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Ric Carter - Chapel Hill's Music Photographer
Ric Carter was Chapel Hill's best counterculture photographer in the 1970s. He came to Chapel Hill from Gates County in 1967 as a 17 year old freshman, and got his first serious camera in 1969, a Yaschica Mat twin-lens reflex. As a student at UNC he learned to develop his own film, and was soon combining his love for music with his passion for photography to document the bands and concerts in the area.
The Byrds at Carmichael Auditorium, UNC Chapel Hill 1971.
Left to right: Clarence White, Roger McGuinn, Gene Parsons, and Skip Battin
Ric Carter, The Chapel Hill photographer whose images have kept our musical memories alive
Frank Zappa fronting his Petit Wazoo Band in Charlotte, November 1972
Carter was also a writer and photographer for the legendary Protean Radish, a newspaper associated with the Southern Student Organizing Committee. Ric has continued his career in photography and journalism throughout his life. He was the photography editor for the Washington Daily News where he was part of the 1990 Community Service Pulitzer Prize winning staff. He is currently the editor of The North Carolina Mason, journal of the Freemasons fraternity in North Carolina.
The J. Giles Band at UNC's Jubilee 1971. Peter Wolf vocals and Danny Klein bass.
In 1971 Duke University had Joe College weekend about the same time UNC had Jubilee. This is Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead. Other performers that year were The Beach Boys, Nils Lofgrin with Grin, and The New Riders of the Purple Sage
Tom Rush at UNC's 1971 Jubilee
What is special about Carter's photography is his vision. If you look at his photographs in this article and look at a more extensive collection at http://cartersxrd.net/Site/Performances/Performances.html you will see his a amazing eye for composition. He knows how to emphasize his subject and eliminate anything that is not important to the picture. There are no distractions in his pictures only an image that captures the artist in performance at that moment.
These are photos of members of South Wing performing at Carmichael Auditorium in Chapel Hill on August 8, 1972. South Wing featured Ed Ibarguen and Scott Madry, and many consider them Chapel Hill's best band of the 1970s. South Wing may have gotten their name from the psychiatric ward at UNC Memorial Hospital where many young Chapel Hillians were involuntarily commited because of drugs, depression, and anti-social behavior.
The Blazers of Chapel Hill 1971
Left to right: Sherman Tate, Joey Earth, Ronny Taylor, and Rodney Underwood
Duane Allman shortly before he died, with the Allman Brothers at UNC's Chapel Hill Jubilee in May 1971
Comments:
Ric Carter
10:34 AM Wed 8/3/2011
Your wish is granted!
Email me for details.
There's an email button on my welcome page.
CartersXRd.net
MPowers
11:55 PM Wed 7/27/2011
Love this page. Started at Chapel Hill Sept 1970. Knew "Grateful Ed" and Nyle Frank among others. Info about Joe College at Dook in '71 is slightly off; it was actually the weekend after Jubilee and the lineup was New Riders of the Purple Sage with Garcia sitting in on pedal steel; the Dead; the Beach Boys; Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Leslie West and Mountain as the closers. Would love to see Ric make some of his concert photos available for purchase. These were also the first pictures I had seen of J Geils at Jubilee.
Mike Powers
Scott Madry
2:11 PM Fri 3/18/2011
Hi there. Yes indeed, the top South Wing pic is of yours truly, the old Seadog, Scott Madry... not quite as skinny now, but I certainly recall playing at Carmichael that night (no need for reverb on the PA, the hall had plenty!), and Ric's amazing ability with a camera. Good times and great pictures.
BangBangSlang
4:57 PM Wed 9/22/2010
Bang Bang Slang is a Chicago-centric music website - we were tipped off to this post on Ric Carter through one of our mutual friends from Chapel Hill and decided to use Chapel Hill Memories as a launching pad to pay homage and spread awareness about the body of Ric Carter's work.
Check out our similar post HERE: http://tinyurl.com/33u8ukx
And also: many, many thanks for the coverage. We're just as excited as the Chapel Hill Memories community to share Mr. Carter's works with thousands in the Midwest.
www.bangbangslangblog.com
-BJH
tim madigan
4:51 PM Mon 8/30/2010
that first south wing picture is scott madry, not scott verner, though he was in the band as well as mike gallimore, ben levange and jeff harrison
David Labell
11:11 AM Fri 8/27/2010
South Wing did indeed feature "Grateful" Ed Ibarguen and Scott Verner, but the blond-haired acoustic guitarist is Scott Maddry.
That band gave a great stage show. Great fellows, too.
J Byrd
11:08 PM Mon 5/24/2010
Thanx Charly and Ric! Pic#1 did this fella proud! Not related to them, but always love to think so! PS Just linked your site to another and I'll bet you start getting overloaded! Keep up the good work!
Ric Carter
6:19 PM Wed 5/19/2010
His invisibility was the result of lighting reflexes honed in ice crashing MGs and usurping the campaigns of sham-revolutionaries running for student office. Should he buy or sell? Meet me at Linda's--say when. Delta Lambda Alpha Mu!
Richard Halfcock
5:55 PM Wed 5/19/2010
It's difficult to say percisely when Ric first went weird but by the time of the crystal slides he was so far around the bend one couldn't see him with a mirror. For verification, just ask any Italian or victim of the Telergy Group--No Plan.
Bob Harrison
1:12 PM Fri 5/14/2010
Great photos and article, but it is so sad to see so many great talents in these pictures who are no longer with us including, Frank Zappa, Duane Allman, Jerry Garcia, Rodney Underwood, and Clarence White.
ric carter
10:22 PM Thu 5/13/2010
Not if you buy second and third hand as I do;^)
Sue M
1:55 PM Thu 5/13/2010
Thanks for your response Ric. I looked at your LECIA collection, and they are all superb. I hope you can become the official photographer of Chapel Hill for Chapel Hill Memories. I would love to see photos of the town today as I now live in New Zealand.
Do Lecia cameras really cost $5,500?
ric carter
10:58 PM Wed 5/12/2010
First, thanks to all of you for taking the time to comment on the photos. Secondly, thanks to Charly for posting such a kind article.
Sue, on concert photos, percentage keepers varies depending on how poor I was at a given time (how much film could be wasted) and which camera I used. Early photos were with a TLR that only got 12 pictures on a more expensive roll, so I was more careful before shooting, waiting until I was pretty sure of a shot. With this camera, I would be very happy if I got one keeper per three or four frames. When I started using 35mm, there were thirty-six frames per roll, making it easier and cheaper to take a chance on something I was unsure of. With that, one keeper per five or six shots became feasible. Digital has lowered cost per frame even more.
Very often, there are several keeper frames that have similar expressions. Not all of these would be published, only the superior one.
Today I use mostly Leica rangefinders, most commonly an M8.
If you'd like to see more, and different photos, please visit <www.CartersXRd.net> or <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/ricc/>
Sue Moore
1:50 PM Wed 5/12/2010
How many pictures would Ric usually need to take at a concert to get the three or four great shots that he seemed to keep from each show? What kind of camera and lens does Ric use today?
John Holmes
10:02 PM Tue 5/11/2010
After seeing these fantastic pictures I am now sure that there never was a
better time for music in and around Chapel Hill than the late 60s and early 70s.
Dan Morgan
6:49 AM Tue 5/11/2010
The Chapel History Museum should do an exhibit featuring Carter's photos. I would love to see poster sized versions of his images.
Betsy Burke
10:03 PM Mon 5/10/2010
Thanks for the memories and the amazing photographs. The J. Giles concert at Jubilee was the highlight of my years in Chapel Hill, and this is the first picture I have seen from that event.
Check out our other website:
Investment strategies and advice about Apple Inc. and related technology companies by Charly Mann. www.appleinvesting.com
Investment strategies and advice about Apple Inc. and related technology companies by Charly Mann. www.appleinvesting.com
Chapel Hill is located on a hill whose only distinguishing feature in the 18th century was a small chapel on top called New Hope Chapel. This church was built in 1752 and is currently the location of The Carolina Inn. The town was founded in 1819, and chartered in 1851.
What is it that binds us to this place as to no other? It is not the well or the bell or the stone walls. or the crisp October nights. No, our love for this place is based upon the fact that it is as it was meant to be, The University of the People.
-- Charles Kuralt
Dark Side of the Hill -- Pink Floyd, the creators of the most popular album in history, Dark Side of the Moon, took the second half of their name from Floyd Council, a Chapel Hill native, and great blues singer and guitarist. He once belonged to a group called "The Chapel Hillbillies".
Check out Charly Mann's other website:
Oklahoma Birds and Butterflies
http://oklahomabirdsandbutterflies.com
Oklahoma Birds and Butterflies
http://oklahomabirdsandbutterflies.com
There would probably be no Chapel Hill if the University of North Carolina Board of Trustees in 1793 had not chosen land across from New Hope Chapel for the location of the university. By 1800 there were about 100 people living in thirty houses surrounding the campus.
The University North Carolina's first student was Hinton James, who enrolled in February, 1795. There is now a dormitory on the campus named in his honor.
The University of North Carolina was closed from 1870 to 1875 because of lack of state funding.
William Ackland left his art collection and $1.25 million to Duke University in 1940 on the condition that he would be buried in the art museum that the University was to build with his bequest. Duke rejected this condition even though members of the Duke Family are buried in Duke Chapel. What followed was a long and acrimonious legal battle between Ackland relatives who now wanted the inheritance, Rollins College, and the University of North Carolina, each attempting to receive the funds. The case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, and in 1949 UNC was awarded the money for the museum. Ackland is buried near the museum's entrance. When the museum first opened, in the early sixties, there were rumors that his remains were leaking out of the mausoleum.
The official name of the Arboretum on the University of North Carolina campus is the Coker Arboretum. It is named after Dr. William Cocker, the University's first botany professor. It occupies a little more than five acres. It was founded in 1903.
Chapel Hill's main street has always been called Franklin Street. It was named after Benjamin Franklin in the early 1790s.
Chapel Hill High School and Chapel Hill Junior High were on Franklin Street in the same location as University Square until the mid 1960s.
The Colonial Drug Store at 450 West Franklin Street was owned and operated by John Carswell. It was famous for a fresh-squeezed carbonated orange beverage called a "Big O". In the early 1970s, I managed the Record and Tape Center next door, and must have had over 100 of those drinks. The Colonial Drug Store closed in 1996.
Sutton's Drugstore, which opened in 1923, has one of the last soda fountains in the South. It is one of the few businesses remaining on Franklin Street that was in operation when I was growing up in the 1950s.
Future President Gerald Ford lived in Chapel Hill twice. First when he was 24, in 1938, he took a law couse in summer school at UNC. He lived in the Carr Building, which was a law school dormitory. At the same time, Richard Nixon, the man he served under as Vice President, was attending law school at Duke. In 1942, Ford returned to Chapel Hill to attend the U.S. Navy's Pre-Flight School training program. He lived in a rental house on Hidden Hills Drive.
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