London calling...

And I'm heeding the call.

For 12 whole days in April.

Haven't been there since the early '90s. Wow. That's just criminal, isn't it?

Three of those days I need to be at the London Book Fair in Earls Court but the other nine days are completely mine.

Since it's been such a long time I need lots of info and sage guidance...

I'm looking for a cool place to stay that won't break my little piggy bank. Hopefully a place that has internet access. I've heard hotels charge for the internet - if they even have it - for around $22/day. That's like a freaking drug habit. Which is kinda what the internet is, donchya think? And I'm a junkie, so I need access. But I can't pay $22/day for my fix.

In addition to a roof over my head, I'm also looking for cool things to do, cool places to go and cool people to meet. Any suggestions?

And what about a cell phone? My Sprint phone doesn't get service in the UK. How easy is it and how much does it cost to rent a phone over there? Or should I just make my move to an iPhone right now?

Anybody want to throw a book party? I'll bring the books.

If you have suggestions feel free to leave a public comment or shoot me a private-type email to info@cheshercat.com. I'm looking forward to your ideas.



Hey, this used to be my national anthem too.

Happy Birthday, George

In celebration of George Harrison's birthday, I am going to release this photo of him in a very affordable litho print. It was taken on November 2, 1974, the opening night of his Dark Horse tour.

The pre-public release of the print (at a special price) will be at The Fest for Beatle Fans 2008 (formerly known as BeatleFest) on March 28th in N.J., where I will be speaking and also have a table with my book and Beatle-related photographs on display (including never-before-seen photos of Ringo and pics not included in the book). So, if you're going to be at The Fest, please stop by and say hello!

BUT

You can get the print even before the pre-public release and before the public release, which will be some time in April.

HOW?

I'm offering the print exclusively to my Chesher Cat mailing list at a special pre-public price. I will be sending out an email on or about March 6th with the link to a secret location on my website where the print can be ordered.

NOT ON THE LIST?

It's easy as pie to sign up. Go HERE and enter your email address in the appropriate box at the bottom of the menu bar on the left. And don't worry, we never share your email address with anyone and we don't send out junk mailings. Just an occasional note (average once or twice a month) from me when I have something cool to tell you. Just make sure you sign up before March 6th if you're interested in the George photo.

Okay, this is a little wistful for George's birthday but very cool just the same:

Happy Birthday, George.

Two Johns Gone

Today is the day to commemorate the passing of two outstanding musicians. If you are not familiar with them please take a moment to look at their pictures and have a listen.

Papa John Creach
May 8, 1917 - February 22, 1994

Papa John remains one of my most favorite photography subjects. He allowed me to hang out in his dressing room and take candid shots. I thank him for giving me some of my best work.

John Fahey
February 28, 1939 - February 22, 2001

John Fahey was a cantankerous guy, who was quite possibly the best accoustic guitarist I've seen. I can't say John gave me my best pictures but I can definitely say he gave me one of my best rock'n'roll stories. Seriously.

Sweet Mike

It's that day again. But now it's 27 years since Michael Bloomfield died.

I'm not going to go on and on about how I feel about Michael. You probably know. If not, you can shell out some $ for Everybody I Shot Is Dead and read all about it. Michael would like that.

Michael and his band, The Electric Flag:

Me and Michael

Because I Love You...

And it's Valentine's Day...

And I'm in an unusually sharing mood...

If you order one copy of Everybody I Shot Is Dead from my website today through Sunday...

We will send you two copies.

Yes, that's two copies (signed) for the price of one.

And the priority shipping is free on all US orders.

So, grab a friend and go in on this deal together.

Or, be generous and give your free copy to someone who wants the book but can't afford it.

Click here to take advantage of my love. It's a one time thing.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Tim Buckley

Valentine's Day is all about love. Tim Buckley was born on Valentine's Day. Therefore, you should love Tim Buckley.

He was one of the more interesting musicians I met back in the day. Maybe I should say fascinating. He liked to give me a hard time. It didn't bother me because he did it in the most charming way.

This is my favorite picture of him. Definitely how I saw him. And how I like to remember him.


It's really hard to find footage on him. This is from around the same time as I was shooting him. It's one of my favorite songs of his although I have to say the performances I saw had a lot more passion than this...probably because there's no audience here. He was amazing in front of a live audience.

I Love Waylon

Today is the 6th anniversary of Waylon Jennings' passing. I had the best time shooting him. We had great chemistry which I think pretty much shows in this backstage shot.

Waylon Jennings
June 15, 1937 - February 13, 2002

In my continued effort to have everyone on the planet listen to the music of the wonderful musicians in my book, here are a couple of tunes I personally pulled from youtube.

Enjoy.

This is from 1970...five years before I shot him. Boy, did he ever change in that short period of time:



This is later and way, way, waylon/willie/johnny/kris awesome. Wish I'd shot The Highwaymen tour!

Love Is All...I Have To Give

Today is the 5th anniversary of Malcolm Roberts' passing.

Love Is All is one of his signature songs. When I started working on Everybody I Shot Is Dead I had trouble finding anything on Malcolm Roberts. Now, there are several versions of this song on youtube. Thought I'd share this version with you, since most of you who have seen him in my book probably have never heard of him.


Although he was from England, Roberts was a huge star in South America. Most of the comments on youtube are in Spanish. Too bad I took French in school.

Good Vibrations

I always seem to mess up in February. Maybe because it's a short month. And this year in particular, it arrives much too fast.

Anyway, I'm a day late to pay tribute to the passing of Beach Boy Carl Wilson.

It was ten years ago yesterday that Carl's amazing voice was silenced.

Carl Wilson

12/21/46 - 2/6/98

I'm currently at a cafe with internet access where I've been scouring youtube to see what I might find on Carl. I found something new that looks to be a real gem, but the internet here is sporadic at best so I haven't been able to watch it all the way through - it stops every 3 seconds for a break. But it says it was shot as a promo for Good Vibrations on October 23, 1966 - long before the invention of the music video - so, I'm betting it's classic.

Okay, now I saw it all the way through. Definitely classic. I think the boys jumped on the idea because, like all little boys, they wanted to ride the fire truck.

I have always loved The Beach Boys. And I always will.

Yesterday and Today

Yesterday is the day he died.

Today is the day he was born.

Celebrate the sensational Alex Harvey!

He was a crazy guy...but in such a good way.