A New Book by Photographer Baron Wolman
Rolling Stone Magazine’s Special Summer Double Issue is now on newsstands. “New book from mag’s first chief photog reveals the height of Sixties rock” features two pages of tales and photos.
The article will be on rollingstone.com soon. Remember, you can order a limited edition of the book now, with the regular copy available to pre-order. Just see our ‘Buy now‘ section!
Listen as Baron Wolman talks about his life in counter-intelligence in post-WWII Berlin, before becoming Rolling Stone Magazine’s first photographer.
Roadtrip Nation empowers you to define your own road in life instead of traveling down someone else’s.
“I look back and I realize that having this opportunity at Rolling Stone was a gift from the Gods. I found I could talk with my camera better than I could talk with my mouth.”
Jimi Hendrix, Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, 1968
“We interviewed him before the concert. He was so quiet!”
Jimi was one of Baron’s absolute favorites to photograph. He always dressed well, he was so photogenic, he was an incredible performer… Read more about shooting Jimi and how Baron sees the music in the new book “The Rolling Stone Years”. “You’d have to work really hard to take a bad picture of Jimi.”
Janis Joplin at home, San Francisco, 1967
This is one of my favourite quotes from the book. I can picture Baron having these conversations:
“People are always coming up to me, “Can I talk to you privately; I bet you have some great stories about what went on in those days?” I say, “Yeah I do,” and they say, “Well, what went on?” and I answer, “What do you think went on?” And they come back, “Yeah, yeah,” and I say, “Yeah!” I mean what do I tell them, that people were smoking pot? Of course they were smoking pot. That they were backstage making out? Of course they were. Did I see anybody destroy hotel rooms? No, and so what if they did, so what if I had seen it, what is there to see that I could tell them that they don’t already know? One question that is continually repeated is, “Hey, can I talk to you privately, tell me – it won’t go any further, just for me – did you sleep with Janis Joplin, just tell me, did you sleep with Janis Joplin?” And I always answer, “Well what do you think?” I either say it like this – “What do you think?” or “What do you think?” And they say, “Oh, man, thank you, thanks, I appreciate that, it means a lot to me.” I let them use their imagination; I never say anything more, never go beyond that response! Never did and never will.”
Mick Jagger and Anita Pallenberg on the set of Performance, London, 1968
It’s not fair. Really. Whilst complaining that he missed out by not getting a chance to live in Swinging Sixties London, Baron blithely explains how “…after The Who finished work in the studio Pete (Townshend) invited us for dinner and later decided we should go over to the film set in which Mick Jagger was shooting his new movie, ‘Performance’… The relationships were all a little complex; Anita was Keith’s girlfriend who had been with Brian Jones before and was now in a movie doing love scenes with Mick.”
Sigh.
Baron come home! On May 17th, 2011, Baron will speak at the Columbus Jewish Historical Society in Columbus, Ohio, his home town, about “living in the Haight-Ashbury during the Summer of Love and the early days of rock & roll. He will focus on music, musicians and lifestyle.”
Photographing Jann Wenner, San Francisco, 1968
“Every Picture Tells A Story – Baron Wolman, The Rolling Stone Years.” Its 176 pages are filled with photos and text. Some of the photos have never been seen; none of the words have ever been read – other than by me and the editors, of course. It’s a picture book with text, the stories behind the photos. For years I’ve been asked to talk about the photos, how they came to be, what happened on assignment at the various shoots. This book will answer those questions and more. I and my camera were fortunate to be around at a seminal time in the history of our country and the music business. The book is my “thank you” for the privilege.