LEGENDS OF ROCK & ROLL

JANIS JOPLIN

When big names came to play in London, the Royal Albert Hall was the place to hear them. In an interview after her April 21, 1969, show Janis raved, "God, is that exciting, man! Nobody, nobody ever, anybody ever thought it would be that good! I didn't. Nobody else did... London was the best... They fuckin' got up and grooved, and then they listened. That was dynamite. You know, you can tell when they're really being selfish and they just wanna dance, but they worked, man, and when I'd do a soft song everybody'd shut up! That's too much, man. That's really too fuckin' much."

BOB DYLAN

Sunday, August 31, 1969. Bob Dylan was by far the biggest draw at the Isle of Wight Festival and his appearance, backed by The Band, was one of the first after his near-fatal motorcycle accident.

The program ran late because there were too many people with special passes to the so-called press enclosure. The organizers tried to clear the area without much success and eventually the press were sitting on each other's laps. Fortunately, I had a friend with a folding chair and a clear view of the stage, but the concert ended shortly after midnight; Dylan had been on the stage for just one hour.

MICK JAGGER

For two days in December 1968, the Rolling Stones turned the Intertel television studios in Wembley, North London, into a real live circus with clowns, trapeze artists, horseback riders, fire eaters, and Mick Jagger himself as ringmaster. Musical acts included Jethro Tull, Marianne Faithfull, The Who, John Lennon, and many others. The ‘Rock & Roll Circus,’ a BBC special, was never broadcast, but is now available on tape.

I caught word of this and went to see what was going on. I slid in through a side door and spent several hours taking pictures. The next day I came back again for a press call. During those visits I got my best shots of Jagger and Lennon. On July 5, 1969, I photographed the Stones again at their free Hyde Park concert.

JOHN LENNON

To many people, John was the only Beatle that had anything to say. His relationship with Yoko Ono was often blamed for the breakup of the group. Tragically he was killed in New York City in 1980 by a fan to whom he'd given an autograph earlier that day. Mark David Chapman shot him five times with a 38-caliber revolver.

I photographed John and Yoko during both days of the Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus. During the press call, Mick had all the costumed performers line up for pictures. I stood on the side with John focused in my Nikon FTn, and, as I waited, he turned and looked directly into my lens.

JOE COCKER

Joe Cocker found his niche singing rock and soul in the pubs of England with his superb backing group, The Grease Band. He hit number one in the U.K. in November 1968 with his version of the Beatles' "A Little Help From My Friends," and the album by the same name went gold in the U.S in 1969.

Earlier that year I spent a week with Joe and the band in Yorkshire. Struggling musicians, they stayed in a bed & breakfast while playing 2 gigs a night, one of which was in a bar in a bowling alley. Back in London, I went with Joe to visit George Harrison at Apple, the Beatles' office, while George taught him "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window" for his second album.

KEITH MOON

I photographed The Who many times. Hello -- hearing damage, anyone? Drummer Keith Moon was so expressive, both personally and musically, and destroyed more drum kits than most musicians get to play in a lifetime. He died in 1978 of an overdose of sleeping pills..