"The guy with the "No Backstage Passes" t-shirt is a security guard at a Peter Frampton concert in Florida. If you look in the middle of the recording, you can see very small someone playing guitar on stage: that's Peter Frampton. The security guard had decided to stand right in front of me when I tried to take my photos. And if I went a little bit to the right, he went a little bit to the right – if I went a little bit to the left, he went a little bit to the left... He was playing with me, so to speak. I managed to get a shot of Peter Frampton and the guard. That's how this picture came about, and I'm still angry about it to this day. The guy was typical of the security guards at every stadium in America, especially in the 70s and 80s. The organizers have always hired these football player types or wrestlers from the colleges, the bigger the better! Kids, girls, groupies, fans – everyone always wanted to go backstage.

So the guy just decided, "I'm wearing a shirt that says No Backstage Passes," turned around and let people read that...." - NEAL

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The Story behind the Picture - by Neal Preston



Neal Preston - Exhilarated and Exhausted

BOOK TIP

Neal Preston is one of the greatest rock photographers of all time. "Exhilarated and Exhausted" is an unrestricted retrospective of his 40-year career. This was produced in collaboration with Neal and is the first time he has granted unrestricted access to his legendary archive – it is considered one of the most important and extensive photo collections in the music industry. This extraordinary band is a who's who of rock kings.

Neal has been the official tour photographer for Led Zeppelin, Queen, Bruce Springsteen and The Who, and has also photographed extensively the Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Michael Jackson and many more.

The book includes his portraits, backstage moments, live performances, post-performance highs and lows, and outtakes. Neal's photographs vibrate with a palpable and inimitable intensity. Neal is a true insider, and the images are brought to life by his liner text – a stunning insight into life as a rock 'n' roll photographer on tour.