I Shot Frank Zappa by Robert JH Davidson and John Elliott is now available from Google Books. £4.99 GBP. https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Robert_Davidson_I_Shot_Frank_Zappa?id=UOt4EAAAQBAJ… #zappa #themothersofinvention #dweezilzappa #rockandroll #zappacrappa #frankzappa #1960s #1960sfashion #1960smusic #photography #rockphotography
On the 16th of August 1967, 25 year old Robert Davidson was at The Royal Garden Hotel with band promoter Tony Secunda as part of a press call for Frank Zappa’s upcoming concert at the Royal Albert Hall, a day that was to change his life forever. It was swelteringly hot. The room was heaving with press. Zappa disappeared to go to the bathroom. Wandering around the penthouse apartment, looking for a photo opportunity, Robert found Zappa, stripped, with his trousers around his ankles, sitting on the loo chatting to his wife Gail on the phone.
The open doorway framed the shot perfectly. It was too good to miss. Robert asked permission to take some photos. Zappa saying to his wife. “Some limey wants to take my picture on the John. Sure, whatever turns him on.” This set of images, immediately gained cult status, a sentiment echoed by Zappa himself in 1983, when he stated, “I’m probably more famous for sitting on the toilet than for anything else.”
Despite one of the photographs becoming a worldwide bestselling poster, Robert never received any royalties. I Shot Frank Zappa chronicles Robert’s efforts over the years to reclaim copyright and ownership of the negatives, and in the process takes the reader on a journey through the drug fuelled Swinging Sixties of London up to the current day, where characters like the Krays, the models Twiggy and Celia Hammond and later Kate Moss trip lightly over the pages.
It is not just a story about stolen copyright. It describes a man’s personal journey and his struggle to balance the demands of family life with failing mental health. I Shot Frank Zappa is a story of serendipity and redemption and the refusal to give up when the world seems against you, all seen through Robert’s eyes, which filter events with warmth and humanity, like the lens of the camera, behind which he prefers to hide.
Title: I Shot Frank Zappa
Subtitle: My Life In Photography
Author: Robert Davidson with John Elliott
ISBN: Amazon Hardback : 978-1899750-53-5
ISBN: EPUB/Kindle : 978-1899750-59-7
Amazon Hardback Publication Date: July 2022
Amazon Kindle Digital Edition Publication Date: July 2022
EPUB Digital Edition Publication Date: July 2022
Hardback Price: £20.00
Kindle / EPUB Price: £4.99
No. Pages: 202
No. Illustrations: 60 Black and White Photographs
Size: 23.4 cm x 15.6 cm
Published by Aureus Publishing Limited.