Bill Eppridge

The sad news of David Carradine’s departure left me thinking about my days in Southern California — Laurel Canyon to be more precise. I moved there in the late ’60s to be in the West; I wanted to shoot outdoors stories after the terrible incidents of 1968, and the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy.

My house in Laurel Canyon was just below Carradine’s — at least a 100 steps separated us. Often there would be parties at his place, complete with gunshots, smashing glass and really loud music. On weekends we never had to light our pool at night. The LAPD did it for us, with helicopter spotlights. I saw him occasionally in passing.

One day, I was assigned to photograph Carradine at his house. (It’s been a long time and so I really can’t remember what publication it was for.) As per prior arrangement, early the next morning, I carried about sixty pounds of gear up the steep steps to his front porch, and knocked on the door. No answer, so I banged harder. I heard some grumbling noises coming from somewhere below. Then, heard someone speaking in the manner of being rudely awakened, also from below. The gruff voice said, “Awww shit, just wait a fuggin’ minute.”

I looked down and from way back underneath the porch, came crawling, covered with dirt, David Carradine. Followed by an equally begrimed but beautiful young lady — actress Barbara Hershey (at that time she was going by the name, “Seagull.”)

David squinted up at me and said “Oh … hi Eppridge. Weather was so nice we decided to camp out last night. I’ve got coffee on down here. You want some?”

I politely declined — I couldn’t be sure it was only coffee. And so the shoot started. It was the early ’70s after all, and this was not really an unusual thing to be doing in Laurel Canyon.

(© Bill Eppridge)

Santana takes the stage at the Woodstock Music Festival.

(© Bill Eppridge)

A flute player and drummer in the woods at the Woodstock Music Festival in 1969.

Woodstock ‘69 organizer Michael Lang does a little side-by-side comparison to see how he’s holding up 40 years after his festival. Overall, not bad! Same smile, same shaggy haircut. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Both photos by yours truly.

Cheerz,
Bill

Pete Hamill chats with fellow guests at the event for Eddie Adams: Vietnam. (© Bill Eppridge)

There was a huge turn-out for the opening and book signing of photographer Eddie Adams book, Eddie Adams: Vietnam — authored by his wife, Alyssa Adamas — at the Umbrage Gallery in Brooklyn. See more of my pictures from the event on the Still Rivers blog. And pick up the book here.

Cheerz,
Bill

Update: The New York Post did a small item on the event.

The December issue of Smithsonian magazine has a nice write-up on my picture of 12 year-old Ben Chaney going to the funeral of his older brother — civil rights worker James Chaney, who was murdered, alongside two other activists, in Mississippi in 1964. (The case was the basis of the film Mississippi Burning.)

Pick up the magazine, or read the story here.

Cheerz,
Bill

Hi Everyone:

I’ll be giving a talk at the PDN/Photoplus Conference at the Javits Center in Manhattan this afternoon at 4:45 p.m. If you’re in the area, please feel free to swing by and say hello.

Cheerz,
Bill

A Time It Was received a nice plug in the NY Times Book Review last Sunday.

Thanks again everyone for the nice e-mails and comments. I really appreciate it.

Cheerz,
Bill

The hardcover non-fiction list for June 22nd, 2008. We’re in at #35. (You can view the full list on nytimes.com or a screengrab of it here.)

This weekend, A Time It Was made the New York Times bestseller list for hardcover non-fiction. Thanks so much to everyone who has picked up the book! It means a lot.

In the meantime, here are a few other stories on the book that have appeared in the press in the past few weeks: my former LIFE colleague Bobbi Baker Burrows was nice enough to write something on the project (and me) for Digital Journalist, and there have been other stories in the Baltimore Sun, CNN American Morning and NPR. There’s also a small excerpt from the book on the History News Network.

Thanks again for all of your support.

Cheerz,
Bill

If you happen to be channel surfing in the coming week, you may catch me on the air chatting about the release of A Time It Was. If you’d like to tune in, here’s a rundown of what the very kind folks at Judy Twersky public relations have set up:

Sunday, June 1st, 2008: I’m scheduled to be on CBS Sunday Morning this weekend. (You can find local listings here.) Update: Video is now online.

Thursday, June 5th, 2008: If everything goes according to plan, I’ll be on The Today Show at some point during the 8 o’clock hour, after which I’ll make my way over to WNYC 93.9 FM Radio to talk to Leonard Lopate. His show airs at noon. If you’re not in NYC, you can also listen in online.

Friday, June 6th, 2008: Joe Scarborough’s morning program, Morning Joe, on MSNBC, will have me on as a guest about 8 a.m.

Thanks again for all of the support!