“1964: Eyes of the Storm” book published

On this day, “1964: Eyes of the Storm,” a new book of photographs taken by Paul McCartney was released. The book showcases a collection of captivating images primarily taken during the Beatles’ 1964 North American tour, an era inseparable from the intense fervour of Beatlemania. It also includes photographs captured in both Liverpool and Paris. Announced in January 2023, the book features a foreword written by Paul McCartney himself and an introduction penned by Jill Lepore.

To enhance the experience, a complimentary photo exhibition was inaugurated at the London National Portrait Gallery on June 28 and remained open to the public until October 1, 2023.

Amidst the promotional campaign for this photography book and the accompanying photo exhibition, Paul McCartney participated in several interviews with BBC1, BBC Radio 4, CBS Sunday Morning, and the online magazine, The Face. Additionally, he took part in an on-stage conversation at The Tribeca Film Festival, where he shared the spotlight with renowned American TV personality Conan O’Brien. Moreover, he partook in a live-streamed conversation alongside Stanley Tucci.

From Waterstones:

Photographs and Reflections by Paul McCartney

‘Millions of eyes were suddenly upon us, creating a picture I will never forget for the rest of my life.’

In 2020, an extraordinary trove of nearly a thousand photographs taken by Paul McCartney on a 35mm camera was re-discovered in his archive. They intimately record the months towards the end of 1963 and beginning of 1964 when Beatlemania erupted in the UK and, after the band’s first visit to the USA, they became the most famous people on the planet. The photographs are McCartney’s personal record of this explosive time, when he was, as he puts it, in the ‘Eyes of the Storm’.

1964: Eyes of the Storm presents 275 of McCartney’s photographs from the six cities of these intense, legendary months – Liverpool, London, Paris, New York, Washington, D.C. and Miami – and many never-before-seen portraits of John, George and Ringo. In his Foreword and Introductions to these city portfolios, McCartney remembers ‘what else can you call it – pandemonium‘ and conveys his impressions of Britain and America in 1964 – the moment when the culture changed and the Sixties really began.

1964: Eyes of the Storm includes:
– Six city portfolios – Liverpool, London, Paris, New York, Washington, D.C. and Miami – and a Coda on the later months of 1964 – featuring 275 of Paul McCartney’s photographs and his candid reflections on them
– A Foreword by Paul McCartney
– Beatleland, an Introduction by Harvard historian and New Yorker essayist Jill Lepore
– A Preface by Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the National Portrait Gallery, London, and Another Lens, an essay by Senior Curator Rosie Broadley

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780241619711
Number of pages: 336
Dimensions: 285 x 248 x 245 mm

From Paul McCartney’s “1964: Eyes of the Storm” — When the Beatles Came to Miami – YouTube:

In a series of conversations filmed at Books & Books in Miami, Florida, some of the Beatlemaniacs who greeted the Fab Four during the band’s first trip to America – then just kids – reflect upon the images of their city found in Paul McCartney’s new book 1964: EYES OF THE STORM, the wonder of meeting one’s heroes, and the power of photography to return us to life’s pivotal moments.

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