Bill Paustenbach
 

[I was reading Timespace era stuff and thought I'd post this]

Houston Chronicle, August 6, 1991

Section: HOUSTON

STAR SHOOTING/Photographer knows rock's angles

MARTY RACINE


IT'S not exactly like a scene from a Fellini movie.

You know, where the "paparazzi", the photographers to the stars, scheme and jostle for access to that one shot they can peddle to the glamour magazines.

Talent aside, in rock 'n' roll it takes a certain cool for access to the biggest names in music. Aggressive behavior, as in trailing, snooping and literally elbowing other lensmen out of the way, not only doesn't work, it's not hip.

If you're not supposed to be shooting backstage, you don't shoot backstage.

Even then, gaining the confidence of rock stars might be a lost art among independent photographers. Houston's Bill Paustenbach got in when the game was played differently.

He has photographed Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Van Halen and Paul McCartney. But his major subject has been Stevie Nicks, who recently opened her U.S. tour at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands. He's shot Nicks and her other band, the world-renowned Fleetwood Mac, for 15 years, since before Mac's platinum-selling album "Rumours".

"I feel like I've helped make them what they are," Paustenbach said. He refers to a number of tour programs ("books" in the trade) he's shot and produced.

"It's paid me well, but it's also made them a lot of money," he said.

Hassles can also be part of the equation. Paustenbach has filed a lawsuit against Mick Fleetwood's solo management, alleging his photos were used without permission or credit in Fleetwood's recent autobiography.

For veteran photographers such as Paustenbach, access can be secondary to relationships and the music itself.

"I can't get creative without the music," he said. "And there's only certain guys I really like. (The rock group) Heart is one of them - the furthest thing from rock stars you can imagine."

Civil behavior is expected to be returned in kind.

"One reason I got where I am is that I've always used etiquette. I never stuck a camera in anybody's face who didn't want one. For such a big business, it's a small business. Everybody knows everybody, and they're all waiting for you to make a mistake."

Paustenbach's entry into the wide-angle world of rock photography came when he was 17 and working at Warehouse Records & Tapes in Houston.

"It was before computer ticketing came in," he said. "I sold tickets to all the shows, so I started going to them, usually at Hofheinz (Pavilion), the Music Hall or Coliseum. Picked my seats:

"I had fallen in love with photography and started shooting from my seat. I started working as a staff photographer for a couple of free underground music magazines, now defunct, of course. This gave me backstage access, and I started showing my work to the artists."

One of them was Mick Fleetwood. "I walked into Mick at the Whitehall Hotel during "Rumours" (tour)," Paustenbach said. "Biggest band in the country. I had all these photos from another concert. I was scared to death. My knees were knocking, and here's 6-foot-6 Mick Fleetwood, this domineering man with vicious eight-ball eyes looking down at me.

"I said, `Excuse me, Mick. You got two minutes?"'

Fleetwood told him he would meet with him in five minutes.

"I went and sat down, figuring he'd never be there. Sure enough, he shows up. I showed him my portfolio, and next thing you know he's pulling pictures out."

Paustenbach then lobbied for access to the following night's Dallas concert, trading contact sheets for a pass.

"Mick calls the shots. If you're in, you're in," Paustenbach said. He got his pass.

Paustenbach struck up what he calls "a very special, magical relationship" with Stevie Nicks.

Unsurprisingly, he moved to Los Angeles soon after, in 1976. Three months later, he was living in Nicks and Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham's house. "You had to be good at what you did, but the bottom line was that they liked me," he said.

He stayed in Los Angeles for six years, living in the fast lane, "but I eventually got eaten up by LA," he said.

Paustenbach went on tour with Mac, Texan singer Christopher Cross and Minneapolis superstar Prince.

"I was never a big Prince fan, but songwriter Robbie Patton insisted I go see (Prince's) movie "Purple Rain"," he said. "I was blown away by the music.

"I knew Stevie and Prince were friends. I picked up the phone and called up Prince's management - one of the toughest management firms in the business at the time - and told them I just want access."

He sent a letter of introduction on Fleetwood Mac's management company stationery, and followed up with a phone call. "They said come on down."

Paustenbach's first Prince show was in Detroit - shortly after having plastic surgery on his left hand.

"The biggest rock photographers in the world were in Detroit for the first show (of the tour). It was everyone for himself, and I was shooting one-handed."

That wasn't his only handicap. "Prince didn't like my kind of personality," Paustenbach said.

"I'm outgoing, energetic. He sits in the dark by himself. He's a real introvert. At the time, Prince's personal bodyguard came up to me and said, `Give me the best shot of Prince you've got, right now.'...

The bodyguard took the photo into the dressing room, and Prince decided to buy it, and a few others.

"I was paid very well,' Paustenbach said. "Now, six years later, they bought the whole file. They'll probably never publish them, but they wanted the rights to them."

The Prince experience taught him a lesson. "I only try to work with individuals; management has turned me off so many times," Paustenbach said.

"You need signed releases. Lots of red tape. Like Van Halen's management - they're so rude to little people like me, I'd rather not bother with them."

If the life of the independent rock photographer sounds exciting, Paustenbach is quick to douse the idea. "I spent my own expenses out on the road (tours) in the beginning," he said. "I paid for it: equipment, travel.

"It'd be almost impossible to do it that way today. For one thing, the expenses have quadrupled. For another, you just can't take a camera into a concert anymore. We're a dying breed. You either have to work for a newspaper or for a band."

It's also not a haven of financial security. "I'd make $12,000, then I wouldn't make a dime for six months," Paustenbach said.

And the rock life itself?

"It's glamorous when you're a lounge lizard hanging out backstage. It isn't when it's 3 in the morning and it's time to pack up and head to the next city."

Still, Paustenbach added, "I didn't get filthy rich doing this, but the memories are worth a million dollars."

Ok, show of hands: who here has not lived with Lindsey and/or Stevie at some point?

Michele

WOW Michele.. I was AT this show- in the Woodlands in 1991! It brings back a lot of wonderful memories for me! Thanks SO much for posting this article!

i have a few of his photos~ how cool, thanx michele~

ROFLOL! That was a new one on me. Thanks for posting!

Also, who the heck is Bob Fogel? Stevie called him her best best best friend (an honor bestowed on everyone but Lindsey), at a NoCal "Landslide" dedication this year and the only info I found is that he was good buddies with Javier, lived with him during their first year of college.

I have not, and it kind of bums me out!!:laugh:

Hey Jill..

Do you really?? I'd like to see some more of his work, and will try to Google him..I was SOOO excited to see this last night..

See your tour programs for 2001, 1994, 1989, 1983, 1990, & 1979/1980, where Paustenbach is credited for a lot of the live photography.

In related Paustenbach news, I remember hearing that Bill Gamelson had bought a huge chunk of Paustenbach's negatives several years ago.

Hey, I'm in the same boat with ya pal ( shakes fist up at sky in anger). Over the years I've met a few folks who have known Stevie and hung out with her. A couple of them had known her really well, if you know what I mean. But I've talked to thses guys and could'nt help but wonder, " Man, I should have done something different. I should have been a photographer. I should have been a record producer. I should have gone out to LA back in the early 80's like I was thinking about doing."

It's funny to hear him say that you just can't take a camera into a concert anymore. He didn't know the digital age was coming. Of course, that makes it even harder to make a living at it today, because everyone is a photographer now. Michele

Yep.. I just did! Thanks David!

I ran across a pic of Bob Fogel...

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/n...fogelgos08.jpg

Hey CADreaming, I like that picture in your signature.
Can you post a high resolution copy of it?
And do you know what date it was taken?
THANKS.

I've gotten a lot of questions about it, so to be fair I will post it in a separate thread.