ClassicRockA-Z's Interview With '70's Rock Photographer Ian Mark
In 1974 a 15 year old boy from Calgary Alberta, Canada, named Ian Mark received his first camera, a 35mm SLR Pentax, as a gift from a relative. A few weeks later a high school friend invited Ian to an upcoming rock concert being held at a local hockey arena, where Manfred Mann was headlining with Savory Brown and an unknown band at the time called KISS to open the show. The ticket price for the three act concert was only $4.00, so he accepted the invitation, and on May 20, 1974, armed with his new camera, Ian Mark photographed his first concert.
Ian was hooked, and it was the beginning of a decade long journey that would see him shooting countless photographs of some of the biggest names in Classic Rock as well as other genres.
Ian has now recently published a new book titled "Adventures Of A 70's Rock Photographer" featuring live concert photos of acts such as The Who, Queen, Fleetwood Mac, Styx, Eric Clapton, Suzi Quatro, Blue Öyster Cult, and many more.
ClassicRockA-Z's Bob Wallace had the privilege to talk with Ian Mark about the book and some of the great stories that accompany those photos.
Read about some of the events that led to the publication of this awesome book in the interview below.
HI Ian, Welcome to ClassicRockA-Z, Thank you for talking with me today.
"It's always great to talk to such a huge fan of Classic Rock."
I got to tell you, as a huge fan of Classic Rock, it takes a bit to impress me, but I was quite impressed with this book.
"I am glad that you are impressed with the book as it was a labour of love and more work than I thought. It brought back a ton of memories. It even made me find a few shots of bands I didn't even know I had photographed like Bob Seger."
I love the shot of Suzi Quatro on the cover, how did you decide on this photo for the cover?
"To be honest I wanted to put Rush on the front of the book but they gave me too many legal headaches. They sent me threatening letters demanding I stop selling their photographs from 1975 and 1977 concerts. When I tried to pay them a commission they countered with an offer to buy my photographs. This I refused. As a result, I began to think of performers who would be well known, yet not so high and mighty that I could work with them. One night I thought of Suzi Quatro. She has stared in T.V as well as her career as a singer. Not to mention one of the few females to head up a band in the 70's. I googled her that night and to my surprise she responded and asked me what I wanted. I told her I wanted to put a photograph I took of her in 1975, when she opened for Alice Cooper, on the front of my book and would she let me. She asked me to send her all my shots and she would pick one out herself. A few days later she sent me a note telling me what shot I could use. It was so refreshing after all the crap dealing with Rush. Some bands when they become very famous forget about all the people who helped them get there."
Yes it's too bad they get that way, but the shot of Suzi Quatro is great, in fact I think there are a ton of photos that would have been great on the cover, not only is the book loaded with some fantastic action photos, but the stories you tell with them are great as well. And I want to talk about some of those stories, but first, would you take us back to May 20, 1974. What fired you up so much, that photographing live concerts was going to be your passion?
"I think it was the combination of photographing a moving target with lights
constantly changing and the added unpredictable element of the audience.
A record is great but without a living breathing audience it only has half a soul.
When I photographed Queen and heard Freddie Mercury sing he creates a
connection to the fans that is magical. I never tired of trying to capture that
magic in a photograph of a live band. If you look at the shots of Queen in the
book they are among the best of my career. In the 70's all cameras used film
and had to be focused manually. I enjoyed the challenge of trying to focus and
adjust my light meter to make sense of what was happening on the stage."
"There are shots in the book of Pete Townshend of The Who (1976) and Paul Stanley of Kiss (1977) high up in the air. Getting those kind of shots is what keeps one addicted to rock photography."
In the begining of Adventures Of A 70's Rock Photographer you give thankful aknowlegments to family and friends who have supported and helped you along the way, would you tell us about some of those aknowlegements?
"First off, my parents were 100% supportive. They fostered all my photographic passions. They helped me get all the equipment I needed and encouraged my working for Music Express Magazine. At the time I was still a student in the Alternative High School. All the staff were supportive and found ways for me to shoot rock bands and get credit for it. Your traditional high school, focused on reading, writing and arithmetic would not have tolerated me leaving classes to photograph a rock band."
It's great that you had all that support, and then when you where 17 you encountered an "opportunity of a lifetime" when you met a man named Keith Sharp, can you tell us about that meeting and what it led to for you?
"Meeting Keith Sharp was an opportunity of a lifetime. In 1974 I photographed my first concert with Kiss, Manfred Mann and Savoy Brown. (Ticket price $4!) Then I shot T Rex, Blue Öyster Cult and Rush opening for Nazareth (1975). So I already had some experience shooting bands in low light conditions. I had been showing my shots to a friend who managed a record store in down town Calgary called Opus 69. He passed my name to Keith Sharp who was a sports writer with the Calgary Herald but who wanted to start up his own music magazine. He needed a photographer but couldn't afford to hire a professional. When you are 17 and in school you don't care about the money. The opportunity is so exciting that you will do it for free. Keith was quite willing to play along with the requirements of my high school. On one occasion he had to come to the school and give a report to the principle as to how I was performing as a rock photographer. He always gave glowing reports of my performance. What else could he say? A bad report might mean the end of his photographer!"
There are some REALLY great shots that would would of required you to be "up close and personal" so to speak, with the stage. How were you able to accomplish that, and what kind of problems (if any) did you encounter with security and or 1000's of other fans trying to make it to the front?
"If you want to get great shots of a performer you must have access to the stage and be close to it. In todays world many bands have declared war on photographers and so it can be hard to take great shots. When I photographed Queen I was doing it for Music Express Magazine. We were on very good terms with the promoter, Brimestone Productions. They let me go wherever I wanted as long as I didn't go back stage. That was off limits. I also had a back stage pass so all the security people and and band roadies let me alone. At the same time a small venue makes it much easier. At this time Calgary didn't have a massive hockey arena to house a large band. Queen did two concerts over two nights in a small opera house in front of only 2,500 people. In such a small hall I was always within 5-10 feet of Freddie Mercury. That is why these shots are truly fabulous and have special meaning to me. Also, Keith Sharp showed my shots to their manager before the second concert and was then invited to meet Queen backstage in their dressing room."
I remember well trying to get to the front in rush seating concerts back in the 70's, and it could get intense and even dangerous. Do you have any stories where rush seating played a factor in a dangerous or intense situation while shooting a concert?
"I have dealt with dangerous situations in both rush seating and assigned seating. While shooting Queen, in a seat assigned concert, I was attacked half way during the first night. I was photographing the band when all of a sudden I was pushed down and kicked in my legs and chest. Luckily for me, The Bear, the head of security for Brimstone Productions saw me and came to my aid. He lifted up my attacker and hauled him off to the backstage area. Rather than using his hand to open the doors he used my attackers head as a sort of battering ram and he was ejected from the concert. Unfortunately, they didn't take his ticket away so I saw him 35 minutes later as he took more swipes at me. I think he had a ticket in the front row and was getting annoyed at me blocking his view from time to time. This is the only time someone attacked me shooting a concert."
"You might laugh when I tell you that the most dangerous situation I saw in a rush seating concert was a shoot I did at the Bay City Rollers in 1977. There were only about 1,500 screaming teenage girls surrounding a round stage but they were in such a frenzy that those at the very front were in danger of being crushed into the steel barrier protecting the stage. It was like a Beatles concert except the Beatles had talent. The Rollers had to stop the concert and a warning was given to the girls to stop pushing forward or the show would end. Ambulances were called and a few girls were taken to the hospital after being crushed."
No, I'm not laughing, one screaming teenage girl is scary enough, let alone 1500. Throughout those years and all the concerts you photographed, are there any that stand out the most for you when looking back?
"There are a few concerts that I remember, some for weird occurrences. In 1975 I shot Blue Öyster Cult opening for T Rex. During the T Rex set Marc Bolan was singing his biggest hit "Bang a Gong" but he was improvising the song so much that the audience didn't recognize it. All of a sudden he stopped the band from playing and scolded his fans for not cheering and recognizing his big hit. I was dumb founded to hear him talking like this to the audience. When I started to show my shots of T Rex on YouTube five years ago his fans from the UK and Germany asked me if this was the concert he gave a tongue lashing to the audience."
"There is one concert I remember but of a band most people have forgotten. There was a Canadian band called The Poppey Family who had two big hits: "Where Evil Grows" and "Where You Going Billy?" They performed on the Kenny Rogers show and you can see their performances on YouTube. After The Poppey Family broke up the lead singer, Susan Jacks, cam to Calgary trying to launch a solo career. After shooting her in an interview, she did a concert in the same 2,500 seat venue that Queen played in just a few months earlier. To my surprise there were no more than 10 people in the audience. I remember how shocked I was to see how few people were there. I couldn't help but wonder what it was like for her to walk out on the stage and perform to virtually an empty house. I have always remembered this concert and felt haunted by it. Everyone loves the bands that are on top of the world like Kiss, Queen and The Who but it must be a very lonely time for a performer when the crowds become think and they have been forgotten."
"My most memorable concerts were shooting The Who and Queen. These bands had great talent and a great visual presentation. Roger Daltry is one of the greatest lead singers and frontmen. Pete Townshend knows how to write a song and that a live performance must have action. I love the shots of Pete high in the air and his windmill arm style of hitting the strings. They were the first band that I ever saw use laser beams in their performance. Queen just has so much talent. From the first time I saw Freddie sing I thought he has a voice like no other and he know how to control a crowd. On their second night in Calgary they were doing "You Take My Breath Away" when the audience wanted a heavier song. Unfazed by their boisterous tone he said "Don't worry we will do all those rocking songs so just relax for now". The crowd let up and they went on. Some bands can't mold their fans to do what they want."
These are some great stories Ian, and they're all in your book along with some really great photos of some of the most notable bands in Classic Rock, our readers are definitely going to want this book, where can they get their own copy of "Adventures Of A 70's Rock Photographer"?
"The book can be ordered online from Amazon, Chapters/Indigo and Barnes & Nobles. If anyone wants an autographed copy they could also go to Etsy and search "Adventures of a 70's Rock Photographer" and they could order it there. Also on Etsy I sell 8X12 photographs of all the bands in the book."
Ian it's been a pleasure talking with you today, thanks so much for sharing some of your stories with us, I enjoy the book and I'm certain the ClassicRockA-Z readers will as well.
"Its always a pleasure to talk about rocks greatest bands!"
Ian Mark photographed some of the most iconic acts of the 70's, including The Who, Rush, Queen, Fleetwood Mac, Kiss, Eric Clapton, Thin Lizzy, Alice Cooper, Bob Seger and many others. He has been interviewed on CBC radio, and his photographs have been published by Metro News and internationally in Q Magazine (U.K.), Music Express Magazine and Music Express: The Rise, Fall & Resurrection of Canada's Music Magazine by Keith Sharp, and Queen:Touring America by Gary Taylor (U.K.).
All images courtesy of Ian Mark. All photographs registered with the United States Copyright office.
Copyright © 2018, ClassicRockA-Z. All rights reserved.
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