Six Degrees of Jim Harris

Yesterday I showed up to document the Bacon Brothers and about 50 Mummers cut a record to benefit the future stability of the Philadelphia New Years Day Mummer's Parade. I'm not sure if I could properly explain what a Mummer is so you could check out this link for a little back story. If you don't know the Bacon Brothers, they are rock band consisting of actor Kevin Bacon and his brother Michael. They are originally from Philadelphia and perform here often. My buddy Rodney has photographed them on a number of occasions and always has good things to say about them and their music. So, Kevin wrote a song involving the Mummers called New Years Day. It's a great summer pop rock song with elements of the Beach Boys. It's about a dude that heads out to LA to take a shot, but wants to come back to Philly. Ha. On this day, they brought in Bunny Sigler, a Philadelphia soul singer best known for his work with the Ojays and Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia Sound. They also laid down a number of tracks with the Mummers horns and strings and vocals. It's going to have a big Phil Spector type sound once all these tracks are mixed in.

Due to city budget crisis etc the city has cut funding for the Mummer's Parade. Last year they barely got a reprieve and the show went on. This year they will struggle to continue the tradition. So this single will be sold to try and raise funding for this years parade. Everyone there was working for free or reduced rates.

I was brought in to document the session. I spent the afternoon in the studio shooting the performers and the goings on. I always see these type photographs in Rolling Stone. The behind the scenes in the studio,,,mixing boards, headphones and microphones. I always think that's what I'd like to be photographing. Yesterday I had a chance to do that. It was like being behind the scenes of the We are the World sessions, except it was the Bacon Brothers and the cause was decadently costumed musicians and not world hunger.

In all seriousness though, this Parade is so unique to the city. There really isn't anything else like it in the country. I've been to the parade and it's entirely grass roots and non-commercial. There are no cartoon floats or celebrity appearances. It's all about the costumes and the music.

I put in a couple more hours than agreed upon yesterday. Unlike some of the work I do, this had a real arc and story element to it....and the end of the story was the completion of the song. After all the instrument tracks were recorded, they brought the Mummers back into the recording studio with the Bacon Brothers to do some large group vocals. I couldn't photograph during the recording so I was just stuck in there with them. After hearing this particular song about 250 times I knew all the words and just sang along a little bit. The Bacon Brothers, 50 Mummers and me. Why not?

Kristen and I were having dinner last night, watching the Phillies and talking about the day. I said, I cut a hit single with the Bacon Brothers today, what did you do?

Leonard Cohen, Chick Rose and The Farm

Other than my family and my wife the person I've lived with the longest is a fella named Markus. I often call him by his rock and roll name, Chick Rose.  Markus and I have been friends now for going on twenty years. Once upon a time we lived on a 40 acre farm house in Indiana. We had parties,  horses and even a beautiful barn till it burned down in the summer of '92. In 8 years of living on that farm, Markus and I came and went from the farm house, but someone was always there to watch our dog Claudius. Claudius was sort of forced upon us by our land-lady, who seldom collected rent and whom we never met, not even once. If this all sounds like a hell of a story,,, it was and justifies more than a blog post.  It think it would make an interesting novel, I always thought of calling it 'My 20's, their 90's.' 

At the farm Markus played guitar and collected records. I learned my open chords and listened to the records Markus collected. We dug a lot of the same music and between the two of us, I'm quite certain we had the most complete collection of Leonard Cohen records in all of Western Pennsylvania. What ones we didn't have I bought overseas and brought them back. We talked about seeing him, but ol' Leonard was living with the Buddhist Monks at the time and seemed unlikely to tour again at his age. We talked about our pilgrimage and the hope that someday it would come to be. 

So at age 74 Leonard announces his first world tour in two decades. Markus agrees to take a train from Maryland and meet me us in Philadelphia. Rob Moore is on-board of course and we all gather at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia's theater district. The Academy of Music is an opulent opera house that opened in 1857. It was a big night. The show was all that we had hoped and though the chandelier was closer to the stage than we were I still managed to get a couple pictures. I feel very fortunate that I was in the right place and the right time to see this performance... especially with such good friends. I can't help but laugh when I think about our camping party last week for my 40th  birthday. Markus, Rob and I all performing a Leonard Cohen rock block. Crowd-pleasers? Eh...not really and apologies to those around the campfire that were looking for something a little less morose and little more John Denver, but I had fun with it. It was a fitting end to our 20 year Leonard Cohen Pilgrimage. 

The Tones Rock the Mountain

The Tones Rock the Mountain from Jim Harris Images on Vimeo.

My Folks and the family have been going to see The Tones since they were in High School. They still play out regularly and I've managed to somehow see them twice already this year... which is the same amount I've seen the Boss in that time span... so somethings gotta give. Enjoy the clip,,,,you can find my family in the mix, and as always they just don't know how to have a good time.

Stud Services

I saw this while in Western Pa last weekend. It was in one of those Penny Saver type newspapers. I'm not sure if anyone else finds it funny, but I've been laughing about it every day since.

Thanks Harry

To say that Harry Kalas was the most beloved sports figure in Philadelphia isn't a stretch. I'm not sure how well recognized Harry is on a national level, but in this city he's huge and for all the right reasons. Even if you don't listen to Phillies games, you've heard him in commercials or NFL films. Ballplayers come and go but the best broadcasters are there forever. Every once in a while you get one like Vin Scully, Harry Caray and Harry Kalas. Every time you watch a game or listen to it on the radio, it's the same guy and there's a comfort in that. You get to know them after 38 years...at least you think you do and Harry got that. I saw Harry a couple times while working and he greeted everyone like someone he knew. That's why I've always liked this picture of Harry smiling for my camera. The guy was very comfortable knowing that this city loved him so much.

I was pretty set on seeing the Phils get their World Series Rings last week.
The ceremony/game was long sold out but I managed to get a ticket and went and took pictures from the stands. Harry threw out the first pitch to a standing ovation. It was the final game of the opening homestand and the last time the home fans would see and honor Harry.

Josh Ritter at The Sellersville Theater

My wife and I go to a lot of shows. We always have. Part of it is that we don't have any kids, part of it is that we live in a big city and we have access and part of it is just a love of music and being around people that feel the same way. The enthusiasm from the crowd is almost always there. When we see the old heads like Neil Young or Tom Petty, the fan enthusiasm is there. When we see the Fratellis or The Hold Steady, it's there. And while you could always count on the crowd, sometimes the artist lacks a certain spark,,, like they're on night 300 of a 300 night tour. And then there are nights when you see someone like Josh Ritter. This is the second time we've seen him and his band live and both times we've walked away with a warmer heart and an extra kick in our step. He brings a joy and energy to his performance that I really can't compare to any artist we've seen. Maybe I've seen the the joy with B.B. King and I've certainly seen the energy with the Boss, but there is a approachability and freshness to Josh and his music that is so contagious.

We've been looking for the right show to see at The Sellersville Theater for a while now. It's a bit of a drive from Philly, but worth the effort. I'm not familiar with the history of the Theater, but it's well preserved and with 21 rows of 14, it's very intimate. I called about the Josh Ritter tickets a couple weeks after they went on sale. The woman on the phone told me that the 'Member Tickets' that were still available would be released to the public at the end of the week. When I called back at the end of the week, we ended up with seats in the front row. We were happy to have them even though we felt almost uncomfortably close to the stage. The stage lights spilled onto us for most of the show and we had no table in front of us so we set our beers on the edge of the stage.

I am a photographer by trade and as I've mentioned in previous posts, I do my best with the point and shoot camera when I don't want to take the bulky good gear to a concert. Here is a link to the shots from the evening. While several are a little soft in focus, I think they capture the mood and spirit of the performance and the venue. I also took two video clips. The first highlights that energy and joy that I'm talking about. The second shows more the intimacy of the performer in a venue like this. At the end of the show, the band exited and Josh brought out his opener, Mark Ereli and they shuffled to the edge of the stage to perform unamplified. Kristen and I were quick to move our empty beer cups as they stood directly above us. Trying not to be too inappropriate, I took a video clip of them next to us. I've done a lot of these, but I'm particularly proud of this one since I just turned the camera on, set it on my lap and pointed it upward toward Josh and Mark. It's an unconventional perspective, but my aim was pretty good.

If you don't know the music, check it out if you can. We're big fans. Especially my wife, who would probably run off to Idaho and raise potatoes with Josh if he asked her. She just told me last night that she'd just become friends with Josh on Facebook, so who knows.

Birthday Push-Ups

Birthday Push-Ups from Jim Harris Images on Vimeo.

Just wanted to wish my Dad a Happy 62nd Birthday. I've been meaning to post a couple things here and this is a good opportunity. Every year on his birthday my Dad does 100 push-ups to mark the occasion. I don't know when the last time any of you have tried to 100 push-ups, but I remember the last time I tried to see how many I could do. It was a bet between a buddy and me about 15 years ago and I don't think either of us got to 100.

Last year when we were on vacation in Florida I took a movie clip of my Dad doing 100. He makes it look pretty easy. So check out the clip, I figure if we're not going to do the push-ups, you could at least take two minutes and watch someone else do 'em.

I'm also posting two pictures taken in the last year while with my Dad. I don't shoot as much fun stuff as I used to, but when I do I'm always grateful to have taken the time and effort. You'll usually see me with the point and shoot, but the really great shots happen when I take out the good stuff. The serious gear. Which usually means more weight and responsibility to keep an eye on it. But as mentioned, it always means better pictures.

The shot of the dogs in the doorway happened when my Dad and I were pulling out of the driveway. He rushed back into the house for his camera. I did the same and got some great results.

The shot of the coal miner statue is from our hometown. My Dad and I went to an area coal festival this past summer and drove around a while trying to find this statue which is a tribute to the Anthracite Coal Miners of Northeastern PA. It's always good to remember where you come from!