I'm Close...

...too bad close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

After not being able to locate Scanner Dude last Sunday (a bad day), I found out he'd been working on my scans and had a stack for me on Monday (a good day). So, I'm frantically going through them, cloning out any remaining bits of dust and retarded pixels, and placing them into the Quark layouts so Scanner Dude can do a few test proofs. I wasn't holding out much hope for some of the color - especially Marc Bolan - because they didn't look that great on my monitor. But Scanner Dude said they looked good on his and they would proof well. Okay.

Got them back on Tuesday (a bad day) and the black and whites looked great, while the color sucked ass, just as I thought they would. Scanner Dude couldn't figure it out. Maybe it's your slides...after all, they are kinda old. "Well," I respond, "they look just fine on my inexpensive Epson flatbed so I don't see why you can't get them to look great on your ultraexpensive drum scanner." Not one to back down from a challenge, Scanner Dude says not to worry, he's going to figure it out.

Also on Tuesday, or maybe it was Wednesday (making it two bad days in a row) - yes, it was Wednesday, Scanner Dude sends over more scans, including re-dos of my troublesome Keith Knudsen color shots. Guess what? They suck ass, even worse than Marc Bolan. I call Scanner Dude and tell him. He doesn't know why they suck on my monitor because, again, they look fine on his. I told him I put his scan next my scan and his is so bad, I might have to use mine if he can't fix it.

Here's a portion of his and mine so you understand what I'm talking about:

Scanner Dude's scan

My scan

So, I email him my scan and let him know he's a loser if he can't at least make his as good as mine, and it better be better.

I also decide on Wednesday (let's call it Black Wednesday) it's time to call the Printer Dudette and let her know that I'm not going to be there with my files on Monday as I had planned. Although it's not the end of the world, and it probably won't delay the delivery of the book (October '07, folks) the call was really tough to make because in all my years of advertising this is the first time I have missed a deadline. And that pisses me off. Not to mention having to redo the placement of the scans over and over again.

On Thursday Scanner Dude calls and says he figured it out and that he ran a test proof of the Keith Knudsen photo to prove it. He came running over with that and more scans last night. He was right - the new scan looked good, even though the color hadn't been balanced yet. What had gone wrong, you ask? The monitor he had been working on had a calibration problem, so when he put the scans on it they looked too hot - cartoony, he said - and he balanced them until they looked right...on his monitor. Aaarrrggghhh! Guess I've been overworking him.

Now, we are more or less back on track and I'm being over-optimistic in setting a new lofty goal-slash-deadline of Thursday. I really shouldn't write that down because chances are I won't make that one either. There's so much time-consuming work left to do. For example, I'm utilizing a lot of film strips in the design so I can present more photos without the layout looking yearbookish. But when Scanner Dude spins the strips, since they're negs the image has to invert, making the sprockets black. Which means I have to retouch them back to white and also clone out the lubricant they use that coagulates on the edges of the strip. For a five frame strip, it take an hour plus change.

Before...........................After

And to add to the pile, I re-read one of the text bits and it sucked - I'm not telling which one because I don't want anyone searching it out to see if it still sucks - now I have one more reader going through all the text and being brutally honest with his 'suck meter' as well as catching more typos that three of us missed. So, I have a little rewriting to do, not to mention I still have finished the last two musicians and the last two dedications.

I think it's time to start a betting pool and see if somebody can nail the date and time I'm ready to go to the printers - meaning when the last approved proof is spit out of Scanner Dude's proof printer. Think of it like a baby pool. And the winner (closest to the date and time) gets a free book (FOB Los Angeles - meaning you have to pay the postage if you live outside of L.A.).

I had no intention of turning this post into a contest, but what the heck. And there's no way I can put the fix in, because I don't have a clue when this baby is going to be delivered. Although I can say I'm getting tired of being pregnant, so a scheduled C-section isn't out of the question.

Place your guess in the comments section of this post. No need to divulge your contact info...I will announce the winner when it happens and the winner can email me. One entry per person by noon on July 4th. In the meantime, I will not update my progress, so there will be no point to waiting until the last minute to enter. As a matter of fact, your best guess might be taken by someone else if you don't enter early.

Good luck!

My Bad

Turns out scanner guy was at his shop yesterday and worked until 4 this morning. He didn't hear the phone when I called because the ringer was turned down and he was wondering why he hadn't heard from me.

So he stopped by this morning with the remainder of the color scans and a bunch of black and whites. I put Marc Bolan's section together since his color shots are the most troublesome for me at the moment and scanner guy will output a proof for me tonight. The Bolan black and whites kick ass. The color shots are great shots, but I have to see how the scans proof to see what adjustments need to be made to the color.

Once I see the Marc Bolan section proofed, I will know what adjustments are needed on the rest of the scans and can move full steam ahead on the rest. (She said, optimistically.) I only have two musicians left to write about and four dedications. Trying to finish them all by end of day tomorrow. May need to pull an all-nighter tonight just to get a grip on the enormous amount of work left to do.

Despite all my complaining, let me say... I am having a great time doing this book. It is incredibly rewarding every single day and I can't wait for people to see it.

One Week

That's it. That's all the time I have left. We're talking wing and a prayer here, folks.

I have two musicians left to write about and still need to finish up the five dedications. That's not so much. I can definitely see the light at the end of that tunnel. My big problem is that I haven't placed the high res scans yet...well, maybe I've done 10% of them. I was going to work on it at my scanner guy's place yesterday afternoon and all day today. 'Cept he's gone AWOL. I've called him at least ten times today but nobody was there.

So, tomorrow I am going to show up at the place - it's a workday so there will be people there - and under the auspices of needing to look at the original slides in order to redo the color corrections that I'm not happy with (which is true, btw), I'm going to park my ass there until he's finished with my job. (I'm afraid to count how few final scans I've received from them). And whatever's not working out, I will rush my originals over to the other scanning place. I've worked with this guy for many years but I'm losing faith in his broken promises, and there's just no more time left to screw around.

I also need to find an attorney to consult and make sure I take care of whatever things in the text need to be cited. I'm mentioning song titles in the text and have yet to receive a definitive consensus on whether I need to list credits to the publisher, copyright holder and/or record company. And it's always good to have an attorney look over things before they go to print, just to lessen the chance of getting sued over a misspelled name or something.

Yup, it's definitely a wing and a prayer time.

I'm expecting a few sleepless nights over the next week, but it will be worth getting the book finished. Although, it's a little on the bittersweet side. I'm really getting used to living with my dead rock stars. They're beginning to feel like family.

Do You Believe In Ghosts?

As this blog is my witness, yesterday I was writing the text to go with my Harry Nilsson pictures. It was a tough write because there was a lot to say in very little space, but I finished it. And it started me wondering what really happened to that last album he had finished the vocal tracks on just days before he passed away. I thought about trying to get in touch with my friend who I knew Harry through, but then I was thinking, there's really no time to do that. And besides, I was pretty happy with how the text finally came out. Then last night Harry was in one of my dreams but I've been so tired lately, I'm not remembering the details of my dreams when I wake up. But he was definitely present. I know, I know, it's not uncommon to dream about someone when you've just been focused on them for seven hours.

Today I had appointments with both companies that are doing the scans for the book. While I was driving there I got a phone call from one of my movie clients asking something about a previous job I'd done for her. A couple of seconds into the call she said my voice was garbled. We hung up and she called me back. It was still garbled, even though I could hear her perfectly. Then I got another call and the same thing happened. Okay, I need to get my cell phone fixed.

After all my meetings over the hill, I dropped by Sprint - the store near my house where I knew they had while-you-wait repair service. I go in only to find out they closed the repair counter down because there wasn't enough traffic. They gave me a piece of paper with listings of a bunch of repair places and circled the second one of the list. I don't know why they picked the second one when the first one was as close, or closer.

I drove the 3 miles East on Ventura Blvd and pulled into the parking area that was overflowing with cars from from the local gym, thinking I really need to go to my gym. Fortunately, there was a reserved spot open in front of the cell phone repair shop. (Of course there was...I have a parking fairy, but that's another story). I walk in the shop and notice two guys sitting behind the service counter. The guy on the right asks what he can do for me before I even reach the counter. The other guy was online and talking to a guy leaning on the side of the counter. I tell the guy helping me that the mic is not working on my phone. He asks to see it and immediately informs me that he probably doesn't have the part, but he'll look it up.

How am I doing at dragging this story out? Pretty good, eh?

So, while he's tending to that, the other guy turns to me and asks if I know how to spell the name of the restaurant "Pasche." I gave it a shot - P-a-s-c-h-e - but they didn't think that was right and my guy was ready for me with my prognosis so I turned back to him. He said they didn't have the part and couldn't fix my phone. Shit. But the store in Encino could probably fix it since they were a corporate Sprint, whereas these guys were independent and weren't provided with a lot of older (2 years) parts. I then go out to my car to get my list to confirm with him which store it is.

When I come back in the other guy happily reports that they found the restaurant. It's P-a-c-e. "Oh, Pace," I say. Yeah, but it's called Pashay. Does it have an accent on the e, I ask? He shows me on the screen. Yes. And then calls the restaurant. While my guy is calling the other Sprint place to make sure they have the part, I overhear that last part of the other guy making a reservation. I thought he was doing it for the other customer. I wasn't paying much attention until, out of the corner of my ear, I heard him spell N-i-l-s-s-o-n and say it was for four.

I glanced at him and when he hung up the phone I made some smartass comment like, "So, I'm invited to dinner?" as the spelling of the name sunk in. How odd, I thought, as he joked back, "Sure, dinner's at 7:30." Then I mumbled, "You don't happen to know Harry. do you?" "Excuse me?" "Sorry, I just heard you spell Nilsson. Just wondered if you knew Harry."

"I'M HIS SON."

"No shit." As I looked at him a little closer. Of course. He looked a lot like him.

"Yup. Harry Nilsson is my dad."

I immediately went into my "Oh my God, you're not going to believe this but I'm doing a book and your dad is in it..." spiel. I don't think he believed me at first, until I started filling in the details with evidence that I did actually know his dad. And then he had lots of questions, as did I...like "whatever happened to the album he was working on when he died?"

He was as freaked out as I was that I had just been writing about Harry yesterday. We talked about a bunch of stuff and I gave him a postcard on the book. We exchanged information and I told him I'd be in touch so he could see the pictures. And that I'd give his family a print when I got them done and then I left...

...TOTALLY FREAKED OUT.

I mean what are the chances that he'd spell his name on the phone when I happened to be standing there? Hell, what are the chances that Harry Nilsson's son would be behind the counter at a cell phone store I was sent to to get my phone fixed?

Especially since I'd run into the woman who is directing my movie at the scanners earlier in the day. And we had a long talk while she looked at the mock-up of my book. She also had some good news about our movie and we discussed how great things were working out for both of us. I made a comment about how cool it was that things and people were just connecting out of the blue for us and that it was a sign that we were going in the right direction.

So, I'm guessing you think the story is over now, right?

It's not.

I got in my car and as I was leaving the parking lot a song came on the radio.

It was One by Three Dog Night. My all-time favorite Three Dog Night song. They don't play it much on the radio anymore.

Do you know who wrote One?

Harry Nilsson.

And what could be weirder than that?

Someone called my cell phone as soon as I got home. The caller could hear me just fine. Then someone else called. That caller could hear me just fine. And then someone else, and someone else. There's nothing wrong with my phone.

Hi, Harry. Thanks for visiting. Feel free to stop by any time.

Nilsson, Badfinger & Schmilsson

I'm trying to finish writing about Harry - don't know why, but it's hard to organize everything he did and who he was in less than a page.

I also have to finish Badfinger which is very tricky because their story is a convoluted tragedy, making it tricky to condense.

Whenever I mention Badfinger, people seem to have heard of them but can't remember any of their songs. Same thing goes for Mr. Nilsson. And since there are forever intertwined by Without You I thought I'd share these With You.

Harry Nilsson's hit version of Badfinger's Without You:


Badfinger's version of Badfinger's Without You:


And finally, a little Schmilsson that will hopefully put a smile on your face:

Tick, tick, tick...kaboom!

I feel like I'm in a video tape movie where the time is on fast forward but I'm in real time desperately trying to keep up. I have several more travelblog posts to finish but with my giant looming deadline casting a dark cloud over the sunny California horizon I'm full throttle (make that slow throttle) on finishing Everybody I Shot Is Dead. Sometimes I wonder if I'm stalling because I don't want this experience to end. Once the book is finished, I'm going to miss living with my dead rock stars.

Nah, I'm just a slow writer. I'm four lines away from finishing Keith Knudsen's text. I have yet to complete Frank Zappa, The Beach Boys, Peter Wood, Harry Nilsson, Badfinger, Terry Kath, George Harrison, Maurice Gibb, Tim Buckley, Marc Bolan, Alex Harvey, the five dedications and my story. And I haven't even started the Grateful Dead, Lowell George and John Denver. I also haven't placed all the high res scans, nor have I done the new cover. Yes, I am completely revamping the cover.

I'm assuming my readership would prefer I finish the book before I continue documenting yet another failed sexual exploit and my other excellent New York adventures.

NYC Travelblog #4

Saturday Night...

Friday night I went to the theater. After another long day of blabbing and walking at the expo, Saturday night started with party at a restaurant/bar - somewhere around 59th and Madison - hosted by the company that is printing Everybody I Shot Is Dead. They served drinks and buffet food (the ravioli was killer) and people who worked for their various companies plus authors, clients and other guests. The company contracts printing in China and they also have two publishing companies, including one that does music/art/photography oriented titles.

I spent much of the evening chatting with a girl who lives in the Bay Area and handles books created by the environmental non-profit she works for. Then they did a bunch of patting themselves on the back and honoring the authors of the new books they have coming out this Fall. So, I took the opportunity to meet a couple of other music photographers. One who tagged along with Elvis for a year while he was on his rise to the top and came out with a beautiful book called Elvis at 21: From New York to Memphis. The other was a guy who shot pictures of John and Yoko and has a book called John and Yoko: A New York Love Story coming out this Fall.

As the party was nearing its end, a friend of the girl I befriended showed up and the three of us had a drink at the bar. Her friend used to work for the Grateful Dead so we had some stories to share. Turned out he attended the San Francisco gallery opening we had for my previous book, Starart. The world continues to shrink.

By 10pm I was on my way back to my hotel to prepare for the arrival of Chris Parker. He had a gig in Connecticut, a couple of hours out, so I assumed he'd show up no earlier than midnite. I had spent the whole day sweating it out at the convention center and then went straight to the party after a quick stopover at my hotel and had planned to shower and do my best to transform into something presentable before he showed.

Turns out the maid service didn't clean the room on Saturday so I had to deal with that as well. Then, right when I was about to hop in the shower my cell phone rings. It's Chris Parker and he's three blocks away from my hotel. He'd be in the lobby in ten minutes. Great. Two minutes to recover from the shock, four minutes to faux-tidy the suite and four minutes to wash my face and apply the necessary layers of make-up to disguise my fatigue. Then a race down to the lobby to escort my cute drummer to my boudoir...

Imagine this suite much, much messier. Beds unmade, clothing and suitcases and papers strewn about. And now I've run out of time to blog so I'll have to finish this next time. Which is okay because it really took place in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

NYC Travelblog #3

Day 2 rolled around way too soon. I was already tired when I woke up. I took a cab to the Javitz instead of walking the 3 avenue blocks.

This time I was armed with my list and talked to as many people as I could about my book. I hung out at Google for a personal tutorial on their new Book Search feature. While there my tutor and I became subjects of the official expo photographer. It always pays to pick the cutest guy in the place to teach you (me) the ways of googleland. The photographer must have take twenty shots if he took one. Then I was accosted by a couple of women. Because I was wearing this:

The one girl said,"Where did you get that tee shirt? I have to have it." I had seven shirts made for the trip - some tees, some jerseys - and I got a huge response to them. Also for the title of the book in general. It was fun to overhear people's comments at the booth where my fliers were when they didn't know who I was. Things like, "Everybody I Shot Is Dead...what a great title." And with the shirts even when they had no clue, I'd hear "Did you see that shirt? Everybody I Shot Is Dead. Cool." One of the booths I visited had already heard about the book from some friend of theirs that brought them one of my postcards 'cause they loved the title and the idea.

The girls who were at the Google booth turned out to be freelance writers for the NY Times. I told them about the book and said I'd give them shirts if they wrote about the book. The girl that really wanted my shirt said she'd write about it whether she got a shirt or not.

So, as you can imagine, I'm very happy with the response I continued to receive on Day 2.

Last but not least, here's my Day 2 celebrity photo:

Next installment: Saturday Night.

NYC Travelblog #2

Um, where was I?

Oh yeah, the first day of the Book Expo. Hot and sweaty. There was no air conditioning on in the building on Thursday when everybody was setting up their booths. They turned it on for Friday but it didn't feel any cooler. Too many bodies.

I arrived shortly after the 9am opening. I put my flyers and postcards on one of the display tables at my printer's booth and started to make my rounds. Oops, I forgot all the pages I tore out of the catalogue with the companies I wanted to see circled. I decided to forego a new catalogue, they're too damn heavy to carry around and toddled off to Amazon. That took about an hour...the meeting, not the toddling. Three different Amazonians checked out the mock-up. All positive responses.

Then it was off to see the major wholesalers. One of the wholesalers won't distribute for publishers that only have one book. After I showed her the mock-up, she said they'd make an exception.

My other stops on my many mile walk included as many exhibitors I could find that had connections to foreign companies that were appropriate for distribution (Canada and the UK) and/or co-editions and translations. None of the end people were there but I was given excellent referrals.

My other stop on Day 1 was the five minutes it took to snap photos of the correctly identified celebrity (by Brett) LL Cool J.

I was dog-tired by the time I walked the three avenue blocks (much longer than street blocks for those of you unfamiliar with NY) carrying my heavy bag back to the hotel at the end of the day. But not to tired to hike uptown to the Burger Joint at the Parker Meridien (best burgers ever) followed by an evening at the theater to see Wicked (big thanks to Rick for that). Great show. I was especially impressed with the lighting and sets.

Stay tuned for Day 2.

More Chris Parker

Okay, I'm fucked. I was going to write this earlier and tell you that Chris Parker was coming over after his gig in Connecticut tonight. I figured he'd be here at midnight or whatever, if he came at all. Shit. He just called. He's three blocks away. The maid didn't come today. I just got back from a party. I was going to take a shower. Now I gotta make the bed.

Fuck.

Well there you go. There's going to be another Chris Parker hotel room story.

See ya'.

NYC Travelblog #1

I'm in my fourth hotel room. Started in the usual NY closet with a double bed. Fortunately, the TV was a split screen - the right side of the screen on the left and the left side was on the right. The front desk guy was going to give me a room with two beds but on a smoking floor. When my reaction was 'I'll check and see how bad it smells' he decided to give me another room with a double bed without telling me. When I went back down and told him I had wanted to see the double room he got kind of pissy and said it would be an additional $25. He finally gave me the key and an overling who had been eavedropping him apologized to me and said there was no charge. The room was better but there was no internet.

I decided not to complain, but then I got a call from the guy. He was suddenly sweet as pie and said if I wanted a different room he would change it the following day. Guess the overling had words with him. So, the next day he gave me a suite. A sweet suite. Two beds, a sitting area, a refrigerator and TWO bathrooms. In New York City. For the price of a closet with a double bed. The guy told me the only drawback was no wifi on this floor. But, it turns out there is wifi. Free wifi. In New York City.

This is the tail end of a line of at least 20 cop cars with lights flashing and sirens blaring parading through the streets for no apparent reason. They could have stopped and arrested the rat.


Yesterday I saw a guy on a bicycle get hit. He had a gash on his arm. Saw him again tonight walking on the sidewalk...no bike.

I stopped by the convention center yesterday (the show didn't open until this morning) to have my badge scanned and pick up my badge holder because I knew it would look like this today:

The convention center is hot and sweaty. Even inside there are way too many people:


I didn't see Harry but here's his bus:


But I did see this celebrity:


First person to name him doesn't get a prize. Just bragging rights.

Zero...

...is exactly how many hours of sleep I've had since I got up at 8:30am on Monday after sleeping for three and a half hours Sunday night.

Actually, I don't feel too bad, all things considered. Printing all the pages for the book was an arduous process. By yesterday afternoon I realized how long the process takes and if I didn't work on it through the night I wouldn't have finished. I kept slugging away at it and every time I counted how many I had left to go it seemed like there were close to one hundred pages.

I also had to trim every page by hand. This is what my office floor looked like when I was done:

The mock-up is all done and bound now. Full size. I can flip through the pages and it looks just like a book. And the best part is that all the different sections flow together. I was worried about that.

Just waiting for a load of laundry to dry, then I'm going to finish packing, go to sleep, get up first thing in the morning and board a plane to New York. I'm looking forward to seeing what the book industry thinks of the book.

I'm going to try and travelblog as the trip unfolds.

Night, night...

2:30 AM

Why is it that no matter what I do I always need an extra day or week or month to get things done? There's just never enough time. And in this case it's not like I'm pissing it away. It's 2:30AM and I just ran out of color ink. The color ink always lasts longer than the black...until now, when I need it.

I'm now counting down the hours before I get on a plane to New York and if I don't have a mock-up of the book, the trip is pointless. And tomorrow is Memorial Day. I hope Staples is open because I still have close to 150 pages to print. And trim. And bind.

My problem is I didn't get my scans back until 11PM last night. I spent at least two or three hours this morning transferring them to my hard drive and cataloging them. Then a bunch of them needed, or should I say need, adjustments. Which means opening them in photoshop and fixing them and then sizing them into Quark and then printing. Each page prints by itself because I'm printing two-sided and have to back the pages up with each other.

So, I'm hoping I can get it done in time to have it bound - just spiral binding and then taking the dummy along with it. I was hesitant on how it would look when I was glancing at the scans but the stuff I've printed looks pretty darn great. There will still be a ton of work to do when I get back (and while I'm in New York). There are scans that don't match the slides so I'll have to sit with the color people and beat them until they make them perfect. Plus, I have not finished the writing. Some of the mock-up will have fake writing but since people will just be checking out the book, they'll really be looking at the pictures. And the mock-up is not leaving my sight so I can direct them to read the ones that are done.

All right, back to fixing scans and placing the photos until I can't keep my eyes open....

Michael, Paul and Son

Now that Terry Kath has quieted down, Michael Bloomfield stepped up, asking, "Did you forget about me?" No, Michael. You will always be my number one favorite guitar player.

This is very cool footage from the Newport Folk Festival documentary. Great music with Paul Butterfield and Son House, and some interview clips that will give you a true glimpse into the sweetness that is Michael Bloomfield.

My Process

Time is running out...FAST. Next week I have to be in New York with the book in hand. One way or another, I plan to finish.

Part of my process for figuring out the chronological order and pagination for the book consisted of these:

Post-Its on my wall.

During the day I work in my office, sitting behind the desk for 10 or 11 hours straight. Then I carry my laptop the ten paces it takes me to get to my bedroom and work another couple of hours until my brain explodes. When I wake up in the morning I work for an hour or so in bed and then walk my laptop the ten paces back to my desk. Sound like fun? Actually, I do intend to get back to having some kind of a life once the book is put to bed and at the printers.

Anyway, the post-its are on my bedroom wall. Which I like because it keeps all my rock stars nearby. And which I don't like because it keeps all my rock stars nearby. I spend all my time with them and they are beginning to creep into my dreams on a nightly basis. Wait a second...the fact that I socialize with dead rock stars 24/7 was not the topic of this post. And could cause harm to my reputation as a semi-sane person.

What was it? Oh yeah, my process. So, the post-its, which you can probably read if you click to enlarge, have everybody's name on them. Except the first one on the top left is titled 'all about me' and represents the introduction I'm writing, along with the now 5 dedication pages. The bottom right corner of the post-its have the neg numbers if there were black & whites involved and the top left corner has the date. It might be hard to read because I used mostly red pen. There are fewer post-its than people in the book because several bands have more than on dead person and I just used the name of the band to save time and space. And now, as I finish the writing portions of each musician, the post-it gets a black star drawn on the bottom. I guess you can see I don't have near enough black stars. That doesn't mean I haven't started them. Lots of them are outlined and/or partially written. But no star until they're done, done.

Yesterday I started the real pagination...figuring out what the actual page order was going to be. It sounds simple because I've already laid out all the sections with their pictures but I still had to figure out the title page[s] and how I was going to handle my intro story along with the dedications etc. Plus there were certain ideas I had in my head as to what should be a right or left page within the sections. But since I am running it chronologically, I am kind of at the mercy of where things fall. So, I made the list of all the musicians and knew I needed an extra page at the back. I was hoping to have extra pages at the front to have a double title page and some blank pages to keep everything looking clean and simple. But by the time I counted everything up I had too many pages.

I stole one page back from one of the musicians. It wasn't really needed. Then I started hacking off the front - there will only be one title page and fewer blank ones. And then I went through and did a L-R-L-R-L thing next to each of the names to make sure I accounted for all their pages. That worked out really well until I was putting a binder together with three hole paper representing each page and penciling in what/who was on each page. That process revealed two places where I had ended one persons section on an L and mistakenly started the next one on an L. Oops. Once I got that sorted out - it takes longer than you might think - I continued my writing and at the same time began adding the page numbers to the layouts.

Today, I ran into a problem. I finished writing John Fahey, followed by Hank Snow and then I moved on to Darrell Sweet from Nazareth. I opened up his Quark document and realized it was three pages instead of the four I had accounted for on my almighty excel list. Shit!! That screwed everything up. His pages are nearer to the front - starting on page 77 - and losing a page on him would shuffle everything that came after him and it would also screw up the end where I was putting the afterword and acknowledgments. Ultimately causing me to lose another page. I know that sounds weird, but trust me, pagination is a crazy thing because everything works in spreads and one page off means two pages off.

The whole thing pissed me off. I didn't want to try and figure out how to repaginate the whole book - lose another one at the front, add one at the back or whatever that was going to entail. Then suddenly one of my guys spoke up and everything was solved, even better than it was before. Yes, I am crazy...certifiable in fact...some of my rock stars make more noise than others. And they do it at different times. And it's generally in their own self interest, but occasionally it works out to solve a problem for me.

Lately, the noisy one has been Terry Kath. The kind of noisy where I wake up thinking about him and go to sleep thinking about him. It's like he's whispering in my ear, wanting me to look at his pictures. Wanting me to do more research. Wanting me make sure I give him the recognition he deserves. I don't know why...it's not like we were friends. I only met him in passing a couple of times. And I wasn't a huge Chicago fan (a bit too much on the horns) but lately he has made me take note of what an insanely incredible guitar player he was.

And he's not the only one that has done this to me. Almost all of them have whispered in my ear over the course of me putting the book together. Some louder than others, and some happy to sit back and let the chips fall where they may. I swear I'm not playing favorites. I really do love them all.

...it must be late 'cause I'm really rambling...

So anyway, Terry Kath stepped up and saved the day. Between Darrell and Terry were just 18 pages. After Darrell's 4, there were six for the four Blues Jam guys, 7 for John Lee Hooker, 3 for John Denver and then Terry's 6. The other annoyance I had before I caught the Darrel Sweet faux pas was the Blues Jam section started on a right-hand page. I wasn't all that happy about it because they each have two pages and I initially pictured their pages facing each other. The good thing about dropping Darrell's non-existent page was that they re-paginated the way I originally wanted them.

And that's when Terry screamed, "I'll take that extra page." As it turned out, that was the only solution that worked because as Terry's pages were, I had too much writing space to fill. I didn't know him well enough to tell a great personal story (although since he's been bugging me lately, I wish I had). I've been researching him and there's some interesting stuff but that space continued to be daunting to the point that I couldn't write anything. Except one opening line that I swear Terry coerced me to type: Terry Kath is the most underrated guitar player in the history of rock'n'roll. Nice one, TK.

....sidebar question: am I turning into the Jack Nicholson character in The Shining?....Is my book going to come out with every page filled with "Terry Kath is the most underrated guitar player in the history of rock'n'roll."?....

Now if you are still reading this gibberish I'm spewing forth, you must be asking, "If that's the case, how will giving Terry another page solve your problem?" Well, the second page that required me to come up with more words also has a film strip with four images in it. If I take out one of those images and make it a full page, I will need to make the now three image film strip taller so that it runs the runs the length of the page. And when I make it taller, it makes it much wider...lessening the space I have to fill with words. As it turns out, his was the only section that was in the vicinity that worked. And if his didn't work, I would be repaginating the whole damn book.

So, by Terry getting what he wanted, I got the solution I needed. Although if you were to ask him, I'm certain he would say he did it selflessly to make my life easier and that if it had worked out better to lose one of his pages he would have gladly stepped up and sacrificed. He was just that kind of guy.

Will I Make It?

It's crunch time...and I'm nowhere near finished the writing portrions of the book. To be honest, I'm a little short of half done. And I'm exhausted. Not so much from writing as much as from figuring out the dates of the shows. I think the dates are important and the book is going in chronological order of the dates I shot them. Seemed the only sensible thing to do.

I had some of the dates from a photo of my bulletin board with a bunch of backstage passes tacked to it. Then I did a lot of research trying to piece together tour dates of the individual bands. And finally, I started tracking down the record reps I worked for. So far I talked to two of them. The first one was to nail down the date for the Blues Jam. I had a picture on the concourse of Frank Gigliotti from CBS so I figured it was his show. Well, he didn't even remember being at the show. But he offered up the name of a promoter he thought might know so I tracked him down. He didn't know but he gave me the contact info for Tom Worrall. Tom was partners with my very close friend, Gary Switlo (one of my dedicatees), and they had the ticket agency that covered most of the shows at the time. They eventually sold out to Ticketmaster and Tom still works for them.

Anyway, Tom ended up emailing me a pdf of a bunch of handwritten accounting pages that listed every show they did in chronological order. It was amazing. All but ten of the shows were listed. Although I ran into a little trouble when some of the bands appeared twice in the same years. At least I had a rough idea of an order.

Several of the leftover bands belonged to Monica Neputsky, who I also tracked down by some miracle. She didn't have dates either but she suggested I get in touch with a journalist we knew who still works at the same paper. I emailed him and he's checking it out with their library.

But then tonight I had an epiphany. I remembered all those numbers that were written on the black & white neg sheets. I talked about those before when I was writing about Michael Bloomfield. And they came up again yesterday because I finished writing his text. I realized those numbers had meaning. Like a secret code. Even though I didn't keep track of the dates, the numbers did. Because I numbered them consecutively as I shot. Eureka!

For example, Michael Bloomfield is number 21. I know I shot him on January 12, 1974 because it was stamped on my backstage pass. And it was one of the passes tacked to my bulletin board. I know I shot John Lee Hooker before mid-February because I listed everyone I'd shot in a journal entry. But the neg sheet was number 82 so I knew it was from a later show. I shot Hooker at least three times. I finally placed it in late June because Darrell Anthony Sweet was number 73 and I shot Nazareth on June 12, 1974.

The Beach Boys were confusing. I thought I shot them in December 1974 but then their neg sheet was number 48/49, right after Zappa's 46/47 and he was on March 14, 1974. Then I started really looking at the pictures. In the black & whites they are wearing different clothes than in the color. Turns out I shot the b&w's at the March 17, 1974 show and the color in December. No wonder my brain hurts.

Then I got really confused with the Blue Oyster Cult/T-Rex show. Research found that they played Vancouver on October 21, 1974. But I know they came swimming at my house, which would have been impossible in October. Had I lost my mind? The neg sheet is number 107 and Harrison is number 112. I know Harrison was November 2, 1974 because it was the opening show for his Dark Horse tour and I also had a dated ticket stub on my bulletin board. How could they swim at my house in an outdoor pool in October? Well, I was using my other neg sheets of non-dead musicians in conjunction with the list I got so I could narrow done the dates. I have another Blue Oyster Cult sheet numbered 76. Hah! They played with Nazareth on June 8, 1974 and that means they were swimming in my pool on Sunday, June 9th.

And in all of this there was another odd revelation. I mentioned to Frank that I had found a jpeg of the T-rex/BOC review from the Georgia Straight (local music paper). He asked if Bob Geldof wrote it. When he said that, I instantly remembered the Bob Geldof that wrote for the Straight. I could see his face clear as day. I saw him on a regular basis. I could hear his voice. His English accent. Then it dawned on me. He's the same Bob Geldof that was in Boomtown Rats and does a bunch of things to save the world. Geez. He was still in Vancouver when I left. And I guess I never bothered to put two and two together by the time he got famous. I mean, who'd of thought I guy writing music reviews for a local Vancouver paper would suddenly become a rock star in the UK? Even though he looked exactly the same and had the same name. Duh. Sometimes I'm a total putz.

Now do you understand what this is doing to my brain? Two many numbers, too many lists, too much cross referencing, too much living in the past, not enough brooms to sweep away the cob webs, too much to do, too little time. Somebody save me...from myself. Anyway, they're all done now...everyone at least has a month and a year...except one. Stanley Turrentine. I only shot color, so there's no neg sheet number. And he played in a club that my friends didn't ticket. Any ideas on where I should put him?

Wet Proofs and Other Stories

Not much time for blogging these days. Everything is kicking into high gear and my deadline clock is rapidly ticking away the minutes.

First...thank you to all of you who have visited the store and especially those of you who have purchased books and prints. My portion of the proceeds is going directly into the production costs of Everybody I Shot Is Dead so your support is much appreciated. I do have one question...has anybody received their purchases? We haven't heard back from anyone and I'm wondering if you're happy with what you bought. Timo? Anyone?

A few weeks ago, I decided to get my printers to run two spreads so I could see how the printing would look on the actual paper with actual ink. And more importantly, I wanted to see if the scans from two separate vendors would be consistent. Especially on the black & white photos since they are actually printed in four colors. The profiles varied greatly between my vendors and I wanted to see which profile worked best. I picked the first two pages of Frank Zappa. The first page had his name, a black & white photo and some text. The second page was a full page black & white photo. The other two pages were to judge the color. I picked two pages of Carl Wilson. A full page photo and a page with multiple photos.

Earlier this week I received the wet proofs for the book. I don't know why they're called wet proofs because they were nice and dry when I got them. I was very excited to see the proofs. But shocked when I opened the package. The printing looked great. What's so shocking about that? Well, the two black & white photos looked exactly the same, even though they had different profiles. It was impossible. I called my production people. They checked with the color house and the printer. The color house insisted they didn't make any adjustments. And the printer said they didn't make any adjustments on the press. WTF?

Then there was the paper. It didn't seem to match the paper that was in the book I picked it from. I thought I might want to change it. Fortunately, I had already told Marc in production not to order the paper until I saw the proofs. Because once you order the paper, you're locked. Unfortunately, when I told Marc I was thinking of changing the paper he was informed the the order was already placed. Oops, somebody screwed up. Either way, Marc was on the hot seat. Luckily they caught the order before it was cut.

Yesterday, I met with Roger (my local printer rep) to go over everything and sign our contract. Yup, yesterday was the day I signed my life away. We figured out the paper problem. The proofs were printed on were the right paper, it was just an older batch. After looking at more books Roger had, I decided to stick with my first choice. It really is beautiful paper. I was just going back and forth on it because I want to make sure the book turns out really, really great. And I'm happy to report, people who have seen the proofs are knocked out. Definitely impressed. Yay!!

When I got back from my Roger meeting, I received an email from Marc to sign off on the dummy so they could order the paper. For real this time. Set in stone. I took care of that and then got another email from him telling me I would receive a new set of proofs next week. Huh? Turns out the color house did manipulate my images so they would all match, even though they were told to run as is. Duh. They sabotaged my experiment out of the gate. At least I know I'm not crazy. Well, at least in this minor instance.

One more major bump in my week. My computer that I use for everything decided it didn't want to print anymore. I tried everything. I ran Disk First Aid, I reinstalled my printer software which I knew wouldn't work because I have two printers I use with OS 10 and neither of them were working. I could print on my old Epson 900 as long as it was from a program that used system 9 in Classic. I reinstalled the operating system and it quit half way through. And here I was faced with needing to print the mock-up for the book. No matter what, I knew this was going to be a giant pain in the ass. I made an appointment at the Mac Genius Bar. When I got there I heard the tail end of a conversation where the genius was telling a guy how to reformat his hard drive. I thought, that better not be me. It was.

I spent a day backing up everything on my computer - while I tried to write on another one - and then I erased my hard drive - no turning back. I'm nowhere near a tech genius. I didn't know what I was doing. The first time I moved some stuff back I ran into problems. I had to erase it again and start over. Little by little I figured it out. I had to install all my software from scratch. I had to find the files that restored my bookmarks and preferences and copy those over. I had to buy a new Quicken program because mine ran on 9 and for some reason I don't have classic anymore and don't have a clue how to bring it back in. My music still isn't back in my iTunes because it was on the computer when iTunes asked me if I wanted it to find my files. Don't know how to get it to do it now, other than manually. P-p-p-pain in my ass all the way around. However, I can print now and I'm getting back on track. I have to continue on a pace of three bios a day to meet my deadline. Hopefully, it's smooth sailing from this point forward.

Have a great weekend. I'll be here. Sitting at my desk. Or in my bed. Writing. And changing my mind. And rewriting. It's all good.

I Cannes

Been MIA for a while due to doubling my workload with a bunch of movie posters I had to do for Cannes. Finished today, other than a couple of deliveries and some invoicing (my favorite part).

I've also been without cable/internet for the past three days due to a tree falling on the main line. I really didn't realize how dependent I am on the internet. I was going back and forth to Starbucks at least five times a day. And it put us behind on fulfilling orders from the online store. So, if you're waiting to receive something and think we stole your money...no worries...your order will definitely be shipping tomorrow. Really sorry for the delay. It's been a real learning curve putting a store online and figuring out how our mini assembly line needs to work. I'm hoping all the kinks are finally worked out.

And now I'm really on the line to finish Everybody I Shot Is Dead - 23 days and counting...ack.

Gotta go.

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.

Problem Solved

I was right. For once. The photos I thought were Keith Knudsen were indeed Keith Knudsen.

I went over to Marty Wolff's house this afternoon. Just down the street. A house that I drive by at least three or four times a week. What are the chances of that? A guy that was at the same concert in Vancouver as I was, way back when, now living down the street from me?

Marty did the Doobie Brothers lighting for many years. He did a great job. My photographs will attest to that. He is also a photographer. Check out his website.

Not only did he confirm the shots of Keith drumming...I had a couple of other shots of a guy singing at the front of the stage. I thought thye looked like Keith but thought I was crazy. What would he be doing standing in front? He's a drummer. Turns out I'm not crazy. They are of Keith...and they're good. Now that I think of it, I don't know why that surprises me - I have lots of pictures of Dennis Wilson singing up front. And The Eagles drummer Don Henley, for that matter.

Thanks for your confirmation, Marty!

Now, if someone could tell me how Ronnie Barron died. And when Peter Wood was born and how he died.

Please.

Kismet

I wanted to call this post synchronicity but I used it already. Therefore, kismet will have to do. Or maybe it's fate.

As you know, I have been concerned about my Keith Knudsen photos. As opposed to my John Hartman photos. Both being drummers in the Doobie Brothers at the same time, the former being dead and the latter much alive. Even though I'm pretty sure who's who, it would be a colossal mistake if I printed John Hartman for Keith Knudsen.

I posted my conundrum and received several helpful suggestions but not enough to be certain. I was going to post again or maybe get Dave Chamness - the guy who won my Lowell George contest and seems to know everything about everybody as it pertains to rock'n'roll - to look at both pics and see if he could make a positive, without a doubt, I.D. Because the last thing I want to do is spend thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars to print a book that cannot be released.

Then today I had a lunch meeting with Roger. Remember Roger? He's my printer dude. He set up the meeting for me to meet another printer/publisher dude from their company. The publishing side of their company has put out several coffee table books pertaining to the music world. They wanted to know what my distribution plans were and are interested in playing a part. More on that next week.

Anyway, we had a very nice lunch at an Italian restaurant in Old Pasadena. In a previous post, I mentioned how much I liked Roger from the moment I met him. Turns out I instantly liked the printer/publisher dude, too. We'll call him Michael. We talked a lot about the business; what they were releasing this Fall and what I am planning to do with my book. We also talked a lot about marketing.

Then, toward the end of our lunch, Michael said something to Roger about the guy he met for breakfast today in Sherman Oaks. (Side note: I live in Sherman Oaks). A guy who toured with the Doobie Brothers. Uh, hello? I've been trying to get through to someone who could give me a positive I.D. on the Doobie Brothers' drummer for my book.

As luck or kismet would have it, the guy Michael met for breakfast gave him two business cards. So Michael gave me one of them. What's really weird is I think I've seen his card before. One of those deja vu feelings. Of course, I called him as soon as I got home. We're going to get together tomorrow. He lives about a mile down the road from me. Literally.

How 'bout them apples?

The Big Five-O

No, it's not my birthday.

I just hit number 50 on the list of musicians I shot who are dead. I received an email today from England enlightening me that another member of Back Door had also passed, just last summer. Drummer, Tony Hicks.

I started the book thinking there were 20.

Now there are 50.

Sheesh.

Some Are Harder Than Others

Yesterday and this morning I worked on the photo layout for Alex Harvey. It was difficult. He's not as famous as many of the musicians I am honoring but I have so many great photos of him. It's hard to leave any out. His show was very theatrical and he was an expressive guy. A photographer's dream. I finally finished it up at somewhere around 10 pictures in 6 pages.

I'm running out of pages again. I've done the layouts for 27 musicians. Nothing set in stone. Just a loose idea of what I want where. Still deciding whether to bleed some of the pages or frame all the photos in white. What I like about bleeding is the photo will be as large as possible. But then I have to crop top and/or bottom and some of them can't be cropped. Another downside is those pages may not look as 'clean.' It's weird. Some days I like the bleed. Some days I don't. Guess I'll figure it out when I print out some of the pages.

My plan is to finish all the layouts by the end of the month. What's that? Six days? I have 22 musicians left and 4 dedicatees (is that even a word?). 26 divided by 6 = 4.33333 per day. Gotta get it done. No time to linger on my photo decisions, like I did with Alex Harvey. 'Cause I'm going to need every minute of April and May to finish the written portions.

Off and Running

Yay!

It's happening.

The first batch of negs and slides went out today for hi res scans.

Marc Bolan, Stanley Turrentine, Donny Hathaway and Steve Currie.

Less than 10% but you gotta start somewhere.

No turning back now.

Pet Food Recall

If you have a dog or cat, please visit my friend, Max Adams' blog.

She's got all the latest info and links you need to keep your pets safe.

Barron/Bolan/Kath

Almost sounds like a law firm, doesn't it?

First, a moment of silence for the 10th anniversary of Ronnie Barron's death.

Second, I did the layouts for Marc Bolan and Terry Kath today, and I don't think their fans will be disappointed. I know that both of these guys have tons of fans. I can tell by the search words people use to find this blog. I wonder if their fans are mutually exclusive?

I couldn't decide what Marc Bolan photo should be the full page, so I gave him five full page photos - 4 color, 1 black and white, one page with a 3/4 black and white and a row of 5 small black and white photos across the top, and 3 smaller color shots on the text page. Not much room for words, but I suppose the fans will appreciate me shutting up.

Terry Kath fans should also be happy. He's got a full page color and two full page black and white. Plus a black and white neg strip that holds another 4 shots, and a full page with 4 color band shots. Oh, and one more band shot on the opening text page.

In further news, I decided to expand the book from 152 pages to 208 pages. That means more photographs. Way more. I don't have a final count but probably close to 400. Hopefully, something for everyone. I mean, who would ever expect to find John Lee Hooker, Tammy Wynette and Marc Bolan in the same book? I really hope that if you get the book for one musician, you'll enjoy the other 48 as well.

Keep rockin'.

Woe Is Me

I used to think I would make a great detective. I've always been good at figuring things out. And finding things. Except the whereabouts of some of my best pictures. Like the ones I shot of John Lee Hooker in his dressing room at the Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary. I have great shots of him that I took in Vancouver but the ones I shot in Calgary...damn.

Anyway, I'm obviously a crappy detective because I missed yet another musician who died. And again, I had checked out the band's website and there was nothing. Probably because they're just promoting their most recent line-up. Or, like on John Hartford's site, I didn't dig deep enough.

The latest find is Keith Knudsen, drummer for the Doobie Bros. He passed away in 2005. Only problem is the Doobie Bros. had two drummers - think how I'd feel if I put John Hartman's picture in the book instead of Keith Knudsen's. I'm pretty sure I know who's who but just in case, I'm currently looking for someone who can verify Keith's identity for me.

So, I'm quickly closing in on having 50 musicians in the book. When I started, I figured I had 20. I was fine with 20. I am not at all happy with the body count. It's really sad that we've lost so much great talent. Really, really sad.

Ronnie Barron Question

Ronnie Barron was a keyboard player originally from New Orleans. He played with tons of people. I shot him when he was with Paul Butterfield Better Days.

He died on March 20, 1997 at the age of 53.

Anybody know how he died?

Thanks.

Mike Gibbins

Without realizing it was his birthday today (Monday), I did his layout today (Sunday). He would have been 58 today. Here's one of the pictures of him that I didn't put in the book.

Happy Birthday, Mike.

I Work On Sundays...

...and I'm closing in on brain dead. By the end of today - or first thing tomorrow - I have to decide how many pages Everybody I Shot is going to be. I did my first estimate with the printers at 152 pages. When I got into the actual layout, I quickly realized that wasn't going to work. For starters, each musician is getting at least one full page photo. No text, no labels...just the photo. That means they also need another page with their name on it and some biographical information of who they are and when I shot them.

I now have around 48 musicians, not counting my 4 dedicatees. Right off, that's 96 pages. Call it 100 if I give a page for each dedication. Then there's the title page and the copyright page and the contents page and my introduction. And what if I get someone else to do an intro?

Then, of course, I am not limiting each musician to 2 pages. Some will only be two pages because I don't have enough photos to warrant more. But others are screaming at me for more space. Take John Bonham, for example. Right now, he has 9 pages, 4 of them full page photos (2 color and 2 b/w) and 4 or 5 other photos breaking up the text...which is long because I thought you might enjoy my Led Zeppelin story.

Some of the lesser known musicians will also have more pages because I love the pictures - just as pictures. Papa John Creach falls into that category. He let me hang out in his dressing room while he was warming up and chilling out. I got some really great candid shots. John Lee Hooker is another guy that my camera loved.

And I have a lot of great shots of the Beach Boys...and Maurice Gibb...and Terry Kath...and Waylon Jennings...and...and...and...

...and now I'm looking at the 200 page range. That's with designing it based on what I think are the best pictures, not necessarily the most popular names getting the most space. Do you think that's the best way to go?

Also, let me ask you...

Which musicians are you most looking forward to seeing?

Will you feel cheated if your favorite musician has less pages than a musician you have no interest in?

Would you prefer more pictures at a smaller size? Or less pictures at a bigger size?

And regarding price...

I would have been able to sell the 152 page version for $35. Would you be willing to pay more ($40-$45) for the extra 50 pages?

Thank you for participating in the interactive creation of Everybody I Shot Is Dead... where your opinions count!

Is Everybody I Shot Dead?

Beginning to seem like it. Two nights ago when I went through some of my negs again, I looked up John Hartford. Saw his website. Thought, "He's looking good. Glad he's still playing." And moved on.

Then today, I'm browsing an extensive 'these entertainers are dead' list online and there was his name. Did some more checking - just in case there was another John Hartford. Sure enough, the John Hartford I shot is dead. From non-hodgkin’s lymphoma on June 4, 2001. His website is online as a memorial. But it doesn't say anything about him being dead until the end of his biography. Nothing on the front page.

Thankfully, I found out from another source so I can honor him in the book. If you don't know who he is...he wrote the multi-Grammy winning song, Gentle On My Mind. And for those of you who are too young to remember that song, he also won a Grammy for his contributions to the O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack.

Some days this project is really depressing. Like today. Damn. I really wish everybody I shot was alive.

I Can Barley See...Oops, Barely See

I never shot a lot of film at concerts. No motor drive. I would lay in wait. Until I saw the picture I wanted. Click.

In addition to the fairly simple task of compiling my Camel (a roll of color and a roll of black & white) and Back Door (3/4 of a roll of black & white), I scanned my Gene Pitney pictures. I shot him in L.A. at a recording studio. I was hired by Columbia Records. And I must have succumbed to the L.A. paradigm of over-shooting because I have around 100 pictures of him.

I've been sitting in front of the computer since 10 o'clock this morning. It's now 11:45 PM. Scanning. Printing. Trying to figure out how to fit all the good shots of Gene into the book without turning it into The Gene Pitney Book, starring Gene Pitney and a few supporting musicians. It's tough. There are a lot of good pictures of Gene and I'm sure his fans would love to see them all. But I can't put them all in the book.

I'm going to have to sleep on this and look at the printouts in the morning and see what jumps out at me. I'm pretty sure the picture of him eating his hamburger is going to make it. And probably the one where he fell asleep in a chair. There's three of him standing in front of a microphone with headphones on. In one he's singing, wearing a jacket and sunglasses. In another he's singing, no sunglasses and a tee shirt. And the other one, he turned and looked in the camera. I don't know. Which one should I pick?

Thank you for your support. I'm going to sleep now.

More Dead

I am continuing to work day and night on the book. Last night I finished up around midnight. Since it usually takes a half hour or so to unwind before I can fall asleep, I decided to take another look through a book of black and white negatives that I had previously checked and alphabetized. Sure enough I found two more musicians. Granted they are from more obscure bands, two bands I had checked out before but somehow missed the information of their deaths.

Ron Aspery was part of the English band, Back Door. They recorded four albums with Warner Bros. and toured with Emerson, Lake and Palmer. He passed away on December 10, 2003 after a long illness.

Peter Bardens, also a Brit, is best known for his progressive rock band, Camel. However, his influence on the rock'n'roll world goes much deeper. More on that in the book. He died of lung cancer on January 22, 2002.

I'm still searching for my Muddy Waters and Canned Heat photos, so who knows what else I may find.

Back to work.

More Bee Gees Questions

These are from some backstage photos that include Maurice Gibb. Just trying to identify the other people in the photos.

This woman is standing next to Barry Gibb. Is she his wife?

Anybody know this guy with her?
I think this could be a Bee Gees band member...anybody know his name?
Thanks for your help!

Another Plea For Help

The next three months are going to be crazy for me. I will be working 14/7. It would be 24/7 but even I have to sleep. It will be a miracle if I get the book finished in time, so I am counting on each and every one of you to help me. Whether you have been following this blog since the beginning or have just arrived, I'm asking for your participation.

Sometimes I will ask for your opinion on something. Questions that every one of you can answer. Other times, like today, I will ask you to help me identify a musician.

I'm hoping some of the Bee Gees fans are still hanging around. This guy opened for them at the concert I shot in Vancouver (mid-seventies). Dead or alive (hopefully, alive), he's going to be in the book because he's in a backstage shot with Maurice Gibb. I'm at a loss for his name. Do you know who he is?





Thanks!!

Quark

I've been on the phone with Quark for the past hour. I'm still on the line with them. Okay. Finally I'm off. But I'm not done.

Last week I decided that I finally needed to update my Quark software. I've been printing my movie posters from a 4.1 version since it came out. I didn't think about upgrading until I got OS 10. That was when all the graphics software companies had to develop compatibility with 10. I updated photoshop first. I was going to update Quark but my printer said it had bugs. So, I waited. Why spend the money?

But now I am laying out Everybody I Shot Is Dead and I'm printing in China. The production and film separations are done in Northern California. This is a big project. I can't risk doing it on old software and running into problems down the line. I'm on a tight deadline. I decide to get the upgrade to Quark7.

I received the package yesterday. Couldn't wait to pop the disk into my computer. Pressed the install button. It did it's little testing the landscape thing. Then gave me a window that said something like, "you must have OS 10.4 of later to install Quark." Yup, I'm still running Panther. That's 10.3.9. Crap. I was worried that if I installed Tiger it would stop me from using Classic (9) and I need that for my accounting programs. Definitely don't want to update those at the moment. $. $. $.

Thankfully, the Apple Genius said it would survive the upgrade. Cool. I got a copy of Tiger (somewhere) this morning. Installed it. Took over 30 minutes. Then popped in the Quark disk. Yes, I'm cleared to install. Get to the "type in your validation number" - ack - gotta find that in some box I haven't seen in two years. Okay. Got it. Type it in. Wait. Why are there still a bunch of space boxes that are empty? Whatever. Click "continue." Boink. It ain't working.

Call Quark. Hold...hold...hold. A woman takes my call. I think they outsource to India. I can barely understand a word she says. Except every sentence starts and ends with "Deborah." I give her my old version's serial number. No record of my registration. Okay. She says she can register it for me. After many hoops - I jumped through all of them, thank you very much - Miss India was able to email me a validation number. An alphanumeric with 45 freakin' digits. An hour or so later I could open Quark. But then I had to install an update disk. And then I had to go online and download a second update and install it. Sheesh.

I'm done now. Finally I can get to work. It's crunch time. I'm going to the book expo in N.Y. It starts on June 1. I need to have two mock-ups to show buyers. I'm also looking to set up some meetings with some of the international rights companies - see if I should have it translated into foreign languages. And I'm in a hurry to get it to the printers. It will take three months from the day I deliver for the books to arrive back. Gotta have it out in time for holiday gift giving, right?

I better get busy.