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“If I exorcise my devils, well my angels may leave too.”
–Tom Waits
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In my struggle to walk the straight ‘n narrow everyday, it doesn’t help things any that the salty, taunting voice of Tom Waits is in my head saying, “Hey kid…. over here.”
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Circa 1980, Hollywood, Los Angeles– Tom Waits Relaxing by Piano –Image by © Henry Diltz/CORBIS
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“Truth always rests with the minority, and the minority is always stronger than the majority, because the minority is generally formed by those who really have an opinion, while the strength of a majority is illusory, formed by the gangs who have no opinion — and who, therefore, in the next instant (when it is evident that the minority is the stronger) assume its opinion… while truth again reverts to a new minority.”
–Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
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Circa 1972, NY– Prisoner reading in his cell with photos of women covering the walls in Tombs Prison. — Image by © JP Laffont/Sygma/Corbis
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Circa 1954– L.A. Gang Squads. Image by George Silk for LIFE Magazine.
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Circa 1993– South Central LA 40th Street Gang members show off scars from bullet wounds. — Image by © Mark Peterson/CORBIS
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All my friends know the low rider, the low rider is a little higher. The low rider drives a little slower, low rider is a real good goer.
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Tattooed inmates of the California State Prison. –— Image by © Ted Soqui/Corbis
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“It’s so easy to laugh. It’s so easy to hate. It takes strength to be gentle and kind.”
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When I was 11 or 12 years old, I learned all about the cholo firsthand. I had been born and raised in NY, when in grade school we suddenly uprooted and headed out West for a new start. After a brief stint in Anahiem we finally settled in Arizona– and we were flat broke. For a good many months we (mom, stepdad, sis, myself, and our Doberman pup) lived in a tent out in the alien desert north of Phoenix.
When the family finally scraped up enough money through my mom waiting tables at some greasy spoon and my stepdad running screw machines, we rented a rundown, roach-infested 2 bedroom trailer in Glendale, AZ. I’ll never forget that place as long as I live. The trailer park was directly across the street from the Glendale High School. It was anchored by an old, once-stately mansion that was cut-up into cheap apartments, and was surrounded by a sad assembly of rundown trailers and a couple white-washed shack homes.
It was the first time in my life that as a White, I was a minority– and boy did I stand out. I was a lanky stick with shoulder length, fiery red hair that I wore parted down the middle, and to top it off I also wore glasses. This was before the days of designer frames, people. I don’t think there was such a thing as cool glasses back then. I felt like I had a bull’s-eye painted on my forehead. I was fresh meat in a school of tough-ass kids who looked like nothing I’d ever seen before. The guys all wore pressed Dickies khaki pants, white tees, and hi-top white Chuck Taylors. The uniform didn’t change, except come winter a large untucked flannel shirt, also pressed, and buttoned up to the neck was added to the ensemble. They looked as foreign to me as I must’ve to them. And the funky music, well I’d never heard anything like it– man, I still have Rick James’ “Give It To Me, Baby” ringin’ in my ears…
I quickly learned that if you start runnin’, you’ll be runnin’ the rest of your life. Better to stand and fight– even if you get your ass beat, you can still look yourself in the mirror, and maybe even gain a little respect. Soon enough I’d hear them say in the halls that I was ok– I put up a good fight. Damn if it wasn’t the roughest school year of my life– but I wouldn’t trade those days, even if I could. The cholo brothers taught me to stand up and not take any crap off of no one. I don’t by any means advocate breakin’ the law, but I do advocate findin’ your voice and letting the world feel the weight of who you are.
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“The hard core, the outlaw elite, were the Hell’s Angels… wearing the winged death’s-head on the back of their sleeveless jackets and packing their ‘mamas’ behind them on big ‘chopped hogs.’ They rode with a fine unwashed arrogance, secure in their reputation as the rottenest motorcycle gang in the whole history of Christendom.”
–Hunter S. Thompson – Hell’s Angels 1966
Hunter S. Thompson’s epic images of Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang members
“We’re the one percenters, man — the ones who don’t fit and don’t care. So don’t talk to me about your doctor bills and your traffic warrants — I mean you get your woman and your bike and your banjo and I mean your on your way. We’ve punched our way out of a hundred rumbles, stayed alive with our boots and our fists. We’re royalty among motorcycle outlaws, baby.”
–A Hell’s Angel speaking for the permanent record
Hunter S. Thompson’s epic images of Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang members
“Some of them are pure animals. They’d be animals in any society. These guys are outlaw types who should have been born a hundred years ago– when they would have been gunfighters.”
–Birney Jarvis, a charter member of the Hell’s Angels who later became a San Francisco Chronicle police reporter
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Chet Atkins– Known as “Mister Guitar,” Atkins was a trailblazer who is widely credited for the creation of the so-called “Nashville Sound.” One of the most influential and best-loved guitarists in the history of the instrument, he became the president of RCA Records and produced many classic country albums. — 1976 studio portrait, Nashville by Jim McGuire
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John Prine– Country/folk singer-songwriter originally from Illinois, has achieved critical and commercial success since his move to Nashville in the early 1970s. His grandfather played guitar with Merle Travis, and he took up the instrument himself at the age of 14. He was a postman in Chicago and had served in the military before beginning his musical career. Already a star in Chicago’s folk music scene, he was discovered in a local club by Kris Kristofferson. He is known for his wildly imaginative songs and unusual voice and singing style. His 2006 release “Fair and Square” was awarded the Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album. — 1984 studio portrait, Nashville by Jim McGuire
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John Hiatt– Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, Hiatt, a rock guitarist, pianist, singer, and songwriter, moved to Nashville in the early 1970s to write songs and to find his musical voice. After his song “Sure as I’m Sitting Here” (recorded by Three Dog Night) became a top 40 hit, he was signed to a recording contract by Epic Records. This portrait was shot just before the release of his first solo album, recorded in 1974. Since then, he has released twenty albums, and his songs have been covered by Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, B. B. King, Joan Baez, and Jimmy Buffet, to cite just a few. *** — 2004 studio portrait, Nashville by Jim McGuire
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Steve Earle– Born 1955 in Virginia, he grew up in and around Texas. Steve dropped out of high school in the 9th grade and began his pursuit of breakin’ into the music scene, and becoming a real deal singer/songwriter– like his hero Townes Van Zandt, who he was obsessed with. Steve often tells of being all of 17 years old in 1972, and playing at the Old Quarter in Houston in front of a handful of patrons– one of them being Townes. He was petrified up there on that tiny stage with Townes Van Zandt, who he still considers the best there ever was, sitting dead in front of him with his moccasins propped up on the stage right at Earle’s feet– and loudly heckling him between songs. (Steve Earle unabashedly fesses to going out and buying a pair of said moccasins the very next day…) The two became close, and will always be joined in legend and history– it’s flat-out impossible to talk about one without the other. Steve moved to Nashville (like alot of the songer/songwriters did in the 1970s after Kris Kristofferson had become a big star there) and played bass with another future legend, Guy Clark. — 1975 studio portrait, Nashville by Jim McGuire
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Townes Van Zandt– One of the great tragic figures of country music, Fort Worth, Texas, native Townes Van Zandt was a folk singer, songwriter, performer and poet. He was particularly influential in the emergence of alternative country in the nineteen-seventies. Steve Earle described him as the greatest songwriter who ever lived, and his influence was felt by many other artists, including Emmylou Harris, Nanci Griffith, and Lyle Lovett. Bob Dylan refers to this Texas native as his favorite songwriter. He wrote hundreds of haunting songs that have been widely recorded, perhaps most notably “Pancho and Lefty” which was a number one hit for Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard in 1983. — 1990 studio portrait, Nashville by Jim McGuire
Texans Guy and Susanna Clark, both singer/songwriters, first came to Nashville at the time that same McGuire did, back in 1972. They became fast friends when McGuire shot the cover photographs for Guy Clark’s first studio album “Old Number One”, which was released by RCA Records in 1975. During the 1970s, when this photograph was taken, the Clark’s Nashville home was a haven for emerging songwriters and musicians. Guy Clark has served as a mentor to many other songwriters, most notably Steve Earle and Rodney Crowell, and numerous artists have recorded Guy Clark-penned songs. — 1975 studio portrait, Nashville by Jim McGuire
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No turkeys were harmed or killed during the production of this post. Please enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday with our warmest regards.
–The Selvedge Yard.
Circa 1910, postcard by Frances Brundage. You know I love anything on wheels…
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Circa 1934 — Max Baer, world’s heavyweight boxing champion, gathering his Thanksgiving dinner. — Image by © Bettmann.
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“I’ll take a leg, please…”
Marilyn Monroe as vixen pilgrim, circa 1950. Adelle August as ‘the angel of turkey death’, circa 1954 — Images by © Bettmann.
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Bob Willoughby is a legendary Hollywood photographer whose incredible work includes many now iconic images of Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Jane Fonda, and some of Jazz history’s greatest artists. Willoughby’s career started out with him on duty as a commissioned Hollywood studio portraitist– and through his sensitive, perfectionistic eye, he created (some say even invented) the art form of photojournalistic motion picture stills.
How ’bout I just shut my pie-hole now, and let you enjoy these stunning images by great American photographer Bob Willoughby…
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Cole Porter in his Beverly Hills home, 1954 --Bob Willoughby
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Sinatra & frIends (Peter Lawford, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin) - Sands sign --Bob Willoughby
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Chet Baker --Bob Willoughby
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VP of Paramount Pictures Robert Evans studying his script by the pool at his home-- Beverly Hills, CA 1968.
It was a defining line that stuck with Robert Evans for his lifetime, and became the title to his 1994 autobiographical book (and 2002 movie). During the making of The Sun Also Rises, Darryl F. Zanuck came to the young actor’s defense when other cast members wanted Evans ousted by declaring “The kid stays in the film”. The rest as they say, is history. The guy’s a real Hollywood character– silver spooner, totally affected and completely entertaining. Found these amazing pics of Evans at home in 1968, from where else– the LIFE archive. The style, grooming and decor is a true feast for the eyes.
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VP of Paramount Pictures Robert Evans in terry robe, sitting on edge of black marble tub talking on phone, in bathroom at home-- Beverly Hills, CA 1968.
The Selvedge Yard 