Ted Nugent rocking the house in April of 1981.

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.

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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.

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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

Stephen Stills and his band Manassas at Summerfest in 1973.

Steve Miller, on the old "Main Stage" at Summerfest in 1973.

March 3, 2014

Today's blog is a look back to Summerfest in July of 1973. These were the days when Summerfest still had the old "Main Stage". It was basically a big tent on a little hill that had grass in front of the stage! It was actually quite nice and some performers even walked down onto the grass performing.

In finding today's photos, which are slides, I discovered an error I made! Hard to believe, but yes I have dates screwed up. These photos are from 1973. My Blog #59 titled Steve Miller and Leslie West 1971 should read 1977! I will straighten those dates out soon.

So, enjoy some photos of Steve Miller in 1973, playing some good music!

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

February 24, 2014

Today is blog #101, with many more to come. Writing the blogs make me scan my old film negatives into digital files for preservation.  This is good.

When I did my last blog about Black Oak Arkansas, all of the images were in color. I knew that I had some great shots of them in black and white.  Sure enough, here they are with Jim Dandy playing his washboard! Not many people play a washboard these days. Jim Dandy played his washboard a lot and seemed to really enjoy it.

These photos are from the show that Black Oak Arkansas did at the Riverside Theater on October 30, 1973. The band Siegal-Schwall was also on the bill that night.

Enjoy a few more photos of Jim Dandy with his big hair and washboard!

On another subject, Sonia Khatchadourian, does the "Blues Drive" radio show, every Friday afternoon from 3 to 6pm on WMSE radio, 91.7fm. Frank Habib, joined me on Sonia's radio show, telling rock'n'roll stories of the 1970's. Frank ran the Catacombs Coffee House in Milwaukee in the early 1970's and worked with me at the Bugle-American newspaper. The show is archived on the internet at wmse.org, so check out my radio show last Friday 2-14-14. If you go to the program schedule you will find it in the archives. Sonia has asked me to come back to tell more rock'n'roll photographer stories and spin some more records. Can't wait!  I will let you know when when we get the date finalized.

Have a great week.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann