Jim Marshall Books

Jim Marshall's photographs have appeared in literally hundreds of books and magazines, both on their own merit and as illustrations, and a comprehensive bibliography would be a formidable task—even for a bibliographer, which I' m not. Luckily, for those who don't have any Jim Marshall yet, there's a no-brainer current choice: Trust: Photographs of Jim Marshall, published just last fall. Here's the U.K. link (for links to Amazon Canada and Amazon Germany, go here).

The classic monograph is Not Fade Away from ten years ago, now out of print. It's a nomad at my house: it never found a comfortable home and keeps turning up in the oddest places. At the moment I, um, can't find it. If you want that one, it's going to be either hard to find or a little on the expensive side. When mine turns up again I'm going to lasso it and ensconce it in the new bookcase, alongside my other Marshall books. Maybe it'll settle down.

Another recent book, still in print and easily available, is Jim Marshall / Jazz (here's the U.K. link), which is my personal favorite of all his books because...well, because I like jazz. Although relatively new to the public I still think it ranks among the six or eight best books of jazz portraits. Like all books that "collect" famous people, it's somewhat uneven, with true masterpieces next to pictures that sorta had to be included because they were all he had of somebody he wanted to include, but overall it's a vibrant and lively collection. No color pictures in this one.

Not long ago, Geoff reviewed The Contact Sheet from AMMO books, a subgenre that's likely to die with film, and Jim Marshall has his own version, called Proof. I haven't seen it, but the concept is standard and straightforward: a contact sheet from a shoot shown opposite the final select. As with many such books, likely to be of considerable technical interest to photographers.

Jim Marshall's contact sheet and final image from his coverage of the Beatles' final public concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco in 1966, from the book Proof

His newest book, which he was reportedly promoting at the time of his death, is called Match Prints. I've never seen it and don't know much about it; apparently it's a series of compare-and-contrast pairs of pictures by Jim and his friend Timothy White.

Trust is not a substitute for Not Fade Away. More like a complement to it. Its main feature is that it includes a great deal of never-before-seen color work. For color photographers, this is the one. Not Fade Away is still the go-to volume for all the classic and better-known black-and-white work. But Trust is a fine, and fun, book, good to look through, with the added bonus of an occasional story thrown into the captions.

Anyone who wonders if Jim was a "good photographer" might be a bit put off by Not Fade Away—many of the pictures are offhand, documentary, off-hours, backstage shots with a very casual, grab-shot feel to them. They're mixed in with straight portraits and pictures that were obviously done at the time as promo shots. The overall feel is a bit piecemeal. JM says several times that his subjects "were just kids having fun," and in some case you get the feeling that he was, too.

Trust is better edited and feels richer, giving a portrait of a more assured photographer, and one with a broader range—and more consistent as well. By the way, the title comes from the one-word answer Marshall used to give when asked how he got such intimate access to so many big stars.

A spread from Trust. Carol King on the left. The shot of Mick Jagger was a LIFE magazine cover.

Even though it's missing some of the big hits, the black-and-white work in Trust is of very high quality, and there's quite a lot of it. But the color work is the big draw here. Especially since Not Fade Away is no longer in print, Trust is the easy first recommendation if you want to get more familiar with Jim Marshall's work.

Unless you like jazz, in which case you'll want the jazz book. Too.

By the way, Trust was published by Omnibus Press and Jazz by Chronicle Books, but the two volumes are almost exactly the same size, and make a nicely matched pair shelved side-by-side. Not important; I'm just sayin'.

Mike

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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Featured Comment by L. Sullivan: "I bought a copy of Not Fade Away when it came out. I was happy to find a book of Jim's photography. I loved the candidness of the photos. Jim was always one of my favorite photographers. You could look at the credits on an album or magazine and confirm what you already recognized as his style. The artists seemed so relaxed and open around him I don't think that is possible today. I caught part of 'Woodstock' on TV the other day and as they were shooting backstage I noticed Jim and it brought a smile to my face. He was truly one of the best."

Comments

[Josh Wilson]

I discovered Proof in a used book store before I ever knew who Jim Marshall was and I bought it right then. Since that day it has become one of my favorite books and one that I look through often. Suprisingly enough, Amazon has copies in stock as of this morning.

[Mike Johnston]

Josh,
Thanks for that. I had the wrong link. Fixed now.

Mike

[Paul]

Well I´m quite lucky I´ve got a first edition "Not Fade Away" the first photo book I ever purchased once I began photographing in a pretty intensive way.
For those who feel he really wasn´t anything special they should take a look at the backstage images of Janis Joplin in "Not Fade Away" I find them pretty haunting and you can see to what degree his subjects trusted him.

[Harry Lime]

I have a copy of 'Proof'. Great book.

I love looking at contact sheets. It's interesting to see what led up to THE shot. I've learned a lot by looking at them.

Interestingly, sometimes the winner shows up very early in the roll. There is a famous shot of Cash getting off the bus at Folsom prison. Apparently Marshall snapped it as a warm up. In the end it was his final pick.

[Miserere]

Mike, I suspect we'll see a reprint of Not Fade Away sometime soon. Artist deaths seem to jolt music/book publishers into action often enough.

[Joe]

I see the Internet is filled with inexpensive used copies of Proof -- just snagged a copy. It'll be a nice companion to my growing collection of books that feature contact sheets -- Contact Sheet, for example and The Met's new Robert Frank's The Americans. Sam Abell's The Life of a Photograph is a bit like these two, since he shows facing pages of similar images from the same shoot, one of which (usually) was published.

[ctein]

Dear Mike,

Signed copies of all three of the older books were available at not-unreasonable prices from

http://www.marshallphoto.com/collection/collectibles

I'm saying "were" because the site is closed for orders while Nick, Dave and Amelia figure out the future, and I don't know what availability/pricing will be like when they reopen. But I'm sure there must be some copies; Jim always had piles of them in his living room.

Of course, I never got copies from him-- more procrastination. I gotta stop do that! (Maybe tomorrow...)

I realize it's going to be it frustrating for people, these repeated pointers to a "closed during alterations" store. I'll try to keep on top of this and when I hear that marshallphoto.com is open for business again, I'll let Mike know and he can post an item about it.

pax / Ctein

[Jon Porter]

"Monterey Pop", available through used booksellers, is another book fans of his music photos should pick up. With excellent text by Joel Selvin, the book is one of the best records of the seminal 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. Unfortunately the book suffers from mediocre reproduction and terrible layout. I'd love to see the book updated and redesigned for the 50th anniversary of the event.

[KeithB]

Just curious Mike...Did you ask permission to put up the Hendrix photo a few months ago? Or did you send Jim a few bucks in the mail?

[Mike Johnston]

Nope. But you had to be real careful with him!

Mike

[Dennis Ng]

Just received The Contact Sheet from AMMO books yesterday, which I have immediately order on the date TOP mentioned it. I opened it fully expected that to be Ctein's book and prints as I have not ordered anything flat in shape for the last 2 months. But it turns out is this book which I forget I have ordered completely.

I guess this time, because many of these books are mentioned here, I would have to hope a) it is available and b) it would take less time.

But seems very good books to have.

[MJFerron]

OK I have an Amazon order for "Trust" on the way. Those music icons of the 60's and 70's will never be duplicated I'm afraid. Today's music ain't got the same soul. (neither did Bob Seger but that's a story for another day.)

[Tom]

Had a 40% off at borders coupon I had to use. Just bought Match Prints. Kind of a fun book. Haven't had a chance to give it a real look as I've only had it a couple of hours. Really wanted Harald Mante's 'Photography Unplugged' but ran across the Marshall and White book and decided to pick it up instead.

[L. Sullivan]

I bought a copy of Not Fade Away when it came out. I was happy to find a book of Jim's photography. I loved the candidness of the photos. Jim was always one of my favorite photographers. You could look at the credits on an album or magazine and confirm what you already reconized as his style. The artists seemed so relaxed and open around him I don't think that is possible today. I caught part of "Woodstock" on TV the other day and as they were shooting backstage I noticed Jim and it brought a smile to my face. He was truly one of the best.