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You know him as the photographer responsible for one Beatles album cover (two in the US); their last group photo shoot, and as the official photographer on the “Get Back” / Let It Be project (his photos filled the book packaged with the original issue). But Ethan Russell also produced iconic images for the Rolling Stones and The Who, as well as album covers and short films for an array of artists, plus wrote several books (including Dear Mr. Fantasy).
His latest is in the works as part of a Kickstarter campaign – check out EthanRussell.com for details.
In this first conversation, we present an overview of his life and career. More detailed Beatle-centric recollections will come in the second installment.
Back in 2000, Chip Madinger and Mark Easter produced an exhaustive study of every extant recording of the solo Beatles, up to that very year: studio sessions, live concerts and broadcasts. Eight Arms To Hold You was a one-of-a-kind detailed examination of what the four ex-Beatles did musically, when and with whom. The book went out of print, but the good news is, it’s back (in PDF form) and updated with another 20,000 words, further detailing the ground covered (though it still ends at 2000).
In a slight departure from the SATB norm, I present an account of the career of a Beatles peer: session guitarist Vic Flick, whose work appeared in 1960s music charts alongside The Beatles. Every Fab fan will know his soundtrack work on their first two United Artist films, but in addition to this, he contributed to a McCartney solo project, worked with George Martin (and Beatle acolytes Peter and Gordon), as well as scores of other “British Invasion” acts.
First off, listeners: kindly indulge the first 15 minutes, which represents an audio document of 1968 (January through end of August). It’s one thing to know what happened that year, but it’s quite another to hear the immediacy of actual sound, both news and music. 1968 was a convulsive stream of history and it is with that context in mind that we can come to a better understanding of the world The Beatles operated in.
