Mortals
Ringo Starr
I produced every segment RINGO STARR did in the 7 years I was at GOOD MORNING AMERICA. We have been in touch consistently over the last 20+ years. In fact Ringo was on my podcast of four years every time I asked him. Recently, I took my son Ben, who is pursuing a career as a professional rock and blues guitarist, to a concert where he would finally meet Ringo. We went backstage before the concert. I got a Ringo hug, then introduced Ben and they hugged. It’s worth noting that if you are friends with Ringo he is wonderfully sarcastic. After the hug he said to Ben, “Well Ben, you certainly didn’t luck out in the father department!” I love this guy. As a kid growing up I waited with bated breath for the release of every Beatles album. If you told teenage Gary that he would know a Beatle some day he wouldn’t have believed you. It took Ben a week to come down from that night. Ringo is smart, eternally youthful, fun and so not full of himself. If he was who could blame him? But he is great fun and says of his days with the Beatles, “We were a good little band.” Uh, yeah. Ya think? I took this picture from my seat, using an appropriate long lens.
First Recording
My favorite subject for the past 25+ years has been this world class jazz singer. My beautiful wife, Sarah Partridge, makes photography a snap because it’s impossible to take a bad picture of her. This shot is from the archives. This was at a place called Studio Masters in Los Angeles. Probably 1991 or 1992. It was the very first time Sarah recorded any song anywhere. I think one studio light was above her. Slowwwwwwwww shutter speed. Many recording sessions were to follow. Be on the lookout for more pics of her. I can’t help it.
Cashing In!
Ok, look this is not a great photo. I know that. It’s one of the dozens of weddings I shot while living in California seeking wine, women and song. Wait - I don’t sing and I don’t drink. In any case, if Every Picture Tells A Story (nod to Rod Stewart) the story to this picture is one for the ages. Yes up front and in person that is Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. Be patient.
It began like any other wedding job. Beautiful hotel, wonderful bride and groom. I arrive early am with Gary West, my best buddy photo partner, to capture a full day’s event. The groom, known as “Lucky” his whole life, (this moniker pays off later trust me) was very disgruntled when we arrived. He and his future wife booked the honeymoon suite a year in advance. But whenever Johnny and June Carter Cash play a show in the area they get that very suite. The hotel managers were very empathetic but couldn’t do anything about it. Disappointed, Lucky, seizing an opportunity, asked if he could leave a note in Mr. Cash’s mailbox. In essence the message said, “Dear Mr. Cash, I booked the honeymoon suite a lifetime ago but I know you get it when you stay here. So after your concert the least you could do is stop at the party tonight and maybe you two could sing a song”…
Boldly done but with a sense of humor. All day we joked about it. He was telling people that he hired Johnny Cash to play his wedding. And all day we riffed on the unlikely appearance of these two country superstars.
Around 11:30pm this raucous party was winding down. The wedding band was getting ready for their final break. Suddenly the ballroom doors began to slide open, “The Man In Black” strode in holding June’s hand. The two of them climbed up on the bandstand. Johnny took the mic from the band’s stunned singer and said in a deep voice, “Who’s Lucky?” Sheepishly, the shell-shocked groom stepped forward, walking to the apron of the stage with his newly minted wife. Johnny and June nodded to the band, whispered something to Rick, the band leader and they launched into a rousing rendition of “Jackson”… To say the crowd went nuts is an understatement. But the Cash’s weren’t done. They sang three more songs. I thought the bride and groom were going to pass out. This wedding surpassed any of their expectations. To Hell with the honeymoon suite! We’ve got Johnny Cash!
They all kissed. They hugged. Lucky told Johnny that next to marrying his best friend this was the greatest gift he ever received. Johnny wasn’t done. Right after this picture was taken, Johnny took the couple’s hands and told them,”Never go to bed angry”… they promised to heed the advice. With that, Johnny and June strode to the door and headed up to the honeymoon suite.
Do you see why this “typical” wedding photo demanded inclusion on my website? :)
Pride
While visiting friends in downtown LA, I decided to walk through the Los Angeles Bowery. I came across this man resting in a doorway. Obviously he had seen better days. I started talking to him and asked if I could take his picture. With that, he sat up straight, smoothed out his hair and struck a pose, arms crossed over knees, chin held high. I believe he wanted to look his best.
I was moved beyond belief and I learned something that day. There is an inherent need for dignity, for pride and understanding where one fits in at every stop along our uncertain lives. After capturing this moment on film I felt very hopeful. I didn’t see a homeless person. I saw a man. I paid him for the privilege of allowing me to take his picture.
Alicia Keyes
Working as a Senior Producer at GOOD MORNING AMERICA offered opportunities to meet and photograph some amazing people. We produced an outdoor concert on the streets of Harlem. Alicia is one of the nicest, sweetest and most authentic people I’ve been lucky enough to meet. I had been following her with my camera and she was always ready to flash that winning smile. Side-note: When my beautiful jazz-singin’ wife, Sarah Partridge played GOOD MORNING AMERICA on the 4th of July 2006, I borrowed the very same red piano from Baldwin. It looked so good here I knew it was the right choice!
James Coburn
I had the good fortune of being asked to write an early Discovery Network series. It was called “Hollywood Stuntmakers” and hosted by James Coburn. I wrote all 13 episodes. Because of a rather low production budget we had to use a lot of footage from the same films to demonstrate stunts. It required almost wall-to-wall voiceover from Jim. He hated that! So did I. But it gave me a great opportunity to meet him in his trailer every morning at 6:00am to do what we called “Coburnizing” the script. We tried to take the onus off of how wordy it was by having Jim improvise some material and I would write it into the script. Afterwards I would give the changes to the teleprompter operator. During this time I got to learn a great deal about him. Things that many people wouldn’t know. He told me why he chose the role he played in THE MAGNIFICENT 7. How he and his best friend, the late Bruce Lee, produced a film together and what he learned about martial arts and eastern culture. He let me shoot his publicity shots. He said I knew him better than the studio photographer. I was proud of that.
Grouch On Coney Island
This was not a happy camper on the boardwalk at Coney Island. He wasn’t yelling at me. He was complaining about the waves. They were noisy. They were too aggressive. He also didn’t think they were blue enough. I made him laugh before I moved on. I told him I thought the Atlantic Ocean simply held too much water.
Here Comes Ben Stein
Let me be an obnoxious father just for a second. Our son Ben is fast becoming a super-sonic classic rock and blues guitarist. He’s getting a lot of attention and hopefully he’s on his way in a difficult career. So because my wife and eldest son perform on stage, I’ve been doing a lot of concert photography. Loving the challenge of shooting in fast-paced environments with ever-changing lighting conditions. I learn something new technically every time I take on the battle.
Godfrey Townsend
Godfrey is one of those rock and roll vets that musicians know and love. He’s played out with… everyone! He’s one of the most talented guitarists I know and one of the nicest, most generous people on the planet. Godfrey happily shares his talent. My personal proof of that is that he took my son Ben under his wing. Godfrey thinks Ben is the real deal and has been mentoring him for several years. Everything I said about Godfrey is exemplified in this photo. He is literally watching Ben solo on stage at a show in Westbury, Long Island. Godfrey invited Ben to join him on this and many other concerts. Look at the pride in that man’s face! Do you wonder why I love the guy?
Steve Allen
In 1978, after stage managing several shows on Broadway, I was asked to take a show on the road, written by and featuring Steve Allen. You young people may not know that Steve was a television innovator/icon and was the first host of The Tonight Show in the 1950’s. This was quite a summer for me. As we toured the east coast, I would sit up nights in hotel rooms working with Steve on rewrites throughout the tour. What a thrill! Plus he asked me to shoot some publicity shots with Steve dressed in character. Cosmically, our worlds would soon collide. Steve introduced me to quite a bit of jazz. Years later I was producing a kind of “Entertainment Tonight” on the FX Network. Steve was a guest. As the veteran he was, he whispered in my ear on set, “3/4 shots only please and nothing from the left side.” Ah Steve.
After the show I told him that he gave me the gift of so much music I wanted to return the favor. I gave him Sarah’s first CD, just released in 1998. A few weeks later I got a note in the mail from Steve. He broke down every single song on the album and dissected it in glorious detail. I say glorious because he instantly became a huge fan of Sarah’s. In fact whenever she played LA Steve was in the audience. And when he was in New York we went to see him. One night after one of his shows we went backstage, walked into his dressing room and he greeted us with youthful exuberance and said, “Hiya kids!”
Some time later, back home in LA, Steve got into a very minor fender-bender. Not feeling quite well he drove to his son’s house to rest on the sofa. He closed his eyes and shortly after that he passed away quietly. Peacefully.
Two days after his death we got a letter from him that he mailed the day before he died. We will never forget this guy.
Jim Lampley
It may seem out of character to some that I have always been a boxing fan. Loved the best fighters of the 60’s and 70’s especially. I think the best announcer in my lifetime is Jim Lampley. He was the face and voice of HBO boxing. Recently, HBO dropped the entire boxing platform and allowed SHOWTIME to run with it. It isn’t quite the same without Lampley. I have had the good fortune (as a TV producer) to finesse some impressive ringside seats at a number of fights.
Love Laugh and Linguine
My writing partner on the left is Sam Ingraffia. The dude on the right is ME from around 1988. These were publicity shots for a dozen planned sitcom pilots at almost every studio in LA. Sam and I created these characters SAL AND JUNIOR. They were us. We were them. We thought we were gonna be very famous. We literally had development deals at Paramount, Universal, Warner Brothers, Fox, you name it, we had a deal. Yet, NO SHOW EVER HAPPENED. And we never had the money for great publicity shots so I always shot them. I shot this of us and 100 others. Time exposure is a beautiful thing. :) I set the lights, the backdrop and fired away.
We are still best friends some 30 years later and we’re still not famous.
Greg York
I met Greg through my wife around 1990 when we were still living in LA. They went to Northwestern University together. It’s great when you meet someone’s good friend and you become just as close to that person. Greg was a wildly talented costume designer and won numerous Emmys for his work on THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS. He was wickedly funny, smart and so thoughtful. When I met him we knew he was HIV positive but not yet sick. The disease finally took hold. Toward the end of his life I asked him if he’d like a photo session for his birthday. He eagerly said yes. I think we used four or five locations in his apartment and several costume changes, including Greg sitting in his pink bathtub, wearing a tuxedo and drinking champagne. I’ll have to hunt that one down. We lost him at the ripe young age of 34. Enough said.
Billy at the Cheesecake Factory
Recently I was having dinner at the mall with my youngest son, Billy. My wife and kids are used to my annoying habit of trying to catch photo moments. I loved the way the lamp on the table glowed on his face. I think he was in mid-sentence when I said, “Bill don’t move! Stay just like that!” This less than pleased expression revealed itself. Having no camera, I used my iPhone. He didn’t mind that much. Of course I paid for dinner.
Anthony Michael Hall
Also from the same play with Steve Allen, a 10 year old kid with no acting experience was chosen to play Steve as a little boy. His real name was Michael Anthony Hall, but he needed to change his name because there was already a Michael Hall in Actor’s Equity Association. As the traveling stage manager, I was offered extra money to be Michael’s guardian on the road. I said yes cause I could use the bucks but didn’t yet know what I was in for. Michael was a precocious, talented, funny, wildly energetic kid. WAY beyond his years… and he was… a handful. But frankly, I got such a kick out of him that we stayed in touch for a number of years. By the time he starred in “The Breakfast Club”, “Sixteen Candles” and more, it was too difficult to catch this guy on his meteoric journey. Many years later, when I was at GOOD MORNING AMERICA, Michael showed up as a guest. It was a very happy reunion. Michael was now a man. Shocking to see him all grown up. We had fun reminiscing.
Dad, AKA: Lee Stein
When the cosmos gave me Lee Stein as a father I drew the winning lottery ticket. I can’t say enough about him. How ‘bout - when I was a kid if my friends wanted to do something, or if my father did, I always chose him. He was just fun, smart, interesting, loving and generous to a fault. My wife and kids adored him too. We lost him in 2007 and my eldest son still finds it hard to talk about the man he dubbed “Pop-Pop”… In fact for all of us, my father had a new name from that day forward. We all called him Pop-Pop. I wear something of his every day and I probably think about him and miss him more than I should. Of course there are no shoulds. What can I say, this guy made an indelible impact!
When I lived in LA he would come out several times a year. For a while I made a living shooting actor’s headshots and weddings. On one visit I said to him on this trip you must let me shoot a portrait. Not being a shy person, he agreed. This face, this age, that day - this is how I think of him.
Bird Woman
When my wife and I were in Venice we often strolled through the Piazza San Marco. The pigeons seem to enjoy this world famous spot about as much as the people. This particular woman threw a ton of breadcrumbs and then stepped into their inner circle. I wasn’t sure if she meant to get all of this attention. I wondered if they knew her.
Maurice
When the kids were still kids we went to Punta Cana for a vacation and I agreed it was better to stay at a resort. But I wanted to see the place through the eyes of a person who didn’t work for the hotel. I wanted a personal scout to show us his Punta Cana. To go where he ate and shopped and hung out. Through a contact at the resort we found the perfect tour guide. Maurice. It might have been a little risky but it turned out to be the day I had hoped for. He took us to the marketplaces, the caves, the villages and we got to mingle with the people who lived there, raised their children, made their living. He was amazing and so kind. We still talk about him.
Cheeky
My wife says that I’m not always that nice. On our vacation in Punta Cana I saw this rather confident women walking down the beach. I was impressed. If she had the stuff to wear a G-string I had the stuff to capture it. So there.
I’m Not Scary!
So… it looks like I might have taken a field trip to a local prison. This guys’ eyes could give ya nightmares. But no… this was a “friendly” street musician playing the spoons on a corner in Nashville. I asked him if I could take a picture of him showing off his musical talents. He obliged and played, uhm, something while I fired away. The expression in his eyes never changed. But he did play a mean spoon.
Grooming in Santa Barbara
I love Santa Barbara. Love the town. Love the beach and it was a great way to escape LA for the day. I saw this gent several times. He lived, literally, on the beach. For a guy who lived outdoors, I never saw a more fastidious groomer in my life. He was either trimming his nails, cutting his hair or shaping his beard, most of the day. I wish I took this kind of care with my own grooming. Although I do have a leg up on him. I don’t smoke.
May Pang’s Blowout Bash
You might remember May Pang. THIS is not May Pang. May was John Lennon’s girlfriend during his marriage to Yoko Ono. John and May went on the road together to try to sort things out. Ultimately, John wound up back with Yoko. But I have been friends with May for many years and every year she throws one helluva birthday party. It’s a food and music fest in NYC and I try not to miss it. May is magnetic and just naturally attracts people. Brings them together. So, a ton of rock and roll performers get on stage and jam the night away. My son Ben has been on stage with his guitar guru, Godfrey Townsend for the past three years. I have no idea who this rocker is pictured here. But she certainly made an impression. Musically and physically. Can’t wait to see who turns up this year!
Coney Island Babes
The Boardwalk at Coney Island is still a great place to visit. Even though it’s a shell of what it used to be, the flavor, the buildings that harken back to a different time, the ambiance and colorful characters are still a welcomed assault to the senses. When I saw these fine ladies I imagined an entire history in my head. They grew up here. They’re widows. They meet every day for camaraderie and to share stories of a happier time. They find comfort in each other. I didn’t want to bother them to find out if my imagination hit any truths. I caught a moment and moved on.
American Tourists in Venice
I’m sorry to say but sometimes us US tourists are easy to spot. Sometimes it’s made a lot easier if we wear “Hello My Name Is” tags. These folks were part of a larger group from Minnesota. They were arguing about what sites to see and where to find the souvenir shops. As Rod Serling used to say, “No comment here. Just another day spent, in The Twilight Zone.”
Pensive In Punta Cana
Well this gentleman wasn’t exactly pensive. He was contemplative and wore an expression that suggested a very tough life. He occasionally muttered comments to himself about passersby. I don’t think he was offering compliments.
I made a terrible mistake. One I usually don’t make. I didn’t ask him first if I could take his picture. He looked so involved in his own thoughts I was reluctant to interrupt. Big mistake. After I fired off this shot his head swiveled in my direction faster than Linda Blair’s head in the EXORCIST. He got to his feet and walked toward me with his hand out. I gathered I wasn’t the first person to take his picture. But I may have been the first person to not ask before clicking the shutter. Well, I thought I had captured a pretty good moment so I handed him a few bucks and thanked him. He muttered something under his breath and positioned himself exactly as before in his perch.
Orthodox Engagement Party
I recently offered to photograph an engagement party. It had been a long time since I did this professionally. But I got into it. I also reminded myself that after getting the necessary pictures, I switch to a much longer portrait lens to try to capture moments where the subject is not posing for me. This shot of a party guest kinda happened shortly before I left for the evening. This is always the gold I’m after. I love his face. Deep in thought, pensive or, perhaps not. Maybe this is him having a great time? Whatever he’s thinking, he’s not posing. I always loved people photography This party reminded me why I love it.
A Most Serious Rabbi
Yes - as he’s about to conduct prayers at this very same party. But this special man also has a face that lights up with excitement, is an inspiring orator and is all about family, community, love and his devotion to God. I am not the most religious man in the world. But when I meet one who walks the walk and talks the talk I am moved not beyond belief… but to it.
Posturing In Punta Cana
We saw so many amazing sites in this beautiful part of the world. I mostly focused on the people and places in the Dominican Republic. But sometimes the tourists (like myself) catch my eye. I glanced at this couple and admired them. Why? Because sometimes I can be so self conscious I’m reluctant to take my shirt off at the beach. This isn’t really new. I’ve always been this way to some degree. These two seem to have no such concerns. Bravo. And Brava.
