Paul McCartney used his Pentax camera the same way he used his guitar: with complete freedom. And in early 1964, the 21-year-old took his new camera to perhaps the most important musical journey of the 20th century: the Beatles’ invasion of America.
Paul McCartney
Hundreds of his photographs from that trip were recently rediscovered in McCartney’s archives: “It was really nice,” he said, “because I thought they were lost. »
An exhibition of the images, collected in the book “1964: Eyes of the Storm”, has been created at the National Portrait Gallery in London. The exhibition is now on view at the Brooklyn Museum in New York.
He gave correspondent Anthony Mason a tour of the exhibition.
McCartney explained his process: “When I was taking pictures, I was just looking for a shot. And so, I would point the camera and just see where it pleased me, you know, oh, that’s itAnd invariably, you pretty much take a photo.
“We were moving quickly. So, we learned to take photos quickly. »
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A photo was taken as the group arrived at the Deauville Hotel in Miami. Mason said: “I think your quote in the book was, ‘I can almost hear him screaming.'”
“Yes, you can!” McCartney laughed. “The policeman will subdue her, you know?”
Paul McCartney
“I also like the cop in the foreground who looks puzzled by everything,” Mason said.
“I love the architecture of this hotel,” McCartney said. “But you know, as we were saying before, we had to take this picture very quickly, just to take this picture.”
“But you have to have an eye to catch that.”
“It’s my left!”
The Beatles had started their journey in Paris. “And it was in Paris that we received the telegram: ‘Congratulations, guys, number one in the American charts.'”
Paul McCartney
In America, they performed “The Ed Sullivan Show”. Seventy-three million people would tune in. It was, McCartney wrote, “the moment when all hell broke loose.”
Mason said: “Looking at these pictures, it’s kind of like you’re looking at the world, you’re looking out. You seemed very comfortable with that.”
“Yeah. I mean, you know, you have to think about it: we’re kids from Liverpool. And we’re trying to get famous, and it’s not easy. And we were like stars in America, and people loved us. So, we loved it. And having that number one was really the secret – because, if the journalists, you know, the journalists in New York, ‘Hey, Beatle! Why are you here?’ whatever. We say, ‘We’re number one in your country! Bingo!’
Paul McCartney
From New York, the Beatles traveled by train to Washington, D.C. McCartney’s camera also made the trip.
Paul McCartney
Most of McCartney’s photos were taken on the road, including shots taken from his car of a Miami police officer who pulled up next to him: “That’s basically what I saw.” And we had never seen armed police. We just didn’t have that in England. »
Paul McCartney
But in Miami, McCartney released the color film. “For us, it was like going on vacation,” he said.
The Fab Four even had a few days off.
Mason said: “There are some great photos of you all in what looks like terry cloth jackets. »
“Yeah, the hotel provided them,” McCartney said. “You normally get a bathrobe, but here, being in Miami, there were these cool little short things and hats! We lived in them for days. Even Brian (Epstein), our manager. We thought they were really cool things.”
Paul McCartney
He caught George chilling with an anonymous admirer: “In that photo, yeah, I don’t think I was trying to protect his identity,” McCartney said. “I love her swimsuit. It’s awesome. And, you know, there’s George, as I keep saying, living his life. He has a drink, which is probably a scotch and a coke. He’s tanned, the girl in the yellow bikini. For guys from Liverpool, it was exceptionally wonderful! »
Paul McCartney
The band returned home to England in late February. By early April, Beatles songs were in the top five of the American charts. McCartney writes: “We spent the next few months and years clinging to life.”
Right to live
Mason asked, “Do you remember any of that when you saw them?”
“Sort of,” McCartney replied. “It was a very memorable time, you know?”
“But there was so much going on that I’m amazed you could process it all and keep it all.”
“Yeah, me too!” McCartney said. “To me, it’s like a little slice of American history. And it’s my story, it’s the Beatles’ story. So it was great to rediscover that footage.”
An earlier version of this story originally aired on June 18, 2023.
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Story by Ed Forgotson. Editor: Joseph Frandino.
