School of Rock: Local photographer has bumped elbows with music royalty

Richard McCaffrey recalls amazing tales of time spent with Springsteen, Zeppelin and more

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) – What do you think when you hear names like, Springsteen, Skynyrd or AC/DC?

Rock legends, right?

Well, imagine if I told you that a local photographer got to spend his career touring and photographing them!

Richard McCaffrey, a Providence native began his accomplished career as an Army photographer in the mid-60s.  It wasn’t until 1973, when McCaffrey moved to California that his career really took off.

“In the beginning I just paid to go to shows to take pictures and then I’d send them in to magazines, ” McCaffrey said.  Those magazines were big ones, too.  His pictures were published in both Rolling Stone and Billboard.

“I believe (my first show) was Lynyrd Skynyrd,” McCaffrey recalled. “They were on their first tour and I had some contacts with the record company.”

From there, it was Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen and AC/DC that McCaffrey toured with, documenting everything.  The stories that accompanied his pictures were even more amazing.  He’s now documenting it all in a brand new book called, “Richard’s Rock & Roll Alphabet.”

“It’s just an ABC book essentially of rock n roll artists. Starting from Aerosmith to Zappa,” McCaffrey said.

The book’s co-author is Robert Blunt. He met Richard at a local Providence bar years ago and felt people needed to see and hear Richard’s work.

“It’s more of a celebration of music and photography and an era and sort of like a vibe,” Blunt said.

You can find more out about the book and see more of Richard’s work HERE!