Rock Chronicles

by StockJockey

Monday, March 12, 2007 - 7:45 pm

It is that time of year again. Rock stars thirsty for recognition are converging on the Waldorf Astoria for tonight’s induction ceremony.

The annual controversy is also upon us. The brotherhood of Rock might be the most dysfunctional family we have ever seen:

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame turns 22 this year, but the hall’s selection process is far from grown up.

It’s good to have some innocence and exuberance when honoring rock heroes, emotions that surely will be in evidence at the hall’s annual induction dinner Monday in New York City. But the Hall of Fame balloting suffers from an almost childish, “gee whiz” enthusiasm that results in many marginal artists being toasted rather than just the truly great.

Comparison point: The Baseball Hall of Fame has inducted more than 200 players in seven decades — about three a year. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is past 150 — at about seven a year. At this rate, the rock hall will have nearly 500 members by the time it turns 70.

To find that many acts, the hall is going to end up enshrining such limited artists as Duane Eddy, Brenda Lee and the Rascals.

Oops, they’re already in.

Who’s next? Meat Loaf and Mariah Carey?
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Photographers are are treated like lepers by the Hall of Fame. But they are artists too, and chronicled rock’s early days, leaving behind a priceless account for all of us.

Have you heard of Neal Preston? He is one of rock’s most prominent photographers...but most certainly not in the Rock Hall of Fame. He is probably the most bootlegged rock photographer of all time. Everyone with an interest in music or sports has seen Neal’s famous pictures.

We recently checked in with him to see what he is thinking about this year’s Rock and Roll soap opera.

How did you get interested in rock and roll photography?

Jimmy Page and Jack/photo by Neal Preston

The Beatles appearance on the Ed Sullivan show on February 9, 1964 changed my life. Every kid in my Forest Hills neighborhood wanted to be in a rock band after that show. I saw “A Hard Days Night” thirteen times the summer it came out and spent all my time reading Creem, Circus and Rolling Stone magazine. There was no MTV back then...but those magazines were everything to me.

When did the photography bug bite you?

I would gaze at album covers while listening to the music. Robert Freeman’s cover shots on “Meet the Beatles” and “A Hard Day’s Night” are beautiful work. A relative of mine gave me an Ansco 4.5 and I was on my way. I formed a rock band called “the Accidentals” and would schlep the camera around to gigs. We actually played Cafe Wha in Manhattan but the guys were more interested in girls and booze than music. I ended up forming a photography company after the band splintered and scraped by for a while.

Hendrix used to play small clubs in west midtown. Where did you hang out in New York and how did you make it to Los Angeles?

I graduated from Forest Hills High School in ‘70 and shot shows all over New York that summer. The Fillmore East, Hunter College, and the Capitol Theater in Port Chester. There was also a small club at Broadway and 70th called Ungano’s that was owned by the mob. The MC5 put on perhaps the best show I ever saw there in 1970. I mingled with agents, managers, journalists and most importantly picture editors. But Los Angeles beckoned. I met a girl and blew off school for good.

We will turn it over to Mojo Magazine to chronicle Neal’s experiences with the Gods of Rock. Neal was one of the few souls to travel with Zeppelin on tour back when they ruled the earth.

They knew they were the best, the biggest, the sexist, and everybody else knew it too. No one else came close; not the Stones, The Who…nobody touched them. And Zeppelin reveled in that knowledge. They swaggered across America and they owned it all.

Somehow fortune (and Peter Grant) had smiled on me and I worked as Zeppelin’s tour photographer in the 1970s, on and off for six or seven years. Pretty heady stuff for a 22, 23-year old.By then, they were my favorite band, my favorite subjects, and the ultimate entrée’ into the rarefied air of rock royalty…the A list.

In 1975 all you had to do was tell someone you worked for Led Zeppelin and you’d see an odd look of respect combined with wonder on the person’s face, just like if you’d told them you worked for Elvis. Or Frank.

Even now I get it from people if Zeppelin comes up in conversation. The myth lives. Touring with Led Zeppelin was, for me, an assault on all senses 24 hours a day (and when I say 24 hours a day, I’m not kidding, I rarely slept on tour).

Besides the memories I have of seeing some amazing shows and (hopefully) taking some iconic photographs, I have other, even more indelible memories that have stayed in my head and my heart like they happened yesterday: the smell of the dry ice used during No Quarter; the queasy feeling I got in my stomach if I missed the limo after the show (thereby missing the plane as well); the look on Peter’s face during a magnificent Page guitar solo, like a proud papa admiring a fingerpainting his five-year-old made; Jimmy smiling at Bonzo during a show like they were the only ones in the arena… and every night, “Do you remember laughter?” from Robert.

I was never quite sure why I was ultimately given the access to the band that I enjoyed. Although I knew that my photography was the ultimate litmus test, everyone on a Zeppelin tour had to pass another kind of test that was just as important: could you be trusted? Do you have a big mouth? Do you act like you are as important (or even more important) than the band? These were defining questions, and the answers were obvious. And the person who held the keys to that kingdom was Peter Grant. I’ve been fortunate to have photographed the biggest rock acts of my generation: Bruce Springsteen, Queen, the Stones, the Who, Fleetwood Mac, Madonna. But there was a certain exhilaration that always came after that call from the Swan Song office when they’d give me tour dates that reminded me that working with Zeppelin was much more special than working with any other band. Yes, I remember laughter… I was there.

In a few weeks we will follow up with Neal to talk about Zeppelin and the other bands he hung out with...but today we have a few questions for him and his take on the Hall:

Who is not in the Hall of Fame that deserves to be?

Alice Cooper. It is a travesty. He started a genre...there is no KISS without Alice, for instance. His influence was huge...how they can overlook Alice is beyond me. Don’t get me started.

Cover by Robert Freeman

Sounds like I better move on. I know you are not one to kiss and tell but give us one good story about the old days.

Stevie Marriott worked the stage like a madman. He was special. The first time I saw him he would come back stage between songs and suck on a huge oxygen bottle. It would rev him back up and he would run back onstage and start rocking again. He was unbelievable.

Why do you think the Rock Hall of Fame has not let photographers in? And can you name a few other rock photographers who deserve consideration for eventual membership in the Rock Hall of Fame?

I have not really given that much thought. I think the english photographers in the mid-60’s deserve to be recognized. Guys like Robert Freeman and Dezo Hoffman did a lot of the early Beatles work...they were geniuses. Ethan Russell too...they inspired me.

Annie Leibovitz’s early work was fantastic, and Henry Diltz and Jim Marshall are in a league of their own. Jim shot the famous picture of Johnny Cash flipping the bird. The shot was taken at Folsom Prison. Jim asked Johnny for a quote to pass on to the warden...that was Johnny’s response.

Jim Marshall Photo