Timeline & Career Highlights

Jim Marshall launched his professional photography career in 1960. And though he’s justly famous for countless iconic photographs of rock and jazz musicians, and has also shot dozens of magazine features and over 500 album covers, few are aware that Jim’s early work also includes extensive documentation of poverty in Appalachia in the early-1960s, as well as that era’s Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.

With several collaborative volumes and three acclaimed solo books to his credit, with another, Trust, slated for publication in mid-2009, Jim Marshall continues to exhibit internationally; his work is frequently published in magazines and books across the globe, and his work can be found in the Smithsonian Museum’s permanent archives, as well as in countless private collections.

Following are but a few of Jim’s many life and career highlights.

1930s-1950s

  • February 3, 1936: Born in Chicago, Illinois.

  • 1938: Parents move family to SF’s Fillmore district.

  • Begins taking first photos while in high school with a Baby Brownie.

  • 1959: Purchases first Leica camera, an M2.

1960-1966

  • 1960: Life-changing meeting with John Coltrane at San Francisco’s Jazz Workshop leads to photography session at home of Ralph J. Gleason.

  • 1962: Moves to New York City. Assignments over the next few years include shooting album sessions and covers for Atlantic, Columbia, and ABC Paramount, capturing actors such as Carol Channing for Life, musicians such as Thelonious Monk for The Saturday Evening Post, documenting poverty in Appalachia for The Saturday Evening Post, and the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi for Ramparts.

  • 1964: Covers Newport Folk Festival; moves back to San Francisco.

  • 1966: Only photographer allowed backstage access for what proved to be The Beatles’ final concert at Candlestick Park.

1967-1970

  • 1967: Extensively photographs the Monterey Pop Festival, capturing dozens of now classic photographs of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, Brian Jones, and many more. Also the first photographer to shoot Cream and The Who in the U.S., while extensively photographing San Francisco bands such as the Grateful Dead, Moby Grape, Big Brother, Jefferson Airplane, and Santana.

  • 1968: Covers Santana’s first recording sessions, and at Northern California Folk Rock Festival in San Jose, photographs Jim Morrison.

  • 1969: Named one of the official photographers of the Woodstock Music & Arts Festival, Jim’s shots were also featured in Newsweek. He also covered the Ann Arbor Blues Festival, the Newport Folk Festival, and the first recording session by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. During this banner year, Jim also captured the indelible image of Johnny Cash flipping the bird at a San Quentin concert, and shot the famous album cover for the Allman Brother’s At the Fillmore East.

1970s-1980s

  • 1971: Shoots an extensive series of photos of Miles Davis at the Fillmore West, one of which graced the album cover, Black Beauty: Miles Davis at Fillmore West. Also took many classic shots of The Who’s concert at San Francisco Civic Auditorium.

  • 1972: Covers the Rolling Stones’ American tour for Life magazine, and during a tour break photographs their Sunset Sound sessions in Los Angeles for Exile on Main Street.

  • 1987: Terra Firma Books publishes Tomorrow Never Knows — The Beatles’ Last Concert, with photos by Marshall and text by Eric Lefcowitz. Limited 25th Anniversary edition published in 1992, with a 40th Anniversary edition in 2006.

1990s

  • 1992: Monterey Pop published by Chronicle Books; a detailed eyewitness account of the first true rock festival, with photos by Marshall and text by longtime Chronicle music critic Joel Selvin.

  • 1995: September issue of Guitar Player featuring Jim’s 1967 black & white headshot of Jimi Hendrix becomes (and remains) the magazine’s single best-selling issue.

  • 1996: Photographs Red Hot Chili Peppers for Warner Brothers.

  • 1997: Bullfinch Press publishes Not Fade Away, Marshall’s first career retrospective in book form, with foreword by friend Michael Douglas.

  • 1999: Bullfinch publishes Early Dylan, with photos by Marshall, Barry Feinstein, and Daniel Kramer, and a foreword by Arlo Guthrie.

2000s

  • 2003: Shoots actor Billy Bob Thornton reenacting Cash’s middle-finger gesture, and the couple Ben Harper and Laura Dern.

  • 2004: Receives Lucie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music Photography. Chronicle Books publishes Marshall’s second solo book, Proof, providing a rare look at the creative process. Also joins the Morrison Hotel Gallery’s distinguished roster of rock photographers.

  • 2005: Recipient of MOJO magazine’s 2005 Honours List Image Award. Chronicle Books publishes Jazz, highlights from Marshall’s extensive work with great jazz musicians. Da Capo Press publishes Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, The Making of a Masterpiece, by Michael Streissguth, with many of Marshall’s photographs, including the front cover. Jim also becomes a sponsor of MS Friends, the only 24/7 peer support help line for people living with Multiple Sclerosis founded by his longtime assistant, Amelia Davis.

  • 2007: Enlisted by Nissan North America to capture behind-the-scenes photos of its Nissan Live Sets on Yahoo! Music event.

Recent Exhibits

  • 2008: Duncan Miller Gallery / Los Angeles (Jim Marshall Platinum Prints)

  • 2008: Gallery 291 / San Francisco (Marshall in Platinum)

  • 2008: 7 For All Mankind Gallery / New York (Jim included in Tim Mantoani exhibit: Behind Photographs, Archiving Photographic Legends)

  • 2006: V!P’s International Art Gallery / Rotterdam, The Netherlands (solo exhibit)

  • 2005: Blink Gallery / London (June 16 to July 16, Marshall’s first solo UK exhibit)

  • 2002: Shapiro Gallery / San Francisco (1963 - Photography by Jim Marshall)

  • 1997: Serge Sorokko Gallery / San Francisco (in conjunction with the Not Fade Away release)

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