Today Jorma Kaukonen turns 75. In honor of the occasion, photographer Jay Blakesberg posted his very first photograph ever published in print, which we ran in Relix magazine.

On his Facebook page, Jay explains…

75 years old today – 12/23/15  Photo taken 11.18.1978 – NYC

This picture of Jorma is the very first photo I ever had published in print. I was 16 years old. After a solo Jorma show at the Capitol Theater in Passaic NJ, my friend “Lozzy” who drove us to the show said we were going to follow Jorma’s Limo in to NYC. We really didn’t even think about what we would do once we got to wherever he was going.

Jorma stopped at a mid-town Deli for some late night food, and we followed him in. I had my fathers borrowed camera and said, Hey Jorma, how about a smile, and this is what he gave me.

I sent the photo to Relix magazine with the story and they published it in the letters to the editor section. I still shoot for Relix Magazine today…