When Willie DeVille died recently, I was struck by how many people I knew who were now dead—arguably more than I know now living. A few days later, Jim Dickinson died and I felt compelled to put these two posts together. While I was gathering these images (which I started to think of as "People Who Died" after the Jim Carroll song). I came across a photo of Carroll and, knowing how he lived, I couldn’t help but wonder how he managed to stay alive with all these other people dying? Well, on September 11 Jim Carroll died and I thought I best get this up before anything else happened.

Now this is not necessarily factual nor is it a fiction. This is what I remember and I feel sometimes there is a different but greater truth in these memories.

Jim Carroll

Born August 1, 1949, Died September 11, 2009

Jim wrote the song "People Who Died." When I started the project he was still alive.

I first met him in San Francisco. He was a poet who came to town to put together a rock and roll band. He played dates with my band The Readymades on several occasions.

I met up with him again in New York City in the 80’s, when I photographed him.

Jim Dickinson

James Luther Dickinson died in Memphis Tennessee on August 15, 2009. Jim was a record producer, pianist, and singer who fronted, among others Mudboy & The Neutrons.

His visionary production work with The Byrds, Ry Cooder and Big Star might be where he really left his mark on American music.

In an odd twist Willy DeVille who died just a matter of a few days before Dickinson’s own passing was one musician Jim produced.

Willy DeVille

Willie DeVille died August 6th 2009 at the age of 58.

I photographed him in San Francisco when he was touring behind his Mink Deville record with his wife Toots riding shotgun.

Willie was a great songwriter who kind of slid in with the punks, though I don’t think any one minded. And hey, he got to write with Doc Pomus.

I heard he was in New Orleans when I lived down there, doing real well overseas.

Isaac Hayes

Isaac Hayes died in Memphis at 65 on August 10, 2008.

One of the main creative forces behind the soul music label Stax Records, where he served as both an in-house songwriter and producer.

Hayes recorded Hot Buttered Soul and the soundtrack for blaxploitation film Shaft. which earned him an Academy Award for Best Original Song. It’s a bit strange knowing that the voice of "Chef" on South Park was emanating from Memphis—that is till the Scientology got him.

Marika Menutis Marcello

Marika was a filmmaker and the first girl I met when I moved to New Orleans. Marika Menutis was her name when I found her sitting outside of Café Brazil well after closing time.

She had finished making her independent film Maggie May, which in 1991 won several prizes at the festivals including the Tourage Award at the Avignon Film Festival. After that I remember she was struggling with putting together a treatment for her vision of Evangeline for one of the studios. However that never happened, she got married and did other stuff.

Marika died July 19th 2005.

Stan Brakhage

Stan Brakhage died March 9th 2003 and was born in January of 1933.

Brakhage was thought to be one of the most influential experimental filmmakers of the 20th century. He did stuff like painting directly onto celluloid, fast cutting, in-camera editing and scratching on the film. I met him first when he came to show film and lecture at San Francisco Art Institute where he had studied in 1953. The film he showed was 40 minutes of scratched emulsion. Though it seemed to work well enough for some people, I’ll be the first to admit that it didn’t work for me at the time, even though he seemed like an intelligent guy.  I photographed him when he was working at the University of Colorado.

Spalding Grey

Spalding Grey was working in New York City while I was on the Soho Weekly News. I went to see him his do monologues and regularly photographed him. These consisted of sitting at a table with a box of file cards and randomly picking out one then talking about whatever was on the card. Because he was clever this was surprisingly entertaining. He is perhaps best remembered for his film Swimming To Cambodia.

He died in 2004. He was found floating in the East River and was believed to have jumped off the Staten Island Ferry.

Hilly Kristal

Hilly Kristal died in 2007 he was 75.

Kristal started CBGB’s in 1973 in the Bowery and ran it for nearly 33 years. The club is credited for spawning the east coast end of the punk/new wave movement being home to such bands as the Talking Heads, Ramones, Blondie, Television and too many others to list here without just filling up space like some kind of performance art.

I got to play there several times myself with The Odds and Gift. it was one of the only clubs I ever played with a really good sound system, and in my mind that is enough to be remembered and lionized.

Stiv Bators

Stiv died in Paris, France from being hit by a taxi while intoxicated—which for a kid from Youngstown, Ohio is kinda a triumph in and of itself.

Stiv Bators was primarily known to me as the singer and ex singer of The Dead Boys. In fact he went on to play with The Lords Of The New Church with some success, though no lack of turmoil.

You could always catch him before the sun came up at the Mud Club when I lived in NYC, and he was usually good for a drink and some questionable advice.

Brittley Black

Brittley Black died April 27th 2004.

Brittley played drums for Crime and other bands including The Readymades.

Black’s father was Dave Black the renowned jazz drummer. He had a small drum kit like Little Ricky from the time he could hold the sticks. While his father played with Duke Ellington in Vegas young Brittley was being launched about the hotel pool by Elvis.

Brittley was the consummate rock star even if most of the world never knew. He kicked his drums to bits after a set and was always the first to toss a TV or himself out a hotel window.

The world sometimes really isn’t fair and he should have been Keith Moon. He had the chops and the sweet crazy.

Morey Goldstein

Morey Goldstein co-founder of The Readymades – producer, musician and friend died July 5th 2008.

Born in 1953 Morey also played tenor sax in Big Bang Beat, Butch Whacks & The Glass Packs, and the original Zasu Pitts Memorial Orchestra.

The Ramones

The Ramones were Joey. Johnny and De Dee (there were various drummers).

A case could be made for saying that The Ramones and Johnny Thunders (also dead) created what we now call punk music. But I don’t want to argue that case just now.

Of course they had the names they were born with, but I don’t think that matters anymore.

I included them all together as they seemed to have died the way old married couples go—once one was gone it was only a matter of time.

Joey died in April, 2001.

Dee Dee died June, 2002.

Johnny held on to September, 2004.

Bo Diddley

When I met and photographed Bo Diddley I was left with the impression of a mountain of a man. At least 6’ 6” and weighing in at over 250. I know I was drinking and doing other things at the time, yet I was still surprised when I met him again at Rod and Hank’s in Memphis. I must have been looking with some other kind of eyes.

Bo Diddley passed on June 2nd 2008.

Albert King

Albert King was one of the "3 Kings of the Blues" and also known as the "Velvet Bulldozer." He was mostly kind of tired and pissed off the short time I was in his presence.

I did not take this personally as the man did record for Stax and played with The Bar-Kays. He died in Memphis.

Rufus Thomas

Rufus Thomas died in 2001 at 84, having been born in 1917. Here was a man who had no interest in dying young or leaving a good-looking corpse.

As well as a great musician he was also an influential DJ who was said to have discovered B.B. King.

I photographed him in New York in the 80’s when he (resplendent in platform boots and cape) was doing the funky chicken or walking the dog or both. I could look it up but it doesn’t seem fair. It was strange coming to Memphis and learning to take him seriously.

Ernest Withers

Ernest Withers was a truly great photographer and more importantly a working photographer. He worked as an Army photographer in WWII and you could get him to do your portrait or whatever when he wasn’t documenting Martin Luther King or BB King or some other King.

Mr. Withers left us in 2007—departing from Memphis.

Pirkle Jones

Pirkle Jones died at 95 in 2009.

He was a photographer and teacher. His work included images of migrant workers, endangered landscapes and social movements, including a series on the Black Panthers at the height of their activism in the late 1960s. He worked with Ansel Adams and as an instructor at SFAI. Pirkle helped me form my attitude of respect for the initiation of a skill set to inform creativity.

Harry Callahan

Harry Callahan died March 15th 1999. He was one of the innovators and prime movers of modern American photography.

He worked in black and white. When he died in Atlanta, he left behind over 100,000 negatives.

Willoughby Sharp

Willoughby Sharp died on December 17th 2008. He was an artist, writer, filmmaker, publisher and curator.

Walking along the cutting edge of the New York avant-garde in his long dark over coat and bowler hat, Sharp was like a manifestation of Magritte. He curated early shows for Warhol and Rauschenberg, and also gave me my first New York show at his Spring Street gallery.

Andy Warhol

Born in 1928, he put a face on Pop Art and (for better or worse) invented the modern celebrity. You could say on one hand he launched the idea of being famous for being famous…and on the other he gave us a chance to hear The Velvet Underground.

I only photographed him once but saw him out frequently usually a hand with a small camera flashing back at closing ranks of photographers.

He cheated death once so I think he must have appreciated…you know.

Nico

Grafted onto The Velvet Underground by Warhol, she also made Chelsea Girls, a record with some really good songs. Here she was solo with a pump organ. This was also one of the first Readymades gigs.

Nico died in 1988 at 49.

A British Model

I really only met her once.

I photographed her in London sometime around 1986. The next day, I heard she had died on a floating party cruising the Thames. Apparently a barge rammed the pleasure boat and all aboard were lost.

I know nothing else of the matter.

Robert Palmer

Robert Palmer was a singer-songwriter from England. He did those videos with models pretending to be his band.

I don’t think he thought the location of the photo shoot was funny.

Palmer died in September of 2003.

Sable Starr

Sable Starr died in 2009 at 51. She was a scenester and a socialite, but she is most often referred to as a supergroupie. Her most cinematic romance being with Johnny Thunders (also dead). I photographed her at the Tropicana Motel in Los Angeles when I was on tour with Blondie.

John Sex

Downtown New York performance artist John Sex died of AIDS in 1989

Wendy O Williams

Wendy O Williams died at 48 in 1998.

She was the singer in the Plasmatics. I saw them many times in NYC and they blew up stuff real good. She was also in indie films like Reform School Girls.

She took her own life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Lisa

Lisa was a muse. I knew her in San Francisco and would meet up with her in New York when she would travel through. She died in the 80’s.

 

Lux Interior

Lux Interior, legendary singer of the pshychobilly band The Cramps died 4:40 a.m., February 4th 2009.

 

Bryan Gregory

Bryan Gregory was a guitar player born in Detroit in 1954.

He played with The Cramps. Originally he was supposed to switch to bass, but apparently no one had the nerve to tell him. In the end that sort of created the unique sound they forged.

He died in 2001.

 

Sid Vicious

Sid Vicious died in February, 1979. The Sex Pistols had broken up having played their last show in San Francisco, where this photograph was taken.

 

Frankie Fix

Frankie Fix was the guitar player and co-founder of Crime, San Francisco’s 2nd punk band. They had lots of really big amplifiers and were really really loud and also good.

He died in 1996

Here he is soaking up The Damned, one of the first English bands to come to San Francisco.

 

Michael Kowalski

Michael Kowalski also known as Killer Kowalski was the Dean Moriarty of the San Francisco punk scene. He was a poet that was associated lyrically and romantically with Dee Dee Troit of UXA. He died in 1978.

 

Rabbit

Rabbit was the cook and doorman at Mabuhay Gardens, the San Francisco punk club.

I don’t know exactly when or how he died, but I’m pretty sure he’s dead.

 

Carl Perkins

Carl Perkins had his biggest hit in 1956 with "Blue Suede Shoes" and died in 1998.

 

Sam Phillips

Sam Phillips stared up Sun Records in Memphis. He was able to see clearly enough to take notice of Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash. Think about that. They say the sound of rock was invented when Ike Turner ripped the speaker on his amp when driving to Sun Studios to play on "Rocket 88".

He died in July of 2003.

 

Harmonica Slim

Richard Riley Riggins otherwise know as Harmonica Slim died of a heart attack Sunday May 4th 2003.

I photographed him in San Diego California, but he told me he came from Tupelo, Mississippi.

 

R L Burnside

R L Burnside died September 1, 2005 at 78. He was a delta bluesman from Holly Springs, Mississippi. Burnside played a song I really love by the name of "Everything’s Broken".

As of this writing he is survived by 35 grandchildren and 32 great-grandchildren, but I’m sure that is not up to date.

 

 

Leather

Robert Loren Green aka Leather aka Robert Shelter was a singer songwriter based in Nashville. He also worked as a journalist in Paris.

On Saturday April 11th 2009 he mowed his lawn, then went inside lay down on his couch and died.

He was a good friend of mine.

 

Jim Julien

Jim Julien was a musician, opera singer, headwaiter and sometimes sold a bit of weed. A friend of mine when I was young and lived in New Orleans playing at The Wrong Place Saloon.

He wound up the skipper of a boat on St John and died there in 2006.

 

Jaco Pastorius

Jaco Pastorius made it to 35, dying in 1987. If you met the man you would see that for Jaco, that wasn’t bad.

He was considered one of the most influential bass players of his time, which is pretty much still this time. When I met him he had been up for about a week and his pants were being held up with a rope. I heard when he left he flew directly to Paris where he fell off the balcony of his hotel and was placed in one of those casts that hold your arm out in front of you.

Joseph Heller

Joseph Heller died in 1999. He wrote Catch 22.

Many people are waiting for the great American novel. I don’t have that kind of time, so for me it’ll just have to be Catch 22.

 

Sir Kingsley Amis

Kingsley Amis died in October, 1995. He was a writer, he was knighted, and he produced Martin Amis, who turned out to be another quite good writer.

I was photographing him for Vanity Fair when he won The Booker Prize, a prestigious British literary award that came with a hefty cash overcoat of £21,000. I understand that it’s now up to £50,000. When asked what he was going to do with all that money he said, “I suppose I’ll buy drapes for the living room and spend the rest on drink.”

 

Donald Meyer

Donald Meyer was born in 1922 and died in June of 2009. He was an executive for Ryder Trucks and later in life would go and get you any car you wanted and lease it to you. He was uniquely interested in everything and everyone he ran into. He was a problem solver and married to my mother.

 

Henry Kloss

The inventor Henry Kloss died on January 31st 2002 in Cambridge Massachusetts.

For some reason genius is a key word for me. I know it is just a word and I shouldn’t carry it around like I do, nonetheless, when I hear someone speak to the genus of Garth Brooks or Bono, or when I am asked to consider the comic genius of Robin Williams…well it’s times like these that I think about how rare a commodity genius might be. I don’t know if I have ever met a genius, but if I have, I am pretty sure he would be closer to Henry Kloss than Bono.

 

Les Paul

It must be truly wonderful to come up with something that you know will live on way beyond you—something that becomes so ingrained in the culture that you lose you name and identity to your creation. Maybe it’s just an electric guitar, but it’s one of maybe 3 perfect electric guitar thoughts. A guitar haiku, if you will. In the Les Paul guitar Les Paul came up with something so perfect in it’s own way that it will live as long as there is electricity.

Les Paul died August 13th 2009.

 

Lazarus Wineman DDS

Lazarus (Larry) Wineman was a dentist who lived in Brooklyn. He seemed like a good man to me.

He was my grandfather and is now dead.