January 30
Spent the evening watching a Who DVD, Isle Of Wight
1969 - amazing that it exists. Followed by Kiss, Cobo
Hall 1976, Alive tour, I think. I'd loan it to Geoff
Barton who'd probably get misty-eyed reliving his youth.
Only problem is he'd take it down the market and sell
it - you can't lend Geoff anything...
Finished with the new Werner Hertzog film, Grizzly Man,
about a moron who wants to be friends with the bears
in Alaska - they eat him.
Had an email from Audra Edginton from Seattle who's
offering to assist me. Audra is a maternity photographer.
Yes, we do have something in common, we both shoot big
babies...
Monday morning and it's cold.
January 29
One of those flights where I can't sleep - Kazuyo sits
next to me snoring all the way... I watch the dawn come
up over Ireland. The plane circles for forty minutes
which makes me feel ill - I always get nauseous in a
circling aircraft. Arrive into London at 7.30am then
wait half an hour for a gate. It is FREEEZING. Well,
I'm home and at least it's sunny - off to bed...
January 28
Wake up to a rainy Dallas. Run around with Carl Dunn,
a photographer friend of mine. See Rock 'n Roll John
B in his cowboy outfit heading off to Denver with Joe
Perry. Check in - as we are leaving the sun comes out.
I head home via a snowy Chicago.
January 27
The show in Dallas is massive and packed to the roof.
Len is feeling better and graces us with his presence
- a kind man, letting love rule etc. The Motor City
Madman is backstage, Ted Nugent - seems he has relocated
from the Motor City to Dallas to be with his chosen
tribe, The Republicans! Ted invites himself onstage
to play. He wanted to play Baby Please Don't Go but
they settled on Train. I enjoyed Ted more than Rick
Nielsen but then again I am a metal fan. Disappointingly
they didn't finish with Stranglehold. Got some nice
pics of Ted and Joe in Joe's inner sanctum. Managed
to get back before the end and shot Joe before he came
off stage. Steven brought his son Taj out to sing Happy
Birthday - Chelsea and Mia were also on hand for the
festivities.
I'm heading home tomorrow to sunny England. Rock 'n
Roll Johnny B is heading with the Cowboys to Brokeback,
Denver - home of the Cowboys or Broncos. We meet for
a farewell drink in the bar. I had a pint of lager and
he had something pink with an umbrella in it. He looks
rather strange in his cowboy hat and spurs but oddly
enough fits right in here. All friendly...
January 26
Flew with the band to a very cold Dallas. Shot Steven,
who was resting his voice.
Kazuyo asked who the polite person was that I'd shot
with Joe last night - it was Eric Johnson, who was so
polite I'd forgotten I'd even taken a picture of him...
Going out for a sedate evening meal with John, in our
cowboy hats - all friendly.
January 25
Went to bed earlyish - 12.30 - and still woke up at
7am... Meeting Rock 'n Roll John B for breakfast. A
nice warm, sunny day. I hear it's nice in England -
minus ten degrees...
Show tonight in San Antonio, I haven't been to a show
here in... I honestly can't remember. I used to come
here all the time in the '80s. I think it's maybe fifteen
years.
Lenny Kravitz has cancelled, again - poor 'ole Len's
feeling poorly. So Aerosmith add some songs - Kings
And Queens, and an impromptu Think About It, plus Stop
Messing (which I'm bored with, but the 'smiths love
old Peter Green). Good to see them play stuff you don't
expect. Did a good shoot with Joe Perry before he went
on - he always looks cool... Joe wanted to do more when
he came off all sweaty, but it took me ages to get through
the crowd - by then he'd changed back to normal (whatever
normal is). Rock 'n Roll John Bionelli insisted on taking
a picture of me in Joe's hat. He must want it for his
hotel room wall, next to Donny Shiteman - all friendly
on the range.
Ran into an old friend of mine, Frank, who I haven't
seen since 1988 - he thinks it was the last time I was
here...
 
These are a couple of pictures I shot last year of
Slash at the Sunset Marquis.
January 24
Arrive at 3am. Can't sleep. As I'm jet-lagged, I am
awake at 9am. Go out with a friend of mine, Spencer,
record shopping. I'm too tired to enjoy it. Corner Steven
at 5pm and make him go through photos - he's actually
quite good, he knows what he likes.
Because I'm here, go to the Alamo. Kazuyo doesn't know
what it is. 'What's so special, just an old building.'
I explained about Davie Crockett, Jim Bowie, and fighting
for the state of Texas... 'Good, they probably deserved
it, stealing poor old Santa Ana's land.' She has a fine
grasp on history...
January 23
Off to Houston. Why is it the only flights I can get
on are at dawn? Arrive into Houston at midday. It is
overcast and cold - every time I come here is the same.
Boring day, hanging out at the show. At least the Aerosmith
crew are all nice. The band arrive at around 6.30. Mainly
shoot Steven backstage. Rock'n Roll John Bionelli insists
on doing pictures with me, holding a red rose in his
mouth. I'll get them up soon - all friendly. Don't enjoy
the show, the audience are aggressive and drunk. There
is nothing less fun than a sad, middle-aged drunk. Kazuyo,
my assistant, is politely asking people to move out
of the way and is told "Go fuck yourself".
Nice manners - in the south... Fly to San Antonio after
the show with the band.
  
 Here are some more pictures from my Cambodian trip.
The photo of me is by Jimmy Page, I rather like it -
perhaps Jimmy could become a portrait photographer...
January 22
Had a late breakfast with Fifty Dollar Don Burnstein,
playboy buyer for the Hard Rock Hotel. I've known Donald
for twenty-five years. We discuss posters - I collect
them, as in I buy them, sell them, then buy them again.
Must be my age... Went out to Amoeba and paid far too
much for the first two Tim Buckley LPs on vinyl - I
can spend years in a good record store.
Shooting some actors for the Sunset Marquis Hotel
today - I can't say who as it's supposed to be a secret
- and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. Enjoy shooting Billy.
He has a huge, black 1962 car - as I know nothing about
cars I couldn't tell you what it is. Shoot him outside
the hotel at night.
January 21
Strange flying long haul - must have been at least
two weeks - spent the flight as usual watching the route
map. Had an argument with some awful American woman
who wanted me to close my window shade for the whole
eleven hours - she can fuck off...
Shot the Great Salt Lake by Salt Lake City, covered
in snow.
Arrived to a sunny day - nice to be in LA. Had a nice
surprise upon arriving - Gloria Butler, Geezer's wife
and manager, had sent a platinum award for Black Sabbath's
Vol 4 made out to me to the hotel. She'd promised it
to me ten years ago!!!! Thank you Gloria...!
January 20
Off to LA this morning for a few days - looking forward
to warm weather again...
  Here's the proof for the cover of my new Iron Maiden
book, and one of the inside pages. Rod Smallwood is
going to write the intro, and I'm going to get Steve
Harris to caption the pictures - Rod I've asked, Steve
I haven't yet...
January 18
Alistair Geddes has sent me Chris Rea's Blue Guitars.
It's his eleven-cd set of the blues - I'll work my way
through it.
Watched Memoirs Of A Geisha (Peter Makowski had got
hold of an Oscar preview copy). It was awful, Michelle
Yeoh was so American and looked like a middle-aged Beverly
Hills actress, an Asian Jane Seymour. The others were
so wooden in the roles it was dire...
  Just
heard I'm in Houston next week with Aerosmith. I've
put some more up from December... go there...
January 17
I watched a GREAT film last night, The Consequences
Of Love. It is the best film I've seen in ages. As the
main character says, "You can never underestimate
the consequences of love". Go and see it - it's
out on DVD.
I'd gone for a run and just wasn't into it. I'd nearly
given up when I started watching a programme on the
gym tv. It was about Easter Island. I've taken this
as an omen - and I will go... Checked how far it is
from Los Angeles - you can do it in a four-day trip,
with a lot of flying. Hmmmm...
Saw Paul Rees today, who's told me to stop putting photos
of JP on the site. As I was leaving I see a SOBER Paul
Brannigan. 'I'm off the drink,' he tells me. 'I went
on a holy pilgrimage over Christmas.' I think, Ireland.
'Oh no, I went to Phuket to Scruffy Murphy's - it was
grand. Spent most of the week there.' I notice he's
not his usual colour of pink. 'I didn't bother with
the beach, not when you can watch the football and drink
- it was a holy experience, singing anthems and blacking-out
in a trance-like state, so I'm recovering at the moment.'
I think he means passing out in a drunken state, but
who am I to ruin his religious beliefs...
Have to go to Los Angeles by Friday - must look into
the possibility of Easter Island...
January 16
    Added
some more Aerosmith pictures from December.
Go
there...
 
Also added some pictures from my Cambodia trip this
Chrsitmas. Go
there...
January 14
Knew Friday 13th was unlucky. I woke up this morning
and realised Pete was still here - still, I'm having
the house fumigated tomorrow, when he finally leaves...
Peter and I started to watch Clean starring the very
lovely Maggie Cheung. She plays a musician with a bad
drug problem. It tries too hard to be trendy and mentions
Mojo and Q - not Classic Rock, much to Pete's disapointment.
Peter insisted on watching Deep Purple at Hoffa University
1973, to re-address the balance...
January 13
Friday 13th, better not do anything - except the Euro
Lottery.
Pete Townshend has put a diary entry on his website
saying that he thought The Who Mojo cover was great.
Even though I've made him and Roger look like "Wandsworth
Prison inmates" - is this a compliment?
We had a very nice dinner with JP and Peter last night.
Jimmy and I dressed up, Peter came in trainers and a
t-shirt - 'I didn't know were going anywhere posh.'
Got the Classic Rock 70's issue in the post. It has
a Zeppelin feature, speaking of which Dave Lewis has
sent me a LZ Earls Court T-shirt and his special magazine
on the event. I'll have to read it and re-address the
balance. Thank you Dave - I'll post it to Bora Bora
when I'm done.
 
Here are some pictures from Cambodia at Christmas -
I'll put some more up soon.
January 12
  Rock'n
Roll John Bionelli after succesfully auditioning for
the lead role opposite Donny Shiteman in the Boston
version of Brokeback Mountain. They are now sharing
a room on tour...
Off to dinner this evening with Peter Makowski and
James Patrick Page for Jimmy's belated birthday dinner.
JP is a hundred and five years old...
January 11
Just put up some more Aerosmith pictures from last
December. See them...
Got a nice mention on drawtheblog, check it out...
January 10
 The
new Guitar World cover
January 9
While in Bora Bora I intended to read. I brought with
me Ivo Andric's The Bridge On The Drina, John Pilger's
Tell Me No Lies, and like a fan, Simon Pallett and Dave
Lewis' Led Zeppelin The Concert File which has lots
of facts but has no objectivity and is far too sycophantic.
Sadly you can guess which I read... Dave Lewis is always
going on about re-addressing the balance - well, I'll
help Dave out here. "On August 4th '79 Led Zeppelin
did an official photo shoot in their dressing room prior
to going on stage", claims Dave. It happened on
August 11th '79. It wasn't official - myself and Fred
"Chalkie" Davies couldn't get any access all
day. At the time Led Zeppelin and Peter Grant (in a
drug-fuelled state) thought the press were against them,
so nobody at either Knebworth show could get near them.
We ran into BP Fallon, Zep's PR and Irish all-round
entertainer (Paul Brannigan has spent most of his life
trying to emulate the man). BP had been "Wearing
and Tearing" all day. We complained at our lack
of access. 'Foooooooooooking outrageous,' screamed BP.
'Come this way,' and marched us into Zeppelin's dressing
room, where to our surprise the band lined up for photos.
Official - Dave check your facts...
Jimmy called on New Years Day to wish me a Happy New
Year. I told him what I was reading in paradise. 'I'll
have to go through it with a highlighter,' to point
out the mistakes or as Dave says, re-address the balance.
I left the book in the hotel library so next time you're
in Bora Bora - do some re-addressing.
  My Metallica book came in the post. If you like Metallica
up to The Black Album then hopefully you'll like it.
I've over-used the term "Don't Tread" and
the caption for Kirk's birthday is wrong (it should
be 1986). My favourite photo is one of Lars from Osaka
Festival Hall - a rare one of Lars doing something for
himself...
Must get on with my Iron Maiden book.
January 8
  I'm
home - it took 28 hours and it's cold and I'm tired
and I can moan (it's my website). Bora Bora was a bit
like being in a tropical prison. It was as jaw-droppingly
beautiful as you see in photos.  But it was also overpriced
- very expensive. I stayed in the Bora Bora Nui, which
in reality is a Sheraton Hotel called the Starwood
something. It was aesthetically pleasing until you
realise the four poster bed was probably from Ikea,
and the shower ran hot then cold. Look on line and
see how much it cost and trust me, you'd be moaning
as well. The
tv was in French except boring CNN. Okay I admit this
is French Polynesia, but if you've
stayed in The Grand Hotel in Siem Reap, or even the
Trisara, whose rooms are a third of the price and are
amazing you'll get my point. The Starwood library consisted
of a few worn paperbacks. Tahitians have no clue about
service - it was like Fawlty Towers with a hundred
Basil Fawltys... But the island was lovely, it was
just that after a while I felt like Tom Hanks in Castaway
- with all the overpriced amenities... I did take some
nice photos.    I'll get them up soon-ish.
 The one great thing about Bora Bora was you could see
the night sky. The only other place I've been to like
it is Ayers Rock. Both have hardly any street lights
so the stars GLOW at night. It is worth going just to
look up at and dream - "The Stars That Play With
Laughing Sam's Dice" I would take the boat from
Bora Bora at night just to look at the sky - GLOWING...
I wanted to go to Easter Island (Tahiti is the nearest
island), but the flight was still five hours with a
five hour time change. You are then in a part of Chile.
So apart from the ten hour journey, I couldn't get back
for another five days - I gave up on the idea...
   Flew home through Los Angeles. Picked up the new Who
Mojo (I'd only seen the cover). I was quite pleased
with how it looked apart from a couple of howling date
errors. The Who's shows at the Sundown Edmonton were
December 21, 22 and 23, not December 13. And Thin Lizzy
was 1977 not 1974! Mick Wall's feature was good. Speaking
of features, Peter Makowski is writing a huge one on
his very ex-friend Robin Hood (Ritchie Blackmore). Peter
has asked me if he should tell the truth. As people
in recovery well know, you should always be truthful...
January 5
 Here's a self portrait of me and my assistant from
Christmas day.
January 1
  I'm
in Bora Bora. A Happy New Year to you all - I'm not
sure if I really mean it...
Here's the new Mojo cover and Rock Jet with The Who
from Japan - still
the greatest rock'n roll band in the world. |
