«Breaking News» Freddie Mercury and Rolling Stones snapped by Danny Clifford

Whether it was the Rolling Stones, Queen, The Who, or Bob Geldof eating a banana, Danny Clifford was there, with his trusty camera.

These never-before-seen photos - which also include Nile Rodgers, Amy Winehouse, Rick Parfitt and Dave Grohl - chronicle just some of the music icons Danny has snapped over his 40-year career, and they can be viewed in a new exhibition, called Rock Stars Don't Smile.

Danny, originally from East London, had started to shoot live shows aged just 13. 'My camera gear would have to be smuggled in, usually down my pants. It was either that or get thrown out, which happened on a regular basis,' he said. 

On on occasion, he recalls judo-rolling across the Essex Road after being physically flung out of a Lou Reed gig in 1974. 

After Danny left school, he enrolled in college to study photography and at weekends worked in a camera shop. He then got a full-time job with a large London Press Agency, Fox Photos. All the time, he was still photographing everything, including bands and artists which was where his heart lay, and started to freelance for British music papers, Melody Maker, Sounds and NME. 

His big break came when he was 20, as Bob Dylan's official photographer in 1978 . Before long, he started shooting for Rolling Stone Magazine in the US as well as other newspapers and magazine worldwide. And the rest is rock n'roll history...

The exhibition, Rock Stars Don't Smile (Danny Clifford: A Retrospective), runs until April 11 at Heath Street Baptist Church, 84 Heath Street, Hampstead, London NW3 1DN. You can visit Danny Clifford's website by clicking here.  

A wistful-looking Freddie Mercury back stage in Hyde Park, 1976. Danny recalls: 'I had been wandering around backstage... and there he was, in a white boiler suit, being handed a microphone. With minutes to go before the start of the show, I playfully asked, “Who are you?” “Freddie.” He replied cheerfully, seeming to appreciate the cheek of my question. I asked him if I could take a few photos. “Of course you can, dear boy!” was his reply. With a portly stage assistant to my left giving him last-minute instructions, Freddie struck a couple of poses for me, looking like Count Dracula. Surprisingly relaxed, I thought, considering he was due on stage any minute. “Off anywhere nice?” I asked him. He just smiled and pointed upwards to the hole above his head. With that, the sound of Brian May’s guitar rang out and the platform Freddie had been standing on started to levitate, rising straight up and onto the stage for the start of their show. I made my way back to the front of the crowd at speed to capture Freddie, now stripped to a white leotard, in all his camp, charismatic glory. This would be the beginning of my working relationship with Queen'

Rick Parfitt and John Coghlan in Lewisham, south London, in December 19, 1977. This was the night Status Quo played a gig at the Odeon Theatre. John was the Quo's original drummer. Danny's path had been set when his grandmother bought him a Kodak Instamatic when he was eight years old

Keith Moon with little Zak Starkey in 1978. The Who's wildman drummer seems deep in concentration while Ringo Starr's son watches. From 1996, Zak would himself go on to perform and record with The Who as their drummer

Shane MacGowan in revolutionary attire, North London pub, 2005 as 'Shane Guevara'. Danny recalls: 'I could have sworn Shane had told me that his cousin was Che Guevara. I phoned Joey Cashman, the Pogues manager. "Joey, is Shane related to Che Guevara?” “Yeah, he is.” *click* He hung up. I phoned Shane’s sister, Siobhan. She explained that their mum's family name was Lynch, that Che Guevara had heritage in Ireland, that his dad was called Ernesto Guevara Lynch and that there was a statue of Che in Dublin. Right. On my way home, I stopped off at Camden Market and bought a beret, a red star and a belt of bullets. Once home, I bundled some lights (and my wife, Lyn, and two sons) into the car and off we went to find Shane'

Freddie Mercury in full throttle, in 1978. Danny said: 'I recently dug out some negatives of shots I took of Freddie Mercury in 1976 that I had never even seen before. So it's impossible to say which pictures are my favourites, as I'd only find some new ones five minutes later and change my mind'

Keith Moon and Australian comedian Norman Gunston at Charlton Stadium in 1976. Danny reminisces: 'We stepped out of the car; Keith, with a woman on each arm; me, with my little Nikon, and we were suddenly greeted by a journalist in an ill- fitting suit, with greased down, thinning hair and a camera crew in toe. "Ah, Mr. Moon! Norman Gunston, from the Norman Gunston show..." "Are you Australian? I don’t want anything to do with you Australian faggots!” The crowd gasped as Keith continued insulting Mr Gunston, reaching for a bottle of Vladivar vodka (though it was reported as champagne)'. He added: 'To give some context, it’s worth remembering that The Who had been thrown out of Australia by their prime minister. The government kicked them out because Keith had been flinging televisions out of windows, driving cars into swimming pools and generally being an off-the-scale idiot'

Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood in 1976. Danny Clifford shot this picture in the year the Rolling Stones toured Europe. Over the years, Danny became great friends with many artists and bands - allowing him to get access that other photographers could only dream of

Bob Geldof channels William Tell while eating a banana - possibly in tribute to the Boomtown Rats song Banana Republic. 'I have always taken a bit of a bohemian approach, playing with light and colour to capture the drama and madness of the artists I work with,' the photographer said

Status Quo, Dublin 2012. Danny says: 'For years, Rick had been telling me how much he loved my pictures. The shot I took that staggered him across the picture was taken using a particular analogue camera trick - the technical details of which I won’t bore you with - and was one I was particularly proud of for its energy, so typical of Quo. The band went mental when they first saw it'

Amy Winehouse backstage at the 4th BBC Radio Jazz awards held at the Hammersmith Palais, in west London. From the very start of his 40-year career, Danny has found himself in the middle of the action, documenting his adventures among the greatest musical icons of the century

Rick Parfitt at the controls of a helicopter. As a youngster, the photographer got a weekend job delivering milk to enable him to buy film - and Danny took a camera everywhere as he grew up

Kate Moss and Pete Doherty, the night of a Babyshambles gig in Islington, north London 2003. 'At a last-minute gig at the Duke of Clarence pub on the Essex Road... Halfway in to La Belle et La Bête’ and Kate swanned onto the stage (stage is a generous word for it, but she joined the band). Leaning in, she sang into a microphone held for her: “Is she more beautiful, is she more beautiful, is she more beautiful than me? Is she more beautiful, is she more beautiful, is she more beautiful than me?” That was it and she was off again. I got the shots. Nothing arty, just a "got it" moment,' said Danny

Nile Rodgers - legendary Chic guitarist/producer/composer - flips the bird. From Nikon to Hasselblad to Fuji, Danny's cameras have amassed him an archive of around 4million photographs

Liam Gallager in Japan, 2005. Danny remembers: 'I went to Japan with Oasis. This bold, confrontational shot of Liam shows him as the epitome of what he is: a proper Rockstar. I recall going down in a lift with both Liam and Noel. Liam was taking a moment to preen himself in the mirror, giving it his usual Mancunian shoulder work, muttering “I look like Michael F***ing Jackson in this jacket.” Meanwhile Noel stood behind, making a certain hand gesture towards Liam, and mouthed the word ‘w**ker’ to me. Happy times'

Keith Richards on stage with the Stones in one of the 'Rock Stars Don't Smile' exhibition - whose title gets it name for something Liam Gallagher once said to Danny: '[In London 2005] From the moment we walked into the [Royal Albert Hall] room of children, in their various stages of battling cancer, they were all visibly excited to see Liam and the many other famous faces scattered around. So much so, that the room was pretty rowdy and my job was to get the shots of the celebrities smiling with the kids, in what was a limited amount of time. Liam, not making things easier, was pretty loaded by this point and I needed "all eyes on camera one", as I like to say. “Alright everybody, big smiles! There we go.” I announced, playing the part of the happy-clappy event photographer. I got the shot. Then again, “OK, everyone look this way! Smile!” This continued throughout the evening until, at one point, just as I’m about to take the next shot, Liam began to swagger towards me with his finger aimed at my face. “You’re a f***ing slag.” He slurred. “Am I? Why don’t you take your finger and go stand over there.” “You told me to smile. Rock stars don’t f***ing smile.”'

Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters. For the first time, Danny Clifford's iconic shots, along with the often jaw-dropping stories behind them, can be seen and purchased at his forthcoming exhibition in Hampstead, north-west London

Pete Doherty of Babyshambles gets high off the ground. The photo was taken while the band was on tour in Birmingham, on September 29, 2005. The selection of shots for the exhibition were curated by Alexander Rosenberg

A picture of Danny Clifford, taken on Bob Dylan's private jet... by Bob himself. It was at the age of 20, after his shots of Bob Dylan at Earl's Court made it into The London Evening Standard, that Danny received a phone call that would prove historic: 'I had an office space in Soho, inside the offices of The Who. I never received phone calls, but on this day, Paul Wasserman [Dylan's PR man] called to say how much he and Bob liked my photos. When he said, 'Bob want's a word…' I mouthed my excitement to Roger Daltrey, Keith Moon, Pete Townshend and John Entwistle. At which point, the phone was snatched from my hands by Roger Daltrey and passed around between them, all wanting to speak to Bob. By the time I got the phone back, Bob had gone.' All was not lost, as it was this phone call that led to Danny joining Bob in Paris and eventually, as his official photographer on his USA tour

Link hienalouca.com

https://hienalouca.com/2019/03/27/freddie-mercury-and-rolling-stones-snapped-by-danny-clifford/
Main photo article Whether it was the Rolling Stones, Queen, The Who, or Bob Geldof eating a banana, Danny Clifford was there, with his trusty camera.
These never-before-seen photos – which also include Nile Rodgers, Amy Winehouse, Rick Parfitt and Dave Grohl – chronicle just some of the music icons...

It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.

Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.

Dianne Reeves Online news HienaLouca





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