Dudley Edwards paints a mural in Paul’s house

In late 1966, Paul McCartney asked the pop-art collective BEV (the initials of Douglas Binder, Dudley Edwards and David Vaughan) to paint his Knight piano in psychedelic colours.

On January 13, 1967, Paul’s girlfriend, Jane Asher, left London for a five-month US tour with the Old Vic. Around the same time, Paul dismissed his housekeeper and chauffeur. He then invited Mal Evans, one of the Beatles’ roadies, to stay at his Cavendish home and temporarily act as a housekeeper.

Dudley Edwards explained that he moved into Cavendish to paint a mural circa April 1967, joining Paul for some time. Mal might have left by this time, but another guy named Stanislas Klossowski de Rola (nicknamed Stash) stayed with Paul and Dudley Edwards.

Paul and Mal visited Jane in the US from April 3 to April 11, 1967. On May 15, 1967, Paul went to the Bag’O Nails with Dudley Edwards and Stash and met with his future wife, Linda Eastman. Jane came back to London on May 29, 1967.

In April 1967, we called it a day. Doug [Binder] and I couldn’t cope with Dave [Vaughan]’s violent outbursts any longer, so we split up even though we had other commissions pending. Dave kept the studio. Doug got a place with his wife, and I had nowhere to live. That same month. Paul [McCartney] called and asked if I was free, and would I like to stay at his place and paint a mural for him. Stash (Stanislas Klossowski de Rola, the son of Balthus) was staying there as well, so it was just the three of us. A lot of the time I got the feeling Paul wasn’t really bothered with me doing a mural, really. He just wanted a mate around. So every time I started painting Paul would say, “Let’s go off to the studio to lay some tracks” or “Let’s go to a nightclub.” All the time dashing around and everything, but not getting a lot of painting done. I wound up painting a small amount in the dining room, but not much. It was much more psychedelic than my other stuff.

Dudley Edwards – From Electrical Banana: Masters of Psychedelic Art”, February 2012

Didn’t Dudley actually live with you for a while when he was doing some sort of mural project for you?

Yes. In fact, I recently unearthed the mural. At the time, I had some William Morris wallpaper – Chrysanthemum in a red. It was really cool when I first moved in -rather chic – but after a while it became a bit oppressive. It had outlived its usefulness so we decided it would be a great idea if we painted over it, and eventually by the time we were done, we’d have covered the whole room in a mural, using this paper as the backdrop. Wellllllll … we got to about probably 30″ x 25″. But it’s very cool! We would sit there forever, me and John, and whenever anyone came around – a guy called Stash who was Balthus’s son – Prince Stanislas Klossowski de Rola – they would have a little go. Dudley did most of the work on it while he was living with me.

Paul McCartney – From Electrical Banana: Masters of Psychedelic Art”, February 2012

At one point, I was doing murals for the Beatles. I did a mural in Paul’s house and lived with him for about six months. I later painted a mural for Ringo and lived with him for a bit as well. This was around the time of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Paul’s girlfriend at the time, actress Jane Asher, was away doing some theatrical production in America. Consequently, Paul liked having me around as a sort of companion.

Every time I got started painting, Paul would say, “Come on, let’s go off to the recording studio! Come on, let’s go off to a nightclub!” or, “I’ve got a meeting with Epstein, will you come along?”

When Jane came back, Paul told me that Ringo had wanted a mural too. So, I went over to live with Ringo.

Dudley Edwards – From Dudley Edwards Page (godfreytownsendmusic.com)

We got invited around for dinner when they were writing the music for Sergeant Pepper. We went up to Paul McCartney’s bathroom and they were writing and singing there and they asked if we’d wait downstairs – ‘We’ll only be an hour and then we’ll come and have dinner’. I thought we couldn’t really crowd them like this, so we went downstairs! We had dinner with them a couple of times. On the second occasion, we’d stayed rather late and were watching television. In those days everyone was taking drugs and we were no exception – nothing too heavy, just some smoking – and we were just watching a blank television with all the electrical spots coming on and bleeps and all that. Paul McCartney was thinking we were looking at the night sky. We all joined in and tried to see the same pictures.

Douglas Binder – From Sixties City – Binder Edwards and Vaughan – BEV

[…] On Friday, January 13, 1967, [Jane Asher, Paul’s girlfriend] flew to the United States with the Bristol Old Vic for a four-and-a-half-month tour. Paul was not at Heathrow to see her off. Even if he’d liked his own company, there was no way he was going to spend all that time alone. He was going to have his mates round, pick girls up, drink, take drugs, leave his clothes where he dropped them and the dishes unwashed.

Two pals moved in to keep him company — the artist Dudley Edwards and Prince Stanislas Klossowski de Rola, the playboy son of the French painter Balthus. Stash — as he was known — had just been charged with possession of cocaine and cannabis, along with his friend, the Rolling Stone Brian Jones.

In St John’s Wood, the three young men entertained what Stash describes as harems of girls, while Beatles fans camped outside, periodically bursting in through the gates ‘sort of like cattle breaking through a fence’. […]

Howard Sounes – From Daily Mail Online, August 16, 2010

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