WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE?: Double Check Your Head - Beastie Boys (+ some unpublished photos)

Monday, October 5, 2009

Double Check Your Head - Beastie Boys
(+ some unpublished photos)

My friend Luke just found this blender photo including the LP cover I shot for the Beastie Boys "Check Your Head". Max Tannone formally known as "Minty Fresh Beats" has put together a pretty fucking cool Beastie Boys mash-up that actually mashes up some cuts from the Beastie Boys "Check Your Head" with other songs from the Beastie Boys "Check Your Head". Max also did the infamous Jadiohead mash-up.

Then I put two and two together and realized Max was a part of the softball game i played in all season that Adam Horovitz puts together. I had no idea that this is what he does. But may i say, not only is he nice with the mixing and mashing, but i'd be willing to say he's just as nice with his on the softball field.

That all said, let me throw in a few extra shots from that "Check Your Head" photo session we did the monday after Thanksgiving in 1991, purely on the strength. This was not an assignment, in fact the Beasties told me they already had a cover idea for the album done. I was in town visiting family for the holiday and went by to hang out with the Beasties at their G-Son studio after not seeing them since they left New York. We were playing basketball goofing around while listening to the album as they were working on sequencing or something. I was blown away and inspired, this being the 1st time hearing it and the 1st time they had picked up their own instruments in a long while. So before i got on the plane back to New York I set up the day to shoot them. We hung out, threw around a few ideas and came up with these great photos that have since become iconic. The original LP cover in fact came from a FAX i sent to them, previewing the prints i would put in the mail a few days later. The way i remember it, they were so late on the cover due to the switch and so stoked on the image, that they just used the fax!