Shot By: Allan Tannenbaum

Lenny Kaye, working at Bleecker Bob's then Village Oldies at 170 Bleecker Street, NYC, 1974. By Allan Tannenbaum.

Shot by: Daniel Sorine

NYC 1974. By Daniel Sorine. Follow him on Tumblr.

An artist in transition: David Bowie's Cracked Actor (1974)

For my money, no David Bowie film is as good as the 1974 documentary, Cracked Actor. None of the others, which are essentially concert films, cover the ground that this one covers - combining live & behind-the-scenes (what Bowie allows anyway) footage, as well as the perspective of the fans. I wonder what became of these kids?

On another note, I can't think of anyone who preceded Bowie for his sense of showmanship. I would venture to say that, live in concert in the mid-70's, he was the true originator of the style which later became (and continues to be) the style for the likes of the big arena pop acts like Madonna, and more recently, Lady Gaga. Set pieces, costume changes, you name it...

Cracked Actor was shot in & around Los Angeles on Bowie's 1974 Diamond Dogs tour, and was then broadcast in early 1975 in the UK.

Just Because: Television gig flyers 74/75

Source - zombiesenelghetto.tumblr.com

Friday Ephemera, Pt 2: Lou Reed 1974 press photos, Sally Can't Dance

Amphetamine Lou at his best. These 1974 publicity shots from RCA Records accompany the RCA Records bio I posted yesterday. They were used for the release of his album, Sally Can't Dance, released in August of '74. Again, thanks to Peter D. for these beauts...

Friday Ephemera, Pt 1: Lou Reed 1974 bio, Sally Can't Dance

This is the original RCA Records press bio for Lou Reed's fourth solo album, Sally Can't Dance, released in August 1974. Special thanks to Peter Dougherty for this. Come back tomorrow for part 2.

And now for a word from our sponsor

Here's an incredible, hard to believe it exists, actual television commercial for Lou Reed's Sally Can't Dance album from October 1974. Hat tip to There Is A Site.

Shot By: Kate Simon (Stupefaction exclusive!)

And now for something completely different: Monty Python at the Drury Lane Theatre, London, 1974, by Kate Simon. Silver gelatin print.

Kate was kind enough to share these thoughts on this previously unpublished photo: I love Monty Python, and always got a thrill when I would see John Cleese or Eric Idle at a party or event when I lived in London in the 70's. Nothing is sexier than "smart." For me, John Cleese embodied that.

When I took the photo of John Cleese presenting Terry Jones with the giant hammer on stage at The Drury Lane Theatre in 1974, I was just beginning as a professional photographer. I was thrilled that I was able to manage the shot from one of the upper balconies so far away from the stage with a telephoto lens.

Visit Kate's website: http://katesimonphotography.com/. A huge, large, effervescent thank you to her for the photo & comments.

Just Because - Lou Reed

Billboard magazine, February 9, 1974 via Billboarding Party

Mott in America 1974

Here's some fantastic home-style footage shot by Mott the Hoople's Morgan Fisher on tour of the US in 1974. He has great things to say about the New York Dolls, and Leee Black Childers. Thanks to Its All the Streets for posting this! And yes Morgan, your "little 8mm film" does give us "a taste of what it was". Thank you!

Red Norvo loses it

Carnegie Hall, 1974: While performing with Benny Goodman, Red Norvo completely loses it, and pulls a Pete Townshend, during his vibraphone solo in "Gotta Be This Or That" (at about 2:55). I wonder what he got so angry about?



Featuring Benny Goodman On Clarinet And Vocal, Hank Jones On Piano, Red Norvo On Vibraphone, Bucky Pizzareilli On Guitar, Slam Stewart On Bass, Grady Tate On Drums, Zoot Sims and Al Klink On Saxophones, Bobby Hackett, Bernie Previn On Trumpets.

Television - 1974 loft rehearsals

ADDENDUM, 6.25.10: I had a video playlist of 10 tracks posted here from the available footage. Unfortunately, it's not available anymore, so I've replaced it with what you see below. I wonder how long this one will last? I also wonder who the fucking cry baby is who put the take down into place to have the videos removed from YouTube?
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Once upon a time there was a man named Terry Ork. He managed Television, and according to some folks was extremely responsible for getting CBGB off the ground in the direction that brought the club eventual success & notoriety. Here is some very interesting footage (10 clips in all) of Television practicing in Ork's loft in Chinatown, circa 1974, with Richard Hell on bass. In certain respects, this is some sort of ground zero.



As Richard Lloyd said over at Perfect Sound Forever:

RL: I was living downtown in Chinatown with this guy who worked for Andy Warhol...

Q: Terry Ork?

RL: Terry Ork. I had been playing guitar for a number of years. I never played with anybody. I wasn't the kind of guy who ran around playing with everyone on the planet. So, one day Terry says "I know another guy who does what you do" and I said "What do I do?" He said "Well, you play guitar." So I went down to see Verlaine play. So Tom played these three songs. Instantly, watching this fellow, I just knew something was going to happen. Richard Hell was his manager, and we convinced him to learn the bass. In came Ficca, who had been a drummer in some blues band from Chicago. Terry Ork offered us rehearsal space in his loft, and even offered to buy us the necessary equipment. It was an offer Tom couldn't refuse. So we started the group. We called ourselves GooGoo for three weeks, then we all went our separate ways to find a name. Richard Hell came up with Television. Tom liked it because TV was his initials. We were more like the Sex Pistols back then, in a way...

Creem Magazine April '74 with Iggy

Have a look through the April '74 issue of Creem Magazine with Iggy on the cover.

December 1974 - Binky Philips, the Planets and CBGB

One of the nice guys in the NYC rock 'n' roll scene, right up there with Lenny Kaye, I've known Binky Philips since the 1980's when he worked at Sounds Records. In an earlier life, he was the leader of one the first 10 bands to play at CBGB, the Planets. SonicBoomers recently ran a terrific story by Binky on his personal discovery, initial impressions, and experience of the club. If you're interested in the perspective of someone who was there at the beginning, but not one of the bands who "made it," this story is for you. Great stuff!

"We were sitting at a red light on the Bowery at Bleeker St. For as long as I'd been alive, the Bowery was the definitive Skid Row. The most dilapidated and "lost soul" half-mile in New York. Horrible, sad flophouses, filthy dark wino bars, comatose bodies in doorways, 19th century gloom. The taxi was idling in this squalor. I was sitting on the right and turned and looked out the cab's window. Directly across from me was an old-style but spanking new snow-white half-circle awning with old carny-style lettering in red and black. CBGB. Without thinking, I just blurted out "Look guys, a place we might be able to play." There was nothing but that enigmatic name, CBGB, that clicked, but clicked it did. Yet within a week, the December holiday crap started up and we forgot all about CBGB." Continued here.

Binky Philips photo by Lisa Kristal courtesy of CBGB.com.

Further reading courtesy of Binky's seemingly incredible memory:
- On hanging with Gene & Paul in the early days of Kiss
- On almost joining the Heartbreakers, and meeting Johnny Rotten at CBGB
And much more!

Andy Warhol's Index & Nico letter to Danny Fields

An extremely rare & wonderful book published in December 1967, a copy is currently available on eBay. As the description states, it's even rarer to find this with the Velvet Underground flexi, as well as most of the pop-ups intact. Click on the images for a closer look.



"Andy Warhol's Index is a rare 1960's art book featuring many photos of the Velvet Underground and other Warhol Factory associates, and a paper record of the Velvet Underground's unreleased track "Noise." It is rarely found with the disc and all the elements present, as is the case here; all pop ups, fold outs, and other gimmicks are present and in good condition save for a broken (but easily replaceable) rubber band in the pop up cube, and a balloon melted between it's 2 pages (every copy we've seen has these flaws, which occur with the passage of time.) Only one of the 8 "tear out" strips on the second to last page is present, and the Velvet Underground disc is detached, as is commonly found. In VG+ condition, with some light impressions on the foil front cover. A great artifact of Warhol, the Velvets, and the 60's."



Also available from the same seller, is a handwritten letter from Nico to Danny Fields, dated March 1st, 1974.

Here's an extraordinary Velvet Underground rarity--a handwritten letter from former Velvets lead singer Nico to Danny Fields, her longtime friend and A&R man (who signed her to Elektra Records.) Dated March 1, 1974 Nico asks Fields for help in locating two posters she particularly liked and wanted to reprint to advertise concerts she was giving in France. She goes on to say she is "drowning in the melting snow," mentions that her old friends Paul (Morrissey) and Andy (Warhol) are acting "kind of hostile" towards her, "because I do not see myself running around like a doll. I look more like a prehistoric figure with rags hanging around her & worn out boots." She mentions "I was busted last September" and "how it is interesting how one likes to react to violence. Somehow ones ability does not remain so limited."





Lastly, hands up for how many folks knew the Velvets played with Sly & the Family Stone...I don't see any hands. Well, they did.

Just Because - Count Ossie

Count Ossie performing in Jamaica 1966:


Count Ossie and the Mystic Revelation 1974: