Many of the photographs on my site are very historic and there are stories to go with them. In the beginning I had no idea that things would progress to what they are now. My first real concert was Chuck Berry. I was probably 14 or 15 years old and saw Chuck at Six Flags Music Mill. I was right up against the wall. I had no camera. The scene was electric. There were people everywhere, even in the trees. Chuck came out on stage and looked over the crowd and calmly said “Request”. A guy some 50 yards out started screaming “Maybelline, Play Maybelline!” and it was on! About four or five years later I got the opportunity to see Chuck. This time I was armed with a Petri Compact 35 SLR camera and a JCPenney 135mm f2.8 lens! As strange as that sounds the camera was my first 35mm camera and a Christmas present from my parents. I took them to the show! As strange as things sound. Four or five years passed and a friend of mine was working a flight crew for American Airlines. Walking down the aisle of the plane he sees a man with a hat pulled down over him. It’s Chuck Berry. He sits down next to Chuck and tells him that a friend of his is a big fan. Chuck gave him an autograph. Today that autograph and a picture of Chuck Berry sit in a hallway of my home. That’s Rock and Roll and Music History!
The first concert I photographed was Queen in Ft. Worth at the TCCC. A month before, we went to see Blue Oyster Cult, Cheap Trick and Black Oak no camera. For some reason I brought a camera to the next show. I brought a Keystone Instamatic! I had no idea what I was doing at the time. Seventeen years old, I just thought I need to photograph this. Good thing I did because this was a very famous show. It was the News of the World show with We will Rock You and We are the Champions! I have photos of Freddie Mercury and Brian May. They may not be great but they are Queen. Brian May was standing fifteen foot in front of me and pointed at me to take the photo! I was now hooked on music photography!
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The next show was a total accident. A friend was staying over and we were watching tv. All of a sudden a commercial came on and there was music and fireworks everywhere. We looked at each other and went “Cool”. The commercial was for a Canadian band called Triumph. Never heard of them….. But they looked good. AND they were at SMU the next day! So we went to the concert hall and asked for the best seats they had. The lady said ” hows row G in the middle on the floor?”. We asked how much and she said ” $6 bucks”. Sold! There was even an opening bad called the Godz! What a deal! We ended up sitting on the edge of the stage for Triumphs first American tour. I was still using the Keystone XL but I got photos. Triumph had to play an encore and the only song they new left was Rocky Mountain Way. Today they are a big part of Canadian Rock and Roll History!
One of the most major concert events in history happened on the July 1st weekend in 1978. Not sure how and when I got my ticket but it was $13 if I remember. A lot of money when you make $2.40 an hour. My dad gave me his car to take to the concert. So four of us loaded up and headed to Dallas Fair Park after dark. Not a good idea but who knew. We got lost in Fair Park and I pulled over the car at a gas station, walked to the door and there was a man sitting on a stool with a doberman pinscher sitting next to him. The man lowered a double barrel shotgun on me and said “what ya want boy?”. I asked him “where’s Fair Park?”. He pointed and said “that way”. THANK YOU and that was the start of the 1978 Texxas World Music Festival! Here is the line up for the show!
- 1978 (July 1) – Texxas Music Festival, Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas (General Admission – $13.00)
- Blackstone (Winner of the State-Wide “Battle of the Bands”)
- Walter Egan
- Van Halen (second appearance in Texas)
- Eddie Money
- Atlanta Rhythm Section
- Head East
- Journey
- Heart
- Ted Nugent
- Aerosmith
- Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush
- Cheech & Chong
Historic Ticket Stubs!
Situations you find yourself in, when you look back on them years later and all you can say is wow! I got a phone call from Steve telling me Janis Ian was going to be in town and he wanted to know if I wanted to go. Sure! The only thing I knew about her was she had a couple of hit songs in the early 70’s and was was called “at seventeen”. Steve always liked different music than I did for the most part but the show should be fun. It was at a place on lower Greenville called “Poor David’s Pub” . The show was good and the venue was really small. The sound was really good. Some how between sets we ended up in the alley behind the club talking with Janis! A photograph of her and the autograph she gave me is on the wall next to my kitchen. A special part of early 70’s music history. I remember her asking me what I wanted on the autograph and I had no idea. She was really cool and down to earth.