R&R Will Never Die

We finally got over to see the Graham Nash curated rock and roll photography show at the George Eastman House. The shot of Hendrix during the soundcheck at Monterrey Pop was worth the price of admission and there were plenty of classic shots and outtakes from famous sessions. Gene Vincent looked liked he invented rock ‘n roll in a 1959 shot. Anton Corbjn’s photos transcended the music aspect. His shot of Joe Cocker was my favorite in the show. Mick Jagger looks silly stretching before a show next to a shot of Iggy doing a back bend in performance. I could only wonder if that was an intentional dig. Graham Nash included a few of his own shots of Neil Young and his girlfriend Joni and he’s going to be here to talk about the show in a few weeks.

An accompanying show in the small gallery as you walk in had five projections of snippets of rock and roll performances from tv shows like Hullabaloo, Ed Sullivan, Dick Cavett, MTV and Hollywood movies. With five screens going at once we darted back and forth to catch the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Tina Turner, Freddie Mercury, the Stones and Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs.

I was thinking how this thing we grew up with is really our culture now but it’s spread is not complete. It still has not registered for my parents and it never will for them. My father and I were driving back from the Van Gogh drawing show in NYC a few years ago when “Like A Rolling Stone” came on the radio. I said something like, “This song changed everything when it came out” and I remember the blank stare. I hope they had their own touchstones that got under their skin in a similar way.

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