NOW AND THEN, the inevitable answer to the inevitable question...

© 1970 Heather Harris. All Rights Reserved. The Who, 1970, San Diego CA

My standard answer to query of the difference in music from when I started photographing 45+ years ago and now: Now-- quantitatively there are more good bands and solo artists. You spend money to see a show, and you will see good, entertaining bands, no lemons. Altogether a good thing, particularly given the popularity of festivals with hundreds of acts to endure, er um, enjoy. Eons ago, I used to see opening acts that sucker massively worse than beginning high school bands and I figured promoters had been given payola to have bozos such as these on the bill. 

But then, in the past of my own lifetime-- the art form's Titans were more thoroughly and galvanizingly Titanic. Inventors of that which did not exist before, just because. Pushing out in all directions, recombining as if by sped up, mutated evolution. Unsegregated audiences liking whatever it was as long as it was great. Voodoo Children. Street Fighting Men. Parachute Women. Dedicated Followers of Fashion. Bitch's Brews. Raw Power, because it was new and they were the ones who thought of it...    

screen capture of 2013 Istanbul concert of Justin Bieber, photographer/videographer unknown

LARRY CLARK, "TULSA"

 


Guest photography © 1971 Larry Clark. All Rights Reserved, fair use for review. Larry Clark photographed the reckless friends of his youth in his 1971 book Tulsa both artfully and intimately, four examples herein. Sad but amazing images of insider camaraderie. Oh how I wanted to be that good a photographer that young... Clark now is known primarily as a filmmaker and has directed nine films as of 2014.

 

KIM MILFORD, RAINBEAUX SMITH: TOO BEAUTIFUL TO LIVE...

Whatever jogged my memory to think of Rainbeaux Smith (1955 - 2002,) American actress in legitimate films plus porn/exploitation? She was an exceptional beauty and eventual heroin casualty who was up for the part of "Iris" in Taxi Driver which went to Jody Foster, jumpstarting the latter's major film career from prior childstar. Cheryl Smith had been rechristened "Rainbeaux" from her memorable presence at the Rainbow Bar and Grill, across from The Roxy Theatre. Beauty like hers was a gift to the whole world.

Also rather on the pulchritudinous side was Kim Milford (1951 - 1988,) another jog into the 1970s. Actor/singer/songwriter, he was Rod Stewart and Bob Tench's replacement singer for Jeff Beck. (Milford was Beck's first choice to replace Rod Stewart in the first Jeff Beck Group, but when the band morphed into Beck, Bogart and Appice, Tench was called in. When Tench left, Milford was recruited for a brief spell.)

 I saw Milford live at the Roxy in Hollywood, 1974, as the title character in the original Rocky Horror Show with Tim Curry (the former's pic above right, photographer unknown as are all on this page.) Rocky originally was a singing part, modified into not a singing part in the film to accommodate the muscleman cast as same. Milford also was a Jesus Christ Superstar lead onstage. He also sang an original song of his in 1972's Ciao, Manhattan starring similarly ill-fated Edie Sedgwick. He actually starred with Rainbeaux Smith in the much-beloved grade Z sci-fi epic Laserblast. Kim Milford did not survive his heart surgery. 

One of the most poignant short essays on lost love and about Milford was written by journalist/rock scribe Cynthia Dagnal-Myron and is DEFINITELY worth a read: click LINK* as soon as you can. 

Addendum to the above: Ms. Dagnal-Myron later wrote me,"I was Googling to find something else I’d read about Kim recently when I came upon your blog post about him and Rainbeaux Smith, and I had to smile. He was indeed too beautiful to live I fear, but he was alive for 37 years and I loved him. Still do.

Thank you for the remembrance of his beauty and talent. And here’s one of my favorite screenshot (Ed.- added above, center) from an old TV movie he did in 1975, too, just to prove that you were oh, so right..."

-Cynthia M. Dagnal-Myron, LINK and LINK

 

Left, Rainbeaux Smith (photographer unknown, as with all pix here); 

right, Kim Milford in the original cast of Rocky Horror Show.

And here's Kim jamming with Ike Turner!**:

*http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cynthia-dagnalmyron/remembering-kim-milford_b_4798899.html
**https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFTw-gr0Gxg

R.I.P. RODDY PIPER

Rest in peace professional wrestler/actor Rowdy Roddy Piper, seen at top in illustration art for John Carpenter's film They Live. (Do you think Shepherd Fairey was influenced by this movie's slogans? Maybe?) (I can't remember if Piper is hidden in my photo/art direction for Rhino's third ever release Rhino Royale. Yes, that's Andre The Giant sitting on some hapless grappler...)