“Where Were You?” – John Cale & Chris Spedding at The Berkeley Square, Berkeley CA [Feb 4, 1987]

One of the few frames that I would capture Chris Spedding playing his trusty Gibson Melody Maker

One more set of photos to share, before I have to work awhile on the next offering….

These images derive from a date in the East Bay, which was much closer to home for me, and although Cale and Spedding would also perform at the I-Beam in San Francisco, two nights earlier, I much preferred to take in the show without the crowd that could be expected there, and the fact that it would mean a slightly earlier evening when all was said and done.

This would be the first time for me to see both of these artists, and while I had hoped for a full complement of musicians to round out the set, I would be pleasantly surprised with both the song selection, and the semi-acoustic approach.

I will spare everyone the long and winded recollections of listening to numerous John Cale solo recordings, and his work with the Velvet Underground, as such musings can be found elsewhere.   Suffice it to say, I have found plenty to return to listen to, over the years, and even my children have sung along to a few of his compositions – much to the delight of their mother and I.

There are also quite a number of recordings in my collection which feature Mr. Spedding on them, either as a musician, or even as a producer, much like his more well-known collaborator, Mr. Cale, is known for.  One of my particular faves, is his work on the Bryan Ferry lp, which features the track, “The Price of Love“.

While I choose to be sparing with the acclaim, I will let their recorded legacy do the talking for them.

I sincerely hope you enjoy the images!

One of the few frames that I would capture Chris Spedding playing his trusty Gibson Melody Maker

One of the few images I have ever toyed with, which I think works quite well here, as it amplifies two of Mr. Spedding’s traits: his trademark semi-quiff, and his talented hands and fingers

**

For more on John Cale‘s live performances over the years, take a look here:

http://www.schmitt-hall-studios.com/ron/JohnCaleGigography.htm

**

John Cale official:

http://john-cale.com/

**

John Cale unofficial fan site, “Fear is a Man’s Best Friend“, with quite a lot of info:

http://werksman.home.xs4all.nl/cale/index.html

**

Chris Spedding official:

http://www.chrisspedding.com/

**

Chris Spedding on Wikipedia, for more links and info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Spedding

***

NOTE:  A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE WATERMARKS ON MY WORK

While many of you who arrive here, to look at these photographs may get turned off to my use of watermarks [thinking they ruin the image], let me explain why I choose to do this.

No one paid for my camera equipment but me. No one paid for the film I used to take these photographs.  On occasion, when I free-lanced for a free monthly newsletter, and they published a photo of mine, the payment for each photograph barely paid for the fuel to get my vehicle to the show [when I *did* have a vehicle], and the film I used on that night. 

Not too many of my photos were published, at the time, because the artists I chose to capture images of, were not hugely popular then.  Hence, the old dictum, “Supply and Demand”; I had the supply, but the demand [pre-Internet], was not there. You can argue the relative merits of the quality of my work, and that is precisely what a blog offers:  a venue for discussion.

Back to the watermarks: no one is subsidizing my time to scan and then clean up the images I am presenting here. Start to finish, each negative will take approximately an hour-and-a-half to reach “proof” quality – which is what you will see here.  This is my labor of love, and until there is some measurable return on my efforts, what you see is what you get.