Heart of Joel

In 1970, 16-year-old me was following Neil Young around; learning his songs, going to his concerts (two identical sets on one night!), and counting the minutes until his albums were released. One in particular, After the Goldrush, was particularly anticipated.
Joel Bernstein, just a year older, had a better seat. At the time he had been the personal photographer and confidante to Young, Joni Mitchell, and everyone else in what passed then for a social network. That summer, Bernstein took the picture that ended up as the front cover of After the Goldrush. It happened when he, Young and Graham Nash were walking in New York’s West Village when they spotted a short, old lady with a bright light in her eyes. Young nodded to Bernstein, who captured the shot just as the two crossed paths.
While in the darkroom (yeah, that was a long time ago) Bernstein discovered the picture was out of focus, with the clearest spot somewhere on the wall behind the action. So he “cheated,” turning on a flash of light as the picture emerged from the fixer, causing a solarizing effect. Young liked the result, and it became the album’s cover.
Bernstein, along with Nash and several other veteran rock photographers, participated in the rollout for the new photo book, Taking Aim at the Experience Music Project in Seattle on February 5. The book includes the original, un-solarized Goldrush shot, with Nash in the corner. (Incidentally, the vertical (in focus) mortar on the brick wall behind the old lady looks like a booger.)
He told this story, and many others–how he was all set to go to college, but Mitchell pleaded with him to stay in California a few more days and take pictures for the Blue album. It was wintertime, and college was in Michigan, and his parents were on a trip around the world. What would you do?
Bernstein is a darn good photographer, but his skill only tells half the story. He was born at the right time, and managed to be in the right spot to catch these shots. This access led to the creation of these great shots. Young and Mitchell, both notoriously picky, trusted him from the beginning. He kept this trust, and developed this into a huge portfolio and an encyclopedic knowledge of these artists’ special worlds.
This has led to a role as an archivist. He helped assemble the Buffalo Springfield Box Set and Neil Young’s Archives are a few of his projects. He is now wading through the mass of pre-digital media from these times and pulling it into a comprehensible form. For instance, there are at least two more volumes of Young’s Archives in the can.
I buttonholed Bernstein and pressed him to release a live DVD from any of CSN&Y’s last three tours, of which I have seen all. He told me it is not out of the question, but it would happen after completing a DVD of the band’s 1974 tour–which he said was better than the ones I witnessed.
Bernstein sat in the front row during Nash’s presentation, and was called on to supply details. Sometimes he chimed in without being asked. Like when photographer Jim Marshall commented on a picture he took of Bob Dylan kicking a tire down the road.
“Dylan just started to kick the tire and I took two frames,” Marshall said. “He was about 19 at the time.”
“22,” Bernstein interrupted, rattling off Dylan’s birthday, and the month when it was taken. Later, Nash was telling the story about the first day he met David Crosby, and Bernstein comes up with the exact date.
Bernstein might have been kidding. But Nash mouthed the word “fucker,” behind a huge grin.
Anyone who lived through those magical days and paid attention has stories. I have some good ones. Bernstein’s are way better. These days he spends a lot of time in the lab, tinkering with the past for the benefit of the future. Seeing him emerge, if only to see his shadow, was a real treat.
I published coverage of the event for a local paper. The next version, with more detail and a helping of F-words, is due shortly.