As one of rock ’n’ roll’s leading photographers, Lynn Goldsmith has seen — and secondhand-smoked — it all.
During a 1981 photo session with Keith Richards, Goldsmith got so high just off the fumes from the guitarist’s massive joints that she stumbled into a bathroom and passed out, ending the shoot. Richards seemingly remained sober, while also downing two bottles of whiskey.
And despite her talent behind the lens, she wasn’t always on the mark about the artists she shot.
Goldsmith didn’t understand all the fuss over Madonna when she photographed her in 1985, judging the Material Girl a talentless “flash in the pan.” (She later changed her opinion.)
Her behind-the-scenes stories, and hundreds of photos, are collected in the new coffee table book “Rock and Roll Stories” out Tuesday ($60). Goldsmith will be signing the tome at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in Soho on Nov. 9, from 1-4 p.m.
Here, New Yorker Goldsmith shares a few more tales.
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1. Frank Zappa, 1988
Lynn Goldsmith “Frank called me up and said he wanted to get out an image that might help get kids to register to vote when they come to his shows. We got this costume and bought the pencil from Think Big, which was a store in New York that sold oversized props. He didn’t want to put on the whole outfit. I went in the other room and put on a costume and came back and said, ‘See how effective this can be. Look at me now. Just try it.’ He was quite pleased with the photo.”
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2. Debbie Harry, 1970s
Lynn Goldsmith “Magazines back then, whether it was Creem or Newsweek, did not pay for hair and makeup. Debbie used to be a cosmetologist. It was watching her that convinced me to have professional hair and makeup people involved whenever possible. Even though she was very beautiful without any makeup on, she became far more beautiful to photograph by doing her makeup. Debbie’s knowledge of beauty opened my eyes to how you could do subtle makeup.”
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3. Bob Marley, 1980
Lynn Goldsmith “That was an incredible moment of inspiration for me. He was sitting there. Usually, he’s jumping up and down and filled with energy. I asked him, ‘Are you OK?’ He said, ‘I have a brain tumor.’ I didn’t know how to respond. He said, ‘Go ahead, take the picture.’ He was physically in pain and beaten down and what carried him through was not that 100,000 people had bought tickets to his show, it was that until the moment that he passes from this world, he wanted to spread the message of ‘one love.’ ”
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4. Mark Wahlberg, 1992
Lynn Goldsmith Actor Wahlberg started out as Marky Mark, a less-than-acclaimed rapper. “Mark was starting to have some success, but I knew in all likelihood his music career wouldn’t move forward. I told him, ‘Mark, you should be an actor. You remind me of Steve McQueen.’ And he said, ‘Who’s that?’ ”
“I did a book with Mark, and so I said, ‘OK, time for the dedication. Who do you want to dedicate this to?’ He said, ‘My penis.’ I said, ‘Hold on a second. I have a camera company that’s going to take out ads for the book. We’ll lose all that.’ He didn’t care. Well, the first day the book was out, his mother was particularly upset about the dedication in the book. Mark blamed it on me. And you can’t get mad at him, because he charms you.” -
5. Michael Jackson, 1984
Lynn Goldsmith Goldsmith was assigned to shoot the King of Pop at Disney World. The singer showed up two hours late because he was busy doing door-to-door work as a Jehovah’s Witness.
“There was nothing normal about Michael except for the fact that he could always access what it was to be a child. When we went to a bookstore, most of the books that he bought were fairy tales.
“Michael was genuinely shy. When I was photographing him, there were assistants and a range of people. Maybe Michael might not have been as shy if it was just me. You just add one new person to a room, and he’s shy. [For the shot,] I put on the music — James Brown — and I got him dancing with me . . .” -
6. Patti Smith, 1976
Lynn Goldsmith “Patti was someone who really had such a sense and comfort with the camera. She would bring different clothes. For example, you see Bruce [Springsteen] wearing a jacket on the cover of the book, but in the book, you’ll see the same jacket on Daryl Hall, Frank Zappa. I had to dress people. Patti knew more about fashion than anyone. She was my favorite person to work with in that it was so much of a collaboration. That image says rock ’n’ roll, but it’s pretty thought out. It’s in a studio. It’’s not done on the street. Patti knows how to project the attitude of her music, which 90 percent of the people I photographed at that time really didn’t know how to do.”