Ted Nugent rocking the house in April of 1981.

April 21, 2014

It is Easter Sunday as I write my blog today. So I say Happy Easter to you and hope you had a nice day with your families.

The past few weeks around here have been very hard because my father passed away shortly after his 96th birthday. He lived 96 wonderful years and he would have been married to my mother 71 years next week. The love those two have is really something.

Today, we just have one photo of my dad, Carl Zimmermann, and another old friend that we lost several years ago, Uncle Vinty. They are having a glass of champagne in this photo and dressed to the nines!

I hope they are upstairs doing the same thing right now looking down on us all and having a glass of champagne. Miss you guys a lot.

Happy Easter everyone and next week we will get back to normal and get some good blogs going again.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

April 14, 2014

This week's blog is a continuation of last week's blog. The Legend, my father, Carl Zimmermann passed away on Friday April 11th.

On that afternoon, some family arrived in town to say their goodbyes and give a final kiss. Five minutes after they left, my brother got the phone call notifying us that Dad had passed away! The timing was just amazing!

Dad was a tough one and as I've said to a few people, if he would have been a POW he would have told them nothing and would have lasted weeks without food or water. That is exactly what he did here.

Enjoy some more photos of my wonderful father, the newsman, the patriot and of course the family man.

The first few pictures are of my mother and father.  Next week, would have been their 71st wedding anniversary!

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

April 7, 2014

My father, Carl Zimmermann, is somewhat of a legend around here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Dad, the Silver Fox, as friend Ted Perry calls him, is about to sign off for the final time...

Dad turned 96 years old last week and the following day he was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. Presently, he is in hospice care and we are just waiting for God to take him home.

He has been in broadcasting since he was at South Division High School where he graduated in 1937. Then he was a broadcaster on WEMP radio and then a war correspondent in WW2. After returning from the war, it was back to radio and then eventually a very long stay as news director at WITI TV6 which is now Fox 6.

Attached are some photos of his amazing career in between being a wonderful father and husband.

Enjoy a look at the dean of Milwaukee news broadcasting. This is the hardest blog I have ever written.

Love you Dad... Taking you on the Honor Flight in 2011 was one of the most fun things you and I have ever done!

Thanks for being a great Dad.

Rich Zimmermann

March 31, 2014

To all of my rock'n'roll friends, we need to take a break from my rock blogs please! The Indy car season starts today as I am writing this blog on Sunday afternoon!

Juan Pablo Montoya, raced Indy cars a while back when the cars looked and sounded a lot better.

In the attached photos you will see that he was driving for Target and Chip Ganassi Racing in 1999 and 2000. He won the championship, many races and the Indy 500. Then he went to Formula 1. After that, he came back to the States and tried Nascar. He didn't do as well as he did in an open wheel car.

Thankfully, he has come back to Indy cars and team Penske, which is Target Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing's rival! He is older, wiser and a married man with kids now.

I wish him the best of luck. He will help to make the season exciting!

Time for me to go watch the race and I hope Juan Pablo does well.

Please join me on Facebook at Rich Zimmermann Photography to keep in touch with some nice rock'n'roll and racing photography.

Have a great week.

Rich Zimmermann

March 24, 2014

At Summerfest in 1972, the Mahavishnu Orchestra with John McLaughlin in charge put on a wonderful show.

There are not many acts that come to Summerfest without vocals or a vocalist. This is one such band! No need for a singer when all your compositions are this beautiful!

The 1972 version of this band was it's best for many reasons, but mostly because of Billy Cobham who played drums. Billy is one of the best drummers in the world. Jan Hammer on keyboards is terrific too.

John McLaughlin and his Gibson EDS-1275 double neck SG guitar pictured here produce some amazing sounds!

Enjoy some photographs of the men at work on a nice summer day in 1972.

Please join me on Facebook at Rich Zimmermann Photography if you have not already.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

John McLaughlin, leading his band, the Mahavishnu Orchestra at Summerfest in 1972.

March 17, 2014

At Milwaukee's Summerfest in July of 1972, one of my favorite bands played, Quicksilver Messenger Service.

They shared the stage that night with The Doors and if I remember correctly, there was a bit of a fight that night. The reason was because Quicksilver played too long and went into The Doors time slot! I remember it getting ugly.

The band and the lineup has changed a lot over the years. They have reformed and toured as recent as 2010, along with old San Francisco friends Jefferson Starship. I hope they get together again and show up in Milwaukee soon.

Enjoy a look at the band in 1972 and have a great week.

Please join me on Facebook at Rich Zimmermann Photography. I made it to 50 likes this past week!!

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

Quicksilver Messenger Service, at Milwaukee's Summerfest in July of 1972.

March 10, 2014

At Milwaukee's Summerfest music festival in 1973, Stephen Stills and his band, Manassas, gave a wonderful performance.

Manassas, was formed in 1971, by Stephen Stills who had broken up with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (CSNY) in 1970. Of course, this would be the first of many CSNY breakups, but that is another story sometime with photos to be included.

With CSNY, The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers band breakups, we have a lot of wonderful musicians looking for something to do! Stephen Stills formed Manassaas as a result of these breakups and we had a terrific, very underrated band.

The first album the guys made was a double album recorded in Miami very quickly because they were so talented and had a lot of material. Another album would follow further on down the road.

The talent in this band is just amazing when you think about it! Enjoy a look at one of the best concerts I ever saw!

I just realized that the guitar Stephen Stills is playing is the same as the one Doug Yankus of the band Soup played. I think I've even seen Johnny Winter play it. Does anyone know what kind of guitar this is?

Please join me on Facebook at Rich Zimmermann Photography if you haven't already and have a good week!

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann