In an excerpt from TAPintoTV's broadcast television episode #13, legendary music photographer Elliott Landy tells host, Brian Brodeur, about capturing the late Frank Zappa "flipping the bird" onstage at the Fillmore East in 1968. Landy, known for his work with The Band, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and as the "official" photographer at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, described the intensity of taking multiple pictures in a concert setting.
"My mind goes away," Landy said. "I may be talking, but I'm not thinking about anything except.. focusing on the image, and what it looks like and how it's composed, and waiting for the moment to press the shutter."
Zappa, a prolific composer, led many different lineups of touring band personnel and on-stage instrumentation prior to his death in 1993. Zappa's groups were configured to perform at a very high level and often were tasked to memorize challenging music arrangements during which Zappa would introduce improvised cues and "direction". These cues would happen in real-time during concerts, and would take the form of hand gestures or other physical signals that would be interpreted by the musicians for immediate emphasis or change of musical style.
Landy described an iconic photo of Zappa onstage: "There's one very good photograph of him giving the finger. Normally I wouldn't show a photograph where somebody's being aggressive, but he's not being aggressive."
To learn more about Frank Zappa, visit: www.zappa.com
To learn more about Elliott Landy, visit: www.elliottlandy.com
To help Landy launch his new book, "Contacting The Band," visit:
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