Beatle Photo Blog

Heres a really nice fan pic of Ringo and Mo taken i ‘think’ in 1969.

Paul’s secret genetic manipulation experiments on his farm go horribly wrong.

Paul in Miami this month just before the start of his US tour.

What is it with ebay and people selling food stuff they think looks like an object?, if you have a few spare dollars you can buy this croisant that looks like .. a yellow submarine!?

The Beatles always looked cool, both Paul and Ringo .. especially Ringo STILL look cool, occasionally the Beatles hit a ’10′ on the coolness richter scale, this photo of John is one such instance of ‘Beyond cool’.

Recently at a record fair i found a few stunning colour photos of the Fabs playing live at the Sydney Stadium in 1964, i’ll post the first one now, and over the next couple of weeks i’ll add a few more.

Here it is, my all time favorite photo of John and Paul together. I remember seeing this photo in the ‘Story of pop’ magazines that came out in the mid 1970′s, it was one of the first magazines i ever had with the Beatles in it. I was such a fan (12 years old) that when i had the chance to have my first suit made, i insisted on the same material as in the suits John and Paul are wearing, of course this was impossible to find, so ended up with a fabric more Les Patterson, than Lennon and McCartney.

Seeing as this year marks the 25th year since Johns passing, i thought i’d spend the next few months reliving in photos and memories the last few months of Johns life. I didnt become a Beatle fan until 1975, by that time John had pretty much retired and become a househusband. So it wasnt until 1980 that i got to experience the excitement of having John active and recording, i was only 15 but the memories of those last six months of 1980 are so vivid in my mind. Thats why in the ensuing years its been my passion to track down and find any, and all photos and recordings from that time, its a way for me to hold on to the only time i ever ‘knew’ John, and had him around while i was a fan. I must say i’ve collected a large number of photos and this blog is the perfect way for me to share them. I really feel lucky that in those last few months John looked (and still does in these pics) so cool and contemporary. If any readers have pics or stories to share of John in 1980 i’d love to see and hear them.

Hmmmm,

Its a little known fact, but in the crazy days just before The Beatles broke up, Paul was so distraught and fearful about his career in showbuisness that he actually started to audition for rolls in TV shows!, i dont have photos of Paul trying out for the rolls of ‘Hank Kimbel’, ‘Bobbie Joe’ (from Petticote junction), ‘JJ’ (from Good times’), or ‘Kojak’ (You’re all pizza and fairytales, pussycat’) which he all auditioned for, what i do have is the incredibly rare photo of Paul trying out for the roll of ‘Debbie’ (bloop) the uber headed primate on ‘Lost in space’, poor Paul .. you can see by his forelorn looks and sunken shoulders that he really didnt have his heart in this roll, luckily for us the part went to ‘Sharon’ the stunt monkey to the stars, and well, Paul? he had to wait till ‘Broadstreet’ for his chance to shine .. ahem.

Fats Domino has been in the news the last few days, thought this was a good oportunity to show this pic of Fats with The Beatles. One of my all time favorite Paul vocals is on the ‘Put it there’ dvd when he sings (screams?) ‘Aint that a shame’.

Here’s a cool pic of the Macs with long time family friend Twiggy.

At the end of last year an impossible dream came true for me .. and EVERY Brian Wilson fan, when we got to hear the completed SMiLE album, and for the REALLY lucky ones amongst us we got to see Brian perform this live. Now at the end of this year, another dream will be coming true for me when i get to see Paul playing live in America. The growing friendship between Brian and Paul has been a joy for me to watch, there is a moment in the ‘Beautiful dreamer’ documentary where Brian is waiting to go on stage and play SMiLE live for the first time, Paul walks up to him and kisses Brian, at that moment Brian clasps Pauls hands and looks into his eyes, for the briefest second you can see in Brians eyes that only Paul would understand what he (Brian) was feeling at that moment.

During one of my recent scans across ebay, i found the following photos of John and Yoko at the Dakota, these are interesting as i believe they are the first photos taken of John and Yoko in their new home, John only spent a short while living here before he seperated from Yoko in mid to late 1973, he wasnt to return ‘home’ until Feburary 1975. Being the trainspotting loon that i am, i couldnt help but notice that they were still using the same ‘directors’ chairs in the kitchen even in 1980 as they were when they first moved in, as the pictures show.