September 20, 2011 by JP - 19 Comments

THE ROLLING STONES’ 1972 AMERICAN TOUR | STP– STONES TOURING PARTY

“Some of my most outrageous nights– I can only believe actually happened because of corroborating evidence. No wonder I’m famous for partying! The ultimate party– if it’s any good– you can’t remember it.” –Keith Richards

Keith Richards & Mick Taylor of The Rolling Stones on stage, 1972 –Image by © Ethan Russell

The Rolling Stones embarked on their 1972 American tour to support the release of Exile on Main Street— which in and of itself was a push into new territory for the band, both musically and commercially. What followed rewrote the game for The Stones and the music industry, and basically set the stage for a decade of big, balls-out tours that went from being simple promotional vehicles the pop culture events. Nothing like this had been done in Rock ‘n’ Roll prior and all subsequent tours would follow the ’72 tour blueprint for scale, attempted musicality, logistics, legal entanglements, drugs, women, hilarity, hangers-on, and general debauchery.

Mick Jagger & Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones on the STP tour, 1972 –Image by © Ethan Russell

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March 13, 2011 by JP - 14 Comments

MACHINE HEAD | THE EPIC 1972 ALBUM THAT PUT THE “DEEP” IN DEEP PURPLE

Deep Purple credits none other than Led Zeppelin for finally giving the band their focus. The boys in Deep Purple had experimented a lot with their sound in their early years– adding elements of psychedelia, and funk to their sound. With Led Zeppelin (and Black Sabbath) blazing the way by laying down the most epic, indestructible and powerful ‘Riff Rock’ tracks of all time– they finally knew exactly how they wanted to sound. The Mk II lineup was unstoppable– Ian Gillan (easily one of Rock and Roll’s best vocalists), guitarist Ritchie Blackmore (’nuff said), Roger Glover on bass, Ian Paice on drums, and arguably one of the most important elements to the “Deep Purple” sound that truly separated them from the pack– the eloquent and driving keyboard playing of Jon Lord.

Coming off a huge 15 month tour to support their successful In Rock, the band holed up in ‘Le Pavillon’, an old hotel in Montreux, Switzerland. Using the Rolling Stones’ mobile recording unit, Deep Purple recorded one of the hardest rocking albums of all time– Machine Head. Apparently the locals were not aware or appreciative that Rock history was in the making. In the middle of recording ‘Smoke on the Water’ the Swiss police showed up– pounding on the door to shut them down for keeping up the entire town of Montreux. Deep Purple’s roadees were holding the doors shut so that the band could get the track down on tape before getting thrown out. Deep Purple had to find new digs to record in, and finally came across a grand old Victorian hotel on the edge of town that was shutdown for the season– it was now the depths of winter. They found a tiny, quirky little space off of the main lobby where they could setup, and that was where Machine Head would be recorded– in just 3 weeks. Quick, dirty, and epic.

1971, Montreux, Switzerland — Singer Ian Gillan of Deep Purple playing guitar. Their epic album “Machine Head” was recorded in an old hotel in Montreux, Switzerland using the Rolling Stones’ mobile recording unit. — Image by © Shepard Sherbell/Corbis

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“…Highway Star was written on a bus going down to Portsmouth. We were playing Portsmouth Guild Hall– and we took some of the filthy press down with us, to, um… and Ritchie was dickin’ around on his banjo, and one of them said, ‘Well, how do you write a song then?’ And Ritchie went like this– he just went ‘ding,ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding… and looked out the window playing ‘ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding’– just playing one note. So, I started singing– and uh, we played the song in the show that night.”

–Ian Gillan of Deep Purple

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’71, Montreux, Switzerland — Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore — Image by © Shepard Sherbell/Corbis

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November 12, 2010 by JP - 24 Comments

1972 DAVID BOWIE IN TECHNICOLOR | CH-CH-CH-CH-CHANGES ROCK ‘N’ ROLL

Lou-

When David Bowie burst onto the scene in the early ’70s in full Technicolor Ziggy Stardust Glitter Rocker Regalia– he forever changed the Rock ‘n’ Roll landscape, and revolutionized a new genre of pop star and multi media artist like no one before. His influence was felt and reflected in music, culture, dress and attitude. The doors of self-expression and exploration were thrown wide open– with musical and artistic avenues never before explored now becoming ripe, new territory for a young and hungry generation.

BBC considers David Bowie’s 1972 performance of Starman on Top of the Pops nothing short of…

An iconic moment. Broadcast on July 6th, 1972 but recorded the day before, this performance caused a bit of a stir up and down the country. It was the first time many had seen Bowie, and the sight of him camping it up in a multicoloured jumpsuit (with his arm curled limply around Mick Ronson’s shoulder) infuriated some and delighted others. Ian McCulloch (Echo and the Bunnymen): “All my other mates at school would say, ‘Did you see that bloke on Top Of The Pops?’ He’s a right faggot, him!’ And I remember thinking, ‘You pillocks’…It made me feel cooler.”

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1974, New York — David Bowie performs as Ziggy Stardust on TV in a room at the Delmonico Hotel. — Image by © Henry Diltz/Corbis

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1972 — David Bowie, as Ziggy Stardust, in concert in the US. — Image by © Neal Preston/Corbis

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David Bowie & Mick Ronson. Mick (in white on the Les Paul) was a major collaborator w/Bowie through 1973. — Image by © Michael Ochs Archives/Corbis

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October 23, 2010 by JP - 12 Comments

THE LEGENDARY STRIPER VON DUTCH | STILL ALIVE AND LIVING IN ARIZONA ’72

Having grown up a good chunk of my life in Arizona, it was of particular interest to me when my buddy from the internets and writer extraordinaire, Bart Boule, clued me in on this interesting bit…interesting if you’re into this sorta thing, that is–

“…Von Dutch had a studio in the netherlands riverbottom between Scottsdale and Tempe — where the amazing club JD’s was, that Waylon Jennings and the Waylors were in residency, so that cowboys and fratboys could kick each others asses when Paul Revere and the Raiders or Buffalo Springfield played there…”

This sent me on a quest to dig up whatever I could find on this lost chapter of Von Dutch’s eccentric & electric existence. Then, what I’d been looking for turned up during a google image search (better than porn any day…heck, Von Dutch and “Big Daddy” Roth are my porn…), a long lost article, “Von Dutch is Still Alive and Living in Arizona.” Bingo. It’s chock full of priceless, colorful quotes from hizzoner, Mr. Von Dutch– and written by his good friend, Bob Burns, for the March, ’72 issue of Road Rider magazine.

This was a time when Von Dutch had moved to Phoenix from California with his wife, Sheila, and their kids to “get away from the race.” He wanted no part of California any longer. Dutch wanted to take it slow and easy– and do and honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay…

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“Steve McQueen had the first two Honda Fours in this country– and he gave them to me to tear into and customize.”

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August 23, 2009 by JP - 8 Comments

DENNIS HOPPER’S “THE LAST MOVIE” | THE FILM THAT BURIED A VISIONARY

Dennis Hopper and wife Daria Halprin at the Jack Tar Hotel, San Francisco.

From The Village Voice–

The Last Movie was actually to be Hopper’s first. Inspiration hit him in Durango, Mexico, during the making of the John Wayne western The Sons of Katie Elder— “I thought, my God, what’s going to happen when the movie leaves and the natives are left living in these Western sets?” Hopper hoped to make The Last Movie in 1966 but the project fell through when music producer Phil Spector withdrew financial support; his opportunity came in the wake of Easy Rider. Universal gave Hopper $850,000 and total autonomy (including final cut), so long as he stayed within budget.

Given Easy Rider‘s epochal success, The Last Movie was the most eagerly awaited picture of 1971. After winning an award at the Venice Film Festival, Hopper’s opus opened in New York and broke the single-day box office record at the RKO 59th Street theater, site of Easy Rider‘s triumphant engagement. But unlike Hopper’s first film, The Last Movie was attacked and ridiculed by virtually every reviewer in America and was withdrawn by its distributor within two weeks. Although it achieved a negative notoriety unsurpassed until Heaven’s Gate,The Last Movie was not a financial boondoggle. Hopper’s sin wasn’t wasting money—it was something far worse. The Last Movie is an act of visionary aggression that desecrates Hollywood’s universal church.

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March 26, 2009 by JP - 7 Comments

Vintage Ralph Lauren | The Early Years

I stumbled across some pics taken for the 1972 Spring fashion shoot, which to me are very cool and perfectly capture the timelessness of Ralph Lauren. I love the little old-school, typed write-up as well.

Thanks to the gent at Styleforum for the post (back in 2007).