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My Ramones: Photographs by Danny Fields
“The Ramones knocked me over like an atomic wind.” ―Danny Fields Danny Fields first saw the Ramones play at CBGBs in New York in 1974, and instantly offered to manage them, also setting them up with a record deal. Originally published in a rare limited edition, My Ramones features more than 200 photographs from Danny’s personal collection of one of the most loved and well-known bands from the last four decades. Danny managed the band from the ground up, accompanying them across Europe and America, while also photographing them at work with fans and during more informal moments. Taken between 1975 and 1977, Field’s photographs offer a rare insight into the lives of the band on tour, backstage and recording their first album. The images are further brought alive by his accompanying commentary and memories and recollections from Michael Stipe, Seymour Stein and David Johansen. This is a unique and special volume of a mythical time. A legendary manager, publicist, journalist and label exec, Danny Fields (born 1941) was at the heart of every significant movement in rock music for two decades and was present for for the birth of punk in both America and the UK. He was a significant player in launching the careers of the Doors, the Ramones, the MC5, the Stooges and others, and was the ultimate scenester of the ‘60s and ‘70s, hanging out with Warhol, Nico, Linda McCartney, Edie Sedgwick, Alice Cooper and Lou Reed. In a recent documentary on his life, Danny Says , Alice Cooper remarked that he “seemed to be at the pulse of the underground, “ and Iggy Pop observed that “Danny’s a connector, he’s a fuel line, a place where things are liable to erupt.”
- GenresMusicPhotographyArt
172 pages, Hardcover
Published March 27, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 7, 2018
I love the Ramones. I don't always love books about them or books that mention them. This one I loved.
Danny Fields takes great photos, you can see it in these pages. These were photos taken with film, that means no chimping on a phone or on a DSLR. While I'm sure there were his fair share of ones that didn't turn out, it doesn't matter because we are left with these fantastic photos of the early days of the Ramones in celebration of the 40 year anniversary of the release of their first album and tour (2016). Forty years, where did that time go?
The commentary surrounding the photos is just what I hoped it would be. It reminded me of when you would get a magazine as a teenager that had your favorite singer on the cover with a photo spread inside the cover with commentary that told you tidbits about this person you idolized. I would pore over every detail in the article and the liners under the photos; the same way I pored over liner notes in their albums and (fingers crossed) the words to the music were included. Danny's commentary instilled that same feeling of finding out just enough new information about an artist you love, for example, where Joey Ramone bought his legendary jeans. Danny tells stories, offers insight, says more about the photo itself (why it was taken, where, things to know), and shares it all in a way that tells you he loved these guys. If you loved the Ramones too, how can that not make you love this book?
I hope there are more books by him on the Ramones in the future. I also hope that Leica gives him a camera and some lens to use.
Danny Fields takes great photos, you can see it in these pages. These were photos taken with film, that means no chimping on a phone or on a DSLR. While I'm sure there were his fair share of ones that didn't turn out, it doesn't matter because we are left with these fantastic photos of the early days of the Ramones in celebration of the 40 year anniversary of the release of their first album and tour (2016). Forty years, where did that time go?
The commentary surrounding the photos is just what I hoped it would be. It reminded me of when you would get a magazine as a teenager that had your favorite singer on the cover with a photo spread inside the cover with commentary that told you tidbits about this person you idolized. I would pore over every detail in the article and the liners under the photos; the same way I pored over liner notes in their albums and (fingers crossed) the words to the music were included. Danny's commentary instilled that same feeling of finding out just enough new information about an artist you love, for example, where Joey Ramone bought his legendary jeans. Danny tells stories, offers insight, says more about the photo itself (why it was taken, where, things to know), and shares it all in a way that tells you he loved these guys. If you loved the Ramones too, how can that not make you love this book?
I hope there are more books by him on the Ramones in the future. I also hope that Leica gives him a camera and some lens to use.
April 26, 2025
It was great reading Danny Fields’ My Ramones alongside Lisa Robinson’s There Goes Gravity and watching the documentary, Danny Says. Though I’ve been listening to The Ramones since high school, I was never particularly curious about learning about them. I’ve always shared the cliche opinion that the Ramones are dumb-smart. I liked them for that, but it didn’t inspire me to look further. The music speaks for itself–what more is there to discover? Other CBGB bands with “artier” reputations like Television, Patti Smith, etc. naturally inspired more investigation. But watching the film and reading this and Robinson’s books proved that the band is deceptively interesting.
Fields himself is very interesting. He is enviable for achieving the near impossible: he’s an outsider who made it to the inside, without losing himself in the process. He was at the right place at the right time. Namely, that brief period in the music industry’s history that not only tolerated but financed fringe cultural characters to sign up and manage their friends’ bands and other artists who belonged to underground scenes.
Fields’ photographs and accompanying text are great partly for illustrating the scene from which both Fields and The Ramones emerged. It’s easy to forget that the punk scenes that sprouted in places like NYC and LA were not “punk.” They were just collections of weirdos with deviant lifestyles, fashion, art, and music who liked to party. Forgetting this, one might be confused why such dramatically different-sounding music is lumped together as punk. Without this context, looking at the band, one might conclude that The Ramones are just another group of 4 rock n roll guys. This book helps deepen the story that they were part of a scene that included glam rockers, drag queens, and others who didn’t bother with things like defining their genders or sexualities.
One of the differences between The Ramones and other rock groups in their scene was their paradoxical treatment of Americana. They were American pop culture junkies to the extreme. Apparently they hated their early UK tours (captured in the book) for the simple reason that it was different from the US and that they couldn’t easily find cheeseburgers or air conditioning. The photos here portray them, of course, in their everyday uniform of denim jackets, white sneakers, bluejeans, and cartoon t-shirts (like Dee Dee’s Mickey Mouse T), the amalgam of which is as archetypically American-looking as the Marlboro Man. And at the same time, they were a repudiation of dominant American culture at the time. As everyone knows, bands like The Ramones blew up the dinosaur rock and hippie hangover styles that dominated rock at the time.
Fields himself is very interesting. He is enviable for achieving the near impossible: he’s an outsider who made it to the inside, without losing himself in the process. He was at the right place at the right time. Namely, that brief period in the music industry’s history that not only tolerated but financed fringe cultural characters to sign up and manage their friends’ bands and other artists who belonged to underground scenes.
Fields’ photographs and accompanying text are great partly for illustrating the scene from which both Fields and The Ramones emerged. It’s easy to forget that the punk scenes that sprouted in places like NYC and LA were not “punk.” They were just collections of weirdos with deviant lifestyles, fashion, art, and music who liked to party. Forgetting this, one might be confused why such dramatically different-sounding music is lumped together as punk. Without this context, looking at the band, one might conclude that The Ramones are just another group of 4 rock n roll guys. This book helps deepen the story that they were part of a scene that included glam rockers, drag queens, and others who didn’t bother with things like defining their genders or sexualities.
One of the differences between The Ramones and other rock groups in their scene was their paradoxical treatment of Americana. They were American pop culture junkies to the extreme. Apparently they hated their early UK tours (captured in the book) for the simple reason that it was different from the US and that they couldn’t easily find cheeseburgers or air conditioning. The photos here portray them, of course, in their everyday uniform of denim jackets, white sneakers, bluejeans, and cartoon t-shirts (like Dee Dee’s Mickey Mouse T), the amalgam of which is as archetypically American-looking as the Marlboro Man. And at the same time, they were a repudiation of dominant American culture at the time. As everyone knows, bands like The Ramones blew up the dinosaur rock and hippie hangover styles that dominated rock at the time.
February 24, 2022
There was a fancy limited edition UK release of this book with extras (glossy band photo by Mr. Fields included.) I purchased it mailorder — London to Hawaii. Big bucks. At the time I had no idea that this more affordable edition would hit the shelves about a year later.
Excellent book by someone who was deeply involved in the band’s early career.
Excellent book by someone who was deeply involved in the band’s early career.
November 16, 2018
What an amazing treasure! I spent quite a penny to get one of the first 300 with a Danny Fields signed Ramones print (#60) in this specially printed and bound edition of 1300. So amazing to see these candid photos with descriptions and tales from Danny himself. It's astounding what the guys from Queens unintentionally did for music. Such an influence. They'll never die!
February 14, 2020
A wonderful hardback full of beautiful photos of the Ramones accompanied with little stories, makes this book a delight to flick through or spend time with whilst gazing at the photos. 10/10 from Danny Fields. Would love to see the photos that didn't make it, too.
December 29, 2018
Quick read. Lots of cool pics. Amazing that Joey’s been gone almost 18 years already. I hope to make it to the Ramones museum in Berlin someday.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews