Along with my great love of music is an appreciation of photography, a love of a captured image that tells a story of a time, a place or indeed a person. The seeds of this love of the still frame probably began with growing up in a world littered with photos, cameras and the alike as my father not only captured pictures of his ever expanding family but also spend many a weekend providing lasting memories for happy couples across the region. In my formative years I recall my Dad beavering in his darkroom at home developing and manipulating, a far cry from today’s point, click and download digital world as the world is now dominated by selfies and fun snaps, whilst the true art of photography is becoming extinct.
Quite often a photo of a band or a performer inspires me to listen to artist more so than the written word, I’m sure I probably encountered iconic photos of Hendrix or Jim Morrison before ever listening to their music and of course there’s the photos used for album artwork that has inspired a purchase, for instance the instantly captivating Pennie Smith’s photo for London Calling by The Clash.
The sixties and seventies were an inspired era for musical photography, you had it all the hippies, the punk rockers, rock n roll, blues and glam. You also had genuine rock stars, nowadays you struggle to name one iconic rock star (unless it’s someone from the 60/70’s heyday), but back then you had The Stones, The Who, Cream, Hendrix, Bowie, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and so on, those characters that today still capture the imagination.
Musician, music mogul and photography, Jim Simpson seemed to often be in the right place at the right time, Birmingham was alive with the sound of music, the second city drew ever big name (or indeed those bans on the up) in every big name in the music industry and avid gig-goer, Jim was there with his camera managing to capture those iconic stars either backstage or indeed treading the boards.
Brand new gallery owners Havill and Travis are both music and art lovers (as well as promoting music events across the city), as well as being fans of Jim’s incredible photography. The three of them got together and decided it was high time the public got to see these images of yesteryear collected in a wonderful retrospective. Hours were spent deciding which photos to use, it was decided each of the twenty-one photos on display should come from the early to mid sixties and should capture a moment or an event.
The results are simply spellbinding, each of the photos captures a stunning image of the artist whether it’s on stage, backstage or on the streets of Birmingham. The photos are all natural, nothing seems posed or fake, the live shots capture the energy, whilst the backstage images showcase an artist at ease with Jim and his camera.
I could sit here and describe each and every image for you but instead I’ll note just a few favourites and urge you to visit the exhibition yourselves. For live work, I have to mention the incredible shot of Ginger Baker (of Cream) battering his drums in a pub in Yardley (The Swan), there’s a raw beauty to the shot, capturing a man in full flow, whilst he’s surrounded my his audience all sporting the regimental bowl mop-tops of the era, you can see the skins of each drum have received the pounding that Ginger is renowned for. Another interesting live shot featured, is that of The Moody Blues, taken at the Carlton Club in Erdington, now their not a band that interest me musically but the photo captures the band and more importantly the matching outfits that became something of an identity around the time.
As for the backstage shots I could mention a lovely photo of Jagger stretched across a sofa at the ATV studios or a vivd image of Nina Simone looking over her shoulder with that strong “don’t mess with me fiery attitude” that seemed to be very much part of her personality but for me the photo that captures perhaps an era is a breathtaking image of Marianne Faithful, comb in hair, a stunning shot that showcases the glamour, sexuality and perhaps even innocence of Faithful before her fall from grace.
Jim’s work and eye for detail is wonderfully captivating and not only are you left in awe but you’re also left wondering what else he has in his archives, with photos of both Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce you wonder if there’s an iconic photo of Clapton in there or more of Sabbath in their early days and can we expect retrospectives from any other era from Jim?
Like I mentioned early on in the feature, if you’re a fan of music, photography or both you deserve to treat yourself by at the very least viewing the retrospective, if not treating yourself to a print or two (if you’re buying I’ll take one of each please, after all it’s christmas). You have until the 27th of December to visit the gallery.
Havill & Travis, 14 Lonsdale Rd, Harborne, Birmingham, B17 9RA –www.havillandtravis.co.uk
Photos Graham Munn