I met Alan while on tour with the Quireboys. Alan was tour managing and also lending his voice to the Rolling Stones song “Fool to Cry” each night alongside Spike. I must admit, I’d never heard of Alan or his band, The Dirty Strangers, before but as soon as I met him I knew he had presence - such a character - and I knew I had to photograph him before the tour ended.
The perfect opportunity came at KK’s Steel Mill, Wolverhampton. A wonderful venue in the shell of an early 20th century car factory. I spotted Alan during a lull in proceedings and asked if I could take his portrait. He had no idea why (and neither did I really, I just knew that his warmth and character shone through every time we spoke and I needed to capture this in a photo as best as possible). I can’t remember what I said, hopefully it was something like I have just written but I doubt it! Perhaps Alan will read this sometime and understand.
While I was doing some quick lighting tests Alan mentioned that the last time he had a camera pointed at him it was by Marty. “Marty?” says I, “ Yeah, Marty Scorsese.” What, wait, who? “I was with Keef when he was making Shine a Light, I was in it. And Keef’s book” Taking a second not to look surprised, I asked if he knew Keef… Keith… well. It turns out they go way back. Both Keith Richards and Ronnie Woods guested on the early Dirty Strangers records and Alan stayed at Redlands for a few months recently while he was moving house.
Alan went on to tell me some great stories about the snappers in Shoreditch, London, where you had to go back in the day for your publicity photos (sounded a bit of a racket) and how he has album credits not only for his music skills but also for wrestling some master tapes back for a dear friend no longer with us.
I knew I had to photograph this guy! We spoke some more about the ring around his neck, our families and future plans for his own band. In between all this I had to keep reminding myself to shoot. What a great few minutes I spent. Alan’s humour and warmth was contagious and I left looking forward to seeing the Dirty Strangers at the earliest opportunity. Look out for them, and if you see Alan tell him if you like his portrait!
