Folk then . . . folk now . . . folk forever . . .
I hardly ever get in on major photography projects until they are done and then I get a “Sorry, your stuff is great but it’s too late.”
But I was contacted by some people doing a documentary on the famous Club 47, a Cambridge folk club in the Sixties that started many careers and is still in business albeit with a name change to Passim’s.
I was the house photographer there, offering them access to my work in exchange for free admission every night. Well, nobody wanted what I had so I just put it away and the years turned into decades.
When they contacted me, I thought they were kidding.
Do I have folk photography from the Sixties? (Say it with the Robert DeNiro voice of “You talking to me? You talking to me? You must be talking to me because I don’t see nobody else here.”)
So I start to send images . . . lots of images. I am sending Joan Baez and Judy Collins and Jim Kweskin and Tom Rush and Phil Ochs . . .
I am like a gun fighter in the middle of the street with both guns blazing away . . . and I am never going to run out of bullets.
I send them Skip James and Eric Von Schmidt and Geoff Muldaur and Mimi Farina and Maria Muldaur and Fritz Richmond . . .
I am on a roll and firing away with more and more . . .
I found a Bob Dylan at the Club 47 and Taj Mahal and Mose Allison and Rev. Gary Davis and Eric Andersen and the Chambers Brothers . . .
They surrender . . .
They send me an email, “Enough! Enough! We can’t take any more!”
I don’t even quibble about the money. They tell me that it is a ‘favored nations’ payment which means that every photographer gets the same with no negotiating. It’s $240.00 per image which is very OK with me because they are taking a whole bunch from me.
So the moral of the story is that you might be able to jazz me and you might even be able to rock me but never . . . never . . . try to folk with me . . .
Dick, I’ve heard you mention before that you always seem to be … after the fact. That just blows me away because your work is outstanding and the experiences you’ve had are countless. You would be the first person I would at least check with. Thanks for sharing your work… and you tell it so well too.
I agree with Mike! I wish to see your work AND hear your stories with every turn of my head and on just about every corner (these days that may be every other web page)!! Thanks for sharing!!