Showing posts with label 1964. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1964. Show all posts

Sunday, February 25, 2024

60 Years Ago Today, February 25, 1964: Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) Shocked the World

 


Forthcoming exhibition: 1964

April 19 - June 23, 2024

The most pivotal year of the 1960s, arguably, is 1964. That’s the year American culture fractured and eventually split along ideological lines — old vs. young; hip vs. square; poor vs. rich; liberal vs. conservative — establishing the poles of societal debate that are still raging today.


Monday, June 12, 2023

On-Line Exhibition: 1964 - The Beatles and Their Cameras

 



black and white photograph by Bill Eppridge of Paul McCartny with a camera held to his eye, 1964
by Bill Eppridge

New virtual exhibition now on line.

In 2020, a trove of nearly a thousand photographs taken by Paul McCartney on a 35mm camera was re-discovered in his archive.  A new book has been published: "Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm", available in June 2023, and selected photographs from the book are on exhibit at The National Portrait Gallery in London. through October 1, 2023.

‘Millions of eyes were suddenly upon us, creating a picture I will never forget for the rest of my life.’ --Paul McCartney

Bill Eppridge was at John F. Kennedy airport on February 7, 1964 on assignment for Life magazine to cover The Beatles arrival at JFK airport. He was then invited to continue shooting in their room at the Plaza Hotel and during the days that followed, notably at the Ed Sullivan Show rehearsal and historic performance; in Central Park; on a train ride to Washington, D.C., for the concert at the Washington Coliseum; at the British embassy; and at their renowned performance at Carnegie Hall.

"One morning my boss said, 'Look, we've got a bunch of British musicians coming into town. They're called the Beatles. These were four very fine young gentlemen, and great fun to be around," Eppridge recalled. After he introduced himself to Ringo, who consulted with John, the group asked what he wanted them to do while being photographed for Life. "I'm not going to ask you to do a thing," was Eppridge's reply. "I just want to be here." --Bill Eppridge


View the exhibit here.

Monday, July 7, 2014

FREEDOM SUMMER

 
 
 
 
 
In the hot and deadly summer of 1964, the nation’s eyes were riveted on Mississippi.
 
freedom summer
 

Over ten memorable weeks known as Freedom Summer, more than 700 student volunteers joined with organizers and local African Americans in an historic effort to shatter the foundations of white supremacy in Mississippi, the nation’s most segregated state. The summer was marked by sustained and deadly violence, including the notorious murders of three civil rights workers, countless beatings, the burning of thirty-five churches, and the bombing of seventy homes and community centers.

In the face of this violence, these organizers, volunteers, and Mississippians worked together to canvass for voter registration, create Freedom Schools, and establish an alternative challenge to the State Democratic Party — the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Borne of Freedom Summer, and in response to the challenges of registering voters directly within hostile Mississippi, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party registered its own voters outside of the discriminatory system, ultimately sending a delegation of 68 members to attend the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City to confront and unseat the all-white delegation.

Directed by award-winning documentary filmmaker and MacArthur "Genius" Fellow Stanley Nelson (Freedom Riders, The Murder of Emmett Till), FREEDOM SUMMER highlights an overlooked but essential element of the Civil Rights Movement: the patient and long-term efforts by both outside activists and local citizens in Mississippi to organize communities and register black voters — even in the face of intimidation, physical violence and death. The Freedom Summer story reminds us that the movement that ended segregation was far more complex than most of us know.

American Experience will broadcast the film this summer, which marks both the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer and the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's Shelby County v. Holder decision, which struck down key protections afforded by the landmark civil rights legislation borne of the political momentum generated by this historical movement — The Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Join  the Bronx Documentary Center this Saturday, July 12, at 8:15 PM for Freedom Summer
Film by Emmy award-winner Stanley Nelson followed by panel discussion with veterans of the 1964 Freedom Rides. The event is part of the Bronx Documentary Center’s summer exhibition and program series, The 60s: Decade of Change.

Watch online via PBS here.

Related: June 21, 1964: The Murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner

 

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

"a celebration of the LIFE magazine photographer who famously shadowed an unknown act in the US on February 1964, The Beatles"


Screaming Girls, JFK Airport, NY, Febraury 7, 964. Copyright Bill Eppridge


Copyright Bill Eppridge

“Ladies and Gentlemen The Beatles!”

April 22, 2014
 
Hot off the heels of When Cool Was King, Monroe Gallery of Photography unveils their latest, Bill Eppridge: 1964, a celebration of the LIFE magazine photographer who famously shadowed an unknown act in the US on February 1964, The Beatles.
 
Eppridge was at John F Kennedy airport on assignment for the mag. After consulting with John Lennon, Ringo Starr gave the OK to Eppridge to shadow the group for the next few days and exposed American masses to the British sensation.
 
“Bill never set pictures up; he liked to find pictures and make pictures that way,” Eppridge’s widow Adrienne Aurichio tells SFR.
 
Eppridge’s assignment was just to capture the Fab Four’s arrival. “But nobody expected what happened out there,” she says of the group of rabid fans, some 3,000 strong. 
 
“Bill was somebody who actually did a lot of photo essays,” Aurichio continues. “He liked to do stories in-depth, which is why he stayed with The Beatles for six days.” 
 
The photographer’s gumption paid off and resulted in iconic shots like the group hanging out inside their room at the Plaza Hotel, practicing for their career-making debut on The Ed Sullivan Show and later performing at Carnegie Hall.
 
Those shots are now immortalized in the book The Beatles: Six Days that Changed the World, which Aurichio edited before her husband’s untimely death in October of last year.
 
Aurichio presents and signs the book at the art opening this Friday.
 
“When he saw things happening, he would just follow the story,” she says of her late husband’s approach. “He would try and tell the story as if he were describing it to you and you as a writer would write it. He wanted to show you the story in his pictures, so he would methodically go about it.”

 

Bill Eppridge: 1964
5-7 pm Friday, April 25
Monroe Gallery of Photography
112 Don Gaspar Ave.,
992-08

Thursday, April 10, 2014

AIPAD Phorography Show Day 1: Book signing for "The Beatles: Six Day That Changed the World"



John Lennon on the train from New York to Washington for the Beatles' concert at Washington Coliseum, Feb. 11, 1964
John Lennon on the train to New York after the Beatles' concert at
Washington Coliseum, Feb. 11, 1964
 
 
Astonishing, richly spontaneous, and almost entirely unpublished images of the Beatles’ historic first trip to the United States, as chronicled by  award-winning LIFE photographer Bill Eppridge  given unique access to their tour. Published to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the Beatles’ first visit to the United States, this rare and mostly unseen collection of photographs marks the beginning of the British Invasion. In February 1964, photographer Bill Eppridge was on assignment for Life magazine to cover the band’s arrival at JFK airport. He was then invited to continue shooting in their room at the Plaza Hotel and during the days that followed, notably at the Ed Sullivan Show rehearsal and historic performance; in Central Park; on a train ride to Washington, D.C., for the concert at the Washington Coliseum; at the British embassy; and at their renowned performance at Carnegie Hall. The book is an intimate fly-on-the-wall account of a visit that introduced the Beatles to America and changed the course of music, internationalizing the industry and opening the door for other artists to achieve global success.
 
On Thursday, April 10, there will be a special book signing with Bill Eppridge's wife and editor, Adrienne Aurichio, of Six Days that Changed the World. The book was created before Mr. Eppridge died in 2013, and was published posthumously. Please join us in Booth #421, Monroe Gallery of Photography, from 4 - 6 PM.
 
From April 25 through June 22, the exhibition Bill Eppridge: 1964 will be on view at Monroe Gallery of Photography.
 
More information about the photographs may be seen on the New York Times' LENS blog.
 
 
WestportNow.com Image
Helen Klisser During for WestportNow.com

Thursday, April 3, 2014

The Beatles photographs of Bill Eppridge at the Museum at Bethel Woods Center For the Arts, AIPAD, and Monroe Gallery

The Beatles wait to arrive, Union Station, D.C. Feb 10, 1964. Copyright Bill Eppridge
The Beatles wait to disembark, Pennsylvania Staion, NY, 1964
Copyright Bill Eppridge
 

Photos of the Fab Four's First U.S. Visit by LIFE photographer Bill Eppridge & Beatlemania Memorabilia from the Rod Mandeville Collection



The Museum at Bethel Woods                   
Saturday, April 5 - Sunday, August 17, 2014
Open during regular museum hours

Included in regular museum admision; $5.00 for Special Exhibit ONLY


ON SALE: Tickets by phone: 1-800-745-3000
4/5/2014 10:00 AM

Never-seen photographs shot by LIFE photographer Bill Eppridge as he spent six days photographing the young pop stars during their first visit to the U.S., and their performances on the Ed Sullivan Show. The exhibit will also feature an amazing collection of albums, posters, figurines, pins, fan club ephemera, and collectibles as it explores the idea of fan devotion and Beatlemania.
 
Many of Eppridge's Beatles photographs will be on exhibit during The AIPAD Photography Show April 10 -13 in Booth #421, Monroe Gallery of Photography. On Thursday, April 10, there will be a special book signing with Bill Eppridge's wife and editor, Adrienne Aurichio, of Six Days that Changed the World. The book was created before Mr. Eppridge died in 2013, and was published posthumously.
 
From April 25 through June 22, the exhibition Bill Eppridge: 1964 will be on view at Monroe Gallery of Photography.
More information about the photographs may be seen on the New York Times' LENS blog.

The gelatin silver prints for the exhibition were printed by Catherine Vanaria of Connecticut Photographics.

 
                                     

Thursday, January 30, 2014

The Beatles: Six Days that Changed the World. February 1964



 
February 4, 2014
Published by Rizzoli



To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ first visit to the United States.



"One morning my boss said, 'Look, we've got a bunch of British musicians coming into town. They're called the Beatles.'" Bill Eppridge was at John F. Kennedy airport on February 7, 1964 for the arrival of The Beatles. He continued to photograph The Beatles that day, and over the next several days. He was invited to come up to their room at the Plaza Hotel and "stick with them." "These were four very fine young gentlemen, and great fun to be around," Eppridge recalled. After he introduced himself to Ringo, who consulted with John, the group asked what he wanted them to do while being photographed for Life. "I'm not going to ask you to do a thing," was Eppridge's reply. "I just want to be here." --Bill Eppridge (Read more from the New York Times Lens Blog here.)



The Beatles arrive, February 7, 1964, New York
 


Astonishing, richly spontaneous, and almost entirely unpublished images of the Beatles’ historic first trip to the United States, as chronicled by an award-winning photographer given unique access to their tour. Published to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the Beatles’ first visit to the United States, this rare and mostly unseen collection of photographs marks the beginning of the British Invasion. In February 1964, photographer Bill Eppridge was on assignment for Life magazine to cover the band’s arrival at JFK airport. He was then invited to continue shooting in their room at the Plaza Hotel and during the days that followed, notably at the Ed Sullivan Show rehearsal and historic performance; in Central Park; on a train ride to Washington, D.C., for the concert at the Washington Coliseum; at the British embassy; and at their renowned performance at Carnegie Hall. The book is an intimate fly-on-the-wall account of a visit that introduced the Beatles to America and changed the course of music, internationalizing the industry and opening the door for other artists to achieve global success.
 

Bill Eppridge completed the book with his wife and editor Adrienne Aurichio just before his untimely death in October, 2013. Bill Eppridge's photographs of the Beatles 1964 trip will be featured in the exhibition "Bill Eppridge: 1964", April 25 - June 22 at Monroe Gallery of Photography. The exhibit includes other landmark stories Eppridge covered that year: The 1964 Newport Folk Festival, "Mississippi Burning": the funeral of James Chaney, and Needle Park.



Monroe Gallery of Photography will exhibit Bill Eppridge's photographs in booth #421 during the AIPAD Photography Show in New York April 10 - 13.


Copies of  "The Beatles: Six Day That Changed the World" signed by Adrienne Aurichio are available from the gallery.




Related: NY TIMES Lens: The Beatles Visit, Revisited

              LA Times: The intimate unseen Beatles photographs of Bill Eppridge

              CBS Lost Beatles photographs found

              Exhibit captures U.S. debut of The Beatles


   CNN Landmark show, golden glow: 50 years since The Beatles on 'Ed Sullivan

Sunday, November 17, 2013

“I had no idea what else was available, but I knew Life had to have it.”



 
 
 
 Photo exhibit

Exhibit opening of Life Photographers featuring a special selection of photographs of John F. Kennedy

• 5-7 p.m. Nov. 29 Includes book signing with Richard Stolley


 ©Time Inc.

Related:

  Former 'LIFE' magazine photographer Bob Gomel is sharing his memories of the president and the day he was laid to rest

  Former senior editor of LIFE magazine, Hal Wingo remembers the afternoon of Nov. 22, 1963 vividly

  The Hartford Courant: JFK Assassination: The Zapruder Film, Life Magazine And A Gentleman's Deal
 
 
 
 
 

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Save the date: November 29 - Book signing with Richard B. Stolley "The Day Kennedy Died"


Kennedy’s Assassination: How LIFE Brought the Zapruder Film to Light

Via Life.com





50 years after JFK’s assassination, LIFE.com presents the story of how an editor named Richard Stolley flew straight to Dallas from Los Angeles within hours of the assassination; how he tracked down Zapruder; how he purchased the film for LIFE magazine — and what all of that ultimately came to mean for LIFE, for Zapruder, for Stolley himself and for the nation, then and now.

Having flown from L.A. that afternoon, Stolley was in his hotel in Dallas just hours after the president was shot, “when I got a phone call from a LIFE freelancer in Dallas named Patsy Swank,” Stolley remembers, “and the news she had was absolutely electrifying.  She said that a businessman had taken an eight-millimeter camera out to Dealey Plaza and photographed the assassination. I said, ‘What’s his name?’ She said, ‘[The reporter who told her the news] didn’t spell it out, but I’ll tell you how he pronounced it.  It was Zapruder.’

“I picked up the Dallas phone book and literally ran my finger down the Z’s, and it jumped out at me — the name spelled exactly the way Patsy had pronounced it. Zapruder, comma, Abraham


Richard Stolley will be signing copies of the new book "LIFE: The Day Kenedy Died" during the opening reception for "The LIFE Photographers" exhibition on November 29,  5 - 7 PM, at Monroe Gallery of Photography. The exhibition continues through January 24, 2014.

Monday, August 12, 2013

'One Night In Miami', More Than Clay Beats Liston



Black Muslim leader Malcolm X photographing Cassius Clay, Miami, 1964



This morning National Public Radio did a piece on a new play, "One Night in Miami",  the premise of which is that no one knows where Malcolm X and Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) went after the February, 1964 fight in Miami

WE DO!

"The following day, bolstered by his mentor Malcom X, Clay stepped in front of a room of journalists to declare his conversion to the Nation of Islam. After fielding hostile questions, he voiced the words that would become his lifelong anthem and would forever change the world of sports: “I don’t have to be what you want me to be.”

 
Recently, Bob Gomel recalled: It was February 26, 1964 in a Miami restaurant after Clay won the heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston. Howard Bingham, Ali's personal photographer is seen at the far right above Ali.  Clay's brother Rahaman is seated to Cassius's left (only a fist is visible in the famous frame.) The name and exact location of the restaurant are paled into insignificance.”

 

Monday, March 11, 2013

The excitement and frenzy of Beatlemania is captured in Bill Eppridge exhibit opening Tuesday at the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts in Massachusets


 
The Beatles exiting Pan Am Flight 101 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Feb. 7, 1964. The photograph, taken by Bill Eppridge, is included in the exhibit (Photo by Bill Eppridge. All rights reserved.)


Via The Republican
By Ray Kelly, The Republican
on March 09, 2013

The excitement and frenzy of Beatlemania is captured in a photographic exhibit opening Tuesday at the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield.

The black and white photographs, taken for CBS television and LIFE magazine, recall the arrival of the Fab Four in New York, their historic appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show and much more.

Bill Eppridge, 75, of New Milford, Conn., a contract photographer for LIFE magazine at the time, is responsible for 33 of the 84 photographs in the exhibit. He was initially assigned to cover The Beatles’ airport arrival on Feb. 7, 1964. Instead, he photographed and chronicled their first six days in America.

When Eppridge arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport, he knew that long-haired musicians from England “who have caused a bit of a stir” were about to land.

“I thought this would be ‘four guys getting off a plane,’ but it turned out to be so much more,” Eppridge recalled. “Half of the New York photographer news corps was out there.”

Many members of the press expected a surly, possibly drugged out, rock’n’roll quartet to stumble off Pan Am Flight 101, but were instead charmed by The Beatles, he said.

“They were perfect gentlemen. These guys were laughing, smiling and treating the press with respect – perhaps deserved, perhaps not,” Eppridge said. “They were perfectly synchronized. One could start a sentence and the other could finish it. These guys were intelligent and they had control of the situation.”

He added, “There was something going on. I could feel it.”




Eppridge immediately called Richard Pollard, director of photography at LIFE, and offered to photograph The Beatles at the Plaza Hotel, Ed Sullivan show, Carnegie Hall performance and train trip to a Washington, D.C. concert

Unlike today when photographers typically deal with agents and handlers, Eppridge spoke directly with The Beatles.

Ringo Starr asked of him, “All right Mr. LIFE photographer, what can we do for you?”

“I told him, ‘Mr. Starr, just be yourselves and this will be painless,’” Eppridge responded.

A classical music aficionado, Eppridge experienced a Beatlemaniac’s fondest dream by witnessing the band’s first U.S. performances at CBS-TV Studio 50 (now the Ed Sullivan Theater), Carnegie Hall and the Washington D.C. Coliseum.

“The teenyboppers, the little girls, were just out of their minds. You couldn’t hear yourself from the screaming. You couldn’t hear the music at the concerts,” Eppridge said. “It was wonderfully crazy.”

During those six days, Eppridge shot nearly 100 rolls of 36-exposure film. Four photos were selected for use with LIFE’s Feb. 21, 1964 article "Yeah-Yeah-Yeah!"


life_feb_21_1964.jpg

Eppridge’s negatives went missing for several years before making their way back to him 1994. He is planning a book of his Beatles photography next year.

“As time goes by, you come away with a greater realization of what you have done,” Eppridge said.

While Eppridge never photographed the Fab Four again, he captured other historic moments for LIFE, National Geographic and Sports Illustrated.

He followed Robert F. Kennedy in the months leading up to his assassination on June 5, 1968 in Los Angeles.

Eppridge said he and other journalists viewed Kennedy as “totally reckless” for failing to take stringent security precautions in the wake of his brother’s assassination nearly five years earlier.

Eppridge said he was standing 12 feet behind Kennedy when the fatal shots rang out.

“Having been in Vietnam, I knew what incoming sounded like. The only thing I was wrong about was that I thought it was .25 caliber and it was .22,” Eppridge recalled.

Eppridge photographed the slain presidential candidate on the floor of the Ambassador Hotel.

“You operate on instinct. You do what you have to do,” he said. “You don’t even think about crying. I cried later.”

________

Bill Eppridge will share reflections on his memorable career at the D’Amour Museum on April 21 at 2 p.m.


IF YOU GO
Exhibit: “The Beatles! Backstage and Behind the Scenes”
When: Tuesday through June 2
Where: Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield
Cost: Adults, $15; seniors and college students, $10; ages 3 to 17 year, $8; ages 2 and under and museum members, free. Admission includes all four Springfield Museums. Springfield residents receive free general admission with proof of address
For more info: Call (413) 263-6800 or online at springfieldmuseums.org
 
 
Bill Eppridge will be in atendance during the AIPAD Photography Show in New York at Monroe Gallery of Photography, Booth #419, April 2 - 7, 2013.