Millie

Posted on May 6, 2020 by simon robinson

A real shame to hear today of Millie’s death at the age of 73. Our previous post on this site was to talk about working on photographs of her for Brian’s Blues photo book, and how it was so hard to pick the best. So here is another of the shots which didn’t make the final selection to remember her by; stood beaming for Brian’s camera at the Twisted Wheel Club in May 1964. The band are rocking away in the shadows on the left of the scene, but it’s her irrepressible grin which makes the shot. She would even leave the band to get on with it while she signed autographs mid-set… a proper star.

Bo Diddley…

Posted on May 21, 2019 by simon robinson

Again our apologies for a rather quiet spell at Easy On The Eye Books, with yet more illness affecting senior staff. I guess the clue is in the word senior! As a result we’ve rejigged plans a little, and our next planned release now we’re running with the baton again will be the fabulous blues photograph book. This is not far from final proofing, but got held up again when photographer Brian Smith found yet more negatives while clearing out his garage a while ago. We have now scanned and cleaned this new batch of material and are sorting through, as some of the photographs deserve to go in the book. Brian had a few old prints of some of these but naturally we’ll be able to get much better reproduction from the negatives. Here is one of the new found frames (BEFORE being cleaned!), which was actually taken by one of Brian’s friends, and shows him with Bo Diddley backstage at (I think) the Twisted Wheel Club in Manchester. Bo is holding his trademark Gretsch ‘Jupiter Thunderbird’.

Brian Smith and Bo Diddley.jpg

Blues book preview

Posted on February 19, 2018 by simon robinson

We have added a Flipbook preview of Boom Boom, The Blues Photographs of Brian Smith. This can be flicked through at :

http://online.fliphtml5.com/msya/onod/

It gives an idea of how the final book looks, although there may be text changes before this goes to press.

spread five

Blues Boom

Posted on March 25, 2014 by simon robinson

An early heads up on a work in progress, this visually fascinating collection of rare blues photographs taken in Manchester and area in the early sixties, capturing many visiting American Blues giants on stage and in more candid moments. Boom Boom Boom Boom is due later in 2014, and you can read more on the site.