The Eyes of Rock & Roll

Jim Marshall, the eyes of Rock & Roll, died this week. Famous for capturing a private moment or a very fiery stage performance, Jim was the premier musicians photographer. He required full access to acts to capture these moments and most of the time, he got it. The iconic images of Jimi Hendrix setting his guitar on fire and Johnny Cash giving the finger belong to Jim.

According to his obituary in the NY Times, his first musical encounter was with John Coltrane. “He asked me for directions to a club,” he said in a 2004 interview. “I told him I’d pick him up and take him there if he’d let me take his picture.” He lived in Greenwich Village and photographed Bob Dylan. He moved to San Francisco and capture the 60's music scene there. After recovering from a drug addiction, he came back in the 80's to work with bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers and recently John Mayer.

Photo gallery in the Times.
Photo gallery in Rolling Stone

Music will never look the same.

Celebrating Johnny Cash

It's all Johnny Cash week.

He would have been 78 today. There's a Wear Black For Johnny Campaign in honor of his birthday.

His latest record American VI: Ain't No Grave was released earlier this week. It was produced by Rick Rubin.

Retired real estate agent Louie Sulcer 71, of Woodstock, Ga., won Apple's iTunes Countdown to 10 Billion Songs contest. He purchased Johnny Cash's 1957 single "Guess Things Happen That Way", which is the 10 billionth song downloaded from iTunes. He was rewarded with a a $10,000 iTunes gift card. The L Magazine reported he also received phone calls from Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Johnny's daughter, singer/songwriter Rosanne Cash, who had her guitarist husband, John Leventhal play the song for Sulcer over the phone.

Inaugural Balls

In 1993 I attended 3 inaugural balls. It was Bill Clinton's first term and he was the first president born of the rock & roll era. He was known for his love of Elvis, the sax and had and still does have a great appreciation for music. It was no surprise that sprawled out all over DC were balls with amazing music lineups. While waiting for one of my bands in the hotel lobby to go to soundcheck, I met Lindsey Buckingham. Don't Stop became the official Clinton campaign song. Fleetwood Mac hadn't toured in years, but were getting back together to perform for the President. Linsdsey was blown away by the attention the song got.

It was winter. I was wearing heels. The only way to get around was to walk or run. The roads were like parking lots which meant taxis were not an option. It seemed like every walkway was made of cobble stones (it just seems that way when you're in heels). Will Botwin, Ken Levitan and myself made our way to three balls that night making sure that we didn't miss any of the acts we managed: Los Lobos, Rosanne Cash and Lyle Lovett. The logistic were harrowing. The excitement cannot be recreated. To a lesser degree than today, there was a high level of hope for the new President.

We seemed to arrive at every ball, just as Al and Tipper Gore were also arriving. At each ball, they would stop whoever was playing, from the speakers would come Paul Simon's You Can Call Me Al and then Al and Tipper would dance. I was so sick of that song by the end of the day. One of the balls was in Air and Space Museum. Having free reign of the place during soundcheck was amazing. Yes, we all had our photos taken on the Star Trek set. At another ball, Rosanne introduced me to her dad and step mom (do I need to point out they were Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash?).

There has been much written about how smooth and together the Obama transition has been as opposed to Clinton, who still had not filled out his cabinet by inauguration day. I can relate this to the scheduling of the balls. According to the NY Times guide to the inauguration, of the 10 balls that are happening tonight, 6 are in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. This would make it so much easier for Obama and Biden and those managers who have multiple acts playing. I heard on the news that the performers that played on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday, paid for their own expenses. I'm not sure if that pertains to the balls also. In 1992, the artists donated their time, but the expenses were covered. The excitement and energy are truly unforgettable and I can understand why people travelled thousands of miles to be there today.