Pacific Northwest Music Scene of the 1960s | Photos by Jini Dellaccio, 1917-2014
Jini Dellaccio, The Sonics, 1965
Jini Dellaccio, The Wailers, 1964
Jini Dellaccio, The Artesians, Washington, February 1965
Jini Dellaccio, Blues Magoos playing a live show at the Seattle Center Coliseum,
Washington, July 15, 1967
Don and the Goodtimes outdoor photo shoot with band members looking out at a lake, Washington, 1966
Jini Dellaccio, Ron Gardner of The Wailers, 1966
Merrilee Rush and the Turnabouts, Washington, 1966
The Beau Brummels, Seattle Center Coliseum, Washington, January 1, 1966
The Bards making shadows against a white backdrop, Washington, 1969
The Galaxies, Washington, October 1966
The Daily Flash, Gig Harbor, 1966
The Beach Boys at the “New Year’s Spectacular” concert at the Seattle Center Coliseum, 1966
The Shangri-Las, 1966
Jini Dellaccio (1917 – 2014)
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Jini Dellaccio (1917 – 2014) was best known for her images of the Pacific Northwest
music scene in the 1960s. But Jini came to photography later in life. She was a musician
first, a homemaker and a painter. She didn’t even pick up a camera until she was in her 40s.
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By 1964 the members of one of the Northwest’s most popular rock bands, the Wailers,
based in Tacoma, were looking to upgrade the quality of the cover art of their records,
which they released on their own label, Etiquette Records. They contacted graphic designer
John Vlahovich, who recommended they speak to promotions-man Barrie R. Jackson.
Jackson had seen Dellaccio’s exhibit at the Tacoma Art Museum, and suggested that they ask
her to do the album cover shoot. She agreed, but instead of photographing them at her home
studio, she had them walk around a local park. The resultant photos were used on the
Vlahovich-designed cover of the album Wailers, Wailers, Everywhere.
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It was a misty day and the young men climbed up into the big fir trees.
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“I started doing pictures, started getting inspired. Because I could see how beautiful
these kids looked out in the trees,” Jini said.
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The band loved the atmospheric pictures. So did their record companies.
They hired Jini to photograph other bands.
Neil Young, 1967
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One day Jini flew to LA to meet a musician for a prospective shoot. She had no idea who
he was and the record company executive introduced him simply as Neil.
“I said, ‘Neil, what is your last name?’ He said, ‘Just Neil.’”
His last name was Young.
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His portrait is one of Jini’s best–known works. The photograph, taken from below, shows
Neil Young’s face, surrounded by the hanging fringe from his jacket sleeves. Jini had asked
him to climb onto the garage roof so she could get a better shot.
“I said, ‘If you get on the roof, we’d have the sky.’ So he said, ‘I can get up there
all right. Now what?’ And I said, ‘Fly like a bird.’”
Jini Dellaccio: With a Loving Eye from Jini Dellaccio on Vimeo.
