This is from my friend, musician and photographer Jef Jaisun:
Jim shot my promo pix in 1972. By 1975 he’d inspired me to pick up a camera myself, and I’ve been doing it ever since. Wish that had happened 10 years earlier.
Twenty years ago I wanted to use a photo of his on a t-shirt… Muddy Waters and Big Mama Thornton, circa 1967. I called him up and asked if he wanted royalties or what. His response, “Just send me a shirt, you old hippie!”
About 10 years ago I saw the original photo hanging on the wall at Buddy Guy’s Legends in Chicago. Much to my surprise, it depicted Big Mama and Muddy’s entire band. The April 1968 poster I’d worked with, promoting concerts at Pepperland and Berkeley Community Theater (produced by Barry Olivier), had cropped them out.
Jim Marshall set the gold standard for rock photography, and photographed many of the greatest blues and jazz artists of our time. He was a friend and a mentor, and I don’t know what any of us would be doing today without his inspiration and his iconic images in our lives. His Leicas belong in the Smithsonian. He belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In fact, they should name an entire wing after him. No disrespect meant to my fellow photographers (and I’m sure there’s none taken), but for all practical purposes, without Jim Marshall an entire generation of our visual musical heritage would likely not exist.
He was one of a kind. Just like his photos.