Posts tagged with "Encore"
CHAKA KHAN
CHAKA KHAN HAD ONLY RECENTLY ACHIEVED stardom when photographer Norman Seeff shot this session for Rufus’ 1974 album, Rufusized. “I was living in my studio in Los Angeles,” Seeff recalls. “She began rolling around on my bed like a teenage girl—barefoot, wiggling her big toe at me. It was fun, creative and free.” The session was the first of several Seeff shot with the R&B legend, whose talent was entwined with a fragile temperament....
BLONDIE
PHOTOGRAPHER NORMAN SEEFF SHOT THIS SESSION for Blondie’s 1979 Eat to the Beat album at New York’s historic Chelsea Hotel, a famous haunt of the Manhattan arts crowd. “The band seemed to be part of that milieu,” says Seeff. “They were a quintessential New York group.” Singer Deborah Harry arrived late to the shoot and in a funk. “She walked away while we were shooting without explanation,” recalls Seeff. “We’re all standing...
The Pointer Sisters
“THEY KNEW HOW TO HAVE FUN TOGETHER,” SAYS photographer Norman Seeff, remembering his high-energy 1982 session for the Pointer Sisters’ So Excited! album (the final cover shot featured Anita, June and Ruth, from left). “I had them dance and perform four or five songs. They were lively and vibrant and a joy to work with.” Seeff recalls that youngest sister June needed some encouragement from her siblings. “She was hypersensitive,” he...
Whitney Houston
PHOTOGRAPHER NORMAN SEEFF WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS SESSION WITH the late Whitney Houston in 1990, at the height of her career. “I viewed her as a towering master of emotional expression, someone whose voice was transcendent,” he says. “I was thrilled about the opportunity.” Seeff rented a large studio for the shoot, replete with clothing and makeup specialists. “We had a substantial team, and she brought her own people,” he says....
Ike and Tina Turner
PHOTOGRAPHER NORMAN SEEFF’S 1975 LOS ANGELES shoot with husband-and-wife R&B duo Ike and Tina Turner was among the most memorable of his storied career. “The footage was riveting,” he says. “They performed an amazing version of ‘Nutbush City Limits’ right there in my studio. There was incredible energy and vitality between them.” Seeff recalls that the couple’s contrasting personalities made their interactions all the more...
John Mellencamp
John Mellencamp was relatively unknown when photographer Norman Seeff shot this 1979 session. “He was very young, kind of baby-faced,” recalls Seeff. “But I was blown away by his vitality.” Seeff was also impressed by Mellencamp’s authenticity, a trait reflected in his casual attire. “It was as if he was saying, ‘This is who I am. I come with nothing but a denim shirt and a cigarette,’” Seeff says. “There was nothing pre-conceptual...
Van Halen
“WORKING WITH A ROCK GROUP IS ALWAYS A challenge,” says photographer Norman Seeff, remembering his 1979 shoot for the cover of Van Halen’s third album, Women and Children First. “There are times when a group comes in for a session and I perceive there is tension among the members.” One sure way to defuse that tension, he says, was to ask the musicians to bring their instruments—and sure enough, Eddie Van Halen was soon...
RAY CHARLES
THIS 1985 LOS ANGELES SESSION WITH THE LEGENDARY RAY Charles had a permanent impact on rock photographer Norman Seeff’s methods. “Within a couple minutes of beginning the session, we were involved in a deeply revealing conversation about his inner creative process,” Seeff recalls. “All the while, Ray was playing and demonstrating the power of emotional expression on the piano I had rented for the session. We got classic Ray shots...
CARLY SIMON
CARLY SIMON WAS DRESSED FAIRLY CONSERVATIVELY when she turned up at legendary photographer Norman Seeff’s Los Angeles studio to shoot the cover for her 1975 album Playing Possum. But after a couple of glasses of wine, Seeff posed a provocative question: “Well, don’t you have something on under that?” Simon gamely stripped down to her black teddy and began dancing around the studio to the Shaft soundtrack as Seeff snapped away. “It...
Steppenwolf
Members of rock band Canned Heat shared a house on Lookout Mountain Avenue in the Laurel Canyon area of Los Angeles, right next door to Joni Mitchell’s place—until it burned down in 1969. Later that year the charred structure served as the setting for the cover of Steppenwolf’s At Your Birthday Party, shot by photographer Henry Diltz and designed by art director Gary Burden. “We just walked in there with a birthday cake, sat down and took...
Eagles
PHOTOGRAPHER HENRY DILTZ, ALBUM-COVER DESIGNER Gary Burden and the four members of a new band called the Eagles set out from Los Angeles at 2 a.m. on March 20, 1972, arriving three hours later at the area that is now Joshua Tree National Park. The whole crew climbed up what Diltz calls a “secret magic mountain,” reaching the top at daybreak. As the sun rose, they began snapping photos for the group’s upcoming self-titled debut album. “You...