Renowned music photographer Richard McCaffrey is releasing a new book this week, one that can serve as a children’s ABC primer and will also look great on the coffee table.
“Richard’s Rock & Roll Alphabet” includes photos of famous musicians arranged A-Z, taken from throughout McCaffrey’s illustrious career. Here’s more from the press release…
Sound Sights Publishing of Providence announces the limited-edition release of their first book: Richard’s Rock & Roll Alphabet. The 70-page book features an A-to-Z of artists and bands from Richard McCaffrey’s collection, as well as pictures and descriptions of the venues where the photographs were taken. Each of the 199 books in this initial limited run will be numbered and signed by Richard and the books developer and designer Robert Blunt.
The books are available for purchase at POP Emporium of Popular Culture (219 W Park Street, Providence, RI 02908), Round Again Records (278 Wickenden Street, Providence, RI 02903), Patrick’s Pub (381 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908), and on Richard’s website: richardmccaffrey.net.
In celebration of the book’s release Richard and Robert will host the following book signing events:
· July 8, 2021 — 7:00pm – 9:00pm @ Muldowney’s Pub (121 Empire Street, Providence, RI 02903)
· July 9, 2021 — 7:00pm – 9:00pm @ Patrick’s Pub (381 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908)
· July 10, 2021- 2:00pm – 4:00pm @ Round Again Records (278 Wickenden Street, Providence, RI 02903)
· July 10, 2021- 5:00pm – 7:00pm @ POP Emporium of Popular Culture (219 W Park Street, Providence, RI 02908)
About the Authors
Richard McCaffrey, from Providence, Rhode Island started his career as a US Army photographer while serving in Hawaii in 1964. He studied photography at Franklin Institute of Boston and after graduating in 1967, he worked as a photographer and photo lab technician at Brown University. In 1968-69 he worked at Adler’s and Mark III Studios in Providence as a commercial photographer. In 1970 he started a design and photography studio with Raye Santos called “Two Dimensions”. In 1971 Richard, Raye, and Lou Papineau founded an early alternative newspaper called “The Point” which covered the local and national counterculture issues of the time. A significant part of the paper was devoted to music, which was when he started his career as a photographer in the music industry.
Richard moved to the San Francisco Bay area in 1973. During the 1970’s & 80’s he freelanced for magazines such as Rolling Stone, Billboard, Creem Magazine and many other publications. He was Chief Photographer for “BAM, The California Music Magazine” from 1976 – 1986 and also worked with Bill Graham Presents, bands and record companies. In 1979 he co-founded “Eye Gallery” a non-profit photo gallery, Community lab and studio in the Mission District of San Francisco and was Board Chairman from 1982 – 1984.
Richard moved back to Providence in 1991 where he became the staff photographer for “The Providence Phoenix” until 2014; he now contributes to “GoLocalProv” online news. Richard is represented by Getty Images and his photographs appear in numerous national and international publications, books, television and film documentaries such as Ken Burns “Country Music” on PBS, “Laurel Canyon” on EPIX, and “Belushi” on Showtime.
Robert Blunt was born in Baltimore, Maryland to a military family and grew up moving around the United States. He started playing music at an early age and has been a touring musician in a number of bands. Robert continues writing music and playing in bands.
For the past 20 years he has worked in the communications departments for various non-profit organizations, labor unions, and political campaigns across the country – including as a researcher for Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign and deputy research director for Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign. Over the course of his career, Robert’s responsibilities resulted in him quickly acquiring various skills, learning to use a variety of online and software tools, and reporting directly to myriad audiences on his findings.
Robert moved back to Rhode Island in 2015 and met Richard who he bonded with over similar interests in music. One evening at Patrick’s Pub (Providence, RI) Robert told Richard about his new niece, Isabelle, and asked if Richard had photos of bands and artists that covered the whole alphabet, with the hope of creating a way for her to learn the alphabet and associate letters with amazing artists and bands.
After many months of conversations between the two over which artists to include and which images best captured their gravitas, Robert used skills from work experience to design and write this limited-edition book.