BBC – The music photographer trusted by the stars!

BBC – The music photographer trusted by the stars!

Jim Marshall on tour with The Mamas and the Papas, in 1967 When photographer Jim Marshall died, in 2010, he left behind more than a million pictures that captured the true face of music in the 1960s and 70s. From Hendrix burning his guitar at Monterey to Johnny Cash playing Folsom Prison to The Beatles’ last concert, Marshall was on hand to not only record the moment but to capture it in such a way as to help define its place in history. A new film, Show Me the Picture: The Story of Jim Marshall, captures the stories behind the images and the man himself, a complex character who fully immersed himself into the culture of the time. His pictures can be found on more than 500 album covers. In 1969, Marshall covered the three-day Woodstock festival for Newsweek magazine, shooting non-stop, capturing the artists on stage and the atmosphere off it. This image of Fantuzzi (right) dancing featured on the cover of the magazine. “I like to shoot something that is emotionally exciting and people that are visually exciting,” Marshall told radio journalist David Gans in 1978. “When the music is right, when the access is right and the light is good, I really get off on it. I’ll only photograph people I like. You couldn’t pay me enough to photograph someone I didn’t like or an event I didn’t want to go to.” Marshall’s archive is now managed by Amelia Davis, who worked with him for many years curating his huge body of work. Here are just a few pictures from his archive. A lunch counter in Sausalito, California, in 1962 Before rock and roll, Marshall snapped the streets around him in San Francisco, recording everyday scenes in bars and coffee shops, but by the early 60s, he was photographing in jazz clubs, capturing John Coltrane and others. Bob Dylan rolling a tyre, in Greenwich Village, New York City, in 1963 Marshall called this 1963 shot of Bob Dylan in Greenwich Village “Dylan with Tire”. It was taken on Sunday morning as Dylan, his girlfriend Suze, fellow folk singer Dave van Ronk, and his wife, Terri, were heading to breakfast. In 1997, Marshall said: “Contrary to popular belief, this shot did not inspire the song Like a Rolling Stone. “No-one really knows where he was coming from but he’s one of the most brilliant songwriters of our...

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Billboard – The Band Shares ‘Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever’ From Long-Shelved Woodstock Performance

Billboard – The Band Shares ‘Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever’ From Long-Shelved Woodstock Performance

After decades of notable absence from audio and video documentation, The Band goes back to the Woodstock Music and Art Fair this month. The group’s entire 11-song performance — including a cover of The Four Tops’ “Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever,” premiering exclusively below — is among the bonus material on The Band: 50th Anniversary Edition, a box set coming out Nov. 15. It sits among a newly remastered version of the album as well as 13 previously unreleased, alternate versions of the album tracks, and the group’s Robbie Robertson — who helped helm the reissue amidst projects such as his own new solo album, the new Band documentary Once Were Brothers and scoring Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman — says pulling out the Woodstock tapes took him right back to The Garden. “When I listened to it, I had this flashback,” Robertson tells Billboard with a chuckle. “We played on the final night and it had just gotten dark out and it was the perfect time to play, but we kinda thought, ‘I dunno if we fit in here.’ The audience was in ecstasy of their experience and the music and the mud and the partying and going crazy, and there’s people jumping up and down, screaming. And we go out and play this concert, and it was the equivalent of going out and playing hymns. It was so NOT what they were looking for. They stopped jumping up and down. Their arms weren’t in the air anymore. It was like they went into a spell, a whole different feeling. So we played and left and then they went back to the party.” The set on The Band certainly speaks to the quality of The Band’s performance, though the group’s relative neophyte status as a live act on its own — after having toured with Bob Dylan — is what played a part in the recordings staying mostly in the vaults until now. “It was (manager) Albert Grossman who was saying, ‘I don’t think we should be part of that (film and album),’ although he had other acts on the show that were,” Robertson says. “I think because we had not played many jobs as The Band before we played in front of 500,000 people he was quick to say, ‘When they play there’ll be nobody running around on stage with a camera. They have to be able to do their thing and communicate with one another musically, so no...

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Woodstock Music Icon Michael Lang Honored with the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards Lifetime Achievement Award

Best known for co-producing and creating the original 1969 Woodstock Festival, Michael Lang received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the seventh annual Muhammed Ali Humanitarian Awards on September 12th. In 1969, the original Woodstock Festival brought together half a million people in a celebration of peace, music and love. Woodstock continues to highlight social, environmental and political causes like Head Count; to organize communities around those causes; to develop socially responsible events and products for those communities; and to encourage positive, creative expression. The purpose of the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards, an annual fundraiser for the Muhammad Ali Center, is to harness the power of the late Muhammad Ali’s legacy by recognizing individuals who are driven by a call to action to effect positive change in the world and to encourage young people worldwide to have the courage to become actively involved in social justice issues that are impacting their communities and their countries. “Ali elevated the concept of rock star to another universe altogether, just because of who he was and how he lived his life,” Michael shared in his acceptance speech. “Over the course of the decades, Ali’s moral authority grew.  Instead of being disdained for his actions he became admired and ultimately beloved worldwide. His integrity was held in awe and his journey and its’ outcome became the stuff of legends, teaching, and inspiring others.  Towards the end of his life, his humility, humanity and vulnerability became a role model for people everywhere.” Lang considered Ali to be a true model of courage, power, and righteousness. See full speech below: “Good evening everyone. A special hello to Mr. Ali’s family, all the other honorees, the staff of the Ali Center. And you who are continuing Muhammad Ali’s remarkable work.  To be honest, I cannot believe I am on stage receiving this honor in the reflected light of Muhammad Ali. I have known many rock stars over my years in music, and the man who shined brighter than any other rock star then or now was of course, the greatest of all, Muhammad Ali.  Many of you may not recall that Ali actually earned a Grammy nomination for his 1976 record titled “Ali and his Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay” urging kids not to eat sugar! Even more unbelievable were the guests joining him: Frank Sinatra, Richie Havens, Ossie Davis and Howard Cosell amongst others. Talking about...

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