New Photo Book, ‘Jukebox,’ Covers Hippie Era to Punk & Beyond

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Cover of Michael Goldberg’s new book, Jukebox: Photographs 1967-2023 (HoZac Books).

Music journalist and former Rolling Stone senior writer Michael Goldberg has published a new book, Jukebox—Photographs 1967-2023, featuring distinctive, full-page photographs of musicians taken between 1967 and 2023. Goldberg is best known as a writer, but for over 50 years he’s also been photographing musicians and the photos in Jukebox are drawn from the thousands he’s taken over the years. Included are photos of the Sex Pistols, Crime, the Ramones, the Avengers, Devo, the Nuns, the Clash, Tom Verlaine, Lou Reed, John Cale and the Dils, as well as Tom Waits, Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile, Janis Joplin, Ben Gibbard, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Muddy Waters, Toots and the Maytals, Patti Smith, Bettye LaVette, the Who, Neil Young, Jonathan Richman, Townes Van Zant, the Flamin’ Groovies, and many more. It’s available to order here.

From the publisher’s announcement: “San Francisco rock ’n’ roll bleeds through Michael Goldberg, an innovative, inspiring figure who always has been quietly pioneering something interesting for the past 50+ years. Hozac Books is thrilled to present the first-ever collection of his photographs in Jukebox, featuring an impressive array of underground figures and outcast luminaries captured in their natural habitat, most seen here for the first time anywhere.”

The press release continues: “Also the author of the book Wicked Game, Goldberg’s body of work extends farther out than we’d ever imagined, and we’re so excited to get his first major photography collection out into the world. Bridging the gaps between the late ’60s psychedelic era, primitive first-wave ’70s punk and soul and reggae, as well as never-before seen images of country and folk iconoclasts and rule-breakers across the spectrum of all that is captivating, and even including some modern artists still making waves, Jukebox is a riveting photography collection that truly feels as good as it looks.”

Goldberg writes: “If you flip through this book, you will see that the photos are not just of rock musicians. Artists typically stuck in such genres as folk, reggae, soul, blues, R&B and pop are included. There’s even a rock critic, a movie director, a record company president, a poster artist and a concert promoter.

“I grew up on Top 40 AM radio and underground freeform FM radio. Listening to Top 40 in the mid ’60s, I heard James Brown, the Beatles, Buck Owens and Dusty Springfield—all within a half hour or so. Beginning in early 1967, on the original underground freeform FM station, San Francisco’s KMPX, I heard Janis Joplin, John Lee Hooker, Ravi Shankar, Buffy Sainte-Marie, J.B. Lenoir and John Mayall, a totally eclectic mix of artists, along with some classical recordings on occasion.

“In my world, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and Blue Öyster Cult, the Avengers and Professor Longhair, Townes Van Zandt and Muddy Waters, The Band and Crime, the Dils and Sandy Bull, Ravi Shankar and Igor Stravinsky all go together. So the artists in this book are not divided by genre. The two photos on each two-page spread are there because I think they complement each other. This is a book of musicians I’ve dug over the years, musicians whose recordings moved me (and still move me), musicians I was lucky enough to photograph. I think these particular photos are my best, and I hope you find them unique, and at times mysterious; there are many excellent photographers of musicians, but none of them took these photographs.”

The book’s foreword is written by acclaimed music book author Joel Selvin. Most of the photos here have never been seen before, including rare 1970 photos of Jerry Garcia in his Larkspur, California, home months before recording began for the group’s crowning achievement, American Beauty. Some of the photographs of Frank Zappa, Commander Cody, Michael Bloomfield, Professor Longhair, Grace Slick and Paul Kantner, Toots and the Maytals, Willy DeVille and John Cale were taken at their homes or in their hotel rooms. The Ramones photograph was shot from the doorway of Goldberg’s room at the Tropicana in L.A.Photos from Jukebox are currently on display through September 22, 2024, at the Haight Street Art Center in San Francisco, where the exhibition, “We Are the One: San Francisco Punk 1970s & 1980s,” curated by Goldberg, will also be featured during those two months.

“Who knew intrepid Rolling Stone interviewer Michael Goldberg was a shutterbug?” says Selvin, author of numerous books including Hollywood Eden and The Haight: Love, Rock, and Revolution The Photography of Jim Marshal.l Here’s the abundant evidence–50 years of snapping candid backstage moments and dramatic live performances from his privileged behind-the-scenes access. Who didn’t he shoot? Come for the big names—Stones, Dead, Van, The Band—and stay for the beautiful faces from the distant past: Tim Buckley, Professor Longhair, Sal Valentino. It’s an extraordinary portfolio from any shooter, let alone one we know primarily as a writer.”