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A few weeks back as a VIP guest of legendary drummer Butch
Trucks I went to see the ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND at the BEACON
THEATER in their now famous annual March run.
I
ran into a whole bunch of old friends most notably Kirk West
their road manager and general creative guru and historian.
I had not sat through a performance in a while, leaning against
a stack of sound equipment on the old stage just a few feet
from Greg Allman, I watched an American rock legend kick it
into high gear to a sold out crowd that was already in their
grip within a few minutes.
I
must admit I was never a huge fan when I was a teenager, primarily
because growing up in Europe I was more exposed to English
Rock and Roll. However there was no way once we moved to the
US to avoid their music and more important it was great! The
grandfathers of Jam band music, more in common with Santana
and The Grateful Dead and less with Lynyrd Skynyrd and the
Southern Rock movement.
As
the night wore on and the band continued to jam, I watched
my artwork projected behind them under the rainbow hues of
stage lighting and there was a moment in time where it all
came together for me, just like I used to fantasize when I
was a kid about my art being part of the Rock music fabric.
I also humbly realized looking at the expressions at the sea
of faces in the rows in front of me (from my vantage point
on the stage,) that my small contribution had passed on into
the ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND lore.
This
is a bit of a touchy piece for me to write, as it’s
not the sort of thing to go about and proclaim yourself as
a great cover designer or for that matter your cover as great
art.
That
was the last thing that I thought of when this great trip
started so many years ago. The reason why I decided to go
with it is the impact that it has had on my life and the band’s
in the years that followed. Bert Holman the band’s manager
called it “a great piece of artwork and a fan favorite”.
The
tons of e-mails I have received from fans, I have seen it
reproduced as posters, t-shirts, prints, backdrops and animations
used by the band to this day. I even have seen the art bootlegged
as t-shirts, patches, tattoos and bandanas!
Everytime
I display the original in an art exhibit a small crowd gathers
in front of the painting. I like the painting myself, but
I am not sure if it’s the art itself or the fact that
it is such a recognized image of the band’s iconography.
As
I wrote this was the last thing on my mind when I got the
call. It was early spring of 1994 my small design firm that
my brother and me started only a couple of years old. A friend
had a contact with the band’s manager Bert Hollman the
band was getting ready to start on their tour and needed merchandise
design for tour shirts. I sketched a couple of ideas and packed
the car for the drive up to Massachusetts to present them,
last minute I decided to take one of my paintings with me
to show him how my art looked.
Bert
turned out to be very down to earth type of guy with a great
eye and appreciation for artwork. He looked at my painting
long and hard, “forget the t-shirts for now” he
said “What do you think you could do with this?”
he showed a pencil drawing of a bunch of naked girls dancing
around a mushroom. “Dickie sent me this, we have an
album coming out and are in need of a record cover really
bad.” “We are also really behind schedule, can
you put something together in a week?” he asked me.
My
head was spinning; I was caught totally off guard as I had
the whole sales pitch in my head set up for the tour merch.
“Do we have a title?” I asked. “Epic is
thinking, Greetings from Jupiter, but I don’t think
we are going with that.” “I like the sketch but
not the naked girls,” I said “I guess the mushroom
is cool.” “Well that is what I want to take the
mushroom icon to a new level” he said.
On
the drive all the way home ideas started going through my
head. When I got home I went through the whole ABB catalogue
I noticed that with the exception of EAT A PEACH there was
hardily any pictorial cover art.
A painting is what I decided was going to be the main image.
I hired a friend of mine to shoot me a picture of denim as
the background texture and I sketched the cover artwork. I
realized that showing pencil sketches was not going to work,
they were not going to get it, so I painted a small 6x6 inch
cover in inks and acrylics. Around that time my wife and me
had moved to a new house near the ocean I had not painted
in a long time, and setting up my new studio I was inspired
and started to paint by the time this came about I had worked
out all the rust spots.
I
comped the whole piece together in two days and drove it up
to Bert’s house to show it to him very nervous. “This
is great “ he said “ Let me show it to Dickie”
and I will get back to you. About a day or so later he called
me, “He loved it” he said” “How quick
can you have it to the label?” “ Well I will need
at least a week or so to do the painting, “ I said.
“What painting? I thought that was the artwork! “
He said, many years later we always had a good laugh about
that. With my then one-year-old daughter watching me in the
studio I started the painting.
The
first two versions were horrible, the third started to come
together, it did some airbrushing mostly the sky, enamel marbling
on the rocks, acrylics, pencils and dyes for the details.
I decided on a sunset view of the southern bayou with waterfalls
and springs in the background and a huge phallic psychedelic
mushroom coming out of the water as the centerpiece, pure
fantasy artwork.
I
packed it in my car and with my friend took a ride up to Boston
again. The band had rented an old warehouse and had set up
to rehearse. Bert led me inside and propped the painting up
against the wall. As the band took a break, he brought in
each member one at a time and showed them the art, everyone
approved, last one up was Dickie , remember it was his call.
He took one look and turned around and hugged me this says
to me “Where It All Begins,” he said, thus the
title.
Bert
Hollman leaned over to me after everyone had exited and said
to me “It is a great piece except that it doesn’t
look anything like the comp we originally showed to Dickie.”
He
was right! As I embellished and polished the real painting
I was not paying attention to the comp so although the concept
was the same, the artwork bore no resemblance to the comp
that Dickie and the others had originally approved. However
everyone liked the new painting so much that no one really
had noticed the change.
I
did the layouts and design of the package in about a week,
and brought the package to Poughkeepsie NY where the band
was launching its summer tour. Backstage I showed the artwork
to everyone and got pats
on the back all around, which is about the best you can hope
for as a designer. Later on I did t-shirt
designs for the tour and a single and posters.
Thus
began a relationship that has lasted to this day. The artwork
more or less put my art career on a stable
path as more commissions for artwork came about, now I was
enjoying success as an art director however I had just about
stopped painting which was my first love to begin with.
This
piece wetted my appetite and gave me the confidence to paint
again. A number of pieces came out
of that summer period including a painting that later became
a cover for Lynyrd Skynyrd and tour art for Bon Jovi.
Where
are they now?
The
Allman Brothers in the last ten years have continued to create
and play great music although they parted company with Dickey
Betts and sadly Allen Woody passed away. They continue their
summer tours
practically sold out and are as big as ever, they did an amazing
14 sold out dates at the Beacon Theater
in NY this year. True legends you can go their official site
www.allmanbrothersband.com
and see where they will be playing this summer near you.
You
can also visit the official Allman Brothers Band Museum. The
website is www.TheBigHouseMuseum.org
As
for me I decided to just stick to the ABB aftermath for this
piece, as you can find more about my endeavors elsewhere on
this site. I received a gold album by the band which was a
great honor, did a limited edition print of the cover art,
designed artwork for several more tours, invited and attended
WOODSTOCK 1994 where I contributed artwork.
I
am working on a piece with the band for The T.J. Martell Foundation
and have been involved creatively with Butch Trucks in the
last two years with an online media company for Jam Bands
called MOOGIS.COM.
I
also designed the head banner for the official ABB website.
A great experience and an important chapter of my life.
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