February, 2016 | The Woodstock Whisperer/Jim Shelley

Graham William Nash OBE

Happy birthday Graham Nash

February 2, 1942

Most of us know a bit about Graham Nash. We may not have realized he was a big part of the Hollies, but we liked them along with so many other British bands that followed the Beatle Invasion.

We may have heard that he left the Hollies just as we may have heard that David Crosby had left the Byrds and that Stephen Stills had been part of the defunct Buffalo Springfield.

And in 1969 we heard Crosby Stills and Nash.

Graham William Nash OBE — **cover of Crosby, Stills and Nash’s first ablum**

We know about their nervousness at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair–“Thank you. We needed that. This is the second time we’ve ever played in front of people. We’re scared shitless.”

For CSN (and later Young) Graham Nash wrote many of their best-known songs such as “Marrakesh Express,” “Our House,” “Teach Your Children, ” “Just a Song Before I Go,” and “Wasted on the Way”.

Over the years, Graham Nash and David Crosby often worked together as a duo and like many couples had had several falling outs. Crosby Stills and Nash also occasionally reformed (sometimes with Neil Young as well).

In 1979, Nash co-founded Musicians United for Safe Energy [MUSE] which is against the expansion of nuclear power.

He is also a well-respected photographer. (2013 Rolling Stone article with some of his photographs)

Graham Nash was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1997 and as a member of The Hollies in 2010.

Nash performs at the 2014 Goldman Prize ceremony in San Francisco.

Graham William Nash OBE

Below is a short piece from CBS News in which Nash spoke about the deaths of David Bowie and Glenn Frey.

Below is a long interview with Graham Nash from the Library of Congress in which he spoke about his autobiography “Wild Tales: A Rock and Roll Life” (2013)

Nash released his sixth solo album, This Path Tonight, on April 15, 2016. He continues to tour and you can see those dates at his site.

A Life In Focus

And in October 2021, he published A Life In Focus which Google books described, “In this curated collection of art and photography from his personal archive, Graham Nash’s life as a musician and artist unfolds in vivid detail. Best known as a founding member of the Hollies and supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash, Nash developed a love of photography from the time he was a child. Inspired by his father, Nash began taking pictures at 11 years old and would go on to take his camera with him ever since–on tour with the Hollies and later CSN, among friends at Laurel Canyon and abroad. Many of his photographs depict intimate moments with family and friends, among them Joni Mitchell, Stephen Stills, and Neil Young. Nash’s playful and observant.”

Still Going Strong!

In April 2016, Nash released This Path Tonight album…

And in May 2023 he released Now.

Graham William Nash OBE

Photographer Eddie Adams

February 1, 1968

Eddie Adams had been photographing war zones since he joined the Marines in 1951 during the Korean War as a combat photographer.

In 1968 he was in Vietnam with the Associated Press.

Photographer Eddie Adams

On January 30, 1968 the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army troops launched the Tet Offensive attacking a hundred cities and towns throughout South Vietnam. American TV news crews closely observed the surprise offensive and filmed Viet Cong commandos attacking the U.S. embassy in Saigon along with bloody scenes from other battle areas showing American soldiers under fire, dead, or wounded. The various media quickly relayed the graphic color film footage back to the states for broadcast on nightly news programs.

Photographer Eddie Adams

On February 1, 1968, Eddie Adams happened upon a scene. He took a photograph and later, as usual, turned in his film. Little did he realize he had taken an iconic picture. One that for many encapsulated the reason why the United States was involved in an immoral war.

Adams himself simply felt he’d taken another war picture. Another picture of another person killed.

Adams won the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography and a World Press Photo award for the photograph.

But the awards and fame were not what Adams remembered nor understood. Adams wrote in Time magazine in 1998: Two people died in that photograph: the recipient of the bullet and General Nguyen Ngoc Loan. The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera. Still photographs are the most powerful weapons in the world. People believe them; but photographs do lie, even without manipulation. They are only half-truths. … What the photograph didn’t say was, ‘What would you do if you were the general at that time and place on that hot day, and you caught the so-called bad guy after he blew away one, two or three American people?’…. This picture really messed up his life. He never blamed me. He told me if I hadn’t taken the picture, someone else would have, but I’ve felt bad for him and his family for a long time. … I sent flowers when I heard that he had died and wrote, “I’m sorry. There are tears in my eyes.”

Photographer Eddie Adams

Post script

Eddie Adams died on September 18, 2004. His obituary appeared in the New York Times.

After re-posting this blog entry in 2019, Jean Van White posted the following comment: Short story–years ago I was in hospital after surgery. I awoke, foggy from drugs and swore I saw the shooter at the foot of the next bed. Tim came in, and in my drugged state I pulled him close and whispered 3 words–“It’s the shooter.”. He had no idea what I mean and suggested Icut back on morphine. Long story short–it was the shooter visiting his daughter in the next bed. He owned a restaurant in nearby Springfield.

My response was: Holy Shit!

Photographer Eddie Adams

What's so funny about peace, love, art, and activism?