092-097 Ethan Russell 2_Feature 10/24/13 8:03 AM Page 5
© Ethan Russell. All rights reserved.
"WHO'S NEXT" ALBUM COVER, 1971.
"The Who had already rejected several
covers for this album," Russell says. "To
get ideas, I accompanied them to a gig in
Central England. [Who guitarist] Pete
Townshend's driving scared me so much I
laid down in the back seat. I was freaked
out…On the way home, Pete was driving
fast again…I saw those concrete things and
didn't know what they were. He slowed
down at a roundabout and asked if I had
any ideas; I told him about those shapes.
Pete turned around and we stepped out
into this moonscape. I was taking test
Polaroids and looked up…Pete had peed on
it…I thought "OK!" Took about eight shots.
Except for Pete's, the "urine" was water we
poured on the concrete. They couldn't perform! Totally spontaneous. We tried, but
you can't brainstorm that kind of thing."
THE DIRTY MAC IN REHEARSAL, 1968.
FROM LEFT: ERIC CLAPTON, JOHN LENNON,
MITCH MITCHELL, KEITH RICHARDS.
"This 'supergroup' performed just once, for the
'Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus,' a TV program they filmed but never aired," Russell
explains. "This was just after Cream broke up…
They played 'Yer Blues.' Lennon knocked it out
of the park; the music was perfect."
© Ethan Russell. All rights reserved.
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C ARMEL
M AG A Z I N E • H O L I D AY
2013
