September 21, 2015
It's been a bad week for rock'n'roll. We lost Gary Richrath of REO Speedwagon and Kenny Baldwin who was a stage manager at the Briggs and Stratton stage at Summerfest.
Kenny was one of the first people I went to see along with his buddy Rick Erickson at the Briggs stage every year at Summerfest. Good people running a good stage.
Gary Richrath I never knew but photographed years ago.
Enjoy a look at Gary of REO and have a good week.
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
August 9, 2015
Last week, I forgot to wish happy birthday to my friend Ramblin' Jack Elliott who turned 84 on August 1st! I gave all the birthday attention to Buddy Guy last week, who turned a young 79 years old. Both of them have such an amazing history in music!
This week's blog is on 12 string guitar master Leo Kottke. He will be performing this coming Saturday night about a mile from our house here in Brookfield, Wisconsin at the Sharon Lynn Wilson Center for the Arts. Come check him out and you won't be disappointed. He is such an amazing guitar player and he has a great voice to go with it.
Some of the photos here are from an interview that I was a part of in 1973. Leo was just relaxing before his show at the Performing Arts Center in Milwaukee when we asked him a few questions for the Bugle American newspaper that I worked for. He was very nice and just reading the paper when we came in.
I have to say that the first photo of Leo and the mirrors is one of my personal all time favorites.
So, for today's photos, enjoy three pictures of Ramblin' Jack and then some of Leo, from the 1973 interview and show.
Have a great week!
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
August 3, 2015
This past week on July 30th, Buddy Guy celebrated his 79th birthday!
He is still playing, touring and having fun!
At Summerfest in 2008, I was fortunate to photograph Buddy and those photos are attached here.
This year at Summerfest, Buddy Guy opened up the show for The Rolling Stones!! A few days later, my good friend and musician Jon Paris, opened up the show for Buddy Guy!
So, enjoy a look at man who loves polka dots and loves playing! I did watch his show after photographing the Jon Paris show. Buddy was having fun that night and walked out into the crowd and then backstage and then back onto the stage, playing the whole time!
Have a great week and join me on Facebook at Rich Zimmermann Photography if you haven't already.
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
July 13, 2015
This year for Milwaukee's Summerfest, I attended just one night when my friend and excellent musician, Jon Paris played.
I always photograph a few other acts since I am there, and the biggest act of the night was Third Eye Blind, if you went by the crowd size. They really had a large light show, and it was done very, very, well.
So, check out a bunch of photos of the guys and the great light show.
Time for me to go photograph the Indy cars here at Milwaukee's IndyFest!! Maybe, I'll see you there!
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
Third Eye Blind, at Summerfest in 2015.
July 6, 2015
This year at Summerfest my good friend, Jon Paris, returned to rock the Harley Davidson Stage!!
Jon has played with everybody in rock'n roll. Every Monday night in New York City, he plays at B.B. Kings nightclub called Lucille's. Les Paul was a very good friend of his and they often played together at Lucille's and The Iridium. He has toured with the likes of Link Wray, Bo Didley and for 10 years, he was part of Johnny Winters band.
When I was 17, I lived in the same apartment building as Jon, and he and his band the Ox, helped me grow up! Seriously, my photo career started with Jon and The Ox. Thanks to Jon and his band, I was trained with rock'n roll photography! It was better than what any school could teach me!
In the photos here, drummer Ed Sison is shown and he was also a part of The Ox! Fast Eddie Sison, now plays with the Booze Brothers all over Wisconsin.
The bass player shown here, Dave Kasik, is a high school friend, and has played with the Stone-Cohen Band, Leroy Airmaster, and helps out Jon from time to time.
Enjoy some photos of Jon and the boys, at Summerfest, when they opened the show for Buddy Guy!
Please, join me on Facebook, at Rich Zimmermann Photography if you haven't, to keep up to date with my rock'n roll photography.
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
June 29, 2015
With Summerfest going strong right now, I thought a look at the Summerfest grounds in 1975 would be fun. Of course, I have to add a musical act from that year too!
So, here is a look at the Summerfest grounds in 1975, and how some advertising was done for Suburpia back then on a kite! The trailers shown, are what the dressing rooms backstage used to look like!
We are also looking at Mary Travers, from Peter, Paul and Mary fame. Mary, has had a long career in music and that could be a whole blog on it's own.
Enjoy a look at the old Summerfest grounds that look nothing like what I saw last night!
Thanks,
Rich Zimmermann
Mary Travers, at Milwaukee's Summerfest, in 1975.