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Authors
Joe Walsh — Lucky That Way
“Welcome to cyberspace, I’m lost in the fog / Everything’s digital, I’m still analog / When something goes wrong, I don’t have a clue / Some ten-year-old smartass has to show me what to do.” – Joe Walsh, “Analog Man” He always was the Funny Eagle, whose laid-back attitude made the band cooler and whose Read the full article
MCA R.I.P.
When rapper-musician-director-producer-activist Adam “MCA” Yauch died on May 4th after a four-year battle with cancer, he left behind a highly unusual, inspiring arc, one that combined heady fame with artistic triumph, public contrition for misdeeds, untold sweat on behalf of oppressed people, and lasting echoes of love from millions. In his story, a young man achieves Read the full article
A beast of a boy’s tall climb to the top
Tributes to Beastie Boys co-founder Adam “MCA” Yauch, who died Friday at 47, are pouring in from peers and fans including Coldplay, Questlove, SNL and fellow 2012 Hall of Fame Inductees Red Hot Chili Peppers. Rock Paper Photo salutes the slammin’ rapper, filmmaker, activist and overall innovator with an album of our own. Charting the band’s evolution from Read the full article
A panaromic image by Rolling Stone’s first chief photographer brings the legendary band into full view
When a great music photographer like Baron Wolman needs to capture a promising shot but lacks the proper equipment, he does what the performers behind the mikes do: he improvises. In March 1969, Rolling Stone magazine sent Baron and noted music writer Stanley Booth to Macon, Georgia, and Muscle Shoals, Alabama. They visited southern music royalty including Phil Walden, who Read the full article
A parade of pop culture icons sits in front of the Hasselblad of Curtis Knapp
Parsons-trained illustrator Curtis Knapp moved to Athens, Georgia, in the late 70s to be part of the art scene. His focus turned to photography around the time his friends, the B-52’s, needed photos for gigs. Returning to New York, Curtis’s stark portrait style landed him top magazine shoots, epitomized by this 1983 black and white cover shot of Madonna for Island magazine. Madonna Read the full article
Levon Helm, 1940-2012: Trickster’s Farewell
Although Levon Helm was born in Arkansas and lived much of his 71 years on the road, the multi-instrumentalist-vocalist, who died on April 19th, was Woodstock, New York’s own. After traveling the world, first as a teenage drummer for legendary Canadian rockabilly firebrand Ronnie Hawkins, then as part of Bob Dylan’s infamous “gone electric” tour, Helm Read the full article
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2012
Of the 17 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremonies I’ve attended, the 27th induction – the third one in Cleveland – on Saturday, April 14, was the longest, running nearly six hours. Following Axl Rose’s grandstanding letter to the L.A. Times detailing his refusal to participate and Rod Stewart’s last-minute cancellation (due to strep throat), Read the full article
A young photographer stirs it up with the giants of reggae
In January 1973, a young artist and filmmaker named Lee Jaffe met Bob Marley by chance at the Windsor Hotel in midtown Manhattan. Lee had just seen the film “The Harder They Come.” Bob was sitting in a corner of a big suite, “very quiet, very shy.” He took out a cassette of his band’s new album, “Catch A Fire,“ Read the full article
As The Hall beckons the Beasties, Ricky Powell celebrates 25 years of “taking professional photos on a hang-out tip”
On Saturday, The Beasties Boys will become only the third hip-hop group to enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the annual induction ceremony in Cleveland. Labels don’t sit easily with the band that is widely credited with bringing hip-hop to a huge audience, and neither do they with Ricky Powell. Ricky does so many things he prefers Read the full article
Red Hot Chili Peppers, Survival of the Funkiest
Of all the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame 2012 inductees, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are distinguished as having been the least likely to survive. Some might argue that dubious honor for fellow honorees Guns N’ Roses, but we’re not just talking about drugs, we’re talking about songs. Even if G N’ R had suffered Read the full article
Guns N Roses Axl & Slash, A Love/Hate Story
Regardless of where you stand on Guns N’ Roses, you cannot call them predictable. You may come down on the side of those who cite 1987′s Appetite For Destruction – still the biggest selling debut in history – as a great episode in rock, a watershed moment for a genre that was, at that point, drowning Read the full article
The colorful Hollywood tales of Frank Worth, legendary B&W studio photographer
OK, so you may know that the late Hollywood photographer Frank Worth shot the biggest studio names in the 50s and 60s. Sure, Sinatra invited him to go behind the scenes on the sets of “Giant” and “Rebel Without a Cause.” Not impressed? Then wrap your brain around a few of these other Frank Worth tidbits: • On Read the full article
Lionel Richie Goes Home Again
There are several versions of Lionel Richie. For some, he’s the guy in the spangled jumpsuit appearing on late ‘70s-era Soul Train with his band the Commodores, singing and funking out on “Brick House” and “Machine Gun”; for children-of-the-80s, he’s one of that decade’s most successful balladeers, whose songs and videos were inescapable; for detractors, he’s Read the full article
A Chance Backstage Meeting of 3 Music Legends at Cafe Au Go Go
The Bleeker Street club scene in 1967 was at the vanguard of non-commercial, non-top 40, underground rock. In 1967, Cream performed for 13 consecutive nights, from September 26 to October 8, at Café Au Go Go. The 300-seat club, nestled in a basement below Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, had in previous years focused on jazz, folk, Read the full article
Madonna’s MDNA: Better To Ask Forgiveness Than Permission
Madonna maxim number one: “Better to ask forgiveness than permission.” Forgive her for making you uncomfortable, for using your sacred objects to titillate, for having the chutzpah to act on common primal impulses and thus inspire intense jealousy, for encouraging teens to dress provocatively, for infecting your brain with inescapable pop, for not going away. “Forgive Read the full article
