When I Called Steve Ditko, by Rocker Glenn Phillips
The weekend of June 5 & 6, 1971, the Hampton Grease Band played the Fillmore East with Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention. I was in Frank's dressing room jamming with him when John Lennon and Yoko Ono walked in, and meeting them all was memorable, but the highlight of the weekend for me was the phone conversation I had with Steve Ditko.
Steve was the original artist and co-creator of Spider-Man, and is widely-known as the most reclusive figure in the world of comics. (In 2007, the BBC did a documentary entitled In Search of Steve Ditko and was only able to unearth three photos of him from the then 80 year-old's life, and he refused to be filmed for the documentary). Surprisingly, though, I was able to find Steve’s number in the New York phone book, and even more surprisingly, he answered the phone when I called to ask if I could hire him to do the cover art for a planned second Grease Band record.
At the time, I wasn’t aware of his Ayn Rand-influenced, Objectivist mindset, although it did surface during our conversation. He often responded with a question or statement challenging the reason and supposed logic behind what I’d said (e.g., “Why would you want me to do your album cover?” “What does my art have to do with your music?” “No, no, that doesn’t make sense to me -- I just don’t see the logic in it.”)
Steve politely declined my invitation to come hear the band at the Fillmore- and also ended up deciding not to do the cover. Nonetheless, it was a thrill to be able to talk with the man whose comics had had such a profound impact on my life. And while he could be prickly at times, he was also very friendly and kind enough to spend twenty minutes on the phone with a die-hard fan who had called him from out of the blue. His personality was every bit as memorable as his art.
At the time, I wasn’t aware of his Ayn Rand-influenced, Objectivist mindset, although it did surface during our conversation. He often responded with a question or statement challenging the reason and supposed logic behind what I’d said (e.g., “Why would you want me to do your album cover?” “What does my art have to do with your music?” “No, no, that doesn’t make sense to me -- I just don’t see the logic in it.”)
Steve politely declined my invitation to come hear the band at the Fillmore- and also ended up deciding not to do the cover. Nonetheless, it was a thrill to be able to talk with the man whose comics had had such a profound impact on my life. And while he could be prickly at times, he was also very friendly and kind enough to spend twenty minutes on the phone with a die-hard fan who had called him from out of the blue. His personality was every bit as memorable as his art.
- Glenn Phillips, July 7th, 2018
This was posted by Glenn the night the world discovered we'd lost Ditko. I'd found his letter in Fantastic Four #45 (Dec. 1965), recognized this classic Southern rocker's name, and wrote to confirm the Atlanta letter-writer was Glenn. That's when Glenn shared his Ditko highlight with me. (We'll talk about that letter in a future post!)
If you cut your teeth on 1960's/ early 70's counter culture, I just know you enjoyed Glenn's story. I should really ask him to expand that Fillmore East experience going on in the background of the Ditko call! Rightly, Glenn made it a tribute to Steve. But make no mistake, this guitarist is honestly one of the finest composers and players of his generation still toiling on new material. I recommend his intricate, layered, powerful music to anyone who may've missed Glenn. Col. Bruce Hampton and the band are legends, so give his 1971 LP with them a listen, too. To be the Columbia record that, at the time, only outsold a yoga record, it's really not bad!
But do yourself a favor and check out the Glenn Phillips' band's body of work. He's a talent I'd put on par with the Robin Trowers of the rock world, easily. AT the risk of embarrassing him, I'll leave the assessment to you- and maybe write critically about his albums some other time. But let the 'turn table' tell the tale.
Copy link, check it out:
https://glennphillips.myfreesites.net/
https://glennphillips.myfreesites.net/
And as always, Face Front!
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