Shop 'Til You Drop

It's finally up and running.

THE STORE.

When you enter the site, you'll see three sections that link to "store" areas.

Starart - Not only can you purchase from my stash (items start at $40 and run as high as $3000), but I also posted a video we made from clips of the gallery shows and my appearance on Merv Griffin (guess who's sitting next to me?). It's fun (and embarrassing if you're me) to see me geek out with the artists. What can I say?-some of us had been partying on the way to the show.

Tom Waits - The poster is waiting there for you to take it home at put it on your wall. So are the open edition and limited edition prints. If you have any disposable income (and like Tom) you should consider investing in one of the numbered and signed (by me, not TW) or open edition signed photo prints. There's a gallery interested in repping the edition and if I go with them they'll be selling them at double the price and I will have to do the same.

Everybody I Shot Is Dead - There's a link to the blurb on the book and you'll be able to buy the book (pre-order) in July. The perks for pre-ordering are a nice discount, the books signed, an invite to the gallery opening nearest you and getting the book before it hits the stores. I'm also tossing around the idea of a discount coupon toward the purchase of a limited edition print from the book...but don't hold me to that.

So, what are you waiting for? Go check out the store. Wander around, even if you don't want to buy anything. Then come back here and let me know what you think of it. Is it easy to navigate? Are the options clear and easy to figure out? And what what you thought of the video.

We didn't have a big budget to make a site with all the bells and whistles - and it was a real pain in the ass trying to implement all the shipping variables - so, at this point, we're just hoping that it's functional.

By the way, if you're on myspace, please stop by my Starart myspace and add me as a friend. I'm also working on a myspace for the new book/my rock & roll photography. I'll let you know when that's happening too.

That's it for now...gotta get back to the written portion of Everybody I Shot Is Dead.

Freakin' Amazing Guitar Player

Terry Kath

Watch it all the way to the end.

Covers

Here are two cover ideas for the book. Which one do you like?

Cover 1 (front)

Cover 1 (back)

Cover 2 (front)

Cover 2 (back)

For those of you who don't like to make comments, vote here:

Plugging Away

I finished all the layouts yesterday. And it didn't take long - last night to be exact - before I went back over the layouts I did earlier and made a bunch of changes. Mostly reducing the size of some of the photos so each page has a minimum 3/4" white border.

Today I printed out a couple of the pages at full size and placed them on the pages of the Dummy. Wow. The pictures look really big. So does the text. I think I'll reduce the type size but probably leave the pictures nice and big.

I'm now using two different scanning companies since there are over 350 photos in the book. The second company I chose will most likely be printing the photos that I'm using in the gallery shows. They will be scanning all those shots for the 16 x 20 gallery show prints and I'll size them down for the book. It's creating extra work for me because I have to separate all the gallery shots from the batches I've already sized and sent to the other scanner guys.

Soon as that's done, I'll be completely focused on the writing. Some is done. Most is not. And all the done writing needs a rewrite.

The Tom Waits neg went in for a test print on the Limited Edition. On Saturday, I was visiting a guy at a gallery who may carry some of my Starart books and showed him the Waits project. They want to see the print as soon as it's done and will likely carry it in the gallery. That means the limited edition prices will immediately double, to remain in line with the other rock photography they sell. Which means I will no longer be able to sell the limited edition and open edition prints at $400 and $200, respectively. So, if you're interested in one of them, you should put in a reservation request (doesn't mean you have to follow through on the purchase) asap. I will honor all reservations at those prices that are received by this Monday. No guarantees on the price after that.

The $25/$30 poster is going to print tomorrow and should be ready early next week. I'm still compiling the shipping information and am sorry to report that international shipments cost more than the poster ($63 to Finland, Timo). I tried to go through the post office. It's around $11 to Finland but I can't insure the package, which creates a liability issue for me. U.S. shoppers should be happy with their $7 or $8 postage and handling fee. Anyway, if anybody has alternate suggestions, I open to hearing them.

Meet the Dummy

I want you to meet the Dummy that arrived on Friday. I'd prefer to introduce you in person because the Dummy makes a much better impression in person. But, alas, the Dummy is here and you are there so I can only share the pictures. Since the Dummy is currently naked, it is a much better experience to touch the Dummy than to look at the Dummy. But again, you're there and the Dummy is here.

So, here goes:







The Dummy's cover is 9.75" x 11.75" and almost 1" thick. The Dummy's insides are 9.5" x 11". The Dummy's French-fold jacket is thick and very smooth to the touch. Same with its insides. All 208 pages.

The Dummy will look beautiful when it's finally dressed. Except it won't be a Dummy when it's dressed. It will be a coffee table book. And hopefully it will be living on your coffee table.

Tom Waits Photo

The Wait's almost over.

Next week I'm going to present my first Tom Waits photograph for purchase. The first image I am offering is the live shot of him smoking.

I spent the past several months mulling over the best way to cater to all income brackets without compromising quality. And I finally figured it out.

For the die-hard Tom Waits collectors there will be a 16"x20" limited edition of 75 numbered and signed (by me, not Tom) archival photographic prints. I chose an edition of 75 because that is the year the photograph was taken. Once the 75 are sold there will be no more available, unless someone decides to resell. The initial price on this offering will be $400 and will be subject to change as the edition sells out.

For the die-hard Tom Waits collectors that can't get in on the limited edition, there will be an 11"x14" open edition signed by me (but not numbered) of archival photographic prints. The initial price on this offering will be $200, and subject to change.

And finally, for the die-hard collectors and fans in all tax brackets, there will be an unlimited museum-quality lithographic print (unsigned) on heavyweight matte paper. The initial price on this offering will be $25 for the first month and $30 thereafter. The image size will be 9.5"x14" on 11x17 paper. And it will look like this (without all that copyright stuff on the image, of course):

(click on image for larger view)

All prints will be available for purchase via my website only and should be up by the end of next week, once the printing is done.

If you want to reserve a print in advance, feel free to email your request to: twprints@cheshercat.com

Deborah Definitely Dumb

Remember last Thursday? I was complaining about the loss of my pictures of George Harrison's house? Couldn't find them anywhere. And trust me, I looked. Probably spent an hour or so. Nothing turned up. And I gave up.

I finished sizing the Grateful Dead photos and decided to do the George Harrison pictures without the house. I went into his files and pulled out all the negs and slides. And there they were...a sheet of slides. The house, the gate, the freaky pink guy guarding the grounds from the balcony. All there. I just hadn't done the lo res scans so I didn't think to look in his file folder.

Like I said...Deborah definitely dumb.

At least I can alliterate.

And in celebration of my dumbness, here's a sneak preview of George's house (not one that's going in the book):

That's Ringo's (and Maureen's) son, Zak Starkey, in the foreground...he's now the drummer for The Who.

Gene Pitney

Done.

What I Did Today

Tweaked Terry Kath's layout and sized all the photos. Looks much better now. Six pages, 3 full page photos and 14 more in various sizes.

Did the layout and sizing for Papa John Creach.

Did the layout for the Grateful Dead (Jerry and Keith).

Tweaked the George Harrison layout.

Only 4 layouts to go.

Plus 3 additional sizings.

Time to sleep.

The Design End In Sight

Got a lot accomplished this weekend.

I now have 34 sections that have completed layouts and are sized, with the photos either at the scanners or ready to go.

I have 3 sections that need tweaks and sizing (George Harrison, Billy Preston and Terry Kath) and 6 that need layouts and sizing (Beach Boys, Papa John Creach, Maurice Gibb, Grateful Dead, John Lee Hooker and Gene Pitney).

So close.

I'm working on Creach now. My problem is I have too many pictures of him that I really like. I want to make them all full pages but I don't have the space. So, I sit and stare at all the photos hoping they will fight it out amongst themselves. Same problem with the other 5 leftover layouts. Anyway, I'm going to try and finish them all by tomorrow.

Once that's done, it's on the writing.

Is Late Better Than Never?

I finished the layout for George Harrison, except the last page. The page where I want to put the pictures of his Friar Park home. Especially the front gate with the gold plated "Friar Park" sign. I thought I put the slides with the Maureen Starkey pics. Nope. Not there. Went through my old stock shot binder. Not there. I still have some photos of the the outside of the house. But not the best ones.

So, I went back into the garage. And I found a box I hadn't opened in several years. No, I did not find any of the slides and negs I am missing. You would have heard me scream with delight had that happened.

What was in the box? Some old LP records that I thought were long gone. And a bunch of family pictures. And the thing I was looking for that I talked about in my "I'm Ashamed Of Myself" post on June 30. This is what I wrote:

"As if my last post wasn't enough to send me into a self-imposed permanent exile...

Went to a movie last night and rushed home because the movie inspired me to post something on my blog. Not a story. Not a review. A something. A something that I had to find. I looked everywhere it could possibly be (the office, the garage, the old office area...) but, alas, I couldn't find it."

The movie I had gone to see was Superman Returns. I thought it sucked. So much so that I spent a couple of hours looking for this:

The real Superman.

Book Stats

Even though I wrote down what I was going to do after yesterday's post...I didn't.

The George Harrison pictures remain scattered across my desk, along with the stack of Lowell George photos. I started Beatle George but realized I hadn't alloted enough pages to accommodate the multitude of pretty color pictures. So, I looked around the list to see where I could cut a page or two. I hate doing that. But I knew I had to.

I went over to the Michael Bloomfield mess. For some reason I had two Michael Bloomfield layout files. What's up with that guy? It's not enough that he haunted my flight to New York last year. Now, he wants two sections in my book. What does he want? The opening and the closing? (Let me duck under my desk until the lightning bolts clear.)

Okay. Where was I? Thankfully, late last night, Mr. Bloomfield was ready to cooperate with me. At least as far as finishing his layout. But he was not willing to give up a page to Mr. Harrison.

Here are the morning stats:

8 layouts left to finish...Beach Boys (Dennis and Carl Wilson), Papa John Creach, Lowell George, Maurice Gibb, Grateful Dead (Jerry Garcia and Keith Godchaux), George Harrison, John Lee Hooker and Gene Pitney.

And those 8 plus an additional 15 that need the slides and negs sized to go out for scanning. My goal is to have all of that done and to the scanners by Tuesday, giving me 7 weeks to research and write something about each of the musicians. As well as retouch the dust spots of the scans and put them into the layout. Then print out a couple of mock-ups. Oh yeah, and figure out the cover. And figure out a way to pay the bills.

I won't be getting out much in the next 7 weeks. No movies. No fun. Just sitting in this chair, in front of this computer, living with my dead rock stars. (Oops, that's a lie. I'm going to meet a friend for lunch at Lucy's today. But that's it. I promise.)

A lot of this is work is really sad for me, but I'm driven by the feeling that I'm doing the only thing I can to bring them back to life. Each and every one of them.

If only...

In Other News

I relieved my Lowell George depression by printing out my George Harrison pictures. My 11 color photos and twice as many black & white George Harrison pictures, thank you very much.

I was about to do the layout for George and Harrison (ha ha, get it?), but then decided to dig into my Michael Bloomfield section and finish the print-outs I started last month. Aack. His computer folder is in complete disarray. How appropriate. I started with his pictures a year ago February. I don't have that many - more lost pictures and another reason you'll read about in the book - but still, it's a mess. Reminds me of the time he sent me to his house to look at his artwork. Since he decided not to be there, I had to look through the house on my own. His bedroom looked like his computer folder. In other words, so bad that I had to take a break and write this post. Enough said.

When I'm done with this post, I'll probably flake on Michael and do the layout for George. The Beatle. I'm thinking it will flow easily. And easy is exactly what I'm looking for right now.

In other news...

I found Fred Kaplan's email address. Due to Dave Chamness not giving up. Thank you, Dave. You will be rewarded. It was his second to last stab that did the trick. I emailed Delta Groove and they emailed back his personal email address. I'll send him a note tonight. Yay...I don't have to drive all the way to Laguna to track him down.

I also heard back from Tim Renwick (through Brian Mathieson) about Peter Wood. Tim played in several bands with Peter, including the Al Stewart Band when I shot him. He didn't have the birth and death dates I'm looking for but he did go into how he died:

"The dates for Peter I'm not sure of. I know he died when he fell over and knocked himself out during a solitary drinking binge (it seems he was a secret drinker - schnapps being the drink of choice - so oblivion seeking, the motivation) I think the actual cause of death in such cases is hyperthermia. It was very tragic, at the time there had to be a `whip-round` to pay for his funeral expenses I was told. Those of us in the UK did not hear of his demise for a while as he'd separated from his wife and was hiding away a lot."

Very sad. Peter was a sweet fun-loving guy, as you will see by his photos (and the ones he took of me) in the book.

And finally, since I can't find my Lowell George color pics, the least I could do is confirm the identity of which son (we think it's Forrest) is in the photo with Lowell and Mo Ostin. I was going to ask Dave Chamness to take care of this for me - since he seems to have a lot of slack time -but I went ahead and found an email for George's daughter's manager. He sent the photo on to her and I am waiting to hear back.

Later.

It's Days Like This...

...that really bum me out.

When I do a layout for a musician in my book, the first thing I do is print out all the photos I have of them. Four to a page and then I cut them up so I can sort through them, look at them all at once and pick the pictures I want for the book.

I just finished all the Lowell George photos. I have 39 to pick from...but I'm really bummed because I am missing all of the live color shots. I know I took them. One of them is on the inside of the Waiting For Columbus album. See? It's right there:

I'm trying to get a copy of that shot through the record company. I really want to put it in the book, since Lowell said it was his favorite picture of himself.

Why the fuck didn't I take better care of my stuff?

It's A Party...

...and you're cordially invited.

Celebrating the 1st birthday of my blog.

Today.

Bring gifts.