A rocking music photo archive

"Every picture tells a story, don't it?," Rod Stewart warbled back in the '70s.

Michael Ochs had 2 million such stories, most of them music-related, until he sold his fantastic picture collection to Seattle-based Getty Images. Getty is one of the largest suppliers of photos, illustrations and cinematography in the world.

Long the premier collector of rock photos and the go-to guy for professionals who needed such images for magazines, books, album covers, documentaries, movies, advertisements and myriad other uses, Ochs (pronounced Oaks) says Getty will be a good home for his babies. The company will take care of them, in secure, climate-controlled rooms, preserving them for future generations.

Once, you had to trek to Ochs' funky little house in the Venice Beach section of Los Angeles to see his collection. Among those who have been by to riffle through his many overstuffed file cabinets are Michael Jackson — who spent one full day gleefully rummaging through stuff, then gave Ochs a bunch of photos from his own collection — as well as Madonna.

I'll never forget visiting the place in the '70s, when Ochs worked in the publicity department of Columbia Records (and I was a disc jockey here at KOL-FM). A mutual friend took me there. I remember being astonished as Ochs pulled out incredible publicity shots and candid photos of '50s doo-wop groups and early rock 'n' rollers, as well as movie and TV stars.

It was all fun back then. Little did we know that Ochs was preserving an important part of our cultural heritage.

"Document everything"

The younger brother of the late folk singer Phil Ochs, Michael started out as a fan.

"I just loved music," he explained in a phone interview from his home. "I was always a vinyl junkie. And then at some point I realized I wanted to document everything about popular music."

He started collecting photos, concert programs, sheet music, books and magazines. While working in the music biz, first as manager for his brother, and then for several major record companies, he decided to specialize in photos, because publicity handout photos were so readily available and were mostly free.

As word of his collection got around, he found himself being called upon to supply photos for the ever-increasing number of rock magazines, album covers and books. Soon he realized he could turn his hobby into a business.

His first big break came in 1976 with the publication of "The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll." He supplied a picture of rockabilly pioneer Ersel Hickey that became the oversize book's frontispiece. The impressive tome documented rock's early history with dozens of Ochs-supplied photos of mostly black seminal rockers (a revised edition published in 1992, which Ochs says he "hates," removed almost all of the black artists' photos).

"Exactly 30 years ago, in 1977, I gave up my last day job, as national publicity director for ABC Records," Ochs recalled. "Then I really became a professional. Starved for five years! Until my first book, 'Rock Archives,' came out in '83.

"My favorite review said, 'A book on the history of rock 'n' roll that's half black. It's about time.' "

Hollywood comes calling

Photos from his ever-growing collection have not only graced thousands of books, magazines and album covers (compact discs, with their little booklets, were a boon), but have also been used in films.

For the movie "Ray," he supplied not only the recording artists' photos seen on record-company walls but also helped set designers re-create recording studios and nightclubs Ray Charles worked in, based on photos from Ochs.

"The one I really liked was 'What's Love Got to Do With It?'," Ochs said, "because they came down and designed a lot of sets based on my original photos. There was some amazing stuff I found of early Ike & Tina Turner in Texas."

His photos were also used for sets in "The Rose," "Postcards From the Edge" and "American Hot Wax." Among the many documentaries with copious Ochs credits include Martin Scorsese's 2006 PBS feature on Bob Dylan, perennial favorite "Imagine: John Lennon" and the 10-part "History of Rock 'n' Roll." He supplied the photos for a Gap campaign featuring '50s movie stars in khaki. Thanks to Getty Images' reach and reputation, Ochs expects even more movies, documentaries and commercials will benefit from his collection.

"Win-win"

Asked why he's making his move now, Ochs replied, "You know me — it's the fun of the photos, not the business part, that I'm interested in.

"The company was going very well. In fact, it was growing. But my interest wasn't. I was physically getting bored. It was too much business, too much of trying to keep up with the new technology. Plus, I just turned 64.

"The whole reason I did this was the thrill of the hunt, the fun of finding the photos and trying to put them in a new setting. I had no exit plan, and the whole reason for doing this originally was to preserve this part of America's history. So I thought, why not go to the biggest one? Why not approach Getty to see if they're interested?"

They were. Getty quickly struck a deal. Ochs wouldn't disclose details but agreed his collection is worth millions. Ochs said the deal was cinched when Getty agreed to hire his staff, including two who have been with him for more than 20 years. He'll stay close to the collection as a Getty consultant.

"I'll just basically find new outlets for great images, from my 2 million, added to Getty's 70 million. And I'll be online. The idea of hard copy is useless these days. The industry has changed drastically. What you really need now is to have stuff easily accessible.

"For me, this is a total win-win. I got no complaints."

Patrick MacDonald: 206-464-2312 or pmacdonald@seattletimes.com