Wednesday, April 30, 1969 ?
“The Ballad of John and Yoko” photo session
Last updated on April 4, 2025
Wednesday, April 30, 1969 ?
Last updated on April 4, 2025
Location: 7 Cavendish Avenue, St John’s Wood, London, UK
Previous article Apr 17, 1969 • "Get Back" promo film broadcast in the UK
Session Apr 26, 1969 • Recording "Oh! Darling", "Octopus's Garden"
Session Apr 29, 1969 • Recording and mixing "Octopus's Garden"
Article Wednesday, April 30, 1969 ? • "The Ballad of John and Yoko" photo session
Session Apr 30, 1969 • Recording and mixing "Let It Be", "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)"
Session May 01, 1969 • Mixing "Oh! Darling"
Next article May 04, 1969 • Paul McCartney joins party to celebrate the completion of "The Magic Christian" film
Officially appears on The Ballad Of John And Yoko / Old Brown Shoe (UK - 1969)
Photo shoot for “Honey” magazine
Feb 19, 1963
Photo shoot with Dezo Hoffmann
Jun 17, 1963
Photo shoot for the “Beatles For Sale” cover
Oct 04, 1964
Jan 21, 1965
Photo shoot with Richard Avedon
Jan 26, 1965
Photo shoot with French photographer Jean-Marie Périer
March 3, 1966 ?
The Beatles’ “butcher” photo session
Mar 25, 1966
Beatles photo shoot with Jean Marie Périer
January 19, 1967 ?
Beatles photoshoot with Henry Grossman
Feb 25, 1967
Beatles photo shoot at the Serpentine, Hyde Park
May 18, 1967
Photo shoot with Richard Avedon
Aug 11, 1967
Ringo Starr photographs Paul and Jane
February 1968
Feb 08, 1968
The “Mad Day Out” photo session
Jul 28, 1968
“Voyage of the Fritz” photo session
Apr 09, 1969
Photo shoot of the “Get Back” LP album
May 13, 1969
The “Abbey Road” photo session
Aug 08, 1969
“The Ballad Of John and Yoko” was recorded by John Lennon and Paul McCartney on April 14, 1969. Soon after, The four Beatles and Yoko Ono gathered for a photo session at Paul’s London house to produce a cover image for the single’s release in markets outside the UK (where singles were still typically issued in standard factory sleeves). Linda McCartney was the principal photographer for the session, though The Beatles’ assistant Mal Evans also took several photos.
The exact date of the session remains uncertain. However, on April 30, 2020, the official Linda McCartney Instagram account posted a story indicating the shoot had taken place on that same day 51 years earlier — April 30, 1969. While the account has not always been entirely reliable with dates, this remains the most likely date for the session.
The only time I did an official Beatles photo was when Paul called me up at the last minute from the studio, and said that EMI needed a cover for the sleeve of The Ballad of Beatles and Yoko. I took a color portrait of the group with Yoko. I had really wanted The Beatles on their own, but Yoko just sat there, and being a timid newcomer I simply didn’t have the heart to tell her it was group members only.
Linda McCartney – from “Linda McCartney’s Sixties“, 1992
The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years
"With greatly expanded text, this is the most revealing and frank personal 30-year chronicle of the group ever written. Insider Barry Miles covers the Beatles story from childhood to the break-up of the group."
We owe a lot to Barry Miles for the creation of those pages, but you really have to buy this book to get all the details - a day to day chronology of what happened to the four Beatles during the Beatles years!
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Raul Macias • 4 years ago
On what date were The Beatles photographed with that talentless home wrecker and talentless pariah Yoko Ono?
Please post!
I just can't believe George Harrison partook in this humiliating photo session!
I can't believe George allowed himself to be photographed with Yoko Ono!
George looks absolutely miserable!
Mariusz • 1 year ago
If I may add something, the author of beatlesbible.com - based on Linda McCartney's Instagram account - recently established the exact date of this photo session: April 30, 1969. Source: https://www.beatlesbible.com/1969/04/30/ballad-of-john-and-yoko-photo-session/
The PaulMcCartney Project • 1 year ago
Thanks Mariusz - will update the date, even if Linda McCartney's Instagram account is not always right about the dates.
