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Photo Book Reviews

Between Midnight & Day: The Last Unpublished Blues Archive (Thunder's Mouth Press) by Dick Waterman Reviewed by Mike Zeiler Article rating: 10.00

For those who are not familiar with the blues, Dick Waterman is somewhat of a behind-the-scenes legend.  From the 1960s to the present day, Waterman has acted as a manager, agent, booker, publicist, promoter, and everything else in between for nearly every legendary blues musician in the United States.  Luckily for us, he took a hell of a lot of pictures along the way.

Readers do not need to be acquainted with the blues to truly appreciate Between Midnight and Day: The Last Unpublished Blues Archive.  The book profiles forty-seven of the most influential blues artists of the twentieth century.  Each profile contains at least one of Waterman’s stunning images and at least one page filled with anecdotes, shedding light on who the artists' personalities.

Among Waterman’s admirers is Bonnie Raitt, who wrote the book’s preface.  She tells of her experiences in Boston in the late 1960s, where Waterman was a legendary WHRB radio deejay.  She points out the difference between Waterman and so many other blues aficionados who “obsess about only the actual Blues recordings, huddling around their hallowed ‘78s, speaking in hushed tones about this or that obscure song…”  While others viewed the blues as an ancient and fragile thing to be revered, Waterman went out and formed his own management and booking agency, Avalon Productions.  There he gathered many of the country’s great musicians, many of whom did not have the business savvy to get paid fairly. From the start of Avalon Productions until now, he has worked tirelessly to ensure that every musician he works with gets paid and treated fairly.

As Chris Murray points out in the book’s foreword, the images within Between Midnight and Day are unique for a variety of reasons.  For one thing, most of them were taken during the first so-called “blues revival” in the 1960s and are pictures of first-generation musicians, who pioneered the blues in the 1940s and earlier, rather than second and third-generation musicians.  More importantly, what makes these images astounding is their level of intimacy.

The images of Sun House, Muddy Waters, Lightning Hopkins, Mance Lipscomb, and Skip James are not just shots of them performing.  Anyone could take a picture at a concert.  Waterman’s photos not only contain the artists on stage, but let you see the artist’s life; behind the stage, on the road, hanging out, waiting for a train.  What truly lets the reader appreciate this book are the stories that Waterman tells.

While every story in the book is entertaining, not all of them are flattering.  Waterman does not pull any punches when telling about his difficulties working with Booker White or Big Mama Thornton.  On the other hand, there are plenty of light-hearted moments, such as describing the time he introduced Son House’s wife to the ever-so-charming Lightning Hopkins.

For every story about underhanded promoters or record companies, there is a poignant story about the touching personal relationships Waterman forged with the musicians.  For example, there is the story of the time that Sleepy John Estes informed Waterman that he was the first person who made sure the blind musician knew he had received the appropriate payment.  Stories like this make it no wonder that Waterman was allowed such close proximity to his subjects’ lives.

Dick Waterman's photographs, which have appeared in many publications around the world, feature never-seen-before images of some of the legends of Blues, Country, Rock and Jazz. Dick Waterman's photography is displayed in A Gallery For Fine Photography in New Orleans and The Govinda Gallery in Washington DC.

>>Click here to visit Dick Waterman's website...

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