This week, I was asked again to shoot publicity stills for a musical play in town called Million Dollar Quartet. The play follows the true story of a day (December 4, 1956) when Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis all turned up, sort of by accident, part by Sam Phillips design, at Sun Studios. The plot tells the story of the beginnings of rock and roll and is an indictment of the way that major record companies treated their artists even in those days. The acting is pretty fabulous, especially Elvis and Jerry Lee. The guys playing them, Brandon Bennett (From Louisiana) and Lance Lipinsky (Texas) have spent their entire lives singing and studying their subjects. Lance, especially as Jerry Lee, becomes Jerry Lee Lewis on stage to a mind boggling degree. They are all great musicians and are backed only by a drummer and bass player. The show is rocking into its fourth year in Chicago, with no sign of slowing down. It is the same show that I shot 3 years ago, with an entirely different cast, and just as good.

The show reminds me of February 18, 1982. I had read about a promoter in Nashville, who came up with the idea of putting a tour together called the ¾ of a Million Dollar Trio. It would include sets by Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash. Elvis had died about 5 years earlier, but the other three guys were still touring. They decided to try out the show in Madison, Wisconsin. So, I asked for a photo pass and confirmed. That morning, I drove up to Madison, arriving about 4 in the afternoon and parking next to the Dane County Coliseum. I went to the box office and got my passes, which included a backstage pass. I walked around to the backstage entrance, walked in and upon turning the corner, saw Johnny, Carl and jerry Lee standing there talking.

I dropped my bag on the floor, fished out a camera and asked them if I could take some pictures. They said sure, why not (think of that happening today with people of that stature). I hung out talking to them for about an hour, and then went out to the hall to get ready to shoot. What a shock!! There was a curtain blocking off half of the arena, and the stage was set up in front of the curtain. The audience didn’t even fill up ¼ of the half of the arena that was not curtained off. The show could have easily fit into a small bar. The show lasted about 3 hours, and was played, like true professionals that they were, as if the place was full. Amazing music played beautifully by great musicians!

Needless to say, the experiment didn’t work, and that was the end of the tour. What a shame!

In 1985, three guys gathered in my studio for a photo shoot for the album “Showdown” (Alligator Records). They included two legendary blues guitarists- Johnny Copeland and Albert Collins. I had worked with Albert before, but was meeting Johnny for the first time (The third guy was an unknown guitarist named Robert Cray, who sat in the corner quietly picking a song on his guitar while the other two got ready.

While Johnny was getting ready, he was telling me about his daughter, who was starting to sing the blues. He told me the story of how he knew she was going to be a singer- she screamed so loud in the nursery in the hospital that they had to move her to her mother’s room so she wouldn’t keep the other kids awake. 33 years later, she has become one of the great blues singers touring today. I was hanging with her last night after her set opening for Buddy Guy and Jonny Lang, and the story about her dad brought a smile to her face. Looks like her dad was right- she has definitely become a blues singer.

I am reading the new biography of Mick Jagger written by Philip Norman. If nothing else, I am getting some exercise carrying it around (it is 600 or so pages long).

The forward goes on and on describing how hard it is to get Mick to say anything for publication- The writer then proceeds to talk to everyone who ever knew him so that he can write 622 pages of the history of the Rolling Stones (a subject that has been the central part of many books, including “The Stones” by Philip Norman! So I figured that he just rewrote his first book on the Stones and moved Mick forward in the narrative! And… he got a hold of a bunch of Stones confidant’s biographies and did his research through them. In an age where my (and many others) photography is officially worth nothing, guys like this keep on getting advances to write more books!

  This week, I went to shoot a blast from the past. Devo and Blondie are on tour together. Blondie, with three original members opened the show with perfect versions of all their hits. Debbie Harry can still sing, and still looks great. Chris Stein plays some great guitar, and Clem Burke is still a powerful drummer.

Then Devo hit the stage. Looking like a group of accountants wearing funny suits and flower pots on their heads, with 4 out of 5 original members, they kicked ass and played all of their hits. During the encore, they broke out “Come Back Jonee” and Debbie Harry walked out on stage to throw roses into the audience and sing a little backup.

All in all, a fabulous night of music!

Just came back from the land of Hersheys Kisses and Peanut Butter Cups. It was Farm Aid 2012 at Hershey Park, an amusement park built by Mr. Hershey so that his employees would have something to do on their days off. Day started off with a threat of rain, so we stopped at a grocery store to by some plastic bags and ponchos- not needed because it never rains on Farm Aid. The show as great, with sets by Dale Watson, Pegi Young (joined by her husband Neal)  Grace Potter, Jack Johnson, Kenny Chesney and the four principals of Farm Aid- Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Dave Matthews and John Mellencamp. All played inspired sets, with Neal (joined by Crazy Horse) breaking his set down to some very weird psychedelic noise. John brought Kenny Chesney up to sing Pink Houses, and Willie played with just about everybody. Grace Potter was the most fun to shoot-(she never stops moving).

The concert was sold out, thanks to Kenny Chesney and Jack Johnson, who are both huge draws. Nice to shoot the whole day with no restrictions!

Once again, one of the most glorious events of the Chicago calendar- the Hideout Block Party- was celebrated this weekend. After lobbying last year for access, I was greeted the first day by Tim Tuten, owner of the Hideout, with these words:

 “We are going to do it your way this year! We have contacted almost all the bands, and they have all agreed to let everyone shoot their entire set.” What a glorious way to start a two day festival!

The first day included a few local bands and ended with Glen Hansard and Iron and Wine. It was a pleasure to wait for moments to shoot without always being rushed to “get the shot”.

The second day was a full day of amazing music, starting off in the morning with the Waco Bros., who have probably never sung those songs in daylight. They played, fueled by many beers, a great 45 minute set, joined by Nashville singer-songwriter Paul Burch. They were followed by the sublime voice of Kelly Hogan, who used to bar tend at the Hideout.

She was followed by Corin Tucker of Sleater Kinney, who tore it up, although blinded by the sun, setting directly in front of her (It supplied a nice warm glow to her face).

She was followed by a local band called Wild Belle, also blinded by the sun,

followed by Why Oak, an electric duo of Guitar and drums (and occasional bass. The highlight of the afternoon (although there were plenty of them) was Lee Fields, soul singer extraordinaire, who seemed to want to have sex with all the women in the audience!

Then the stage was cleared for Wilco. At this time, my mood changed, as a security guy came into the pit to tell us that we could only shoot the first three songs of their set. When they hit the stage, they were playing in almost total darkness, so I left and went downtown to photograph Buddy Guy at his sold out Chicago Theater concert where there was no question of being able to shoot the whole show!

One weird observation. Although everyone at the Block Party was told that they could shoot the entire set of every band, every set ended with me alone in the pit. Either everyone’s mind was programmed to only stay for three songs, or they didn’t know what to do with all the time, all the photographers seemed to drift off in the middle of the 4th song of each band! All of the best shots were toward the end of each set, and I seemed to be the only one in the pit at those times.

Another great week for old people!

Last Sunday- Allan Tousssaint at Jazzfest here in Chicago. Ninety minutes of amazing music by a 74 year old legend. Writer of some of the greatest songs of the modern musical era, including:  Ruler of My Heart, A Certain Girl and Fortune Teller

Along with Don Byron and Marc Ribot, and a great rythym section, they played 90 minutes of music, in front of 25,000 fans on the lakefront, moving effortlessly from jazz standards to soul and pop standards. Standing ovation after every song!

Then……. there is the Boss. Bruce Springsteen just finished two nights at Wrigley Field last night. As someone on line said “ There haven’t been this many hits in Wrigley for a long time. The band played with joy- big smiles on their faces. Bruce is the only guy out there that can make a baseball stadium sound intimate. At one point, as I was walking around the first night, I found myself up in the upper deck, behind home plate. It sounded like I was in a small club. Joined onstage by Eddie Vedder and Tom Morello, the band sounded as good as they ever have.

I shot the second night. It was a religious experience! About 2 hours into the show (how come young bands only play 90 minutes?) the rain started falling. Bruce played the rest of the show out on a platform out front- not under the roof. He was almost saying to the audience- you are in the rain, I am going to be in the rain too!

The end of the set kicked into gear with Ghost of Tom Joad, with Tom Morello trading verses and playing a kick ass guitar solo. This lede into Badlands as the rain got heavier. One of his crew guys mentioned during the afternoon that when it rains, it kicks him into another gear. Sure seams like it. The set ended with a rocking Thunder Road. For the encores, he started with a gospel like Rocky Road. The band then kicked into Thunder Road, Rosalita and Dancing in the Dark, and ended with 10^th Avenue Freezout, which included Bruce jumping on the piano, in front of a video screen showing the same piano, making for a very weird shot!

So, 18 people having the time of their lives in the rain in front of 30,000 people also having the time of their lives, singing along with every song.

One more point- I was right next to the handicapped section and everyone was waving their crutches and canes in the air while they sang along. Maybe music can heal??

I guess you don’t have to be 20 years old to have fun in music today.

Michael J. Fox is on the cover of TV Guide this week. Reminds me of a nicer time in celebrity photography.

In August of 1986 one of the greatest moments of my life, my photograph of Bruce Springsteen was chosen to be on the cover of Newsweek. My neighbor, at the time, was the music critic of the Chicago Sun Times. He suggested that the paper do a story about “Chicagoan gets the cover of Newsweek”. So they sent a photographer to my house to take a picture of me holding up the magazine. It ran in the paper the next day. Later that day a phone call came in that started one of the greatest two weeks of my celebrity journalism career. It was an assistant to Paul Schrader.

He was in town directing a film titled with the title of a Bruce Springsteen song. He was a big Springsteen fan, and he wanted to meet me. So the next day I drove to the set of “Light of Day”, starring Michael J. Fox, Joan Jett and Michael McKean. It was the story of a brother and sister who form a rock band while their mother is dying.

There were a lot of scenes of the band playing in clubs, and  Paul asked me if he could hire me to shoot stills on all the music scenes. I made my usual deal to own the photos and be able to license them to the film company for publicity use. Paul explained to me the Hollywood deal that celebrities have. The bigger the celebrity is, the higher the number of photos that the celebrity gets to disapprove (Example: Sly Stallone only has to approve one photo from a shoot. Conversely, a minor celebrity can only disapprove 50% of the photos from a shoot.

So, the next day I showed up to shoot. I already knew Joan. It was great to see her. Next I was introduced to Michael, who was a big star at the time (In the 1% approval category). He started asking me all kinds of rock and roll questions, and made me promise to tell him if he was doing anything wrong on stage. The next day I showed up on set with the photos from the day before and a magnifier. Joan approved all of her photos. Then came time to get Michael’s approval. I got ready to have all of my photos unapproved. He looked at a few of them, handed them back to me, and said “These look great- can you make me some copies. They are all approved.”

Made my day. In the following year, I had the cover of 16 Magazine every month for a year with pictures of Michael! Every time I saw him after that, he gave me a hug and remembered the movie set. I think the word to describe him is Mensch!

It seems that American rock bands have stopped having fun. They all look so grim on stage, as if it was a chore to go out, perform, and make a huge wad of money!!

And then there are the Latin bands! Man, do they know how to have fun.

This week I photographed a Mexican band called  Café Tacvba. The got together in 1989, and have been traveling the world ever since. They mix traditional Mexican folk music with Electronica, hard rock. The band sells out arenas world wide, and sold out their show here in Chicago. The audience knew the words to every song, and sang along.

They take great care that their shows are well lit, and sound great. Although I didn’t understand a word that was said from the stage, it was still a great experience. The joy coming off the stage was real, and the joy coming back to the band was the same. You don’t see much of that any more!!

Why do English people care more about American Roots music that Americans?? I was reminded of this when I bought the latest issue of MOJO Magazine. Brian Jones is on the cover and the CD included features songs (By the original artists) that the Rolling Stones covered in the beginning of their career. It is a greatest hits album of 6o’s blues and R&B!

Muddy Waters

Bo Diddley

Jimmy Reed

The Coasters

Chuck Berry

Slim Harpo

And several more

Meanwhile, American magazines have a reality star or an American Idol star on the cover every week (Or a story about a Kardashian relationship!)

Watching the opening and closing of the Olympics, It was amazing to see them use artists, both young  (Ed Sheeren, Snow Patrol) and old (The Who, McCartney) to celebrate English Music. Even the Spice Girls were kind of sort of fun!!

Kind of sad what we in America call culture and fame in the 21st Century.