The “Mad Day Out” photo session

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Location 5 – St. Pancras Old Church and Gardens, Regent’s Park, London

The Beatles’ next stop was St Pancras Old Church and Gardens, close to Regent’s Park. Firstly, Don McCullin captured the band on a small grassy mound to the left of the entrance steps and gates.

The second spot was a bench north of the mound, just south of the central monument. Gary Evans, son of Mal, joined John Lennon and Ringo Starr on the bench, with Paul McCartney and George Harrison standing behind them.

Further down the path, southeast of the monument, stood a drinking fountain where The Beatles were photographed playfully spitting water at the camera lenses.

The fourth site was near the mausoleum of the architect Sir John Soane (1753–1837), located in the eastern section of the gardens. They posed on the grass beside his tomb, ironically next to a sign that read: “Please keep off the grass”.

To the north of Sir John’s tomb lay St Pancras Coroner’s Court. Here, they sat with an elderly man engrossed in his newspaper on a bench. George and Ringo took a seat beside him, while John and Paul stood in the background, all seemingly unnoticed by the man.

The sixth location was a flowerbed north of the monument, against the garden’s perimeter railings. With St Pancras Hospital as their backdrop, The Beatles blended in with the tall hollyhocks.

The final spot was the church’s grand arched entrance, where they posed for formal portraits. As this occurred, a crowd gathered, watching from behind the railings that divided the church from the gardens. Don McCullin instructed The Beatles to join the onlookers, taking a photograph that was later used for the gatefold sleeve of the 1962-1966 (Red Album) and 1967-1970 (Blue Album) compilations in 1973.

[…] This is St Pancras Old Church and gardens, in north London, where some of the best-known pictures were taken. My grandad, Jack, was the head gardener. He was visiting family in Derbyshire that day: he always said if he had been there, he wouldn’t have allowed the Beatles in, because they were the sort of “long-haired layabouts” he disapproved of. He was upright and Victorian, dressed in corduroy trousers, waistcoat, jacket and tie, even when he was working.

I’m the little boy on the left in the light blue jumper, and I’m six years old. Standing next to me is my younger brother Neil and behind us is our nan, Eunice. She’s holding paper and a pencil, as we got three of the Beatles’ autographs. Yoko Ono, who was there that day, kept calling John Lennon away, so we only got Paul, George and Ringo’s signatures. As young boys, we lived on and off with my grandparents for years, staying with them before we were finally offered a council flat in Shepherd’s Bush, west London.

There was no announcement that the Beatles were coming – they just turned up, with a small group of friends, assistants, photographers and hangers-on. The other kids were just knocking about in the park that day, as we were. King’s Cross and St Pancras was a poor area then; parts of it were Dickensian. According to my nan, I sat on Paul’s knee. At one point, she brought them out tea. […]

A black and white version of this photograph, by another photographer who was there called Stephen Goldblatt (although it’s often attributed to McCullin), features on the inside gatefold sleeve of two Beatles compilation albums: the Red Album, from 1962-1966, and the Blue Album, from 1967–1970. I’ve no idea why it was chosen: I suppose it’s nice the way they are mingling with the crowd, looking like normal people. I first saw it on one of the records at a girlfriend’s flat when I was 16: I said, “That’s my nan!” And then, a few seconds later, “That’s me!”

Ian Whittington – From ‘The Guardian, August 18, 2017

Location 6 – Wapping Pier Head and Wapping High Street, London

The Beatles then headed to Wapping Pier Head and Wapping High Street in east London. They arrived in the evening and parked on Wapping High Street. The first photos were taken near Sampson Street’s corner, then they proceeded to the concrete area between the Wapping Pier Head buildings.

At the second site, The Beatles hopped the fence around the eastern Pier Head building to sit on the grass. John Lennon donned a black waistcoat, while Paul McCartney chose to go shirtless.

John took to swinging a pickaxe at the concrete, later reclining on the slope. Paul adorned himself with heavy chains for individual shots, found at the slope’s base, previously used as a barrier.

In a rather grim scene, John played dead, with Ringo Starr checking his forehead and George Harrison wearing his glasses. They then lined up for photos on the quay’s edge by the east Pier Head building.

A short walk brought The Beatles to Butler and Colonial Wharves at 24-28 Wapping High Street. With Tower Bridge as their backdrop, they posed before returning to the west Pier Head building. There, John laid on the ground in a camouflage jacket, the others standing over him.

We went down to the river at Limehouse, near those beautiful Georgian sea captains’ houses. Lennon started stripping off, so did Paul McCartney. I suppose that meant they were relaxed. Then I took this bizarre photograph where Lennon appeared to pose as if he were dead. Maybe he was pretending to sleep, to look as if he was inebriated, but I’m convinced he was staging his own death. Again, this was 1968 and the height of the Vietnam War, from which I’d just returned. I was using my Nikon F’s, which I’d brought back from the battlefield. I think everything Lennon did was a protest. Every statement he made seemed to come out of anger. There were many contradictions to him. He was a talented man who could write about peace and love, but deep down he was forceful and aggressive.

Don McCullin – From “A Day in the Life of The Beatles” by Don McCullin, 2010

We got to a nice Georgian square with cobbled stones in Wapping at around 3.30pm. Originally, we were going to head for St Catherine’s Docks. At Wapping, we went down to the edge of the river. Paul had taken his shirt off and he did a gag shot, where he chained himself to some railings. The spookiest shot of the lot was when John suddenly threw himself to the ground, and the three boys looked down at him, as if he had fainted or died. They were looking very concerned. I took two pictures in colour. One with John’s eyes open and the other with his eyes closed. George is seen wearing John’s glasses. He just quickly picked them up. It’s a very strange shot. I don’t know why he did it. It was over in seconds. One minute he was standing, and the next he was down. Ringo’s got his hand on his head, and that was it. Just two shots. The Beatles were swapping clothes. John wore Don’s battle jacket because he just wanted to wear it. When we were leaving Wapping, we could hear this funny noise. It was actually hundreds and hundreds of people running to be there. They saw the cars and they were screaming. That’s what it was like everywhere. That’s why we couldn’t stay long anywhere.

Tom Murray – From “The Beatles: Off the Record” by Keith Badman, 2008

Location 7 – Paul McCartney’s house, Cavendish Avenue, St. John’s Wood, London

The final location for this “Mad Day Out” was Paul McCartney’s house in St John’s Wood, north London. The photo session took place inside the geodesic dome that Paul had built in his back garden. As dusk approached, Paul was photographed inside with his dog Martha, before being joined by the other Beatles and Mal Evans’ son Gary.

We went back to Paul McCartney’s house in St John’s Wood, and after having tea we went out into his garden where there was this dome, like something out of James Bond or Doctor Who. We all lay around with a huge floppy dog in this strange science-fiction-like space.

Don McCullin – From “A Day in the Life of The Beatles” by Don McCullin, 2010

I used to sit round at my house with Robert Fraser, the gallery owner, listening to music. I’d started talking to him about having a folly. I loved the idea of follies and he put me in touch with an English architect who came up with my geodesic dome. It was my meditation platform. The dome is still there with a little Japanese garden leading up to it. So that’s where we all ended up, in the dome.

Paul McCartney – From “A Day in the Life of The Beatles” by Don McCullin, 2010

Finally, we returned to St. John’s Wood and Paul’s house for more tea and the last lot of photographs. this time Paul’s massive dog Martha got into the act like she always does. Not that anyone minded because she’s a great dog and very photogenic what’s more!

Paul had the ideal spot for picture-taking. We trooped down to the foot of his garden. There, hidden away behind all the trees, Paul has this fantastic glass-domed something. I know there’s a special word for it but I’m sure you know what I mean anyway! It’s quite a high, square building at the bottom with glass walls. Four pillars go right up to the glass roof and there’s a round hydraulic lift. You just stand on the step and up you go into the Dome. Got some great pictures up there with Paul, Ringo and Martha plus a few shots of all the four fellows.

Mal Evans – From The Beatles Monthly, September 1968, N°62

The Eighteenth Single – How the Beatles recorded their new single

[…] Before I finish off for this month it must tell you a bit about the very special photo session we had one Sunday just a few weekends ago.

The idea was to get together a whole new collection of pictures, really good ones, from which the fan clubs could have fresh supplies. This time the Beatles were determined to do something a bit better than just putting their four heads together in front of a wall, After all, a selection of pictures would be going all the way round the world to more than 40 different branches of the Beatles Fan Club, so it was worth a bit of special effort to turn out good ones.

We met at Paul’s house around lunchtime and set out in a little cavalcade of vehicles. John came with me in my car and I’d brought my small son Gary along for the ride. The others piled into Ringo’s white Mercedes and a van carrying all the different costumes and clothes trailed behind us as we crossed London from St. John’s Wood through the West End to Fleet Street and beyond. First stop was the Sunday Times building where we used the roof to do the first set of pictures. And we used a wind machine to get nice effects on the fellows’ hair. In fact I think it helped to produce some of the first group photographs to show all four Beatle foreheads uncovered beneath wind-swept hair! Next we turned West again and headed for Bayswater. Our destination was a little place called the Mercury Theatre which is situated not too far from the headquarters of The Beatles Monthly. Good job it was a Sunday with all this town travelling to be done. To try cross-crossing London by road on a weekday would have meant spending half the afternoon getting out of traffic jams!

At the Mercury we dug out loads of strange costumes, had tea in the theatre bar and then did some more pictures. A zoological man brought along a brightly-coloured parrot which settled peacefully upon Ringo’s left shoulder and didn’t mind having his picture taken!

From there we went East again stopping in a suburban residential area to do a few street shots in front of houses before heading for the London Docks.

Finally, we returned to St. John’s Wood and Paul’s house for more tea and the last lot of photographs. This time Paul’s massive dog Martha got into the act like she always does. Not that anyone minded because she’s a great dog and very photogenic what’s more!

GLASS THINGY

Paul had the ideal spot for picture-taking. We trooped down to the foot of his garden. There, hidden away behind all the trees, Paul has this fantastic glass-domed sun-thingy. I know there’s a special word for it but I’m sure you know what I mean, anyway! It’s quite high, a square building at the bottom with glass walls. Four pillars go right up to the glass roof and there’s a round hydraulic lift. You just stand on the step and up you go into the dome. Got some great pictures up there with Paul, Ringo and Martha, plus a few shots of all the four fellows. Anyway, if and when you start collecting the new set of photographs which the Fan Club is offering, you’ll know all about the background to them. Oh yes… and the ones in goggles and crash helmets were done on the Sunday Times roof, too. So now you know!

Mal Evans – From the Beatles Monthly Book, N°62, September 1968

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Going further

• https://www.beatlesbible.com/1968/07/28/the-mad-day-out-location-two/
• https://www.beatlesbible.com/1968/07/28/the-mad-day-out-location-three/
• https://www.beatlesbible.com/1968/07/28/the-mad-day-out-location-four/
• https://www.beatlesbible.com/1968/07/28/the-mad-day-out-location-five/
• https://www.beatlesbible.com/1968/07/28/the-mad-day-out-location-six/
• https://www.beatlesbible.com/1968/07/28/the-mad-day-out-location-seven/

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