Eric Striffler Photography: RIP, Jim Marshall, Legendary Photographer of Rock Legends.

June Carter & Johnny Cash, photo by Jim Marshall
(One of my favorite photos by Jim)

Jim Marshall, Legendary Rock Photographer, Passes Away at 74 (Click here for link to Rolling Stone story)

More of Jim's Work (click for link)

Oh man! Horrible news.... One of my favorite photographers passes on. Brilliant artist, and never out for fame or fortune. Up until several years ago, I never really knew who Jim Marshall was.

Around 1998, I saw his photographs in a bar/lounge called Whiskey Rocks inside the St. Regis Hotel in Aspen Colorado. There were these killer framed black and white photos of rock stars on the walls.
The one I remember most distinctively was a one of Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings. A true captivating moment captured of two amazing country music legends. No gimmicks, no fancy lighting, No photoshop, nothing. Just plain ol' superb photojournalistic photography.

I always remembered that shot but never really researched the photographer all that much.
About 3 years ago, I was at a small dinner party where Randy Gerber and his wife Cindy Crawford were in attendance.
Randy and his brother started a chain of chic lounges in the mid-90's called the Whiskey bars, differerent suffixes for different cities. I believe there are currently 10 Whiskey Bars in America and one in Cancun. Whiskey Rocks in Aspen has since closed.

I walked over to Randy and Cindy, and mentioned the photos at the Whiskey bar I enjoyed so much. I said, "Let me ask, Who shot those amazing photographs?" So Randy proceeded to tell me the story. "Yeah, It's this guy Jim Marshall.. what a crazy cool guy.." "We were looking for something cool for the walls and someone mentioned Jim. We met with him, and the guy was out there, but not in a bad way..."

Waylon Jennings & Johnny Cash, photo by Jim Marshall

"We loved his stuff, and ended up using his work for pretty much all the Whiskey bars. He didn't even seem that he was worried about making money all that much, it seemed he was more interested in us buying him drinks that night"
Occasionally I'd look over at Cindy and she kept nodding as to agree that Jim was quite the eccentric guy. Based on the conversation, I can assume she's met him several times.
Ever since that conversation, I appreciated Jim's work more than ever, and have often matched famous photographs from the 60's and 70's to Jim, where I once never knew the author of these masterpieces. As a lover of classic rock from this era, I truly appreciate and admire that Jim has photographed at least half of my favorite artists, everyone from The Grateful Dead to Johnny & June... from the Stones to The Doors.

So not only Did I love his work and style, but he captured other legendary artists. Jim Loved the music and loved the scene, and I'm guessing much of his M.O. was kicking back with these musicians, maybe partying with them a little and getting into another zone.
The only other photographer Who did this kind of talented work in my humble opinion was Annie Leibovitz in her early Rolling Stone Days. She also was able to capture rare unique moments of these musical geniuses. But I have this feeling that where and when Annie was done shooting, Jim would stay... and probably pass out with these guys. I can only guess he had a hell of a time too.

So thanks to Randy Gerber, I was finally introduced to Jim Marshall. Literally a month after that, I was contacted by an old friend in the fashion world who was then working for men's fashion designer John Varvatos. I was asked to shoot their new store in East Hampton, New York. Varvatos too was enamored with Marshall's work and decided to fill his stores and showrooms with Jim's extraordinary imagery. Good call.
Sadly, I never got to meet Jim. He seemed like the Hunter S. Thompson of the photography world, and I really wanted to tell him how much I loved his work. I have a feeling we would have hit it off.