MY SLIGHTLY-STANDING OVATION at the Bruce Springsteen archives.
Fifty years ago in 1973 at Columbia Records at 53rd and 6th, twelfth floor conference room, I was fortunate to have been the guy who made Bruce’s first official PR pictures.a. I recently spoke about it all at The Bruce Springsteen Archives at Monmouth University in New Jersey. I expect to be posting a film of that talk shortly.
“ Bruce wandered into the room, an unknown a kid in a hoodie from New Jersey. He was easy to underestimate - I still have an stained rolodex card with the contact information he shared, those were different times.”
“That same year I was lucky to spend time with Artur Rubinstein on the occasion of his 80th birthday, as well as with the classist man I ever met, Goddard Leiberson, a legend. A friend of Ballanchine and John Hammond and well as the man who introduced the LP, the long playing record. Goddard had hired Clive Davis to be President of Columbia and when Clive moved on in 1973, Goddard returned for his second stint as President of the Columbia. When I reviewed my first year as a so-called professional photographer, these three sessions stood out together - Goddard, Bruce and Mr. Rubenstein. I found it odd at the time that I was putting this inexperienced teenager in the same category with world-class elders. The word that came to mind as what they had in common was “Grounded”. All three had an unquestionable personal presence, it stood out, it’s just something some people are born with. It was a gift for me that I had encountered these three at a time when I was looking for a way to be myself in the overwhelming wilderness of an unfamiliar urban world.”
John Hammond stopped by as he often did in those days. This picture was not a setup, he was actually carrying his mail with the new Billboard in the stack. I noticed “Would you buy an album from this man” written on the back cover - I knew the guy had sold a gazillion records so I ran for my low budget Nikon. - John knew how to stick his neck out for things he believed in - Billie Holiday and Dylan for example. Bruce was actually talked about as Hammond’s latest folly.
