RIP Diane Lee

 It was an email that absolutely floored me. “Hello, “I’m Diane Lee, and you photographed my husband Arthur. “I love your photos, and Arthur really liked the photo of him and Johnny Echols that ran in Mojo Magazine. Is there any way that I could get copies? I’d like to use them for some upcoming projects."

Diane Lee was the person that loved, and took care of Arthur Lee, even when he didn't know how to take care of himself. Through all of his adventures in, out and around the mythical band that was and is Love, or Arthur Lee & Love, Diane was there whenever Arthur called. That included taking care of him during the last months of his life in 2006.

Later, in talking to Diane on the phone, I expressed my lone regret about seeing Arthur and Love. When I last saw the band in 2004, they were selling a CD of new recordings that Arthur signed for fans after the show. All I had on me was gas money for the ride home, so I passed on buying the CD. "I have a copy! I'll send you mine," she replied. I told her that she didn't have to, but a few weeks later, she mailed me the CD, which had been given to her by Arthur. She signed it, "On behalf of Arthur Lee." I still have it here on my desk.

Safe travels, Diane. Thank you. I'm so glad that you will get to see Arthur again. See you in the stars.

-Daniel

January 27, 2026

The Quote That Has Been On My Facebook Page All Week

 The news of today will be the movies of tomorrow.

Arthur Lee & Love

A House Is Not A Hotel, 1967.

-Daniel

November 7, 2020

Love, Forever Changes, 50th Anniversary Edition

As some of you know, I have been very lucky to have my work associated with some of my favorite bands. One of them is Arthur Lee and Love. For years, I read about the legend of Love frontman Arthur Lee, and the timeless albums that Love made. In July of 2003, I photographed Arthur and Love perform their 1968 masterpiece Forever Changes, with strings and horms. It still is one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. A year later, I photographed Arthur and Johnny Echols performing in Falls Church, VA. Those photos were published my Mojo Magazine and others, and Arthur’s widow Diane Lee has used my photos for a few different projects in the years since.

Last month, I was thrilled to see that Forever Changes was going to be reissued by Rhino Records as a 50th anniversary edition. I was even more excited to see that my friend Ted Olsen, whom I first met while photographed the Bristol Sessions boxset release with John Carter Cash in 2011, had overseen the boxset and new essays. When I wrote to congratulate Ted, he wrote back, “I quoted some of your interviews with Johnny Echols and Michael Stuart-Ware. Your blog is a \ great resource.” Well, shoot. That made my day. 

So yes, if you pick up the new boxset, you’ll see some of my interviews in the booklet. If you know this album, you know what this album means to me, and many others. If you've never heard it, pick up this boxset, or go listen to it on any social media platform you prefer. And let the changes begin again, forever. 

https://www.rhino.com/product/forever-changes-50th-anniversary-edition 

-Daniel
April 2, 2018

Was It All A Dream?

Hello All-

This summer brings some remarkable milestones to my mind. July 5th will mark ten years since I photographed Johnny Cash's final public performance. That show, and the June Carter tribute show that he had performed on June 21st, 2003 were two of the most amazing days in my life. I look back on that summer, and can't believe what I was able to document. Mr. Cash, two days in Nashville photographing Les Paul, Arthur Lee & Love playing "Forever Changes" (apart from the emotional pull of the Cash shows, Love was the best show of the year, in my book), Jayhawks and Thorns in Nashville, TN, two days before the last Cash show. So many shows, and experiences. It was a fun, confusing, emotional, complicated and amazing time. I wanted to stay on the road full-time, and almost didn't come back home. I'm not sure that I could live that way again, but sometimes, I still think I'd like to try.

I think back on those shows, and those experiences, and I sometimes think, "Was it all a dream?" I know that it wasn't, and thank goodness that I took so many photos. In time, much of our life's experiences seem distant, far away in the back of our minds. But the experiences are still there, still shaping who we are today, and in the future. Life is to be experienced, and enjoyed. I've tried to live with as few "What If's" as possible, and continue to. I may not ever re-live that summer of ten years ago, but I still dream of something new, and that is always a good dream to hold onto.
-Daniel
July 3, 2013