Easy On The Eyes Books 2025
A deep look into, and behind, the happenings on Manchester’s blues terrain through the lens of moment-seizing photographer.
American Rhythm & Blues
In England 1962-1966
When speaking about bustling music scene at a particular place, people usually mean players who either dwell or entertain audiences there, rather than about punters who make artists’ visits worthwhile, and though this might be a minor injustice, over the years a few locals made their best efforts to address, if not redress, such balance. One of those provincial denizens was Mancunian youngster named Brian Smith, who used to attend various venues to see concerts of mostly American guests that – unlike in the States, where, back in the ’60s, black musicians rarely did the rounds beyond the chitlin circuit – were treated as royalty by British aficionados of rhythm-and-blues. More so, he used to take pictures from both in front of the stage and inside dressing rooms, and even ventured beyond the gigs, to restaurants and apartments in which the esteemed foreigners could relax and reveal their true character – and capturing their character seemed to attract the amateur lensman above all else.
Despite impressive results, Brian didn’t make it his profession, but the last decades saw interest in his work grow, and Smith’s snapshots started to more and more frequently appear in CD booklets and magazines, sometimes ending up at exhibitions, so an entire tome dedicated to the veteran’s portfolio was long overdue. With more than 200 visual documents, almost all of them monochrome, in this volume, here’s a lot of details to pour over and expand people’s mental images of pioneers and trailblazers. Grouped by performers’ names, the pictures show the brooding Chuck Berry and the dignified Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the leering Sonny Boy Williamson and the impassioned Bo Diddley, the unexpectedly down-to-earth Howling Wolf (sic) and the blissed-out Hubert Sumlin, and multitude of other trendsetters. Brian is occasionally featured in the photos, too, together with his friends, only that doesn’t feel as if Smith was intruding on his subjects; instead, his presence emphasizes the stars’ – and those giants had already been stars in the eyes of English teenagers – approachability, with the shutterbug’s own memories, fleshed out by the book compiler Simon Robinson’s remarks, adding context to the display. The text can present the sole gripe on the reader’s part: designed as to not to distract from the main content, the fonts come across as a bit small, especially when black letters overlay light-gray background – however, hardly anybody will set on devouring the whole showcase in a single sitting, thus there’s a little chance of tiring one’s eyes.
Still, one’s eyes had better be sharp, because also worth of attention are the cameos of British instrumentalists who accompanied the Americans: the enchanted Gary Boyle, lurking in the shadows behind the infectiously smiling Millie Small, the modest Tony McPhee, embarking on a van with THE GROUNDHOGS and Jimmy Reed, and the merry Screaming Lord Sutch, hamming it up with a man who inspired his nom de guerre. A small section of these pages is dedicated to the white guys that trod Manchester’s boards as well – and looking at the still-innocent faces of Keith Richards, Alex Harvey or Ritchie Blackmore feels thrilling – yet it’s no less important to put faces to several of the black artists’ names – the legendary names, including Johnny “Guitar” Watson and Lightning Hopkins – or learn a roll-call of nigh-forgotten past masters like Roosevelt Sykes and Clifton James. It’s exciting to observe Little Richard and THE SHIRELLES share the space of Granada TV studios and to acknowledge how many of Smith’s photos became iconic – in the genuine meaning of the word – as there’s a reproductions of record covers which “borrowed” them without Brian knowing or getting paid, with a very familiar portrait of John Lee Hooker, whose perennial gave the book its title, standing out.
With a great aesthetical an educational value, “Boom Boom Boom Boom” captures and celebrates a vital piece of history. A fundamental thing.
****4/5
