Something Magic
The photographer's tale
Photographer Jay
Rosenblatt writes to 'Beyond the Pale' (February 2005)
In 1977 I was hanging around Criteria Studio with the recording engineer of
that album. At that time Gary Brooker asked me to photograph the band for their
upcoming album Something Magic. He wanted to take the photo in a place
that had a magical quality about it. We took the photograph in a place that was
called the Enchanted Forest on 125th Street in Miami. I doubt that the park is
still there as it is probably a condo development by now. We also photographed
in Biscaya in Key Biscayne.
On
the shoot day, we all got into my American Motors Rambler Classic, the whole
band. It was a blast driving them around. I think I billed them about 75 USD at
that time: did not even cover my cost. Shot lots of film. Gary knew I was a
photographer 'cause I always carried a camera. He made a dream come true when he
asked me to take photographs of Procol. Years before when I lived in Brooklyn, I
went to just about every show they performed at in the New York Area. It was one
of my dreams as a young photographer to be able to take photos of them one day.
Dreams do and did come true.
After the album was cut, there was a party at 461 Ocean Boulevard, the same
place that Clapton's album is named after. Gary took the time to thank me in
front of all the album and studio bigwigs for making the photo.
When the album appeared two months later, I heard from a friend of mine that
my photo was inside the album. I went to the record store. I saw the album and
ripped off the plastic wrapper before purchasing it. The manager of the store
screamed at me. "You can't unwrap the album before paying," he said. I
pulled out the liner: there was my photograph. I jumped up and down in the aisle
yelling, "This is my photo, I took it" All the people looked at me
like I was nuts. maybe I was.
I looked in one of my old files and found an original 11x14 from the same
shoot; not the same picture but the same day in the same clothing. See above ...
what a kick!
More about this album