In 1973, Pennebaker found himself again positioned perfectly to document a pivotal moment-the end of Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust persona at London’s Hammersmith Odeon in what became known as “The Retirement Gig.” The eponymous Monterey Pop documented the explosive 1967 festival that “crystallize the energy of a counterculture that by then seemed both blessedly inevitable and dangerously embattled,” according to Robert Christgau. His Dont Look Back defined Bob Dylan for a generation and launched the much-imitated proto-music video with cue cards for “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” Now, I look back on it with amusement more than anything else.Īlong with brothers Albert and David Maysles, who made Gimme Shelter, Pennebaker had an uncanny knack for being in the right place at exactly the right time in music history. I think Tony saw himself as a Svengali type, but I think I would have done okay anyway. It’s a relief for all these years … not have a constant stream of people following me around to the point where, when I sat down, fifteen other people sat down. I was never much of an entourage person – I hated all of that. I wanted the whole MainMan thing away from me. In a later recollection, Bowie stated he was ready to move on: (Part 1 can be found above, remaining parts reside here.) Bowie had grown tired of the character, feeling forced by his manager Tony DeFries to put on bigger, more elaborate stage shows (though there is speculation that record company RCA refused to finance planned US and Canadian stadium shows). Pennebaker’s Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, a concert film of Bowie’s last show as the glam rock kabuki space alien. Above, see the documentary that marked the end of that pivotal era, D.A.
We’ve previously brought you the origin story of Ziggy Stardust, David Bowie’s first and most flamboyant rock & roll character, as well as his later recollections of those times in a 1977 interview on Canadian television.