You can't even comprehend the number of fascinating stories he tells me over coffee about Richards and other legends he's photographed and befriended.

"I was at a party that Jeff Beck had. (Richards) shows up with this crusty guy that I could not believe. He was more crusty than Keith. And it was on a boat, and he was rocking, and so was Keith. And you kept thinking he was gonna topple over, but he didn't. Toward the end of the evening, they were going to leave. They were bagging food off the buffet. I said to Jeff, I said, 'Who's that guy with Keith Richards?' He said, 'That's his dad.' "

On Saturday, you can glimpse more of Knight's life and famous friends, plus some acts he's championed (like "Sick Puppies"), when the Mirage screens an award-winning documentary on him called "Rock Prophecies." It's free at 2 p.m.

Knight grew up in Hawaii, where he was pals with Bette Midler when "she was somebody's secretary." In Hawaii and in San Francisco (where he went to art school and started shooting at the Fillmore), he framed and got to know David Bowie, Santana and Jimi Hendrix and a hall-of-fame of rock stars.

He and his friend Elton John used to rent motorcycles and run around Hawaii.

He got tiny money for shooting rock shows and backstage scenes, compared to huge sums he earned photographing models and advertisements for tourist bureaus, airlines and hotels.

"I think I got $500 doing the photography for Cat Stevens' 'Greatest Hits.' And I think that same week I got a $4,000 job from the Sheraton," he tells me.

In his teens, he convinced Jann Wenner to let him shoot for Rolling Stone a band he championed that few yet knew, called the New Yardbirds, which would change their name to Led Zeppelin.

So then, Knight shot Zeppelin at the Whiskey A Go Go, then on the Honolulu runway while they held master tapes for "Led Zeppelin II." From there, he drove the band in his Volkswagen bug to an FM station for a DJ interview. Photos of those and other history pack his art book, "Rock Gods: Forty Years of Rock Photography."

At the time of the Zeppelin shoots, he was already familiar with Jimmy Page.

"When I first saw Jimmy Page, he was in the Tom Jones band. This was pre-Led Zeppelin. That was a paying gig, and he was offered a gig in the Yardbirds. He turned it down and recommended Jeff Beck, because he had this big-paying gig with Tom Jones."

In the '80s, Knight moved to L.A. He moved to Vegas five years ago with his wife of 20 years, the photographer Maryanne Bilham. He's never done drugs, he says. Thus, he's alive and working. He won't tell you the most lurid and descriptive stories he witnessed backstage and in hotel rooms, because he values his friendships.

But you can read more about him in my blog, where he talks about hanging out with his friend Stevie Ray Vaughan the day before Vaughan died:

"The last thing he said to me," Knight says, "was, 'Listen, when it's your time to go, there's nothing you can do about it.'"

At Saturday's movie, Knight probably will be seen in his usual ensemble of leather coat, black-rimmed glasses and beret. He likes to be easy to spot.

"Because I (photograph) a lot of guys who've done a lot of drugs over the years, and they'll orient on the hat faster than anything. Ronnie Wood will see me at a Rolling Stones concert and say, 'Robert, were you just in Paris?'"

TONIGHT

Tommy Lee spins as DJ at RumJungle for the opening of Mandalay Bay's world's biggest tattoo show (free for locals all weekend). Confirmed celebs, rockers and UFC stars to walk a 9:30 p.m. red carpet at rumjungle include Tommy Lee, Jerry Cantrell, Robin Antin, Mick Fleetwood, Mix Master Mike, Mark McGrath and Chuck Liddell.

Contact Doug Elfman at 383-0391 or e-mail him at delfman@reviewjournal. com. He also blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.