Bob Dylan, Recording Session. New York City, 1965. W. Eugene Smith

Description

W. Eugene Smith had a legendary love for music: jazz, classical, blues, folk, rock, opera. He carried his collection of thousands of vinyl albums with him on assignment to far-flung locations. In his New York loft, Smith recorded and photographed thousands of hours of jam sessions featuring acclaimed musicians, which evolved into a book, exhibition, radio series, and documentary film known collectively as The Jazz Loft Project. Long after leaving LIFE magazine in the 1950s, Columbia Records hired Smith in 1965 to photograph Bob Dylan’s recording session for the epic “Highway 61 Revisited” album. This unforgettable image of Dylan taking a break resulted — his classic Fender Jaguar guitar on full display. The website Rare Cool Stuff writes: “He only spent one day in the studio with Bob Dylan, but that happened to be the day ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ was recorded; the resulting pictures … reveal a lush intensity.” Smith’s photos later adorned the covers of two other Dylan albums.