For more than four decades, Carol Scott's photographs sat quietly in boxes, their negatives carefully preserved, until now. Thanks largely to her daughter, Cameron Scott, those long-hidden images have finally come to light in her new exhibit, Rare Moments: Music Icons, offering a deeply personal glimpse into the iconic music scene in the Bay Area during the 1970s and 1980s.
Her current exhibition is on display at the Rockridge Café, 5492 College Avenue, and continues through August 5.
Scott's lifetime work documents an extraordinary era in music history, including both intimate and action-packed portraits of Ray Charles, Jerry Garcia, Prince, Joni Mitchell, Mick Jagger, Willie Nelson, John Lee Hooker, Frank Zappa, and countless others—yet, few people had ever seen them.
Scott’s love of American music began years ago. Growing up in post-war London, local radio had little in the way of popular music, so she tuned into pirate stations like Radio Caroline and Radio Luxembourg, where she discovered blues, rock and roll, and even a little bit of country music that would shape her musical tastes for years to come.
Scott never set out to become a famous rock photographer. Her journey began after moving from London to Nashville, and then to Berkeley in the mid-1970s, where she knew many musicians came to play in its flourishing music scene.
“I followed my idols,” she says. “I had the camera, and I went everywhere with my camera.”
Still learning the trade, she enrolled at Laney College to learn how to use her new 35mm Nikkormat camera. Around that same time, she met Berkeley photographer Richard Blair, who became an invaluable mentor.
“He'd take me out with my camera, show me how to shoot pictures and catch action shots,” Scott recalls. “He also showed me how to build a darkroom by making an L-shaped shelf,” which took over her daughter’s bedroom closet.
Scott was a single parent at the time, so she only went out if she had a babysitter, often going to shows after dinner and developing film late into the night. With her 50mm camera, and occasionally a 200mm telephoto lens, Scott photographed concerts at the Keystone Club in downtown Berkeley and elsewhere. She bought tickets like everyone else, worked her way toward the stage, and captured performances with remarkable intimacy.
Looking back, Scott sees her work as more than concert photography.
"It’s documenting the good old days of Berkeley in the ’70s and ’80s,” she says.
Getting the shot sometimes required ingenuity. For a rock concert in 1985, security had become tighter. Scott dismantled her camera, hiding the body and telephoto lens beneath her tight leotard and under her leather jacket, allowing her to smuggle in her equipment unnoticed.
At 5 foot, 3 inches tall, Scott was often at a disadvantage. One time, she recalls a stranger noticed her struggling for a clear view and offered a lift onto his shoulders, giving her the vantage point she needed to capture one of her now-iconic portraits of Mick Jagger.
Her work extended well beyond the stage. Scott's photographs often captured musicians in quieter, more candid moments. She photographed Ray Charles backstage after personally delivering him a Braille letter from the Seva Foundation, entrusted to her by her dear friend Wavy Gravy, asking for his support in helping prevent blindness.
She shared tea aboard Willie Nelson’s elaborately painted tour bus with his sister, pianist Bobbie Nelson, who delighted in serving English tea from fine china. Willie himself sat nearby with what Scott laughingly remembers as “a huge giant bag of weed,” discreetly covering it with an album cover before being photographed.
One of Scott’s most memorable encounters was a chance encounter with Frank Zappa while being interviewed with him for a feature story on Women in Rock. Zappa subsequently invited her to his Berkeley concert.
“He came to pick me up in this huge long black stretch limousine. I’ve never seen a car that big. We chatted and he was very down to earth, very sensible, very conservative. He didn't do drugs, I didn't see him drink. He had loads of coffee, and he smoked cigarettes constantly. He went through my contact sheets and he picked out what he liked that I had done. I was so relieved when he picked one.”
Later, they went to one of his band members’ homes in South San Francisco drinking coffee and listening to R&B records until late into the night.
Unable to make a living in photography, Scott eventually became a paralegal and turned her focus to raising her daughter. Around 1985, she packed away her negatives and devoted herself to supporting her family.
Recently, and following her own career transition, her daughter Cameron finally had time to work with her mom to sort through the thousands of negatives and slides together. They spent countless hours listening to playlists and matching forgotten rolls of film to the artists they contained.
One afternoon, while listening to Prince, they stumbled upon the long-missing negatives from one of his concerts.
"We found them," Cameron remembers. "I knew they were amazing."
For Cameron, the archive represents more than music photography.
“I’ve seen how hard she’s worked my whole life and what she's done with her art, and I want the world to see it as well,” Cameron says, “and for her to get recognition, to be acknowledged for this amazing work. It’s just an honor to be able to do it with her.”
Scott exhibited some of her photos a couple of years ago for a Jerry Garcia birthday celebration at the Sausalito Center for the Arts, and another one featuring mostly Jerry Garcia and Grateful Dead photographs, is currently on view in Sausalito through August 2, including one just discovered of Jerry and Donna Godchaux.
Another exhibit at Equator Coffees, 1201 Bridgeway, in Sausalito, from July 15 through August 15, includes Jerry Garcia’s artwork and a selection of Carol Scott's collection of rare photos.
“This is a historical record of those times musically,” Scott says. “I hope I can convey the essence of these musicians. I hope people can look at the photographs and be transported back to those times. I want them to feel joy and happiness.”
Visit her website at: https://www.carolscottphotos.com/
