Catch the Wind (Donovan)

Don't get me wrong, I love Donovan's music. Catch The Wind has been one of my top five favorite songs forever, maybe even number one. Even today. I have most of his early CDs (still have them as record albums too) and play them frequently via iTunes. But Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee? Really? Inducted by John Mellencamp (who'll always be John Cougar to me) Folk, jazz, that's what I hear when I listen to Donovan's music. So I am a little confused as to why he was inducted, especially when they skipped over Heart this year. Must be the season of the witch.

This photo is from the Schaeffer Music Festival in Central Park, July 1976. I actually got to see him twice that year. (so many pictures, so much scanning left to do...) And yes, I do have a lot of ticket stubs. This ticket might have cost me $3. That was the cost of tickets in Central Park in 1976. Donovan was on Epic, and they weren't really one of my clients, so I might have paid to get in. None of the usual magazines were interested. But for Donovan I would have paid. As I said, he was always a favorite.

Hello Again

We all need a break sometimes- to regroup and take care of all sorts of other things. Even offline things. (The horror!) I love my rock and roll, but it's my past, and sometimes the present takes priority. I'm juggling a number of projects right now, and if you know me, you know my motto is "Not enough hours in the day, not enough days in the week." So when I needed to let something go, this blog was it. I'm not saying I'm back now, but I am starting to think rock again.


So I've got some new photos on Photoshelter, (if you're a Peter Tosh fan- go here) and I'll have more stories here soon. Rock and roll!

Younger Girl

Last week I wrote about John Sebastian of the Lovin' Spoonful, and those first rock photos I got to take. While I followed him down the street a couple of times before that as a teenager, I never had the nerve to talk to him. Too shy I guess (big crush). And yet that didn't stop me from going up to Joe Butler of the Spoonful and spending an hour or so with him (don't get your hopes up, this is not that kind of story. I was very young and it was totally, completely innocent.)


I was working in a photo studio on lower 5th Avenue for a month one high school summer and I always spent my lunch hour walking around the Village. I was in heaven, it was exactly the place I wanted to be. And then one day, on 8th Street I think, there was Joe. I recognized him immediately, of course, it was still the heyday of the Spoonful. And just like that I went over to him and we ended up talking and walking around the Village. (Too bad it was before I kept a camera in my bag.) It was so easy. So comfortable. We just wandered out there in the street until I had to go back to work. I didn't even ask for an autograph. Just a fan spending some time with one of her favorite musicians.


I look back at that perfect rock moment now, and I know that nothing like that could happen now. I was too young and it would be too dangerous (can't be seen, even in public, with an underaged girl!) or too sleazy (gotta live up to that rock and roll lifestyle!) or too public (paparazzi are everywhere!) And that's really too bad.  

Do You Believe in Magic? (John Sebastian)

Last night I was watching Legends of Folk: The Village Scene, a PBS special. The concerts they showed were a little before my time, but I was always into the music. Dylan. Peter Paul and Mary. Joan Baez. And then, all of a sudden, there was John Sebastian and The Lovin' Spoonful. I had been a big Beatles fan when I was young, but it really was the Spoonful who owned my soul. I'm not sure when it was that I got to see them perform at the New York Coliseum (which is now the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle) but it was way before I picked up a camera at a concert. The highlight that day wasn't the show (which I LOVED) but when we left the Coliseum we saw the band get into a white van. And we chased that van down the street. It was such a rock and roll moment. 

So it was really no surprise when I started looking for the first rock photos I ever took and found they were of John Sebastian.

John Sebastian at the Schaefer Music Festival
Central Park, 1973

At the time, I only had a little point and shoot film camera, an Olympus Trip 35 (still living in my closet). The 40mm fixed lens didn't get me anywhere near close enough, even though I was standing at the foot of the stage. But I have to admit, I loved it. Not long after, I bought an SLR and started taking photography classes. And a year later, the second show I shot in black and white (contact sheet file number 10005)  featured John Sebastian. The photos were better, but I don't seem to have printed any of them. 

So a few more classes, and another year's summer concert series, and I get to photograph Sebastian again. This time, I'm able to get backstage (though it was before Aztec Two Step and I'm pretty sure I didn't have a photo pass-- but hey, it was John Sebastian-- and if I could chase him down 59th Street in a van with the Spoonful, I could sneak backstage) and I got this shot of him rehearsing in his trailer.

And at this show, I got a little closer (ok, longer lens.)

My City of Ruins

Hard to believe it has been 10 years. I remember watching the benefit, and watching Bruce Springsteen sing this song. 

Rise up.

My Generation

I've been spending some time running around southwest England lately. Not doing any kind of rock and roll tour, mind you, but interested in rock history if I can find any around me. Which I can't, it seems. English rock history resides mostly in London, Liverpool and Manchester, places I haven't been to on this trip. I asked some locals, but no one seemed to know of anything that occurred in this area. I checked the internet, and found that the band XTC, Gilbert O'Sullivan, and Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues all came from Swindon. So I figured that last week's photo of a Beatles photo was as close to rock and roll that I would get (and yes, it's a stretch, I know.)

And then I found out that just a few miles away from where I'm staying is Ashdown House. A lovely estate and part of the British National Trust. Only a small portion of the house is open for visitors, and only for short periods of time. That's because Ashdown House has a tenant. It was closed when I got there, but I wandered a bit around the grounds. Didn't see Pete Townshend either. Yeah, he's the tenant. Purchased the lease from the National Trust in 2010. My guess is that he's probably not living there yet, as the house is undergoing major renovations. Still, nice house, don't you think?

She Loves You (The Beatles)

I never got to photograph the Beatles. I was way too young, though I did get to see them live once, and screamed my little girl lungs out, too. 

Saw this photo in an antiques store in Lechlade selling for £18. Didn't want to own it, just wanted to photograph the Beatles.