong with this world? The state of California has started working on new laws governing paparazzi. The problem is you cannot write a law targeting one class of people, so the law was thrown out by a judge last month.

From the Examiner again:

The so-called “Justin Bieber paparazzi law” has been declared unconstitutional. The Wednesday ruling was made in the case of freelance paparazzi photographer Paul Raef, who was arrested on July 6, 2012 after chasing Justin Bieber on Highway 101, the first person charged under the new anti-paparazzi law signed by former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Raef is facing four misdemeanor charges in connection with the July 6 incident. They are reckless driving, failing to obey a peace officer, and two counts of following another vehicle too closely and reckless driving, with the intent to capture pictures for commercial gain. It had always been the intent of Raef’s attorneys to challenge the law as violating the 1st Amendment. They said it was unconstitutional as it specifically targets “commercial” photographers who pursue celebrities.

In early September, Dmitry Gorin, one of Raef’s attorneys said:

It punishes only the press for engaging in news-gathering. The law does not apply to a crazed fan following a celebrity, nor does it punish a reporter who is not paid for the photographs.

There is truth to that statement. However, with this ruling, we’d expect that California will go back and tighten up the law to cover the exceptions — assuming it is upheld.

After all, the law seems to be a common sense one, meant to protect citizens from high-speed chases. Reportedly, the ruling will not have an immediate effect as it was made by a trial judge, but apparently the Los Angeles City Attorney will appeal the ruling, and if the appeals court agrees with the trial judge the ruling could then have an impact.

Guess it is too much to ask for paparazzi guys to just be declared illegal!