“I first photographed Miles Davis in 1959, but not too well. I remember after a show in Berkeley California, a little later around 1960, I went up to him backstage and asked why he had a green trumpet. He shot back at me, ‘Motherfucker, do I ask you why you have a black camera?!’ Frightened the shit outta me for the next five years! After I moved to NY in 1962, I did a couple of covers for Miles, live records on Columbia. I went down the first time he played for Bill Graham at Winterland in San Francisco. I had made him a picture of my John Coltrane photo that I had taken in John's garden. Backstage was crazy. He was surrounded by all the media, press, local TV stations and newspapers...it was a real big deal. I saw him and said, ‘Hey Miles’ he sort of grunted and acknowledged my presence. I gave him the print and said, ‘This is for you.’ ‘What is it? I’m busy.’ ‘It’s just something for you.’ ‘I’m busy,' he says again. I walked away and he opens the package. People are all over him, asking questions, bothering him and trying to get to him, he tells them all to shut the fuck up and leave him alone. He’s looking at the print. He loved Coltrane. ‘Hey Marshall, did you take this of John? You knew him like that? Why don't you take pictures of me like this?’ And I said, ‘Why don't you let me?’ After that I could do whatever I wanted with him. He had his moods but we were cool. It was trust. If John trusted me, then so did Miles and with trust I got great shots of him.”
—Jim Marshall

Green Trumpet Man!

1960

© 2009, 2010 Jim Marshall
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