Massive 60s and 70s Rock Photo Archive Hits The Auction Block

The Who 1965

September 2015 -  Backstage Auctions is proud to present one of the most historic rock photo archive auctions featuring thousands of vintage images of the British music scene from the 1960s and 1970s.

The collection consists of well over 20,000 historic negatives, slides and transparencies featuring some of the most iconic musicians and bands of all time. Almost exclusively comprised of film from the 1960s and 1970s, this material comes direct from John Halsall and was once part of the core archive of a London based photo agency. After having been professionally stored for the past 35 years, the world can now witness the unearthing of a visually magnificent and historically significant archive that has no equal.

This collection is divided in just under 500 individual lots and will be offered with a full transfer of rights, which makes this material not only collectible but also commercially appealing and exceptionally valuable.

The Grateful Dead 1970

As with any high quality collection, this archive is well-represented by the various decades and genres that ultimately transformed and created the history of rock, pop and punk music.

From the 1950s the collection offers attractive lots by several of the Jazz, Pop and Country greats such as Duke Ellington, Fats Domino, Charlie Mingus, Sidney Bechet, The Andrew Sisters, Nat King Cole, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin, Johnny Cash, Bill Haley & The Comets and Gene Vincent.

Otis Redding 1966

The roaring 60s consume a large part of the auction. From teen heart-throbs such as the Bee Gees, Beach Boys, Dave Clark 5, Sonny & Cher and The Walker Brothers, to R&B giants such as James Brown, The Crystals, Martha & The Vendellas, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and The Supremes.

It is however the Rock & Roll portion that truly elevates this collection to peerless heights. In particular the thousands of never-before-seen photos of The Rolling Stones and The Who is what makes this archive one for the ages. 

Equally significant are lots by The Animals, The Band, Jeff Beck, The Byrds, Blind Faith, Cream, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, The Kinks, The Mamas & The Papas, The Move, Them and Pink Floyd.  

Mick Jagger 1964

Robert Plant 1979

The 1970s is the next decade that consumes the other large part of the auction, fueled by incredible collections from many of the A-List of Rock such as Led Zeppelin, Queen, David Bowie, Black Sabbath, Mountain, New York Dolls, Sweet, Thin Lizzy, T. Rex and Frank Zappa. 

Complementing the diverse 70s are fantastic lots from the Punk era (Sex Pistols, The Clash, Blondie, Iggy Pop, Siouxsie & The Banshees, The Jam, The Stranglers), Pop giants (ABBA, The Carpenters, Neil Diamond, The Police, Dire Straits) to the early days of Heavy-Metal (AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Def Leppard).

The collection comes to a conclusion in the early 1980s with exceptional lots from some of the legendary New-Wave (The Tourists, Pretenders, Ian Dury), Ska (Madness) and Reggae (Peter Tosh) performers.

Sex Pistols March 21, 1977 with Sid Vicious at Notre Dame Hall - London

Rounding out the archive are several impressive festival collections (Isle of Wight, Knebworth, Reading, Bickershaw, Glad Rag Balls and others) to over 30 lots from various “Top of the Pops” and “Ready, Set, Go!”  television episodes aired between the mid-60s to 1982.

Collection Highlights

Highlighted below are what we consider to be the Top Five collections to be featured in the auction. Of course it was hard to pick just five, but read on and you will get a sense of why these collections are high on our list.

Rolling Stones 1965

The Rolling Stones - simply because of the sheer volume (almost 5,000 negatives) and the fact that 75% of it is dated between 1963 and 1969. It provides the a most comprehensive visual documentation of their TV appearances, live shows, formal and candid photo sessions and their years of touring.

The Who 1965

The Who - very much for the same reason as with The Stones.  With almost 3,000 negatives, of with more than half from the 60s, this collection presents an insight into their high profile and public lives. 

Cream 1969

Eric Clapton – and in particular the collection of photos of Cream and Blind Faith, which include highly illusive images of club shows, rehearsals and candid photo sessions. The many addition lots of Eric Clapton with Delaney & Bonnie, as well as his early years a solo artist makes this overall a most comprehensive collection of the vintage Clapton era.

Jimi Hendrix ca. 1966 UK
Professional Photo Shoot

Jimi Hendrix - just when one would think that every Hendrix photo that was ever made has already been discovered and seen by ‘the world’, this archive offers 175 jaw-dropping new images, from photo sessions and candid moments, to TV appearances, rehearsals and live shows.

The 5th artist is a true toss-up between Pink Floyd (for the Syd Barrett content), Otis Redding (for the amazing live and backstage photos of several of his U.K. shows) and Black Sabbath (because it documents the first few years of their career through a series of stunning photo sessions and live shows).

Collections worthy of more than a quick glance

The Jeff Beck Group 1967 with Rod
Stewart and Ron Wood

What comes to mind initially is a collection of almost 800 Rolling Stones negatives (!) taken from their first tour of Ireland, which lasted exactly 3 days (January 6-8, 1965). To take that many photos means that you have documented nearly every plane, train and bus ride, hotel stay, breakfast, lunch and dinner, rehearsal and concert, dressing room and backstage moment from that tour…and this collection in fact has done just that.

The second is more an ‘angle’ than a specific artist. Perhaps the most unique element of this archive is that it captures so many ‘big name’ artists at a time when they were so young. And with that comes the other aspect…so many of the photos are deeply personal as they show these artists at home, in their backyard, on the road, in a dressing room, even in the hospital. What stands out – and we could do a great photo collage – is;

•         Keith Moon at home with wife & kids

•         Bill Wyman at home with wife & kids

•         Pete Townshend visiting his manager’s office

•         The Bee Gees at home with wives / girlfriends

•         Jimi Hendrix in rehearsal

•         Cream on the couch of their management office

•         Mick Jagger looking at a "peeking" fan 

•         Otis Redding getting ready for a show in London

•         Marc Bolan and his girlfriend with newborn son 

•         David Bowie on the floor in his apartment

•         Jeff Beck with his buddies (Stewart and Wood) 

•         Johnny Cash with wife & son

•         Roy Orbison with wife & son

•         Ozzy Osbourne dropping his pants  

•         Sonny & Cher in the worlds most "dizziest" outfits  

•         Diana Ross & The Supremes first UK visit

•         Mama Cass Elliot in her London hotel room

•         George Martin (The Beatles producer) at home

David Bowie ca. 1969

About John Halsall

John Halsall started London Features and was formed in 1969 and initially began as a tool for the syndication of John's

John Halsall - London Features Press Pass 1974

personal freelance articles and the photographs taken by his photographer/ co-director. By the 1970s it because apparent that, as far as rock music was concerned, London had become the Capital of the World and many of the foreign publications that had used Halsall as their foreign correspondent were either opening their own offices in London or financing a London based staff.

As time passed, the need for Halsall’s interviewing and writing obligations diminished but the need for on the ground photographers was growing, so LFI (London Features International) added photographers, opened additional dark rooms and a proper studio, and soon came into its own as an established agency.

Halsall interviewing Carl Wilson
of the Beach Boys in 1973

LFI became the largest agency in its field and the competition conceded; most sold their collections to LFI complete with rights as did many independent photographers. Halsall, being a businessman first, recognized the value and opportunity in the images and began to personally purchase the collections and assimilate them into the LFI library. 

Decades later, LFI became the victim of the “digital revolution” and the rise of such well funded giants as Getty and Shutterstock.  LFI was sold in 2005 and Halsall retired along with his amazing library of images. The collection being presented at auction is the personal collection and historical archive of John Halsall.

Auction Information

The Photo Archive Auction will have a special VIP Preview beginning on September 19^th, 2015. The bidding will begin on September 26^th and run through October 4^th, 2015.

To register for your All Access VIP Auction Pass click here:  VIP REGISTRATION

Odd Couple: Cavaliere and Cropper take to the air with ‘Midnight Flyer’

Worlds apart in the 1960s, geographically speaking and perhaps musically, as well, Felix Cavaliere, of the British Invasion-influenced, East Coast R&B gang The Rascals, and Steve Cropper, the quintessential Southern soul guitarist who powered the Stax label house band Booker T. & the MGs, would, occasionally, pass each other like strangers in the night.

“You know, we used to know each other in the past from the Atlantic (Records) family,” explains Cavaliere. “We used to cross paths once in a while in the studio. Matter of fact, Booker T. did cut ‘Groovin’’ – they cut an instrumental version of ‘Groovin’’ and had a hit with that.”

A sunny, summery ode to carefree Sundays spent loving the one you’re with and gazing upon nature’s wonders, with bird sounds flitting about the instrumentation, the organic “Groovin’” was a massive #1 hit for The Rascals in 1967 and proof of the band’s increasing sophistication with regard to pop arrangements and songwriting. They were the kings of blue-eyed soul.

Meanwhile, down South, Cropper was creating that signature guitar style of his, one so fluid and expressive that it seemed the very embodiment of hot, humid Dixie soul. No ordinary sideman, Cropper’s skill as an arranger, writer, player and producer gave Otis Redding’s “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” a certain glow and introspective depth, while pumping heated blood through the huffing, puffing circulatory system of Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour.”

“I think what’s unique about his playing is, he’s got sort of a style that he’s developed from listening to people like Curtis Mayfield and a lot of the blues guys, but it’s not any of those, it’s his own,” says Cavaliere.

From afar, the two artists shared a mutual admiration for each other’s work. But, working together? That seemed a far-fetched notion in the late ‘60s, back when Cropper’s Southern cooking was still simmering in Booker T. & the MGs’ soul kitchen, and Cavaliere and the Rascals were branching out into psychedelia and jazz. Years went by, and both bands dissolved, leaving Cavaliere and Cropper as free agents. And Cavaliere, along with his New York accent, would, shockingly, wind up moving to Tennessee, home to Cropper.

“We just started writing together, and it kind of jelled and we had a good time, and he got us a [record] deal,” says Cavaliere, explaining how the partnership that’s resulted in not one, but now two albums, that latest being Midnight Flyer, on Stax, came to fruition. “It was a total surprise to both of us. It kind of went on from there, and we went on to do the second one, which was just a lot of fun. And the reason that it works so well is because we both have kind of similar musical kind of identities, you know.”

Although, being from places that couldn’t be more different, Cavaliere and Cropper have their own approaches when it comes to lyrics and music. “He, being from the South, has these kinds of little idioms that really go well with music, and they come out in the words,” says Cavaliere. “They just have that kind of Southern charm to them that I think people like. On the other hand, I come from a more jazz background, more of an R&B/jazz type world; he’s like more of straight-on blues world. So, the mixture of the two, I think it works because, as I say, both of those formats are kind of cool.”

The marriage works, at least in part because of Cavaliere and Cropper’s interest in exploring diverse musical styles. From the high-stepping funk workouts of “Move The House” and “Do It Like This” to the seductive grooves of “Sexy Lady” and the sweaty soul faceoff between Cavaliere and his daughter Aria on “I Can’t Stand It,” Midnight Flyer is a multi-dimensional effort from two old dogs who’ve been teaching others tricks for a long, long time. And yet, there’s still something about Midnight Flyer that harkens back to the good old days for both.

“He gets a kick out of my chord changes, and the grooves that come out,” says Cavaliere, “because he relates it to like ‘Groovin’’ and the same with his stuff. You know, there’s kind of like a Wilson Pickett feeling in some of these songs.”

It’d be easy for Cavaliere and Cropper to fall back into familiar working patterns, but on Midnight Flyer, they took inspiration from advanced technology. But they did draw some lines in the sand.

“Well, you know, we tried something different this time, a little bit more modern,” relates Cavaliere. “And you know, whenever two older guys do modern stuff you’ve got to really be careful. I used Apple products called Logic, and we set up in a studio. It is so much fun to write in the studio because you’re getting like immediately great sound, and we found these loops to write to and kind of just composed on the spot live to those loops. You know, drum patterns, and it just, you know, brought a different type of inspiration to the project. And then, of course, we went back and did the traditional bass, drums, of course guitars, keys. But it started from kind of like the more modern, computer type of thing.”

As for Aria, the young singer didn’t back down being the in the company of legends. Her dad wouldn’t have had it any other way.  “I wanna tell you, she kind of freaked me out a little because I know she’s good, and she came totally prepared and just like belted it out, man,” laughs Cavaliere. “Everybody was just like that old Pioneer speaker commercial, you know, they were just kind of blasted against the wall. She kicked it. It’s a thrill, you know. I can’t describe how good you feel when somebody really comes to a job and does well like that. You know, she looked at it like a job. I mean, I told her, I said this is for real. You’ve got to be prepared when you come in the room. Nobody’s going to sit around and teach you anything. And she did great. She did … I took her on the road with me for a while, although I’m not really encouraging this type of life for anybody. It’s very difficult. She loves it.”

So far, as it relates to their partnership, so do Cavaliere and Cropper, two artists intent on letting the world know they still have something to say.

-Peter Lindblad

CD Review: Otis Redding 'Live on the Sunset Strip'

CD Review: Otis Redding 'Live on the Sunset Strip'

All Access Review: A

Awkward, clumsy, maybe even a bit oafish, Otis Redding didn’t dazzle crowds or make girls swoon with suave, sophisticated dance steps. He left the polished choreography to those slick, twinkle-toed Motown crews, with their impeccable footwork and stylish moves. Redding, being the showman that he was, albeit one who wasn’t afraid to show genuine emotion, would be more inclined onstage to fall on the ground in tent-revival ecstasy and rip those snazzy suits he wore right off his body. And if he could have, he would have plunged his sweaty hand deep into his chest cavity and pulled out his still beating heart for all in the audience to see.

Nothing like that happened at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, which served as Redding’s coming-out party. Still, his raw energy, infectious smile and powerful drive, presented without the slightest bit of guile, left no doubt to anyone in America, including those who had no idea who he was before that monumental event, that he could deliver the goods live.

But, what was it exactly that set tongues wagging from sea to shining sea about this tall, gangly African-American soul singer from the South? Was it that his singing, at once soulful and pleading, before exploding with joy and inexhaustible emotion, was so passionate and honest that it simply couldn’t be ignored? Could it be that he was one of the most physical and hardest working of all soul and R&B men, James Brown included, and that he always wore his heart on his sleeve, wringing every drop of blood, sweat and tears out of every song he did and never reaching that point where he just simply gave out?

Yes, yes and, again, yes, but Redding was doing this long before Monterey. In fact, California had witnessed his power to galvanize an audience the previous year, when Redding brought his own band to Los Angeles’s Whisky A Go Go and turned the place inside out, as the two-CD, 28-song Live on the Sunset Strip points out in such strikingly rich sound and unadulterated realism – all the good-natured between-song chatter, crowd applause and riot-inciting introductions that yell out “Are you ready for star time?” transporting you back that hot, sweaty club.

In 1966 having marked a turning point for Redding in terms of national, and perhaps international, exposure even before Monterey, he was at the top of his game when these recordings were made. What sets them apart from other live recordings of the time that Redding made with the Bar-Keys or Booker T. & the MGs was the simple fact that … well, those famed backing bands weren’t there and Redding’s own hand-picked unit was. For that alone, this release might be considered a historical artifact.

But, holy God, don’t believe for a second that that is all there is to the lively, combustible Live on the Sunset Strip, which features three start-to-finish, guns-a-blazing sets in their entirety. Backed by tight, radiant horns and full-bodied instrumentation that bleeds with him when he bleeds and rejoices when he’s ready to summon angels from heaven, Redding tears through multiple covers of The Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction” (Disc 1and Disc 2) and stomps (in the best way possible) gleefully all over The Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night” (only on Disc 2), while injecting “Respect,” the song made famous by Aretha Franklin that he wrote, with a lethal dose of testosterone. And he huffs and puffs his way through three powerhouse performances of “I Can’t Turn You Loose,” each one leaving you more breathless than the last, and pleads, or perhaps “prays” is a better word, expressively for second chances in “Just One More Day,” three gripping versions of “Chained and Bound” and “These Arms Of Mine.”

Speaking of Brown, Redding embraces “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” in Set 2 of Show 3 on Disc 2, stopping midway when the mood strikes him and then starting again, adding his own lyrics, in an improvised throwdown that includes a jazz-flavored sax solo that fits perfectly and unstoppable, tasty grooves that never once let up. When Redding asks the crowd if they’re tired and they answer, “No,” you can’t help but scream in agreement, even while reading the detailed and smartly written, well-researched liner notes by Ashley Kahn in the accompanying booklet, a great color photo of Redding flanked by go-go dancers adding to the overall experience.

Thrilling to the absolute last note, Live on the Sunset Strip is a must-have for any Redding fan and should be required listening for today’s soul and R&B pretenders. This is how it’s done, kids.

-         -  Peter Lindblad