Joel Brodsky photographer-gone

Rocky Road

From Classic Rock to Progessive to hip hop to today's hot new tunes!

Joel Brodsky, 67; By Matt Schudel, Washington Post
March 26, 2007
Joel Brodsky, a photographer whose memorable album cover pictures of Jim Morrison, Isaac Hayes, Aretha Franklin and dozens of other performers helped define the visual image of popular music in the 1960s and '70s, died of a heart attack March 1 at his home in Stamford, Conn. He was 67.
Brodsky was an artist in a now obsolete format, using the 12 3/8 -inch square of the album cover as his canvas for pictures that varied from moody portraits to surreal atmospheric scenes to stylized illustrations of ideas.
He photographed about 400 album covers for a diverse cast of musicians that included B.B. King, Carly Simon, Barry Manilow, Kiss, Iggy Pop and Gladys Knight and the Pips.
His best-known picture, made at his New York studio in late 1966, shows a bare-chested Morrison of the Doors, with his arms outstretched. Featured on the cover of the 1985 "The Best of the Doors" album, the black-and-white image depicts the messianic, sensitive and dangerous qualities that made Morrison such an important musical figure of his time.
Brodsky described the session in a 1981 interview. The 23-year-old Morrison, he said, was "totally plastered â€¦ so drunk he was stumbling into the lights."
Still, he projected an edgy charisma that Brodsky was able to capture on film.
"You know, Morrison never really looked that way again, and those pictures have become a big part of the Doors' legend," Brodsky said. "I think I got him at his peak."
Five of Brodsky's photographs of the Doors appeared as album covers, and he received a Grammy nomination for the group's 1967 debut, "The Doors." His cover shot for "Strange Days" (1967) showed carnival acrobats, a strongman and a midget in a conceptual street scene.
In 1971, Brodsky photographed soul musician Hayes in sunglasses and a striped robe for his "Black Moses" album. The cover unfolded in the shape of a cross to a size of 3 feet by 4 feet.
Later in the 1970s, Brodsky designed and photographed a series of seven groundbreaking covers for albums by the Ohio Players. Without showing the band itself, he illustrated such titles as "Ecstasy," "Pleasure" and "Pain" with frankly erotic images, sometimes with sadomasochistic elements.
Brodsky was a meticulous craftsman, spending hours setting up lights, scenery and cameras.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Herbie's Audio Lab

Topic - Joel Brodsky photographer-gone - Duilawyer 19:43:17 03/26/07 (0)

You can not post to an archived thread.