8 Years of Features

I had the opportunity to meet Rona Barrett in Hollywood and show her my portfolio. She loved it and was excited to be photographed by me. She was also willing to let me interview her for my then, new blog. This was a real dream come true! I had loved her since I was a young kid. For the first and ONLY time in my life I was LATE! The traffic on this Saturday morning from LA was like a giant parking lot and getting to her home near Solvang, California was not speedy. What normally would take three hours took almost six, so I was two hours late! Miss Rona was still gracious and kind even though she had been photo ready for two hours already! Ultimately it was a beautiful experience, even if it was somewhat tense for a brief time. After leaving her home, I had a big smile on my face for about a week!

I have been in love with the music of Eloise Laws since the early 70’s. She was soulful, a little sassy and looked like a super model! I had the pleasure to meet Eloise in Dallas in 1983. I even have the photo of us from that time. Eloise has taken many years off in between releasing her exquisite music, but she has released some great material in the past decade. I have wanted to photograph Eloise since I first picked up a camera and in 2010 my dream came true! We shot in her LA home. 

The Mamas and the Papas were all the rage when I was a child. Michelle Phillips was the California beauty. She went on to have a TV and movie acting career and has stayed in the public eye for over 5 decades now. She is a liberal activist and a good friend to animals. I was in heaven in her West LA home taking photos and visiting with her. I told her I wasn’t a real journalist and she argued with me that I was!

The King of Country Music was in LA for less than 24 hours. He flew in to accept his lifetime achievement Grammy award on a Saturday afternoon. My friend Larry Ferguson knew George and his lovely wife, Nancy. He asked them to make time for me during their short stay and they did! I met them in downtown LA at the Biltmore Hotel after the Grammy ceremony. It was the same day we lost Whitney Houston so all of us were dealing with that as well. I have been a HUGE George Jones fan all my life so this was BIG for me. He was as divine a human being as you could ever ask for. I fell in love with him and Nancy big time. When George passed away a little over a year later, the New York Times obituary pulled a quote from my blog with him. Who could ask for anything more?

The theme from ’Mission Impossible’ has played in my head since I was a small child. Who could forget it? I never imagined that I would take a portrait of the man who wrote it and countless more unforgettable melodies for TV and movies. My dear late friend, Monica Lewis introduced me to her good friend Lalo and of course she told him how I had to photograph and talk with him for my blog. Because of Monica I got an invitation to his Beverly Hills home. Mr. Schifrin is an elegant and graceful host and I am eternally grateful to him and dear Monica for making this happen.

It’s 1976 and ‘Bubbling Brown Sugar’ in the toast of Broadway. Vivian Reed is one of the talented stars who get a lot of deserved attention. She is knocking them dead in the aisles every performance. Vivian moves to Paris and is a star for a few years. Life moves on…in the early 2000’s when we have the technology to burn LP’s to CD I have a friend do this for all her albums so I can enjoy them again. Fast forward to 2009 and facebook. I find Vivian Reed and send a friend request. As fate, has it, she is ALSO a photographer. Of course, she takes great pictures. She does everything well. She notices my work of her peers and we start communicating as fellow photographers. We both agree that I need to photograph her and the first chance we had, we did! I’m especially pleased I have been blessed to know Vivian Reed.

Honestly, I never imagined I would have the opportunity to photograph the Queen of the Blues. I just didn’t think our paths would ever cross. She doesn’t do a lot of touring. Denise LaSalle is known for singing sexually charged, gut bucket blues that are songs she writes! She has recorded several albums that stand the test of time. She is a true American classic. She is also one of the most calm and cool people I have ever met. She is the eye of the storm around her. I feel blessed to have had a short time to spend with the native Mississippian.

Kinky Friedman always seemed half mythological to me. I couldn’t imagine this Jewish Cowboy being 100% for real. I was always impressed with his writing and singing style. When he ran for governor I wanted him to win! What a fun governor he would have been. I met with him at the iconic ‘Poor David’s Pub’ in downtown Dallas for a few minutes of pure unadulterated fun. This is the only blog where I have a recording of our “conversation” that is honestly just Kinky doing a monologue in his inimitable style and me laughing. I fell in love with him, by the way!