Original subtitles

hi i'm Bob Gruen and welcome to my

virtual book release and birthday party

celebrating the release of my

autobiography right place right time

and the serendipity of my life has often

led me to the right place at the right

time

and then i did the right thing and i got

pictures to bring back and document the

culture of our history

it's all i've been telling stories for

years to many people

and they're all written down here in the

book and i hope you enjoy it

now this year since we couldn't have an

actual birthday party crowding into a

room like i've done for many years

jesse malin has been helping me put on

my party he suggested that we do this

video party and he got his editor and

director dave steckert

to put together some videos jesse

contacted a lot of my friends to send in

tribute videos i think you're going to

enjoy them there's quite a few

very funny ones uh very touching ones

as well as some rare videos that i made

at maxis kansas city

bands like blondie and the heartbreakers

and new york donald's and patty smith

lady k

in the very early days and we did a nice

interview with lenny k at the morrison

hotel gallery who's doing a good job

selling my

signed prints and lenny and i talk about

the stories in the book

i just hope you'll enjoy this video it's

got a lot of music my friend super sent

in a great version of john lennon's

imagine

but anyway on with the show

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happy birthday bob my name is sean

lennon and i approve

this message

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see you again

to see you again

well bob we've known each other for

quite a while

happy 75th birthday three quarters of a

century

how'd you do it i have no idea there's

no fault of my own

um i actually remember when i was 19 i

didn't think i'd be 25

because i remember when i was 25 i went

oh my god

i'm still alive i better start you know

doing things

and um and later that year i met i

continued turner

wow that's amazing so that was kind of

like when you really started getting

into

being a photographer looks like continue

being a music photographer um i started

photographing when my mom taught me how

to develop

pictures when i was five it was her

hobby and i was too

big to leave running around the house

and too little to go to sleep early she

took me in and i

literally was developing film and tanks

counting seconds

and by the time i was eight she saw my

interest and gave me my first camera

brownie hawkeye and when i went to camp

at 11 i took pictures of the kids in the

play

oklahoma sent the film to my mom she

made pictures

made prints and sent them back and i

sold it to the kids so i actually was

working as a photographer i took

pictures at local parties and things

but it was when i met i continued turner

and they introduced me to their

publishers mark grifinger who

brought me to billy smith and one thing

led to another he hired me for

elton john and that was 1970 was the

beginning of

i guess you know by now

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we always do it nice

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this is the way we do

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oh

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then i was worried

it will be

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[Applause]

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is

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stay one more time

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oh

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so

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oh

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yes

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me

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so

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like with the argentina i don't know i

just fell in with them they're so

comfortable with them

uh that was an amazing accident that uh

friend or said we had to go see i

continue and we went to the honkamanca

room in queens

at first i saw him at the felt forum and

they were amazing opening for

sam and dave i didn't even see sam and

dave i was watching the curtain where

tina

danced off i was mesmerized and so we

went back a couple days later uh

hong kong room i brought my camera for

the first time and took a bunch of

pictures

and i got some good ones and one really

great one

that is probably my opus that um tina

dances off with a strobe light and i

left the camera for a second and it's

like five tina's in one picture

kind of lysergic wouldn't you would say

well it's kind of like the

duchamp new descending staircase it's

not really clear but it's clear that

there's excitement and it's tina turner

it's amazing and she goes from here to

there in a second you know

and um and i brought the pictures with

me a couple days later we went to see

another icontina show in new jersey

and i brought them to show my friends

but as we were walking out my friend

judy

saw ike turner going from one dressing

room to another

uh it was a theater in a round with

trailer dressing rooms and she pushed me

in front of i

said so i liked the pictures and

literally pushed me into the rest of my

life

wow because he stopped he's got a deep

voice he goes what pictures

i said i got these pictures these are

really good pictures i gotta show this

to tina

and he takes me to the dressing room

house and i'm standing next to tina

turner she's like oh these are great

pictures i like these and she starts

looking at the contacts and she likes

them

and i never show people the contacts

because there's a lot of bad ones in

there

but then he says meet me in new york on

monday i want you to meet my publicist

and that was the beginning and i started

touring the next year when they came

back to town i had a videotape machine

they loved that i could videotape the

bands uh i started traveling with them

a little bit but probably the next year

they actually took me to california and

all over the place it's all in the book

all these stories um

i think it was in the second time i went

to visit them

there was a woman waiting at the door

and she said oh you could visit ike and

i said yeah she said do you mind if i

come with you i said no sure

and she says i'm vicki wickham i manage

lebel um patti labelle is like tina

turner but different

and i did three album covers for labelle

so as soon as i met argentina

and then i met billy smith and i met

elton john and

just the ball started rolling

hey hey bob happy birthday man

what a [ __ ] crazy year huh

anyway just wanted to say happy birthday

and

thanks for all your help over the years

thanks for the great photos still

remember

you standing on top of the table

upstairs at max's with your giant uh

border pack and tripod and capturing all

that great footage that you've captured

over the years

so happy birthday bob this is klemberg

saying

peace and love hi elizabeth everybody

hang in there we'll get there happy

birthday bob gruen

fashion store

i can't wait to touch

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smash

without you

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hello

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is

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now

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is

yes

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hi bob it's kind of unbelievable that

you're not having a birthday party

this year although i believe there were

one or two years where you didn't have

your your big bash

but um i i still want to say happy

birthday

i still love you and um i think that

you're it's very exciting that your book

is going to be coming out

and i look forward to that but um

have a great birthday and many more

and go out and get them killer bye

how'd you get start hanging out with

blondie uh i remember the day lisa

robinson called up we were doing rock

scene magazine for a couple of years at

that point

and i remember her phrase she said you

have to go and see this woman she's

really beautiful

and she's going to be a big star and i

think the club was mother's

day yeah some funky little club and i

still remember the moment i walked in

the door

funky little old broken kind of door

and there's a little stage over in the

right and i turned him i saw debbie and

stilettos

early before blondie right elder and

elder and rosie

uh yeah and i was stunned

because debbie just is the most

beautiful person there is

and uh and i thought wow this is right

like this girl's just beautiful and she

sings and she's quirky

and then i saw this letters again at

cbgb's when they were first starting

seabees

and then when they started blondie i

started seeing them more and more

we got to be friends and they were nice

people and debbie is just the funniest

down-to-earth new jersey punky attitude

fun person to hang out with and we just

got to be friends and um

you know i've seen them around around

the world i saw them in

europe a couple of times and uh and it's

fun i said

when i got an award one time from the

lenin tribute

concert and debbie gave me the award and

she mentioned that when she came to cvgb

she'd seen my car which is a big old 57

54 buick you know that big old rock and

roll car i had

and debbie said that when she saw my car

at cv she knew everything was going to

be all right

that she wasn't wrong tonight was a

there was a reason to be at cbs because

i had figured it out too

and if i was there it was cool way way

cool

and and that was a nice thing to say

hey bob congrats on the book in 75 years

on the planet

wow when i was a kid i was a huge fan of

your photograph so when i got to meet

you i realized

you're as cool as the people you shot

maybe cooler

you know the connection to the past the

present and the future of rock music

you've always been a great friend you

have a lot of heart a lot of soul

i love you to the moon and back thank

you for everything happy birthday

when did you meet me bob 1968

my girlfriend soon to be my wife was a

friend of ronnie hoffman who was the

girlfriend of

richard nelson one of the early rock

critics and

she we threw a birthday party at my

wife's

parents apartment and he knew everybody

richard

nelson knew everybody so you and lisa

robinson steve paul came with tiny tim

with his little

ukulele in the shopping bag um it was

quite a party it was a fun night

and it was kind of like the social

circle we ran in and when

we were all doing rock scene the yeah

after the alternative to the old

tournament roxy started a couple years

later 72

and i'm in every issue from the first to

the last i actually looked at that and i

wrote a lot of

photos you wrote the best there were

very

a rare portrait perhaps yes a sit

between snaps

but yeah nobody's had the career in the

sense of like i sort of like tina turner

and labelle and then elton john then

john lennon and then

ellen's memory actually led me to the

new york dolls which led me to cvtvs

which led me to the clash and blondie

and

patty smith and all these other things i

mean that's when i saw you in the band

you know

i remember walking in to cv tvs and you

were

i just started playing at max's early on

with patty

and it just caught on your hair was past

your waist and i walked

in one night i walked out no i wasn't

into cvs one night you cut it back

like shoulder weight like this kind of

length and it was kind of styling i was

like whoa rock star you know

and i really did kind of transition into

a very good writer who became a stage

personality well you know you got to

address

both levels i'm very lucky you know as a

musician

i don't think about what i play don't

read music

i'm you know i turn off the writerly

part of me

but it's nice when i get off the road

and you do something where it's just you

and not five other people telling you

exactly

well yeah yeah well that's one thing for

me i always worked independently

yeah uh in the early 70s i got into the

videotape and started making tastes

before anybody else was doing it i

actually had a chat

you have a great video of uh early patty

and us at uh max yeah 74

yeah really early before we had uh

another guitar player or jd doherty the

drummer i mean you know before when we

were thinking about how we could

become a rock and roll band without

becoming being a rock and roll baby

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a really together time together

no no no no no no no no no baby

because i remember seeing it at maxis

and it was very minimal and patty was

still

doing some poetry and the poems would

kind of lead into a rhythm and then

she'd start singing

and then one night i actually saw the

rolling stones at madison square garden

and came down to bleecker street and saw

you guys at the bitter end

and i walked in and you were playing

time is on our side

and i just felt yes it is because it was

so much more fun in a club

totally you know where people were

mingling to be in madison square garden

where people are three blocks away up in

the sea with binoculars you know the

stones are great it's a whole different

experience i mean i'm

all for the big spectacle and the

beautiful presentation and the

but also when you walk into a sweaty

rock club

downtown somewhere and there's all these

crazy people who are

who are there for the moment and perhaps

if you capture them in your camera eye

for all time

um you know that to me is where

is is where the heart of rock and roll

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lives

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i i saw the boomtown rats when they came

to new york they played the academy of

music

um they were great the band was great

and then afterwards there's a cool after

party that susan blonde put together

so andy warhol was there john hanson was

there he was meeting the cream of new

york

we got to be friendly and in fact the

next day david and i took

bob and his wife um paula

shopping around new york about going to

trash in vaudeville actually going to a

blondie recording session with them

and so we started getting to know each

other a bit he came to japan you know at

one point i got an apartment in japan to

kind of

dry out after the 70s 79 80 i got an

apartment in tokyo and actually lived

there for a while

and they played there and so then i

spoke english so he hung out even more

with me

and because i knew what was going on in

tokyo and we just kind of stayed

friendly all those years

right and uh and now he just sent me

this nice birthday tribute that is so

great

we love him such a good heart he does so

much good work you know last year i got

to spend some time with him because they

made a documentary

on the women rights he was in new york

for a few days and we had some lunches

and dinners

and he was just so fascinating and now

he just goes out there and it doesn't

matter he's a rock star he's a guy with

a voice and he uses it

and there was one point in parliament

where he started this these

conservatives were doing some kind of

boat thing so he came out with

another boat and it's all on youtube

like him blocking the parliament we were

blocking these

politicians with his boat and shouting

at each other on the water and the

police show up

and he is fearless and he just goes out

and he does the right thing for people

as much as he can

amen so that's why he's sir bob well you

know i always like that phrase

sir bob and when i get an email or

something from him it's like

bob won bg-1 to bg2

but um but it's just amazing to me that

i can be friends with

sir bob you know yeah he said downright

good guys are friends and we're all

we're all in this together

happy birthday to you happy birthday to

you

happy birthday bob gruen happy birthday

to

you and to your book um

let me talk about uh your photographs

when

um myself and the boomtown rats

showed up in new york grew and

we never perceived him as a photographer

of the scene we

perceived him as being actually part of

the scene didn't really see a difference

between him and

the ramones or the dolls or andy and

that's

really the difference in the photographs

they're

they're more participatory than they are

observational and i guess that's because

he was

um never really observing but a friend

of the new york dolls

a friend of john and yokos a friend of

the ramones understanding

what the moment was and help you propel

that moment through his imagery

and uh recently i had to go to new york

and

was with him in in his office and going

through the old photographs

and they bring you right

back into exactly the smell of cbgb's or

or the thrill of seeing the new york

dolls for the first time

or maybe understanding the the

um that john felt

by being in new york and being part of

it

and that's why his photographs are

different that's why they're

genuinely special that's why they are

the document of that

that that moment that exciting moment at

least in my life so um

he's very good he's a great photographer

the book will be amazing congratulations

and

happy birthday pg the other pg

so thank you to the morrison hotel

gallery yup yes beautiful setting that

we have here they've done very well

how many years has the gallery been here

now around 20 years

20 right we're getting up to 20. uh

they're the premium

photo gallery they sell my prints around

the world

they've been okay through the through

this time

or people are doing it but people are

sitting home going why don't i have my

favorite picture on that blank wall

exactly so we've been doing okay here at

the gallery morrison hotel gallery

uh it's not a hotel that's the name of

the gallery

um but uh i love them they've been

selling pictures all over the world

well good for them good for you and uh

i'll see you on the best seller list

all right

hey bob happy birthday from the bottom

of my uh

heart uh imagine there's no bob gruen

birthday bash

what are we gonna do well do it

virtually

happy happy birthday play some loud

music enjoy yourselves

you and elizabeth and uh catch you next

year

it was an interesting time then too

because

for instance a place like maxis kansas

city

in the back room you would have

musicians and

what constituted the rock press at that

time lisa robinson richard robinson

danny fields danny fields lillian

robinson

yeah be black i mean just great people

and we would be hanging

with the artists alice cooper

the dolls any visiting artist actually

that came through and went to the back

room there was like a real

petri dish of uh you know fun and games

and you know also you got to know each

other beyond

a backstage or a or

on stage you know you got to hang out

and that's of course one of the things

you specialize in i believe

i do a lot of hanging out um and this

book is actually

a final vindication uh that my life

meant something

that i wasn't just hanging out that

hanging out was what they call

networking nowadays

you know i was actually meeting people

making contacts making arrangements

um and yeah that was what put a hard

worker i've never seen you not hard work

dancing on a table at five but you also

know how to dance on tables but uh often

uh i might have i don't know not too

late bob but for somebody like who got

into this because he didn't want to work

my whole concept was turn on tune and

drop out and just you know somehow

managed to pay the rent well somehow

managing the baited rent i found out

that people would pay me for photos

and photos were easy for me but then the

work got to be constant

because i always felt i was working

until i finished developing made the

picture

if i went to sleep and the picture

wasn't made i wasn't finished right i

woke up and i still had work to do

because each day there was new things so

every night i would develop and print at

four in the morning five in the morning

when i came home

take a little nap go out and do it again

and all of a sudden i found i was

working 24

7 when i was supposed to be having fun

and doing this but i was having fun i

mean i was dancing in front of the stage

i mean doing my own kind of dancing

but i'm moving around a little rhythm um

and and going to amazing places well you

know as paul simenon says

if you love what you do you'll never

work again

a little song that's going to be on the

kansas city album

carl you make me cream in my jeans

every time

hi i'm legs mcneil and i've been friends

with bob gruen for

seems like several several lifetimes i

first met

bob when i was in high school believe it

or not bob and i went to high school

together i was a sophomore i was about

15 or 16. bob was about 28

29 30. they i don't like to say this but

he wasn't the brightest kid in school

okay

he he they kept holding him back and

holding him back i think he had a

problem with reading he couldn't read he

was illiterate you know

and um he was kind of a lonely depressed

guy sang and

sat saying he sat in the back of the

class

he didn't have any i think i was his

only friend at the time

and he kept he i was

very very very very popular in high

school

i was the captain of the football team i

was the prom king

i i was everything okay and bob wanted

to hang out with me and

and um he didn't know what he wanted to

do and i said why don't bob

bob i took him upside one day and i said

bob why don't you become an artist

because if you're an artist you don't

have to do anything you can you know

take a [ __ ] and put it on display and

people will

you know you know so he started drawing

these stick figures you know and

he'd go out on the street and he'd try

to sell him you know in his bell bottoms

and his frizzy hair and try to sell

these stick figure painting

pictures that he drew and they weren't

selling you know

and um i had a polaroid swinger camera

i don't know if you remember those from

the 60s you know

they were very very very popular and

i was taking class pictures because i

was the head of the yearbook committee

or something

and bob said wow wow that

swinger camera's really neat you know i

wish i could afford one

and i said here bob so i gave him my

swinger camera i said

bob why don't you take pictures of this

he said what do what

what will i take pictures of and i said

i don't know bob you know people

places things you know you know go to

the go to the gas station go to the

airport

go to the train station so he hitchhiked

out to the

to the to the airport and that's when

led zeppelin's plane

was flying in and he took that famous

shot with my polaroid swinger camera

it was basically a polaroid in the

beginning and um

that launched his career but now when i

call him because i i kind of lent him

some money

you know and now when i call him he just

hangs up on me i say

bob this is legs do you have my 65

dollars i went to you

and he just hangs up he won't

acknowledge

that that i started him that we went to

high school together

and that i started him off on his career

[ __ ]

just like to remind you that we're

talking darts and uh

it's all for those rock and roll

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[Applause]

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happy birthday bob

how you feeling man 75 huh well i'm only

a couple years younger don't

don't feel bad hey listen

i was just thinking about uh when we

were down in new orleans man

only 1975 gee

where did time go huh you me and link

down there we had a ball

anyway uh uh

i uh i miss you man and um i wish we

were together

but uh we'll get through this thing and

uh we'll do some rock and rolling again

all right happy birthday brother

i love you man

hey bob it's linda ramone wishing you a

very happy birthday from the johnny and

linda ramone ranch

with all my fabulous bob garuins around

from

bibi and todd to johnny and sable

to allison cindy to sid to mark bowlin

to jeff beck and the most important

the ramones we miss you bob

take care

uh but i think that people who are still

friendly with this i know a bunch of

young people who are friendly with this

band or that band and they go on the

road with them just like i did

there's no money in it like that's the

kind of thing people don't remember i

didn't get paid to be on the bus with

the class

i knew enough people to get the record

company to pay my hotel which was a big

deal most photographers wouldn't get

that i was

lucky you know but um you did it because

you loved it because it was something to

do and somehow as a young artist you

managed to pay the rent by hooker by

crook

and you also met all these artists kind

of when

they were starting out that's when you

meet them locally

back then i couldn't meet frank sinatra

you know

no that kind of access was always

difficult so now a big band in a stadium

yeah it's hard to get to see them

but bands are playing clubs i always

told people if you can go to any club

and take pictures

they don't have photo passes for clubs

usually you know and that's when you can

meet a man go to the soundtrack

sound check meet them show them your

pictures if they like your pictures

maybe they'll like you um and people

always ask me about that and there must

be something about my personality maybe

you like my smile but people do seem to

like me

and you're a very likable person and i

mean in high school i was friends with

the artist i was friends with the

theater group i was friends with whoever

stayed up at night

you know and that lifestyle carried me

into the music business

if you ever see him in the street tell

him i want to spit on him kick his

[ __ ] ass

throw my drink in his face i love you

[Music]

bob

this must be

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is

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casually

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it's

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oh

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movies

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[Music]

is

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uh

oh

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[Music]

is

uh

[Applause]

oh bob i'm so lucky to call you a friend

since i was a young wee teenager

doing bad things

oh man to the man who's

seen everything done everything's got

the photos to prove it

all i got is uh

happy birthday bob

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[Applause]

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[Applause]

[Music]

hey bob how you doing

happy birthday can't believe it you're

75

you're still ticking and you're still

clicking

that's what i'm talking about baby

congratulations on your new book too

[Music]

that one hand

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[Applause]

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the music is rough not polished the

lyrics are shouted

not sung it's always belligerent hostile

and

definitely loud the dolls are a social

phenomenon

in the city they sell out wherever they

play they're in their late teens and

early 20s

so is their audience this is a new

generation

and a new music each time it seems get

crazier and crazier

where does it stop i don't know probably

some kind of extreme violence there was

an act at max's kansas city a few weeks

ago iggy pop is his name

who cut himself on stage and ended up

with 16 stitches

and that's the six o'clock report

hey bob happy 75th birthday

i'm so glad to know you and so glad to

be in your portfolio

you the man etc

salute

eisenstein

[Music]

[Music]

uh

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it's been a while the big thing that

counts

is both you and i are still standing

people ask me what is my biggest

achievement i don't even

act because it did it seems like it

wasn't meant to be

it just is but i love you bob

and i hope you have a wonderful night

and i'll see you in my dreams darling

[Music]

[Music]

[Music]

[Music]

rocky joe hank threatened his stuff

killer king alias

arthur harold kane jr

[Music]

it could be in your own neighborhood

hey bob it's jimmy and rocky wishing you

a happy 75th birthday

and many many more love you bud take

care

your personality as you intermingle i

mean

you you work from the inside

of of groups it's not like you know

you're there i mean i'm sure you've done

this

in times you know you're hard for a

thing you go there hi

but but the actual the the photographs

that are your

crowning achievement are ones that

happen because

you're hanging out that's an

interesting way you're not like some

distant objective

journalist you know i can get better

pictures when i know the people and

you're spending a couple hours and you

can wait around for a good moment

and they're comfortable with you and

well that's the thing like i said i was

comfortable with artists

from an early age so it was no surprise

when i

came out of high school my parents

wanted me to go to college and

i tried a couple of colleges and that

didn't really work so i ended up

dropping out you know turn on tune in

and drop

out and i lived with a rock and roll

band yeah which went through a couple of

names they're actually on the internet

as the glitter house

one word um and they did the vocals for

barbarella it was their big break

bob crew discovered them they did the

vocals uh that was my early

introduction to it i got to know bob

crew he hired me to do

my first back of an album cover um

and i met bob roland's at electric

atlantic records he hired me for my

first job tommy james in the shondell's

opening for hubert humphrey

had a rainy parking lot in yonkers

but even then i got to talk to the bad

enough that they gave me a ride home

and i always thought back like yeah i

just get along with men's people i don't

know

not everybody we all need friends yeah

especially now

i met david in front of gem spy who's

standing on on a pole he's

starting a riot that's true too

he's into his preacher man he's a

picture man you went to college

can't you tell i used to see david

you on 8th street used to have all those

noisy nuts you know they always used to

speak out

that's why i met david myself

um

hey bob gruen jim and sarah here

we want to wish you a really fantastic

birthday

um not only are you an amazing rock and

roll photographer but we also consider

you to be the zaylig

of our lifetime and uh

yeah you're not only just really cool

you're such a nice person

we love you so much anyway happy happy

birthday

to you and keep drinking that albino

zebra blood or whatever it is you do to

keep

staying so damn young anyway we love you

bob happy birthday

happy birthday bob

about uh someone like alice cooper well

that was early on in my career when i

met the first publicist with iketina

turner and he introduced me to billy

smith who

um actually brought me elton john first

but then he worked with alice cooper

billy smith was a wild publicist

who just came up with great ideas and um

and really helped alice cooper get on

the map but helped me get on the map by

introducing me to alice and chef gordon

who was the manager

and i did a lot of jobs and i got along

great with allison alex has the

fantastic sense of humor

and right from the beginning it was just

very comfortable i hung out with them

you know

i did all kinds of sessions alice

dressed as a sailor

i have a great picture alice as uh santa

claus

uh sitting on wolfman jack as uh little

lord fonderoy

you know um coming to that session that

was really funny

um and just over the years more and more

analysis still performing alice is one

of the most theatrical entertainers

he doesn't come out with a guitar and

sing a song he acts out each song in a

different way

he usually gets killed at the end

because a lot of his songs are evil but

is immoral to the stories that evil

does die and then he comes back and he's

success at the end

uh and he still does it today i think he

was supposed to go to switzerland when

the lockdown came

and uh and thankfully he was supposed to

go

somewhere yes we had great plans great

plans

for another 10 years whatever

i don't know if it's going to be put off

we'll just come back with a new world in

a new way

amen you know 21st century i'm

definitely doing that

bob it's your birthday alice cooper here

um you've immortalized so many people in

your photographs some of your

photographs are the most

famous ones ever in the world and uh

always great to to be able to mention

you in in my radio show

because we talk about the history of

rock and you're definitely a big part of

it

uh and since it is your birthday i did

write you a song

okay it goes like this i wrote this song

in just a minute and bob gruen

you're in it this is

your birthday song it is a very long

well it's no bohemian rhapsody but you

know

it's all for you happy birthday bob

that was always something important to

me with the pictures was not just to

show the facts

but to show the feelings so you're

actually emotionally involved with the

pictures and some people tell me they

turned a magazine and they see one of

mine they know it's one of mine because

they get a feeling

because sometimes they're a little soft

and the subject's not

sharp but the feelings are always clear

absolutely because

that's right when i go through the kind

of you know johnny yoga once talked to

me about it aren't they

in focus you know and if you look at my

contacts a lot of my pictures actually

are in focus

but it's not the moment that you feel

and the one that's slightly soft that

doesn't

take all the facts but gives the

feelings your hair is the one we pick

you're

bob you've been on the planet for like

75 years most of which you spent

rocking and rolling now i've been lucky

enough to know you for about

half of that and from that time till

this

your enthusiasms never waned and as such

you're a testament to the power of rock

and roll

happy birthday my friend

congratulations on the book yeah

on uh achieving uh a golden age

and of course we love you bobby we've

been friends for uh

centuries and um really good times

coming up

yes yes we do we'll be dancing a white

wedding

at barry electric soon

happy birthday bob what a milestone 75

and you don't look a day over 60. you're

amazing

congratulations uh on reaching this

birthday

with such joyful enthusiasm for life

still

and i hear you have a book coming out so

i can't wait to see it

love from somerset where it's getting

cold um but i hope you're cozy

in the city and with muscles of love and

hopes that i'll be able to come and

visit you

both soon happy birthday bob

we've also had a very good progression a

lot of

rock photographers have a specific error

they they have and then

they don't kind of move forward but

you've moved from the 70s

into the 80s green day in the 90s and

you know now now i like the kills

allison and jamie

they do a very weird but very meditative

take on rock background like it's kind

of a rocking beat

but they get so far out

and then screams and yelps and things

and then it's really mellow and

just amazing i just find it very

meditative like um

do you still get excited when you go out

to a rock show and

and a good one yeah

oh hey bob hey hi i wanted to uh write

you a video right call

video video you call you write you but

video you

and congratulate you on your

um new autobiography right place right

time this is very exciting

i wish we could all be together to

celebrate you carry you around on our

shoulders and

you know the celebrate stuff so the way

people celebrate usually is like that

right uh anyway this is very exciting

um congratulations and also happy

birthday

saying before the roaring 20s yeah after

this yeah

1918 and 19 was followed by the roaring

20s so keep that in mind

and then i think john hanson is on

lonely tenement he talks about the fact

that

if you have no money and you can't pay

your rent you can't buy a new winter

jacket and you

just don't have money but you probably

can get five or ten dollars

and you can go buy a drink and dance and

that's what people do they'll

still have fun amen i hope

amen there might be some fun coming up

but right now

hi bobby happy birthday darling

i can't believe i've known you now for

49

years i'm trying to get the skull in

there

anyway happy birthday my sweetheart

you're one of the best friends i've ever

had

and i love you very much happy happy

happy birthday i miss your parties

i wish we could all be together jimmy

i think we need to have one more person

say happy birthday to bobby oh we have

doggies too

happy birthday bob we love you

from nashville yay bye sweetheart i hope

i see you soon

and you've traveled considerably i mean

you've had exhibitions

in all over europe brazil i've been from

moscow to tokyo

to the mountains of japan to crete the

island of crete we've got friends over

there

nice yeah i really get around i've had

exhibits

when this started in march that we spent

the first week in march in sao paulo

there's a big museum called museum of

image and sounds a big legit place

and three stories and my exhibit was the

whole top two floors

wow the whole floors amazing exhibit it

just is supposed to reopen this week

it's been closed since then uh we went

down there we had a fantastic opening

party supla played

imagine uh i think we got a version of

it here for the video

um and he played at the opening party

and there's a lot of people there and

they love the exhibit

i gave a talk for a whole audience full

of people

and three days later the government

closed the city and it's been closed

since and they're just going to open it

now this week

so i hope and they couldn't make a new

one because the museum was closed so

they're opening with my exhibit again

and it's just elaborate and fantastic

um and i've had exhibits all over this

is actually my third exhibit in sao

paulo i've had several in argentina

mexico city japan uh

several in france london all over the

place and i never expected any of them

hey bob this is supla from brazil

love you man wish you all the best okay

elizabeth chris there you go kids

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imagine

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was

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imagine all the people

[Applause]

[Music]

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you join us

i wonder if your [ __ ] can can

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you

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wow

one one

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[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

is

happy birthday

happy birthday bob i wanted to say that

uh

you kind of led the way for me and the

idea that

uh you could work really hard and have a

great time

doing what you love and the idea that if

you

love what you do as much as we do that

will never work a day in our lives

so happy birthday to you and uh

i wish i could be there with you

you have on page 233 because i have

really wrote this i i've memorized every

line

of course thank you you talk about

understanding zen

in a japanese taxi cab moment and uh

what you say about it i really it really

hit home to me

it said you're being aware of the

present

and to me that's exactly what a

photographer does

yeah he takes a picture of the exact

present moment right how would you you

know how would you

i never combine that yeah that is true

you have to see

what's happening in the sense of which

moment to catch

and you have to anticipate that it's

coming in order to be in the right place

at the right time to catch that you know

the title of the book is right place

right time but i always say then you

have to do the right thing

and then you have to get up in the

morning and then you have to develop the

film and

call the people and then call them back

and ask for the money you know

um but yeah i was in a taxi cab with my

friend guns house the night i met god's

son

and he's quite a powerful person um he

owned a lot of nightclubs in

harajuku he was involved with

some dark elements of the nightclubs but

he was kind of like a gangster priest

uh he practiced he idol was his

spiritual

path which is the sword technique of

meditation

and he it was an iron man when i tell

him how much i'd been to japan with yoko

i come back with the dolls and in that

trip i was there with the bay city

rollers when also this

amazing guy shows up he was built like

muhammad ali but japanese size you know

solid though and uh and i said i love

japan and i love the ideas and i love

how

calm everything is i said i want to come

back and maybe go to a monastery and

study

zen thinking and he just heard me said

you can understand zen thinking in the

back of a taxicab

and that's when it hit me that yeah zen

is about being here now

being aware and it's not in the

monastery it's wherever you are

yes in the back of a cab and i've

carried that with me ever since

hi bob gruen um happy birthday to you

i think if elder was here she'd be going

what was sending lots of kisses to you

um it's been a long time that we know

each other and

i'm so happy to be able to say that i

know you because you're a magical man

and you're also a kind human being and

your great dad and your great

grandfather so

i just want to say hello happy birthday

sending much love

hopefully there's going to be many many

many many more that was my kitty all

right there he is

say happy birthday bob

bob and a very very happy birthday to

you

i was glad that you were able

to photograph some of the sire bands and

in particular the ramones and the

talking heads

um you re your photographs i think were

a big help to them

although both of those bands were

exceptionally

talented um

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not only you're a great photographer

but you're a great music fan

and you know so

i hope you keep rocking on and i wish

you again

a very very happy birthday bobby what

can i tell you

congratulations on your new book um

congratulations on uh your

i guess this would be your platinum

anniversary

who knew but uh i'm just so glad to know

you for

uh the better part of your life yeah and

i never felt like

i mean when i was younger i thought

being old was like a really bad thing

and keith richards said it best he said

he thought peter hope was really bad but

now he wants to get as old as he

possibly can

right and that's the way i feel because

i still feel

me and my wife go to places and i'm in

the middle of a room with 34

year olds i feel like a kid i feel like

they're adults and i just didn't get to

like i said we don't do adulting we just

didn't learn that part

i hear you i hear you so uh wait so

there's hope getting good at what you do

yeah kind of i've seen so many great

people that i admire and even

magically got to be friends with a lot

of people that i admire

um that i never expected joe strummer

knows my phone number john lennon would

call me up

uh that was unbelievable right uh

you know i remember the night i met john

and yoko and i was finally

henry edwards called me to do an

interview

and when i finally worked out i was

walking down the hall and i was shaking

i was meeting john lennon and yoko ono i

couldn't believe it

but i walked down the hall and i was

shaking just trembling and i knew i

couldn't take pictures like that

um and oscar wilde was sinners you have

to be yourself because everyone's

already taken and i realized like donna

yoko

would be amazing if they liked me and if

they used me but it would only happen if

i

was me and they liked me so i went in

much more comfortable i did what i did

and miraculously they liked it a lot and

i met them a couple weeks later and they

told me to keep in touch

and i'm still in touch with yoco today

that is

it's just worked out well it's really

nice that you

get to know all these people you can see

it in your photographs

from the inside you know they're not

like actually

posing for you they're like

letting you look at them through the

lens and that's really beautiful i think

you know my channel atlanta and new york

city picture

uh one reason people like it so much is

that we were having a conversation we

were very comfortable with each other

so in the picture he's ready for a

conversation

and it looks like he's about to talk to

you and that he's very comfortable

even with the sunglasses he's the pop

star but he's accessible

right and that's what comes through in

my pictures because they are in the

middle of a conversation

and they are accessible because you're

in the access

that's pretty great i was there right

place right time

amen out now get your copy soon

abram's books yeah and on abram's books

wherever books are sold

that's right well good one bobby

okay still rocking city we want you boys

to know that

we're out here doing our bit we

hope that you boys are out there shaking

them dead at the marketplace

dad happy birthday from up here in

vermont

up here in the meadows that i know you

wanted to come and visit

for your birthday so shooting this

message of love and and

happy birthday from here out in the

beautiful

vermont woods of course we really wish

we could

spend your birthday with you

but uh the world's a strange place right

now

you've always been an inspiration for me

of course

and you've shown me the world

through a maker's point of view a

creator's point of view

not a consumer's point of view and

you've shown it to me bravely and you've

shown me how to be

in the world's venues as if i was meant

to be there

and not just a visitor but a part of the

action and i'm really grateful for that

it made me feel like a courageous spirit

at a young age you've always been sweet

you've always shown me how to be gentle

with a punk rock attitude

and i'm going to take that to the end um

love you dad you've given me the kind of

parenting

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and family inspiration to make me create

a beautiful family of my own

happy birthday baba happy birthday baba

we love you love you love you i miss you

oh we wish you were here

all right

when you're smiling

when you're smiling

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when you're laughing when you're

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you bring on the rain

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be happy again

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you

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when you're smiling when you're smiling

when you're laughing when you're

laughing

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the sun comes

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[Music]

[Music]

you

hi i'm bob gruen here at the morrison

hotel gallery

and i'd like to ask you to please make

sure to get out and vote you know a lot

of people think a vote is just a drop in

the bucket

but if you think about all the oceans in

the world they're all made out of

raindrops the only way any water gets in

the ocean is

one little drop so put your vote in the

bucket

please

you