Me and Bee . . .
I went over to Gold Strike Casino to see B.B. King on Friday night. The show was sold out ($69.95 tickets) but I had called and emailed his office that I would be going over to see him and give him some photographs as a gift. Now I have known B.B. since around 1966 or [...]
Westboro Church, Whitney Houston and Jim Brown . . .
The Westboro Baptist Church has announced that they will picket Whitney Houston’s funeral on Saturday. These people have repeated picketed at military funerals which enrages the public while they are protected by the First Amendment (“Right of Free Speech”). Here is a summary of what they do: The Westboro Baptist Church believes that God is [...]
Songwriting: A long way down the hill . . .
I have people who send me CDs on their music in the hope that I will listen to it and then come forth with some words of praise for the product. I had collected several dozen of these unsolicited CDs when my wife and I were making a five hour drive to her mother’s home [...]
Wow . . . what a nice piece of news . . .
A good day . . . a very good day . . . “Hey there, Mister Waterman. . don’t you worry . . . I got you . . . I read a small article in today edition of the Memphis Commercial Appeal that the last six Northwest Airlines Airlines skycaps had been relieved of [...]
A happy outcome from a blog post . . .
“Hey there, Mister Waterman. . don’t you worry . . . I got you . . . ———————————— I had an email from a woman who worked with Harold Morrison as a Northwest Airlines skycap. Someone had told her about my blog and she found it and printed it out for Harold. Then she sent [...]
“Hey there, Mister Waterman. . don’t you worry . . . I got you . . .
I read a small article in today edition of the Memphis Commercial Appeal that the last six Northwest Airlines Airlines skycaps had been relieved of duty and would be placed elsewhere in the airport. It was really no surprise because the Northwest skycaps were heavily unionized while Delta skycaps had much less protection. So I [...]
The Mayor gets a brush with pop fame . . .
Kevin White, who served as the mayor of Boston from 1968 to 1984, died on Friday. He made his way into pop culture twice: He was mayor in April, 1968, when Martin Luther King, Jr, was assassinated and riots broke out in many cities. Someone told White that James Brown was in town to play [...]
A story about Etta James, Bonnie Raitt and the N. Hollywood Police Department
Sad news that Etta James passed away today. She really represented a place in time where blues, R&B, soul and lots of other music were moving out of the black community and being placed without the white culture that was anxious for the change to happen. I was managing Bonnie Raitt back in the early [...]
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 [...]
Not a pretty picture . . .
Do you know that there was a time when every roll of color film in America went to one lab to be processed? When you bought a roll of Kodak color film, it came with a bright yellow cloth bag attached. After you shot the film, you put it into the bag and it was [...]
Goodbye to all that . . .
First day of 2012 and I look back at 2011 as a year when too many friends died. I guess it was not unexpected that Honeyboy Edwards and Pinetop Perkins left us. They were both over 95 and enjoyed their popularity right up to the end. Hubert Sumlin had a lung removed a while ago [...]
One good one makes up for a lot of bad ones . . .
I always seem to be late getting into big photo projects. The researchers who did the PBS special on Bob Dylan had already wrapped up their selections when they discovered my work. They said, “Oh wow, we could have used a whole bunch of yours.” Rhino Records did a box set on the music of [...]
Is my wife going to read this?
My wife will occasionally check in with my blog. Occasionally, she mention that she is three or four behind but it’s all good. I went Christmas shopping for her on Friday so I hope she doesn’t read this for the next week. I was looking for a certain thing and found a store here in [...]
Book is now available (again . . .
I posted a few weeks ago that I had located a supply of “Between Midnight and Day” my photo/essay book that is now out of print. I think it’s a pretty good book and it has stood up over the years as something for the deep blues fan (Skip James, Son House, etc) or the [...]
You always remembers when a great one dies . . .
I was traveling through African with the Junior Wells Band on a Cultural Exchange Program arranged by the State Department during the winter of 1967-68. We had traveled through Congo Kinshasa, Mali, the Central African Republic and we were well into our 14-week tour. The one news of the world that we were able to [...]
Harry Morgan takes his leave on December 7th . . .
Harry Morgan died today at the age of 96, somehow continuing my fascination with the incredible number of talented individuals born in 1915. At one point, it was written that Mister Morgan had appeared in more series television episodes than anyone else. He had a series of minor successes and then became Jack Webb’s partner [...]
On life, on mortality, on the blues . . .
My father lived to be 92 years old and he accomplished much in his lifetime. He was a small town doctor on Cape Cod and practiced for almost 65 years. He did barter trade when a patient didn’t have money and he was a beloved figure in the town. I once asked him if he [...]
It’s not the singer, it’s the song . . .
Howard Tate died yesterday. He had been in poor health so it was no surprise to those who knew him. Howard was a great soul singer in that time when ‘great soul singer’ was a phrase that fit so many. In the late 1960s, he was up against Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, James [...]
“All politics is local . . . “
Massachusetts representative Barney Frank has announced that he will not seek reelection next year, stepping down after 32 years in Congress. Frank is the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee and authored a very tough piece of legislation that Wall Street (i.e. Republicans) hate intensely. Frank was among the first openly gay members [...]
The sad negatives . . .
I have been working on a project that will trace the history of the Club 47, a club in Cambridge that showcased major folk music artists, some of whom went on to great fame. I was just a guy with a camera back in 1963 when I told them that I’d like to be the [...]
It would be really nice if I could . . .
My wife is a firm believer that I should never mention any upcoming project because either it will not happen or someone reading my blog will steal it away from me. Well, I have two that might come through and I am definitely in need of a lucky break here. The first one is that [...]
America’s little known vacation paradise . . .
Cinda and I are driving to New Orleans on Monday because I have a photo assignment there. This will dovetail nicely to my keeping a promise that I made to her right after we met about six years ago. She has been to Fiji, American Samoa, Tahiti and other beautiful spots in the Pacific. I [...]
Joe Frazier
Word out of Philadelphia is that former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier is losing his battle with cancer. He held the championship during the period that Muhammad Ali was suspended from boxing for refusal to serve in the military. When Ali was reinstated, a match of undefeated heavyweights fighting for the title was arranged. It was [...]
Closing the basement down . . .
I heard the sad news that Filene’s Basement in Boston was going out of business. Just another example that times are hard on inner city department stores. Filene’s has many stores but “the Basement” was famous for its annual event that became known as “The Running of the Brides.” Marriage bound young ladies and their [...]
