McCartney Times

Ethan Russell was with the Rolling Stones — during the infamous 1969 tour that ended in Altamont — when he got the call from Glyn Johns to join The Who in England to talk about the cover art for the band’s next album.Russell, a relatively novice photographer from California, had already left his mark on the world of rock ‘n’ roll by shooting the photos for the Beatles final album “Let It Be” and the Stones’ biggest selling LP to date, the compilation “Through the Past, Darkly.”So it came about that Russell found himself in a six-litre Mercedes driving at breakneck speed on a rainy day through the English Midlands with Pete Townshend at the wheel. The three other members of The Who and a small number of road crew followed in two other cars.They were returning from a concert and Townshend wanted to hear Russell’s ideas for cover art on the drive back. Unfortunately, Russell had none. There was no grand design, no artistic concept, not even a marketing plan. Nothing.

Source: The man who photographed the Beatles, the Stones and The Who