Iconic Rock Shots of Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Johnny Cash and More
Jim Marshall, the photographer who captured some of rock & roll's most unforgettable images including photos of Jimi Hendrix burning his guitar at Monterey Pop and Johnny Cash flipping the bird at San Quentin, died on March 23, 2010 in his sleep in New York. He was 74.
Marshall continued to be prolific even late into his life. Most recently, he snapped portraits of everyone from John Mayer and Ben Harper to Lenny Kravitz and Velvet Revolver. He has published five books, including 2009's Trust. Marshall, who had no children, was passionate about his work up until the end. ?I have no kids,? he said. ?My photographs are my children.?
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Bob Dylan, New York City, 1963.
Much has been made about why Dylan chose to roll a tire for this photo shoot in New York in 1963 (Marshall snapped the singer as the Greenwich Village neighbors were heading to breakfast). But Marshall insists there was no cryptic reasoning for it. "He just picked up a tire that was nearby and rolled it," he tells RS. "That's the end of it."
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Led Zeppelin photographed at the Hyatt House in Los Angeles, California in 1970.
"The band and I got along great," says Marshall. "To get them together for a photo, however, was very difficult. They were probably the most famous band in the world at the time."
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Jimi Hendrix, June 1967 during the Monterey Pop Festival.
"The first time I shot Jimi was at Monterey Pop," Marshall writes in his book. "It was during his soundcheck and there was just me, Jimi's band, a few crew and Al Kooper in an empty arena. Jimi was on the stage and I went up to him and introduced myself, 'I'm Jim Marshall, photographer, I'm gonna be taking pictures, is everything cool?' He says, 'Man, maybe this shit is meant to be.' I'm like, 'What do you mean?' He goes, 'The dude who makes my amplifiers is called Jim Marshall.' Like a smart ass I say, 'Yeah I know that' and he says, 'But what you don't know is my name is Jim Marshall too.' His given name was James Marshall Hendrix. We were a little stoned as I recall."
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Janis Joplin performing in San Jose, California, in 1968.
"Janis wasn't the prettiest but she was not afraid of the camera," says Marshall. "She was the most upfront girl. You could just call her at home and be like, 'We have to take some pictures,' and she?d say, 'OK! Come over!' She trusted me and knew I had her best interests at heart. I only wanted to make her look good."
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The Beatles photographed backstage at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California, on August 29, 1966.
"This was taken backstage at the last Beatles concert," Marshall says (Ralph Gleason, at that time of the San Francisco Chronicle, is also pictured). "You'd never think it was the last concert from the way they acted, just hanging out, talking and making jokes
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Grace Slick and Janis Joplin photographed in 1967.
"Janis and Grace were great friends but they'd never been photographed together," says Marshall of this picture, taken at Slick's house in San Francisco in 1967. "All that shit about them being the fighting queen bees of rock & roll was bullshit. They got along really well."
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Ray Charles recording at the ABC Paramount studios in New York City.
Marshall was invited to spend time with Ray Charles in 1962 at a recording studio in New York. He ended up hanging out for two hours, snapping casual pictures of Charles recording. But, Marshall jokes, "He never did like my pictures."
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Jim Morrison of the Doors photographed at the Northern California Folk Rock Festival in San Jose, California in 1968
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Johnny Cash photographed at Folsom State Prison in Folsom, California in 1968.
Cash hand-picked Marshall to document his 1968 gig at Folsom Prison, one of his most legendary performances. "I think if John would?ve said to the prisoners 'Follow me out of here,' they would've done it," says Marshall. "They knew he was there for them."
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Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones photographed in Los Angeles.
"I remember he made me wait three hours to shoot him," says Marshall of his meeting with Mick Jagger, around the time of the making of Exile on Main Street. "But fuck, I didn't mind waiting. It didn't matter to me at all."
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The Grateful Dead photographed in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco in the 1960s.
"We were goofing around in Golden Gate Park, I got a shot with a 21mm lens then I laid down and did this one looking up at them and the sky," Marshall recalls in his book. "I worked with them quite a bit. The shows were great, the Live Dead album, the second or third album is still one of my favorites."
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The Who photographed in 1968 in San Franciso, California.
"I made them get up early to do this shoot," says Marshall of photographing the Who outside of a motel in San Francisco in 1968 for Teen Set magazine. "I had to get them up! Imagine trying to tell a band to get up and do pictures nowadays. It ain't gonna happen."
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Sly Stone photographed in San Jose, California during the Northen California Folk Rock Festival.
"He was at the peak at this time," says Marshall. "He may have written his name in the history book with his Woodstock performance, but he was still on a roll here.
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Aretha Franklin photographed backstage at the Filmore West in February of 1971.
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Dr. John backstage at the Boarding House, San Francisco, 1978.
"That's a real human head!? says Marshall of the object sitting next to Dr. John. "He got it from Jamaica."