Pee Wee Ellis, the great saxophonist and arranger for James Brown and Van Morrison passed away this week at the age of 80. He was a fixture in Marin County in the seventies and eighties when he played with Van the Man. His musical accomplishments are awesome and historical. Pee Wee shared credit with Brown for writing 26 songs, including “Cold Sweat” and “Say It Loud — I’m Black and I’m Proud.” He will be missed.....read Obituary.
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This is the 50th anniversary of the CSNY album Deja Vu (1970), postponed from last year. The classic antique photo of the band was shot by rock photographer Tom Gundelfinger O'Neal. I had the good fortune to connect with him after 50 years by way of Instagram. I photographed Tom by chance in 1971 while he was photographing Steppenwolf in San Francisco. I was an amateur at the time and he was one of the photographers that had an influence on me becoming a professional photographer. He has a great book recounting his career including info on the making of the iconic album cover. I met the band in the early eighties when I was living in Mill Valley, Ca. and photographed them in Berkeley in 1982.
CSN Daylight Again Tour 1982, Greek Theater, Berkeley, CA.Two page spread of one of my Golden Gate Bridge photos published in Digital Photographer magazine, issue 220.
"There had never been a bridge like the Golden Gate Bridge
and there had never been a job like the job of building it"
Some photos of the building of the Golden Gate Bridge from 1933-1937. The second photo is of a bridge worker named Ed Souza; whom I had the pleasure of meeting when I worked in Sausalito in the early nineties. He is featured in the CBS video (1983) below, about the builders of the bridge. A monumental achievement made by very brave men.
Came across this image in my files. The iconic daily columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, Herb Caen (1916-1997). I remember I was walking in Pacific Heights back in 1980 and saw Herb Caen sitting on a stoop with his tennis gear (and a bottle of champagne). He was, as you can imagine, a super nice guy. Below are a bronze bust and one of his typewriters on display at the Chronicle building (shot in 2008).
New biography of Sam Shepard by John Winters hit the bookstores yesterday with cover photo that I shot back in 1980. Designer did a nice job with my photo.......a good read too.
Steve Douglas, saxophonist. He was a member of the legendary "Wrecking Crew", a group of L.A. studio musicians who performed on countless hit records in the sixties and seventies. A documentary about the group has just been released to theaters (see trailer). I photographed him in my studio in 1992 (above), a year before his untimely death. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. Read his full bio here.
From my collection: an original Kodak "snapshot" taken with either the original Kodak camera (1888-1889) or the No. 1 Kodak (1889-1895). Both cameras used the same format.... 2.5 inch round albumen print mounted on 4.25 x 5.25 inch card. The "Kodak" and it's transparent roll film revolutionized photography for the masses. The round format made it unnecessary to hold the camera level as it was handheld and also masked the fact that the lens was not sharp to the edge. The camera sold for $25 (expensive for the time) and was factory loaded with enough film for 100 images. After taking the photos the customer sent the camera back to Rochester, N.Y. where the film was developed, prints made and a fresh roll of film inserted. The customer paid $10, which prepaid the processing for the new roll of film.
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September 2021
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