The Beatles and fashion

These days it seems, the only aspect of The Beatles that remains in focus, is their music. We tend to forget that the Beatles influenced a lot of other areas in their time. Art, fashion, politics, writing, philosophy, you name it. I don't know if this is a true story, but a remark by John Lennon in an interview about wishing that girls' skirts and dresses was shorter, supposedly started the miniskirt craze...
Anyway, Paolo Hewitt examines the Beatles' inluence on fashion in the upcoming book Fab Gear: The Beatles and Fashion. Here's the blurb: The Beatles' incomparable fashion sense takes center stage in this unique look at how the world's most popular band influenced the fashion of the times. The Beatles knew how much image mattered in the 1960s, and whether it was Nehru jackets, skinny ties, granny glasses, or the Cuban heel boot--if John, Paul, George, or Ringo wore it, the rest of their millions of fans followed. Renowned music and fashion author Paolo Hewitt takes readers on a fashion tour of the Beatles' career and the trends they co-opted. From their Hamburg debut in sunglasses, leather, and black sweaters to the conservative suits they were ordered to wear by their manager Brian Epstein; from their infatuation with Pierre Cardin's collarless jackets to their more casual corduroy; from their Mod madness to psychedelic spaciness to faux-military attire to hippy-chic--each style is revealed as a reflection of the music they made and the world views they embraced. 
Filled with fabulous photographs and with an appealing retro feel, the book features numerous images, many of which have never been published before. It offers insights into how the band's meteoric rise and enduring success shaped their fashion choices. 
There's even a chapter devoted to their hairstyles. 
Fans of all ages, as well as anyone interested in fashion, will be enthralled with this first ever Beatles stylebook that proves the Fab Four were as timely as they were timeless.

In an interview with Liverpool Echo, author Hewitt says that he enjoyed finding another angle to writing a Beatles book, and that he spent an enjoyable week in Liverpool as part of the research.
"They had the same ideas with their clothes as with their music," says Paolo. "As soon as another bands started to copy their look, they’d move on and wear something else. they were innovators, and they hated following the pack."



The book will be released on October 24th.

How many roads...?

I wonder how many of these there are? This photo was sent me by one of my readers. Evidently it had been posted on a Beatles photo forum yesterday, and it's now "making the rounds". Click to see the bigger version. As you'll have noticed, two familiar bystanders are evident, the "mystery man" (Paul Cole, a now deceased Florida resident,  claimed to be that man) and the lady in a violet dress from a similar but more up-close photo. But there are two more bystanders, one hidden behind the aforementioned lady and another lady (a fan?) who seems to be taking photos! I wonder if her photos will appear some day... Also, there's someone sitting behind the Beatles...
I will continue to update my blog post "The Road Goes On Forever" with the Abbey Road cover shot images that mysteriously emerge as time goes by.

Updated September 2nd with a higher resolution version of the image, care of Miss Tammy's site. The uploader also revealed the source of the photo, it was hidden away in the Beatles RockBand game.

Blokker clip

HIWAX has posted the longest version of the "Blokker" clip so far on YouTube.

The sound + video sorcerer has also just made a new DVD, which pairs together news footage of The Beatles in concert with appropriate sound clips synched to the moving images. Here's what's on the new DVD of his:

THE BEATLES : Re-Constructions

01.1963/11/01 Cheltenham
02.1963/11/13 Plymouth
03.1963/11/16 Bournemouth
04.1963/11/20 Manchester
05.1963/12/07 Liverpool
06.1963/12/14 Wimbledon
07.1964/01/15 Versailles
08.1964/01/16 Paris
09.1964/02/11 Washington D.C.
10.1964/02/11 Washington D.C.
11,1964/06/18 Sydney
12,1964/08/19 San Francisco
13.1964/08/23 Los Angeles
14.1964/08/23 Los Angeles
15.1964/09/02 Philadelphia
16.1965/06/25 Genova
17.1965/07/02 Madrid
18.1965/07/03 Barcelona
19.1965/08/17 Toronto
20.1965/08/29 Los Angeles
21.1966/06/24 Munich
22.1966/06/24 Munich
23.1966/06/24 Munich
24.1966/06/25 Essen
25.1966/06/26 Hamburg
26.1966/06/30 Tokyo
27.1966/07/01 Tokyo
28.1966/08/12 Chicago
29.1966/08/28 Los Angeles
30.1966 U.S. Tour Collage - Rock'n'roll Music
31.1966 U.S. Tour Collage - She's A Woman

And there's some rare footage included as bonus tracks.
It's currently being torrented and will probably show up soon as a regular download.
Want a sample? Here's Cheltenham!

McCartney on Decca Records since 1967

Today's no-story in the less-than-acquainted-with-Beatles-facts part of the press is the fact that Paul McCartney's music for the new ballet Ocean's Kingdom will be released by Decca Records. Here's Reuter's take on it:
LONDON (Reuters) - Decca has teamed up with Paul McCartney to release his upcoming ballet nearly 50 years after the record label famously rejected taking on the Beatles in what has been called one of the music industry's biggest blunders.

The ballet, "Ocean's Kingdom," is the former Beatle's first foray into the world of dance, and has its world premiere at the New York City Ballet on September 22. There will be four additional performances in September and five more in January.

The Decca recording hits shelves in Britain on October 3.

Decca famously snubbed the Fab Four early in 1962, reportedly saying at the time that "guitar groups are on the way out" and "the Beatles have no future in showbusiness."

The quartet from Liverpool went on to sign with EMI label Parlophone and became arguably the most successful and influential pop band in history.

"Ocean's Kingdom," commissioned by the New York City Ballet, is conducted by John Wilson and performed by the London Classical Orchestra.

When he decided to write a ballet, McCartney visited the Royal Opera House in London and saw "Giselle," meeting the dancers of the Royal Ballet afterward to discuss the work.

McCartney's ballet tells of a love story set in an underwater world where people are threatened by humans. The score lasts an hour and is divided into four movements -- Ocean's Kingdom, Hall of Dance, Imprisonment and Moonrise.

In a statement, the 69-year-old singer/songwriter said he was "trying to write something that expressed an emotion -- so you have fear, love, anger, sadness to play with, and I found that exciting and challenging."

McCartney has written classical music before, including the award-winning choral work "Ecce Cor Meum."


Of course, everyone has (conveniently?) forgotten that Paul McCartney's very first soundtrack album, "The Family Way" from 1967 (re-released on CD in July this year) was released on Decca Records in the UK and Australia.

George trailer

Trailer for the new Martin Scorsese documentary "George Harrison - Living in the material world".

Dutch Let It Be video cassette

Click to enlarge

Remember the 1983 German  official Let It Be release on Warner Home Video as a VHS video cassette? Well, it seems there was also a 1984 Dutch release. I found this scan while browsing the internet. This is the Betamax release, but I assume there was also a VHS one. The two formats were competing for world domination back in the day, and VHS won, being the inferior format with more cash to spend on advertising. I wonder how many countries LET IT BE was released in?

The US laserdisc release is the most well-known official home video release of Let It Be

As I've noted before, I've seen a copy of Let It Be in a Norwegian video rental shop back in the early days of video rental (around 1981), but I have no recollection of what it looked like. If you have any information about Let It Be home video releases (apart from the confirmed ones from USA, Germany and now Holland), I'd like to hear from you.

Beatles in Bournemouth

You'd be surprised to know that there are many surprising Beatles - Bournemouth connections - not least the first footage of The Beatles that was shown on US TV (now showing on YouTube) was shot in Bournemouth and the sheer number of shows they played in the town in such a short period.
Other connections include:
- A tape of a full Beatles concert recorded during their first visit to Bournemouth is the earliest known example of their theatre show. Despite the excellent quality of the recording it remains unreleased.
- The iconic cover photograph for the With The Beatles and Meet The Beatles albums was taken in Bournemouth.
- Howie Casey, who played with Wings in the 1970s and has lived in Bournemouth since 1978, has links with The Beatles that go back to their very earliest days. With his band The Seniors, Howie was at the same audition in 1960 when John, Paul and George first performed as the Silver Beatles.
- George Harrison’s first Beatles song, Don’t Bother Me was written while staying in Bournemouth.
- John Lennon bought his Aunt Mimi a home just outside Bournemouth and until he left the UK in 1971 was a regular visitor to the area.

The book also has many rare and previously unseen photos.

Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth is published on 22 September 2011 by Natula Publications, ISBN 9781897887899

The book's website
A blog

The road goes on forever

It was 42 years ago today that the Beatles posed for the Abbey Road album cover. The cover designer of Abbey Road was Apple Records creative director John Kosh. The cover photograph was taken by photographer Iain Macmillan, at John's suggestion. Iain Macmillan was given only ten minutes on Friday, August 8 1969 around 11:30 that morning to take the photo on the zebra crossing on Abbey Road.

Iain was given this sketch by Paul McCartney a couple of days before the shoot showing where and what the picture should look like and Iain added his own sketch in the top corner to confirm the layout.

Part 1 - Iain Macmillan's photo session
 
Let's start with the six photos that photographer Iain Macmillan took, while standing on a stepladder in front of the crossing.

Photo 1

They start by walking across from the Abbey Road Studios side of the street over to the other side, Paul McCartney is still wearing sandals. The VW beetle is there all the way through the session, but the police van is nowhere to be seen yet.

Photo 2

Paul keeps the flip flops on as they return, but he leaves them on the sidewalk for the remainder of the photo session.

Photo 3 - one of several London buses and a taxi appears. Paul has left his sandals.

Photo 4 - another bus is waiting for The Beatles to cross the street. Composite.

 Here's the photographer, Iain Macmillan pictured with this photo:

Iain Macmillan pictured with photo 4

Add caption

Photo 5 The iconic cover photo, where they are walking in step. There's that police van. This photo has been colour improved for use on the cover. The unaltered original has not been published.

This is the same as above, but slightly differently coloured. This is how the original UK 1969 cover looked like. The 1987 CD release had far duller colours, whereas the 2009 remastered CD version had a green hue.

Photo 6.  And the van is still there in the final photo. The last bus approaches.

Part 2 - The "Mystery man"

In february 2008, news was that Florida resident Paul Cole, the man beside the police van had died, aged 93. But was he really that man? I don't think so, and here's why.

According to an interview he gave in 2004, Paul Cole was on the pavement while he was waiting for his wife, who was visiting a museum in Abbey Road. He was starting a conversation with the driver of the police van, and a bit later he realized that the police was there for a special occasion. When he looked over at the Beatles, he only recognized them as "A bunch of kooks, I called them, because they were rather radical-looking at that time. You didn't walk around in London barefoot.

Paul Cole's story

I think he was telling tales, his story seems to indicate that he has only seen the one photo that most people have seen, the actual Abbey Road cover. There's no museum in that part of Abbey Road. The police van was a late arrival to the photo session, as evidenced by the previous photos, so Paul Cole can't have had such a conversation with the driver. And the "mystery man" can be seen in several photos. Paul Cole was just someone who knew three things about the cover:


1. There's a police van there.
2. Next to the police van there's a man standing.
3. One Beatles was not wearing shoes and socks.

So, he invented a story, putting himself in the picture. Well at least he got a laugh when news media all over the world reported about it. It's even in the Wikipedia entry of the album.



Here's a close-up from photo #2 of the "mystery man".

This is a reenactment from the recent The Beatles:RockBand commercial, the scene seen from the "mystery man's" point of view

Earlier references to the "Mystery man"
Over the ages there are several people who have claimed to be the man on the Abbey Road cover. I have heard stories about people claiming to be or to know "the man on the cover" for as long as I have been a Beatles fan. One of them supposedly was a gay man who died in the seventies. Here's another, earlier claim: Jo Poole: "At 21, I was a dedicated Beatles fan, and bought the 'Abbey Road' album the moment it was released. As soon as I saw the cover, I shouted, 'That's my brother, Tony.' He was 33, and was very distinctive at six feet four inches tall. Tony Staples was his name and he lived in Scott Ellis Gardens, near Abbey Road, and regularly saw the occasional Beatle, though catching a glimpse of all four Beatles together was rare, even in Abbey Road. He was on his way to work as an administrative secretary for the National Farmers Union on the Friday morning when that photo was taken. I used to travel regularly from my home in Gloucestershire to visit Tony in St. John's Wood, and I remember him pointing out Paul McCartney's house."

Of course, since Paul Cole managed to get in the news, and because he was referred to as "the man on the Abbey Road cover" in an obituary that was widespread all over the internet, it's become almost impossible to google and find all those other, previous claims about the identity of the man.

Part 3 - Beatles and bystanders




The gang of three directly over McCartney's head seems to have been identified, too:
Mrs N. C. Seagrove: "It wasn't until years after the 'Abbey Road' LP was produced that my husband discovered he is on the album cover. Derek was 31, and working for the decorating firm Fassnidge, Son & Morris, based in Uxbridge, when the picture was taken. He's the one on the right of the three men in white overalls on the left-hand pavement. The other two are his work-mates, Alan Flanagan and Steve Millwood. They were doing a decorating job in Abbey Road studios and were coming back after a lunch break when the picture was taken. They hung around just to be nosey. Derek thought if it was used, he and his mates would be edited out."

The 2011 exhibition "Beatles and bystanders" was a small one, with just the six Macmillan photos. So to expand the theme a bit, the exhibition focused on the bystanders that close scrutiny of the blown up original photos reveal.

Part 4 - Candid snapshots

Linda McCartney and Mal Evans were around for the photo shoot and took a lot of pictures themselves during the proceedings, many of which are still unpublished. But some are available.
Here's a bird's eye view of the Abbey Road crossing as it is today, with the three photo locations indicated by numbers. 1 marks the stairs outside Abbey Road studios, The Beatles are walking from 2 to 3 on Macmillan's photos 1, 3 and the famous cover photo, no 5 and from 3 to 2 on photos 2, 4 and 6.

Location 2

The following are photos where The Beatles are standing around location 2:

Linda's photo: Ringo picks his nose... Paul has sandals on, so this is before photo 1

Mal Evans: Composite, pieced together from versions of this image in various qualities.

Mal: Probably snapped from location 3

Linda: Paul is still wearing his sandals, so this is immediately before photo 1, similar traffic going on as well.

Linda: Published in "Club Sandwich", the official Paul McCartney fan club magazine. Before photo 5, as Paul has his cigarette.

Linda: From the Anthology book. Part of a bigger photo?

Location 3

The following are photos where The Beatles have crossed the street at least once, and are standing on the other side, waiting to go back.

Taken almost from Iain Macmillan's p.o.v., several bystanders are also seen - some with cameras. Mal is seen sitting on the wall behind the Beatles - between Paul and George. "Mystery man" also appears.

Linda: A nosey lady chats with the boys, Mal is sitting on the wall behind The Beatles.

Paul, clowning for Linda? Mal still in the background.

Ringo joins in on the fun

From the Anthology book, part of a bigger photo? Seems to have been taken at the same moment as Mal's first photo.

Location 1

Finally, some shots from the Abbey Road stairs. We don't know if these are taken before or after the photo session, but before is more likely - waiting for Macmillan to rig his stepladder. After the session, they probably didn't hang out outside the studio.

Still photo from George Harrison documentary

Taken by Mal

This one Linda titled "four strangers"

By now, Linda was a McCartney, but her handbag carried her previous initials L.L.E. Linda Louise Eastman.

Alan, Ringo's driver. Identified by Lizzie Bravo.

Linda is in this photo, so must be one of Mal's..

Since this was posted, some photos have appeared,and some of the ones in the original post have been replaced by better versions of the same photo. Feel free to send me updates so I can keep improving this post!
Improvements so far:
- The photo of The Beatles with several spectators taken from Macmillan's p.o.v. was sent to me by a reader. Inserted and updated with the same in higher resolution from Miss Tammy's site.
- A still photo of the four Beatles on the Abbey Road stairs has been captured from the recent trailer for the new George Harrison documentary
- Macmillan's photo 6 has been replaced with one that was bigger and better.
- The "Ringo joins in on the fun" photo replaced with a composite in better resolution.
- The Club Sandwich photo replaced by a bigger version.
- Macmillan's Photos 2,3 and 4 replaced by better versions.
- Two alternate versions of Macmillan's Photo 1 removed.
- The Abbey Road album cover miniature replaced with a "greener" one.
- Added a map with locations numbered
- Arranged the post into sections
- Added some captions
- Replaced Macmillan's photo 6 again with a more colourful one
- Added Mal Evans to the storyline, details provided by Eric Bourgouin
- Added Paul McCartney's layout drawing
- Added a news story about Paul Cole
- Replaced the "mystery man" photo with a bigger one.
- "Ringo picks his nose" replaced by an improved version of the same photo