by Patrick Jarenwattananon

Miles Davis.
Jim Marshall

Miles Davis, amateur pugilist.

Photographer Jim Marshall died earlier this week. NPR paused to consider his passing, here and also here.

He was best known as a rock photographer: The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, etc. But he also took wonderful, even iconic photos of John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis — e.g. the one above. He got great shots, he says, because he earned the trust of great musicians, and they in turn gave him free rein, on and off stage.

At the MarshallPhoto.com Web site, Marshall relayed some fascinating stories about a few of the great shots. Concerning this boxing photo:

Here, Miles is in the ring at Newman's Gym in San Francisco in 1971. Doesn't exist anymore. It was like a sister to a famous gym in New York where pros went that was called Stillman's. At Newman's Gym, Miles used to work out. He used to box with guys, 'Don't hit me in the mouth, I gotta play tonight.'

A superior story, highlighting Miles' outer defense mechanisms, follows after the jump:

 

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, 'M—————r, do I ask you why you have a black camera?!' Frightened the s—- 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 f—- 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."

In another photo blurb, Marshall says he went to Jimi Hendrix's funeral with Miles. You can have a look at some of the other great shots, and the stories behind them, at the Web site. [Marshall Photo: The Collection]