Self Deprecation

Update - 7/8/09
The lithograph, Limited and Open Editions are on sale
for a short time...check them out here.

Update
The Tom Waits poster and limited edition photographs
are available...run, don't walk to my website.

Update - 4/11/07
The Tom Waits prints will be for sale by the end of next week.
Check out what's available HERE.

9/25/06 UPDATE
The new old photos are up. After you check
this post out click over to:
A Promise is a Promise...Tom Waits

9/9/06 UPDATE
Thanks to RadicalWacko over at
Tom Waits For No Man
for the linking to this post.
I hope you all will visit the rest of the blog and
enjoy the photos of other musicians I've put up.
And as a special thank you for your
visit I am planning to post some more
shots of T.W. from the troubadour gig .
So please check the recent posts section
in the next week or two.

Back when I scanned my Frank Zappa negs, I was hit with a little surprise. There were five shots between his backstage pics and his onstage shots. Five pictures of the opening act. Of course, I recognized him but I had absolutely no recollection of him opening for Zappa. It was Tom Waits.

I didn't have a clue who he was at the time. Well, maybe I did because I took pictures of him. Five. Yup. That's all he warranted that night. Five measly pictures.

In the Billy Joel post yesterday, I gave myself props for how great my pictures look after all these years. I felt bad about that. Propping myself is not my job. I should be more humble. Practically broke my arm patting myself on the back. So, today, I felt I should turn that around and be self deprecating. How can I do that? Easy. Here are the awful pictures I took of Tom Waits when he opened for Frank Zappa. All five of them. No cropping. No retouching. Just the way I shot 'em. Badly. Or should that be poorly? Maybe sadly.

See? I suck!!!

Fortunately, after I moved to Los Angeles, I had the opportunity to redeem myself. Tom Waits lived at the Tropicana and was a regular in the Troubadour bar and on the stage. I was a regular at Dukes - the greatest breakfast place ever - at the Tropicana and also at the Troubadour, where I hung out at the bar and could shoot in 'the room' whenever I wanted. And by this time, I knew who Tom Waits was. I shot a lot more than five this time...at least a whole roll. Here's one to balance out the crap above:
I like this one.

Oh, and I almost forgot. I pulled out my Chicago pics last month. I shot them twice. Indoor night show in Vancouver and outdoor dayshow in Calgary. Went through the slides and the only shot I found of Terry Kath showed half of him. Couldn't really see his face. I was very disappointed. Not happy to represent Terry Kath with only a group shot in the book. When I found the Tom Waits shots from the Troubadour this afternoon...right behind his was a contact sheet and negatives for Chicago...with SIX solo shots of Terry Kath on guitar. How great is that? From 0 to 6, out of the blue. Thank you, Tom Waits.