Johnny Winter, Rush and Bob Seger West Palm Beach Concert Photos

Bob Seger , Geddy Lee and Rush

I would like to give “propper” credit, Gary Propper, that is. I met Gary in the early 70’s, while he was working for John Stolle, the owner of Fantasma Productions. Fantasma was one of the greatest Mom & Pop concert Promoters of the South East United States. These days you can hardly find a concert promoter that hasn’t gone corporate. Gary was in charge of making sure the artist or band made it to the venue on time, and I was his photographer of choice. All of the concerts in the West Palm beach Auditorium that I photographed were Fantasma Productions, and what a line - up of talent they booked. The Bob Seger , Rush concert was just such an event, the place was packed to the rafters, with screaming fans, and I was leaning on the stage, ears ringing. This was probably the height of their careers, and the show was unbelievable. I went back stage after the show, and to my surprise there sat Ted Nugent and his 2 children, visiting with Geddy Lee, there are a few more back stage pics, I hope you enjoy them.

By Ken Davidoff

How I Met Johnny Winter

The first time I ever saw Johnny Winter play, I was the official photographer for the Palm Beach Pop Festival. It was Thanksgiving weekend 1969.The history of the Palm Beach festival is a long and complex tale, in a nutshell, it rained, it got cold & muddy, the local paper called it, ” Woodstock South “ Local, state & even federal forces played an important role in the story line. I was back stage, and I overheard Johnny’s manager negotiating the starting time of his set. He wanted to time it so Johnny started just as the sun went down, the first song was to be “ Johnny Be Good “ a Chuck Berry classic, and he really rocked it. By hanging around backstage, I made many new friends, including Teddy Slatus, Johnny Winter’s manager at the time. We got to be good friends. I still have my copy of Second Winter, a unique 3 sided album ( the “B” side of the 2nd disc was blank)The next time I took J. W. pics, is when I got my shot that looks like his hair is on fire, it’s the one we use in our banner on the top of the website. Johnny liked this photo a lot, and ordered an 11x14 print. I’m partial to his slide playing, his Texas Blues style just blows me away.

by Ken Davidoff