Down a narrow Parisian style cobbled street in Hampstead, North East London, a small but potent crowd are spilling out of a gallery. Framed by lush greens, reds and yellows – the result of the hottest April in 100 years – the fragrance fills the air and marries champagne conversations floating down the rustic location. For such a tiny gallery, the collection of rock ‘n roll photographic treasures, supported by Raj Prem, held within its walls – and indeed displayed upon them – has drawn an undeniable ‘60’s cool.  The never- seen- before photos from Gered Mankowitz’s Between the Buttons 1966 Rolling Stones album cover shoot along with Michael Joseph’s beautiful Renaissance- style shots of 1968’s Beggars Banquet, both albums that would see The Stones grow from their R&B roots into what would become the golden period of the band truly finding their sound.

Andrew Loog Oldham, the stones’ 22 year old manger had arranged for Mankowitz to shoot the band in Primrose Hill after an all night recording session at Olympic Studios. “Keith was lovely, they were all lovely,” explains Mankowitz, as I chat to him outside. “I knew them all pretty well by that time and there was no moodiness,” he remembers, “except for Brian Jones.” At this point in late ’66 the photographer says, Brian had “become very tricky to work with and I was quite concerned about him.” It was enough for the young Mankowitz to turn to Oldham to voice his concerns about the early morning shoot. “It was a beautiful, cold, fresh November morning but everyone had been up all night.” On the way from Olympic to Primrose Hill the band stopped off and Brian had bought a newspaper, “which he kept hiding behind along with this high collared jacket he was wearing.” For Mankowtiz, the shoot could be in jeopardy before it had even started. He felt that everyone should be seen in the photos, no-one hiding behind anything.

He needn’t have worried, the young PR-savvy Stones manager – who had once worked alongside Brian Epstein helping the rise of The Beatles -  had learned a few precious wisdoms along the way. “I turned to Andrew and said ‘I’m worried Brian is really screwing this session up’,” Mankowitz recalls. “Andrew said to me ‘don’t worry about what Brian does, he can do anything he likes – he could turn his back to the camera; it’ll always be The Rolling Stones,” and those words freed the photographer into the session. By the time of the shoot it didn’t matter what they did, all Mankowtiz had do was capture them as they were, warts an’ all – and taking the Stones to a freezing cold green after an all-nighter to shoot the early morning fallout is about as vulnerable as it gets. Oldham realised by that point in the Stones career, nothing could really do them wrong. “That was always one of Andrews’s great gifts, he had a vision and he could see that vision through.”

Something that stands out at the exhibition tonight is how the images were manipulated in the days before Photoshop and the numerous multi-effect software programmes available today. Mankowitz had a secret weapon that gave that stoned, dreamy look……….Vaseline. He placed a piece of glass in front of the camera lens and “smeared Vaseline in a sort of circular shape. Then I put a big piece of black card with a hole cut though it and shot them through that.” A photographic masterstroke of its time. “I knew them well enough at that time to feel comfortable to contribute something visually to the image, rather than just record what they gave me,” he explains, “it was hugely experimental at the time and it worked very well….until the Stones said, ‘c’mon Mankowitz, let’s fuck off!”

© Gered Mankowitz

Another important figure in the visual history of the Stones, and here tonight, is Raj Prem. In the mid ’90’s, Raj had managed to persuade nearly all the great photographers who shot the Stones between 1963-’72, to let him represent them. He would cover reprint costs and then sell them on the artist’s behalf. Included in his roster of photographers, Raj also represents Dominique Tarlé, the man who, at the age of just 22 was invited into Keith Richards’ mansion, Nellcote in the South of France during the ’71 period of the band’s British Tax exile – the setting for their Exile on Main Street album.

Being offered more champagne by Dominic & Gabrielle Du Plooy – the brother and sister team who own the Zebra One Gallery – I introduce myself to Raj, sharply dressed in a rock ‘n roll art dealer’s finery. Raj speaks in a well educated English accent and is responsible for putting on the exhibition.  Before long we’re sparring stories on everything from Mick Taylor to Keith Moon. Yet he has a tendency to start talking about a drumstick or some other piece of rock memorabilia he owns, then delegate the rest of the  conversation to one of his staff who rolls their eyes and resignedly says, “Raj’s drunk.”

Michael Joseph, the other photographer whose work features in the exhibition, was yet to show up so I headed outside to mingle. Before long a grey haired, bespectacled man showed up wearing a mac, carrying large white A3 cards under his arm…prints. He had a French aloofness about him and even though I’d never seen a photo of him before and he wasn’t listed on the guests that were attending, I realised very quickly who it was : Dominique Tarlé. He had flown in from Paris bearing gifts for his fellow photographers including major sixties photographer Philip Townsend.

I got chatting to him, and when I asked Tarlé about Keith’s boat ‘Mandrax’ which moored out the back of Nellcote, Dominque placed his hand on my shoulder and told me of a day he went out for a ride in it with Richards.

Me, Keith and Anita (Pallenberg) took Mandrax out for the day and drove the boat to a nearby American military base. These soldiers stationed on boats,” he explains with his French accent adding to the scene, “were bored….young soldiers just stationed there for six months at a time. So as we approach, Anita starts shouting ‘LSD, hash, grass!’ and Keith is throwing these bags of various drugs onto the boats to many cheers from the soldiers – they were no longer bored,” he laughs, adding Mandrax only lasted for three more weeks before it was written off.

Dominique Tarle and Philip Townsend with Vernon ( in the sunglasses ) and friends ©Wendy Stark

I’d met Philip Townsend moments before outside the gallery where he had approached my fiancée and I and, although now in his seventies, his appearance wouldn’t look out of place on any young rock star. Open leather jacket, a T-shirt underneath with an image of Marlon Brando and Princess Alexandra, jeans and red converse trainers. I asked about the photo on his T-shirt, “It’s one of mine, he bonked her that night you know,” he told us with a grin and glint in his eyes, peering over his Ray Bans. Townsend also took the very first photo of the Stones and was also the first to document the initial meeting of The Beatles and the Maharishi. The man was fascinating and stayed by our sides riffing various diamonds of sixties stories.

Michael Joseph, the man chosen to shoot the Beggers Banquet album inlay turned up shortly afterwards,  thus completing the group of trailblazing photographers who documented such a glamorous time.We found a spot a little away from the gallery to have a talk. A very personable man, I asked whose idea it was to conduct the shoot in such a Renaissance way. “It was a bit of both really,” he explained, as such a photo, more akin to an intricate painting, involved a lot of props.

Joseph also explained how well the animals had behaved during the shoot. “Do you mean the Stones or the goats?” I asked, resulting in much laughter.

“Well, the shoot was done the morning after Brian had been busted for drugs,” he reveals, once again showing that the musician from Cheltenham was continuing on his downwards spiral – two years after the Mankowitz shoot. 

Again, Joseph echoes Mankowtiz’s dealings with Brian, “If you look at the photos, Brian’s very subdued, but he did interact nicely with the animals around him although he didn’t interact much with the rest of the group.  Of course, Brian tragically died on July 2nd 1969 aged just 27 (after drowning in a swimming pool whilst under the influence of drink and drugs, the coroner recorded death by misadventure.)

Keith was really helpful in the foreground asking ‘Michael, what shall I do for the next shot?” The style of the shoot was very much Keith in his element with the various images on display showing Richards dangling grapes into his mouth, holding an apple in his mouth, tinkering with various instruments and playing the medieval character as his own…which with the various escapades of the piratical Keith to follow, caught the essence of the transient rock legend of lore to come. “He should’ve put it on the front cover of his book!” Joseph adds. ( Keith Richards recently published his autobiography, Life.)

In order to capture the contrast of the shots, Joseph, who did the shoot at the Sarum Chase Mansion in Hampstead, used various lighting strips and a “giant ‘swimming pool’ light, four foot by five foot that could be raised on pulleys that the Stones were very impressed by, which gets that beautiful effect.”

The beauty of this exhibition is that every picture tells a story, and so isn’t just for Rolling Stones fans but anyone who’s interested in photography, music and the glamour and decadence of a unique decade and this band’s huge influence on it. It’s also a poignant record of the complete, original line-up, including the late Brian Jones.

The exhibition runs from until the 14th May at Zebra Gallery, 1 Perrins Court, Hampstead NW3 1QX.

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About the author

Vernon Ward
Vernon writes for a variety of national and international titles. Having been on assignments ranging from covering underground bare-knuckle fighting to interviewing Cannes winning film directors along with off-the-wall areas of interest, it's safe to say his eye is drawn to the quirky and interesting. For him, the most intriguing subjects of all are the people surrounding the subject he's covering. "Creativity is the very essence of alchemy - taking nothing and turning it into something - which brings us to the hub of where these ideas take flight; London. The City is one of the worlds most fertile grounds for seeing these roots of imagination become reality - and if the story is right, I'll be there to cover it." North, South, East or West? It's nice to be here....it's nice to be anywhere... High Class, Common or Garden? All of the above... Clothes or Culture? They both reflect each other and as such, so does my writing. My best night out ever made me feel... ...well, there are just some things that should remain a mystery....

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9 Comments for Unseen Images of the Rolling Stones in New Exhibition

jasper

Great article, nice qoutes
only error, Brian Jones was from Cheltenham, not Chelmsford,
nevermind, keep it up Vernon!
x

Reply

Loma-Ann Marks

Thanks for pointing this out Jasper, got our ‘Ch’s’ in a muddle. Best wishes, Ed.

Reply



Hayley and Bob Ward

Love the Beggers Banquet photo.
A one off opportunity to capture these photographer’s of rock and roll history captured!

Reply

Tom

Felt like I was right there with you, Reading this!
What a great insight from Vernon,
A writer truly worthy of recording such awesome events.

Rock and Roll!

x

Reply

Carey Cotton

Extreamly interesting and informative Mr.Ward. Looking forward to your next piece.

Reply

Dyl

Fantastic Article, What A Great Hounor, Nice One, x

Reply

Brad

Once again a thoroughly enjoyable read by Mr. Ward, I always look forward to his next piece. Keep up the good work fella!

Brad.

Reply

Nicola D'Costa

Another fantastic piece, great stuff!

Reply