Right Place, Right Time: The Life of a Rock & Roll Photographer

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In 2014, his documentary film Ike & Tina On The Road: 1971–72 won the Living Blues Award for Best Blues DVD of 2013. [20] Bob was presented in June 2004 with MOJO Magazine’s prestigious Honours List Award for Classic Image in London and in November 2010 he was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. For his many charitable contributions, Bob received the first ever John Lennon Real Love Award in December 2014 at the 32nd Annual John Lennon Tribute Concert. Unfortunately, some of those stories get lost to the sands of time (or copyediting) as a visual artist is forced to put pen to paper in an art form he has no experience working in. Like many autobiographies, Right Place starts to slide around its midpoint, its control over Gruen’s career timeline slipping as he affords large chunks of space to his work with a select few artists. Certain months or years are skipped over in mere sentences, while artists like John Lennon and Yoko Ono are afforded chapter after chapter, at the risk of making the book sound like a biography of someone else rather than him. The 80s are hardly a blink in the reader’s eyes, and the Roadrunner race through time in the last few chapters gives off the distinct impression that Gruen grew too bored to afford anything after 1981 more than a paragraph’s worth of space. In 1971, Leee went to London as the stage manager of the Warhol inspired play ‘ Pork’ at the Camden Roundhouse starring Cherry Vanilla and Wayne County. Capturing the best images of these Warhol-inspired theatrical events including ‘Theatre of the Ridiculous’, there, he met David Bowie - the seminal person and moment of 1970s London. The absurd images and stage characters created by ‘ Pork’ inspired David Bowie to reconsider his whole look and attitude, leading the artist to ask Leee to be his tour manager and official photographer for his next show and asked Cherry and Wayne to come along too. And so, Ziggy Stardust was born. Oh, she wasn’t just an influence – she actually taught me how and when to squeeze the buttons and how to print my pictures. She was also a lawyer, so she taught me about the business side of things, to think about my pictures after they were printed. At a very young age, early teens, even before – way before I took up photography – I had small home businesses, so I learned all about expenses, income, outgoings, losses and gains, and so on.”

B.G.: It’s not just hanging out, having a beer. You got your job to do and part of that is hanging out and having a beer so that you’re not conspicuous. You’re not sitting there staring at him waiting for a moment, but you just have to be aware of it. I think Don Letts pointed it out very well. There’s a documentary about me and Letts did an interview with Self-expression isn’t just what you say — it is also where and when you choose to tell the story. This can require you to travel off the beaten path and make a way for yourself. “To be independent, you wake up every day unemployed. It takes a lot to strike out on your own and not listen to your parents or get a job just because it’s comfortable and pays the rent — but to actually be in a situation where you can’t pay the rent and your phone gets cut off. But that’s okay because you’re pursuing what you want to do,” says Gruen, who started making and selling photos at the age of 11 while at summer camp. Bob’s “Sid Vicious with Hot Dog” photo was acquired by The National Portrait Gallery, London, in 1999 for their permanent collection. The Experience Music Project, Seattle, acquired his “Clash Live in Boston”, “Tina Turner Multiple Image”, and “Bloody Sid Vicious” photos for their permanent collection in March 2012.

BOOKS by Bob Gruen

And then I had given him that T shirt, the New York City T shirt about one year earlier. So, when we were sitting there on the roof with the beautiful skyline all around us, I asked if he still had that shirt a and he knew which one I was talking about. So I knew he still had it with him. I knew he liked it and he knew where it was and he looked comfortable in it. We took the series of pictures. We had no idea at the time that it was going to become as popular as it did. It was just one more of many photos that we had taken, but that one seems to stand out. People really like it.

Elton John on stage with legs in the air at Fillmore East, NYC. April 9, 1971. Photograph: Bob Gruen Butcher, Terrence (November 26, 2012). "Imagine This Power Duo Together Again: 'Ike & Tina: On the Road: 1971-72' ". PopMatters. Archived from the original on 2020-09-05. Since this covers a multitude of musicians, bands, and styles of music, the music / bands / musicians covered may – or may not – all appeal to every reader, but this is more about Gruen, and how he went from a young kid with an interest in photography to accompanying and / or photographing virtually every musician of note at one point in his career. Some of the photographs are ones I’d love a copy to put on my walls for the beauty of the photography, alone. His stories are epic, if sometimes crazily so, others heartbreaking, and his photographs always iconic. Kurucz, John (July 14, 2017). "From Led Zeppelin to Lady Gaga, Bob Gruen's caught them on film". Vancouver Courier. Archived from the original on 2017-07-14 . Retrieved 2020-10-30.For his many charitable contributions, Gruen received the first ever John Lennon Real Love Award at the 32nd Annual John Lennon Tribute Concert in December 2014. [18] Album cover photography [ edit ] The Experience Music Project, Seattle, acquired his “Clash Live in Boston”, “Tina Turner Multiple Image”, and “Bloody Sid Vicious” photos for their permanent collection in March 2012. Like any friends you make,” he says, “you learn how to get along with them, and both John and Yoko were very perceptive people. They were aware of living in the present and how to have a good time. They were very funny – not many people might be aware that Yoko is quite witty, but then you couldn’t live with John without having a good sense of the absurd.

After touring with David Bowie, Leee worked as a tour manager for Iggy Pop who was at the centre of the Downtown New York early punk scene. Here, Leeee took historic shots of Patti Smith, Robert Mapplethorpe, Debbie Harry, The New York Dolls and many others in this vibrant music and artist milieu which was centred on Warhol’s factory, CBGB and Max’s Kansas City. Leees’ relationship with Debbie Harry was particularly close and the images he discovered at the end of his life for the cover of his short autobiography are the most innocently beautiful ever taken. Also, Leee has the best early pictures of Debbie before she was blonde and when she performed with the Stilettos. He has, however, what he delicately terms “mixed feelings” about how professional photographers are often sidelined by amateur and “citizen” snappers. While it’s great, he allows, that we can all now take pictures (“the mystique is gone”), it is the younger photographers (“the kids that love the skill and art of it”) he sympathises with. Britt, Grant (December 20, 2012). "DVD Review – Ike and Tina "On The Road 1971-72" ". No Depression. Archived from the original on 2020-10-20. Whiting, Sam (November 9, 2020). "Bob Gruen recalls the time the Clash got stoned driving down Mount Tamalpais". Datebook | San Francisco Arts & Entertainment Guide. Archived from the original on 2020-11-10 . Retrieved 2021-04-20. For many years, people have been saying, “You should write a book.” People are really interested in the ’70s. People are always asking me, “How did you do it?” None of my colleagues had the breadth of starting out with groups like Ike and Tina Turner and LaBelle and continuing going right into Elton John and John Lennon and Led Zeppelin but also coming to KISS and Alice Cooper. I did studio, live, record parties, nightclubs, everywhere. I didn’t visit the music scene as a journalist; I was part of it. I went to CBGB to see friends and take pictures. One of the major milestones in your career is your connection to punk. You were probably one of the first people to witness the early punk scene in New York and England, and your photos are definitely some of the most important documents of that period. I want to ask about a bunch of artists you were connected to, but the New York Dolls seem like a great starting place.My style worked well with him. He and I would usually chat and make jokes while we worked. I would keep up a conversation and the pictures would inevitably become part of it. I think people are drawn to the New York City picture because John is so relaxed, open, and available.” Crossfire Hurricane, 25 Years of the Rolling Stones”– Bob Gruen (Genesis, Signed, Numbered Edition, 1998) Bob Gruen: Thanks Allan, It’s a pleasure! Right now I’m working on a couple of books. Next fall I’m going to have a book of all my photographs of the band Green day. And I’m also working on a biography or an autobiography, so I’m organizing my archive of 50 years worth of collecting and photographing, I kept just about everything I’ve made along the way. Tina was just amazing. I was sitting right in front, taking pictures. And at the end of the show, a strobe light flashes and Tina kind of dances off of multiple images in the strobe light. And I just had a few frames left in the camera, and I thought, I wonder what will happen if I take a one-second picture and get a few of these flashes in the same frame? And I took, like, four or five pictures and three or four of them are useless — and one of them is one of the best pictures I've ever taken. And it just captures Tina in five images that just captures the excitement and the energy that's Tina Turner.

Well, I was kind of getting drunk in bars and she didn’t understand the point for a long time. You know, it didn’t really seem like an important job. It was hard to explain that I was capturing culture for future generations. So the CBGB’s bands were experimenting, they were practicing, they were learning how to be good. And most clubs don’t let you learn. Most clubs want you to bring a crowd right from the beginning. But CBGB, this was a place where people could come in and learn how to play in front of an audience, learn what works and what doesn’t. And I remember that night with Blondie, I thought, “Wow, this is all coming together. My wife and I are organizing all of that. I’m hoping to start placing that in institutions and museums for collectors. The Clash. 1979 Since the brand's inception in 2017, D'Stassi Art has established a unique platform for the world's most inspiring emerging talent. In the traditionally exclusive art world, D'Stassi Art looks to discover, encourage and help introduce clients to works of art based purely on how passionate we are about them. The gallery has helped to introduce a variety of the art world's clientele to important contemporary artists through immersive and inclusive events.Deeply embedded within the communities they photographed, both documented a pivotal era in music when the industry’s focus shifted from established stars like Elvis Presley and John Lennon, to up-and-coming punk bands like the New York Dolls and the Sex Pistols. Capturing the raw intensity and excitement of an era of possibility where stardom felt within reach of anyone and everyone, Legendary Moments brings us a rare glimpse into the lives of larger-than-life figures, from the viewpoints of those who knew them best. This book covers more than that, though, it is also about him, his life, how his early years as a young kid with a camera, and an eye that looked for more than the standard shot, wanting something that captured the feeling of the moment, the movement, the excitement, and occasionally the frustration and the dreams as well as the excess. I always want to create, to make art, but you do have to pay your rent. So I always wanted to have something where I could make art and make something that people relate to their feelings, but at the same time to get paid and pay my rent. He writes about musicians we all know, but he really knew them, behind the camera, and in front of it. Names I can only dream about seeing live, much less photographing them.