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Photos: Iconic Shots of the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and More

Rolling Stone's first chief photographer, Baron Wolman, opens his vault

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Jerry Garcia

When Jerry Garcia arrived at Baron Wolman’s house in the summer of 1969 for a Rolling Stone shoot, the magazine’s chief photographer had no idea that Garcia was going to open up. The Grateful Dead guitarist was in a relaxed mood, and he began making funny gestures with his right hand. Only later did Wolman realize what he’d captured: the stub of what remained of Garcia’s middle finger, which had been chopped off in a childhood accident. “Jerry usually kept it out of sight – most people didn’t know about it,” Wolman re-calls. “It was the first time he revealed it so publicly.”

Rolling Stone’s chief lensman during its first three years (1967-70), Wolman shot some of the most memorable, unguarded images of the era. Many of them are collected in The Rolling Stone Years, a new collection of his work to be published by Omnibus in September.

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