Tomorrow evening, John Waters performs his hilarious and lively Christmas stand-up show at The Birchmere in Alexandria, VA. I’ve seen the show the last several years; it’s wild and I love it. Portrait of John Waters by Greg Gorman from Inside Life (Rizzoli) John is […]
James Baldwin and Bob Dylan, December 13, 1963, New York City. Photo by Ted Russell. It was 55 years ago today that Bob Dylan received the Tom Paine Award for Civil Liberties from the National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee. LIFE magazine photographer Ted Russell took this historic photograph of the young Bob Dylan with James Baldwin as […]
Andy Warhol and John Lennon, NYC 1972. Photo by Bob Gruen. I was with Andy Warhol at his studio, The Factory, the morning after John Lennon was murdered, 38 years ago today. In my introduction to Allan Tannenbaum’s book of photos, John & Yoko: A New York […]
Chris Murray and Andy Warhol in the back room of Govinda Gallery, November 6, 1985. Photo by Lucian Perkins Andy Warhol was the cornerstone of Govinda Gallery. Even before his first exhibition at Govinda, Endangered Species (1984), Andy had a crucial influence on my opening Govinda Gallery and on our exhibition programming. Through the acquaintance of […]
I first met Sueraya Shaheen in May of 1986 at Govinda Gallery. She arrived on matching Vespas with her friend Maqui Lacuna, the Venezuelan beauty and muse to the renowned artist Carlos Sosa. Just a few days before, Shaheen had sat next to Andy Warhol at a dinner party the fabulous Miller sisters were hosting at […]
I was so pleased Publisher’s Weekly selected Bruce Springsteen: From Asbury Park, to Born to Run, to Born in the USA as a selection for their Holiday Gift Guide 2018. That book features for the first time David Gahr’s photographs of Springsteen and the E Street Band and is edited by Govinda Gallery’s Chris Murray. Publisher’s Weekly calls […]
© Gered Mankowitz My favorite photo shoot of Jimi Hendrix remains Gered Mankowitz‘s session in his studio at Mason’s Yard in London in 1967. The photograph above is from that shoot. […]
“The train coming up north was a slow one, but we finally arrived in New York on July 1st. Elvis, Scotty, DJ, and Bill Black, along with the Colonel, Tom Diskin, and myself, got off at Penn Station around seven-thirty in the morning. Passing a newspaper stand, Elvis saw a headline about 127 people killed […]
Jane McCormick Photo by Joe Keenan One of my favorite artists is Jane McCormick. […]
Visitors to The Back Room have enjoyed our occasional updates on musician and poet Donovan’s various activities. He is a big part of Appleseed Recordings‘ recent release, Roots and Branches, which also features Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Tom Morello, Joan Baez, Ramblin, Jack Elliot, Judy Collins, Levon Helm, and more. Rolling Stone calls the three […]