Tag Archives: Beatles

Rock and Roll Photography. Visual storytelling at it’s best.


Copyright Rob Shanahan.


Copyright Rob Shanahan.

I’m going to be giving a talk at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Boston, February 16th in conjunction with their current exhibit on Rock and Roll photography.

Some of the featured photographers are: Mike Mitchell, Herb Greene, Bob Bonis, Ron Pownall, Astrid Kirschherr, Melissa Mahoney and Brian Babineau to name a few.

Many of these photographers have had a enormous impact on me.
Their enduring and powerful images have inspired me to make photography a major part of my collection.
It prompted me to write a post on Rock and Roll photography and how important it is as an art form.

Photography has brought new meaning and importance to items I have purchased over the years. Whether serving as photographic reference, or adding depth and history to the items I have.

The story and photo behind the piece I have often found is more interesting and meaningful to me than the piece itself.

They are everywhere we want to be.

Backstage and onstage.
In limos.
In the studio.
Standing in front of the stage.
Sitting in dressing rooms.
Riding the elevators.
Grabbing a bite in a restaurant…..catching moments no one would see, if not for them.

Thank you all.

The prints shown here are those of Rob Shanahan.
These two beauties are in my personal collection.

You can see more of Rob’s exceptional work on his website.

robshanahan.com

….And he’s just published a book.
I had the pleasure of finally meeting Rob in Anaheim at the NAMM show this past January just a few weeks ago where he was signing and promoting his book.

Here’s a bit more info on this super talent.

Rob is recognized as one of music’s most published photographers. He’s also Ringo Starr’s personal photographer. “Volume 1” is his first book of photographs and it features photos of such iconic musicians as Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, Eddie Van Halen, Joe Walsh, Christina Aguilera, Sheila E, Tommy Lee, Dave Navarro, and many more. It includes intimate shots of the musicians not only behind the scenes, but also in the studio, onstage and backstage as well. Along with the photos is a foreword by Ringo Starr, artist quotes, and personal anecdotes shared by Shanahan.

Rob has been getting a lot of good press about his book. Check out his interview on Good Day LA and slideshow at Spin Magazine.

My room is not only filled with memorabilia, it’s filled with books on Rock and Roll Photography.


Copyright Ken Regan. Keith Richards, San Antonio, 1975. (I own the guitar strap.)


Copyright Michael Putland. The Rolling Stones 1978. (I own the shirt Keith is wearing.)


Copyright Paul Natkin. Keith Richards portrait. (I own the attitude.)

Here’s a few other wonderful prints I own.
All I need is the room to hang them.
If I stop buying prints, I could maybe build an addition.

Enjoy.

“Hey GaryRocks, I have one of those, what’s it worth?”

Ever since I began writing this blog I’ve received hundreds of requests from readers to appraise their Stones items.
Usually it’s a message that says…”Hey I have one of those, what’s it worth?”
In the beginning I was very free and open with information.

That information I was so willing to pass along, has taken years of research to acquire.
Hundreds of hours online, searching for photos and information that helps me build a base of knowledge that will help me continue to collect and buy with confidence.
Years of making mistakes, losing money, missing out on items I should have bought but didn’t because I didn’t know any better.
You make a few mistakes, you learn.
I would never consider myself an expert, but have been collecting this “stuff” long enough now to have learned a few things and seen a few things.
I feel comfortable advising or at the very least sending people off to others who are far better appraising certain rare items than I am.

I liked helping people, really…..until after passing along what I’d consider valuable information, I started seeing these items show up on ebay.

Hmmmm?

After I advised, I would on occasion express an interest in buying some of these rarities, and guess what, I never got a response.
That’s where the conversation abruptly ended.

No surprise heh?

I realized most if not all were just interested in picking my brain for free.
Make them smarter, at no cost.
So unfortunately I’ve had to stop.

So for those interested in appraisals, happy to do so for a small fee payable to Paypal, or the chance to buy your item if I’m interested.

Thanks for understanding.
GaryRocks

I’d like to thank Buddy and Ringo the two that started this obsession.

About a year ago, the marketing communications company I work for Allen & Gerritsen, was contacted by a potential client to do some Audience Research, that client was Zildjian Cymbals.

Suffice to say a music junkie, hack drummer, a Ringo wannabee like myself was insanely excited about doing work, any work, for a brand like this.
A brand I’d had grown up with.
Those like me who for the first time saw Ringo Starr sitting behind his Ludwig kit on the Ed Sullivan show back in 1964, were watching him play Zildjian cymbals.
I was nine at the time.
The day after their performance on national television, Zildjian was back ordered 90,000 cymbals.

And so it began.

My birthday present.

A few years later I was fortunate enough to be sitting stage side with my parents, age 13, watching one of the greatest, if not THE greatest drummer that ever lived play live at the legendary Lennie’s On The Turnpike, Buddy Rich.
This was 1968, roughly 4 years after The Beatles now historical performance.
And yes, he was playing Zildjian cymbals too.

It was then I realized only the best, the greatest, play Zildjian.
Little did I know back then, this would never change.

This photo above is Buddy at Lennie’s. It may even be the show I was at. He played there a few times.

I took the program from that night up to him, ask him to sign it for me, he gave me that “Kid get the $*&# outta my way look”, but signed it anyway. He must have thought why the hell is this little kid here.
From what I remember, there weren’t too many 13 year olds in the audience.

I was in heaven.
He was my hero.
That signed program is long gone.
I recently bought myself this signed scrap of paper and some photos from a concert in Toronto back in 1971 for my collection.

Strange as a kid I was obsessed with what was then, and still now a big band jazz drummer like Buddy Rich.
My grandfather played the sax, loved big band music and jazz and would often play for me.
Maybe that’s where this connection to this kind of music came from.
But thinking back, it still seems kind of strange to me.

I eventually found out all my heroes played Zildjian cymbals.
Charlie Watts, Ginger Baker, Mitch Mitchell, some of the greatest drummers of our time and my life all played this brand.
And so I wanted to play them as well.
I took drum lessons for years, had recitals, my song was “Watermelon Man” by Herbie Hancock.
I eventually was able to play by ear, pick up the beat of a song by listening to it a few times, started my own band, jammed with friends through high school, but never became the drummer I wanted to be.
So I sold my drums, cymbals and all and headed off to art school in 1973.
Looking back, probably a smart move.

Here’s a drum head with the name of my high school band, Sponge Armor.
Recreated by my daughter, Alyssa.
Thanks pal.

Fast forward 37 years, and now this brand is back in my life.
Damn, it feels good.

But what makes this even better today, are the amazing people I’ve met at Zildjian over the course of this relationship.

Here’s a picture of Ringo’s concert used drumsticks from his Boston show.
A gift to me from John DeChristopher, Vice President Artist Relations & Event Marketing Worldwide at Zildjian.
Here he is with “you know who” the night of the show.

Doesn’t get any better than this does it?

The TAMI Show afterparty….Mick Jagger’s glass? Bill Wyman’s cigarette?

L to R standing: Ron Armstrong, Bill Wyman, Keith Richards, Earl Steely (Misfits), Mick Jagger, Joey Paige (“Shindig” regular), Charlie Watts, Bob Mosley and Eddie Dunn (both Misfits).”“L to R kneeling: Joel Scott Hill, (later Canned Heat and Flying Burrito Brothers), unknown press photographer, Harold Kirby (Joel’s bassist, now deceased; by the way, Willie Kellogg played with Joel but was packing his drums).

On Nov. 1, 1964, the Rolling Stones, fresh off of taping “The T.A.M.I. Show” (where the upstart Brits were upstaged by James Brown), made their first San Diego appearance, at Balboa Bowl (now Starlight Bowl).
Also performing that night were locals Joel Scott Hill & the Invaders (also known as the Strangers), The Misfits and Rosie and the Originals. Downtown record-shop owner Danny Milsap, who promoted the concert, paid the Stones $400, he recalled in a 1998 retrospective in the San Diego Reader: “I remember paying Rosie and the Originals $500!”
Hitmaker (“Angel Baby”) and future Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Rosie Hamlin and company didn’t stick around for the backstage photo, but Misfits drummer Ron Armstrong identifies who did.

In honor of the release of The TAMI Show on DVD, some rare and never seen collectibles from the after party.
Mick Jagger’s glass scoffed up by this fan as well as a cigarette bummed from Bill Wyman.
Both labeled the night of the party by him packed away in a box and just recently unearthed and purchased by me. The letter from the original owner can be seen below.

I wonder how long DNA hangs around?

I should know having watched enough CSI and Law and Order
marathons with my girls.

The T.A.M.I. Show is a 1964 concert film, released by American International Pictures. It includes performances by numerous popular rock and roll and R&B musicians from the United States and England. It was shot with TV cameras by director Steve Binder and his crew from The Steve Allen Show, and was the second of a small handful of productions to be recorded in Electronovision – one of the first high-definition video cameras that captured somewhere between 1000-1100 lines at 25fps. Then, via kinescope recording, it was converted to film with sufficient enhanced resolution to allow big-screen enlargement.

The concert was held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on October 28 and 29, 1964. Free tickets were distributed to local high school students. Jan and Dean emceed the event and performed its theme song, “Here They Come (From All Over the World)”. Jack Nitzsche was the show’s music director. The acronym “T.A.M.I.” was used inconsistently in the show’s publicity to mean both Teenage Awards Music International and Teen Age Music International. The best footage from each of the two concert dates was edited into the film, which was released on December 29, 1964.

The T.A.M.I. Show is particularly well known for James Brown’s performance, which features his legendary dance moves and remarkable energy. In interviews, Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones has claimed that choosing to follow Brown & The Famous Flames was the biggest mistake of their careers, because no matter how well they performed, they could not top him. In a web-published interview,

Binder takes credit for persuading the Stones to follow James Brown, and serve as the centerpiece for the grand finale where all the performers dance together onstage. In addition, throughout the film, were numerous go-go dancers in the background or beside the performers. Among them were a very young Toni Basil and Teri Garr. It also featured The Supremes performing three back-to-back #1 singles, signaling their reign as the most successful girl group of that era. Diana Ross would go on to work with the director Steve Binder on several of her television specials including her first solo television special and more importantly her iconic Central Park concert, Live from New York Worldwide: For One and for All.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_T.A.M.I._Show

Read more: http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2009-12-03/concerts-music-clubs/misfits-rolling-stones-snapshot-provides-glimpse-into-san-diegos-rock-n-roll-roots#ixzz0j8AOxdsD

The film was shown unedited and in its entirety on cable television in Canada in 1984 (20th anniversary of its release), on the First Choice Network. However, there has never been an authorized home video release of the film in any format until the authorized DVD release in March 2010, though bootlegs have abounded. (A DVD release of the complete film by First Look Studios was planned for 2007, but subsequently withdrawn.) Also, because of a rights dispute, the footage of The Beach Boys’ performance was deleted from all prints made after the movie’s brief initial theatrical run, and is therefore absent from most of the bootlegs. All of the four Beach Boys tunes eventually surfaced on DVD in Sights and Sounds of Summer, a special CD/DVD edition of Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of The Beach Boys.

In 2006, The T.A.M.I. Show was named to the National Film Registry by the U.S. Library of Congress. Dick Clark Productions acquired ownership of the concert film. On March 23 2010, Shout! Factory released the full show on a restored, digitally remastered and fully authorized DVD.

A sequel, 1966′s The Big T.N.T. Show, was produced by the same executive producer, Henry G. Saperstein.

Here’s a rare ticket from that show both front and back.

Mick Jagger stands by himself while everyone rush the food table.

The Christmas present that never came. My Ringo Starr Drum kit.

It was 1964/1965 and The Beatles were all anyone could talk about.
Girls brought their Beatle dolls, pins and purses to school.
Beatle lunchboxes were the only thing to carry your PB&J sandwich in.
They were everywhere and on everything.

I was 10 years old and decided drumming would be my life’s calling.
Why not right?
Not a professional baseball player.
Not a Doctor, to my parents dismay.
Not even an aspiring artist, which I already exhibited a real talent for.
But a drummer, just like Ringo Starr.

You see, there was this drum.
Not just any drum.
A toy drum, not even a REAL drum.
But this drum was different.
It had Ringo and The Beatles faces and names emblazoned
all over the packaging and the drum itself.

It must be THE DRUM that Ringo thinks is the best right?
If I’m going to be as good as him, I had to have this.
No substitute.
It was this or nothing.
It was all I wanted and asked for that Christmas.
Sounding a little like Ralphie from a Christmas Story right?

I grew up in a predominantly Italian/Irish neighborhood.
My parents were dead poor.
So we celebrated Christmas, without the tree on Christmas day.

As much as a hoped, begged and pleaded for this, it never came.

Probably couldn’t afford it that year.
So instead, I got “The Big Bash Drum.”
A knockoff.
No Ringo face or decal.
No Beatles.
No fancy packaging.
Plastic, orange with a stand and sticks.

This drum is so obscure, I couldn’t even find any reference on it.

But….I found plenty on the drum I wanted.
The Ringo Drum Set by Selcol Industries.

Someday I’ll buy myself one.

You’re no rock star, until they make you into a doll.

remcohardset1

RemcoDollsBox6

woolad

Too be immortalized in plastic with fake hair and a tiny replica guitar.
Isn’t that what every rock star dreams about?
To be cuddled by their fans in bed every night?
Seems like you don’t even have to be inducted into the Rock and roll Hall of Fame to have a miniature figure in a blister pack hanging in a hobby store these days.
Check out the McFarlane Toy line and others.
Joey Ramone, Sid Vicious, Jim Morrison, Jimi, Janis, you name it, there are figures galore.
They are truly amazing works of art.
Impeccable likenesses.
Detailed and adorned with love beads, guitar straps, amp cords and microphones so real looking you think you could sing into them.
Back in the day, like say the 60′s, well you were lucky if you could tell Paul from Ringo.
Well, maybe that’s a bit of a stretch.

Here’s a few pics of dolls from the 60′s unlicensed that are supposed to be the Stones. They were marketed under the “Play-Pal” name and have no markings relative to any of the Stones.

What do you think?

Charlie Watts?

Charlie Watts?

Keith Richards???

Keith Richards???

Brian Jones?

Brian Jones?

Start Me Up…How to begin collecting.

3137894331_f2f086588d_b

When people see my collection you can often see in their eyes, Boy it would be cool to have a collection, any collection, but I wouldn’t even know where to begin.

It’s really not that hard.

Begin with a passion.
What do you love?
Art, books, sports, something from your childhood?
Maybe baseball cards.
Comic books.
What makes you feel good the minute you are exposed to it, see it or hear it?
Maybe even taste it.
People collect wine you know.

The point is we all have our passions.
For me it was music.
As long as I can remember music was a part of my life.

Growing up I remember idolizing the rock starts of my era.
Jagger, Richards, Plant, Page Daltry, Townsend, Moon, Allman, Dylan, Morrison, the list goes on.

They were all demi-gods to me.
Yeah, role models to some degree.
I turned out fine despite that.

How did I begin?
Collecting rock and roll memorabilia was a gimme.
I decided I wanted to build a collection around a few bands, or just one band.
The ones that had the most impact on me and my life.
Whose music meant the most to me.
Whose music I still listen to today.
This way I had a focus.
It made it a little easier for me.

The “Where do I begin?” became a not so overwhelming.

On an average week there are roughly 2500 Rolling Stones items on eBay.
Beatles items, try 11,131 as of this post.

The more fans out there, the fewer items to buy, the more expensive and rare.
You can see by the numbers how Beatle fans far outnumber the Stones.
Which I guess once again, made it easier for me.

I spent months on eBay without buying a single item.
Just looking and researching what was for sale.
The different areas to get into.
I bought books and magazines.
I talked to dealers, and other collectors before I finally bid online for my first item.
Jeff Gold from Recordmecca was the best.
His link is in this blog. Check out his site.
You won’t find a more decent and honorable man.
There was rare vinyl, posters, tour books, autographs, promo items, displays, the list went on and on.
Of course I wanted it all.
So I bought it all.
Bad decision.
But, one that most collectors have go through in order to find out what really interests them.
A rite of passage if you will.
They buy EVERYTHING.
Like me.
All years and eras.
Like me.
And then end up selling half the stuff they bought because like me, you end up with hundreds of little things, and when something major comes along, you don’t have the cash.
So my advice……
Try from the beginning to focus.
Resist the temptation when building a collection thinking it means a collection is having tons of stuff.
A collection can be 2 things.
Buy only what you love. What you will look at 6 months later and still love.
For me, I bought what I felt best represented the essence of The Stones to me.
Their style.
Their music.
Their personalities.
Now years and lots of mistakes later, I look at my collection and I can finally say, “Yeah, this is them.”

Here’s one of the first items I bought.
A rare It’s Only Rock and Roll record store display from 1974.
They sure don’t make them like this anymore.
The lost art of record promotion.
img_6066