Living the Beatles Legend: On The Road with the Fab Four - The Mal Evans Story by Kenneth Womack

Author:Kenneth Womack [Womack, Kenneth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Music, Biography
ISBN: 9780008551223
Amazon: B0C7M9TRN2
Goodreads: 175971248
Publisher: Mudlark
Published: 2023-11-14T05:00:00+00:00

On July 28, Mal had something even grander in store for his son. That Sunday, he squired Gary around London during one of the most unforgettable days in Beatles history—the photo session that has come to be known as the Mad Day Out. It was a magical day for Gary, who relished the opportunity to observe his dad at work with the world’s most famous foursome. A quintet of photographers was on hand—Stephen Goldblatt, Tom Murray, Ronald Fitzgibbon, Don McCullin, and Tony Bramwell—along with Mal, who was working the beat for The Beatles Book. Naturally, Yoko was there, too, along with twenty-four-year-old American newcomer Francie Schwartz, Paul’s new girlfriend; his solo appearance at the Yellow Submarine premiere had been no accident—things were over, once and for all, with Jane Asher. Mal had made Francie’s acquaintance under traumatic circumstances, having been summoned to 7 Cavendish Avenue in the middle of the night after the fans who kept vigil outside Paul’s house dognapped Eddie, McCartney’s Yorkshire terrier. “Mal had to go to the police station to get him back,” Francie recalled. “The girls insisted they wouldn’t release the dog unless Paul came. I talked to them on the phone, and somehow they returned the poor thing. Paul was less upset than I was.”34

The Mad Day Out photo session comprised seven different locations across Greater London. After alighting at Thomson House, on Gray’s Inn Road, home to the Times, the group shifted to the Mercury Theatre, in Notting Hill, where the boys posed with a parrot and, later, behind a large sign reading “International Theatre Club.” With a little encouragement, Gary stepped into the frame, standing in front of the imposing sign. At one point, as the photographers and the Beatles prepared for another shot, Gary played in a vacant lot, inexplicably pushing a sizable piece of lumber around while Mal busily snapped photos of him. The session continued at Highgate Cemetery, North London, as well as Old Street, where the boys climbed atop a concrete island at the center of a bustling roundabout. At St. Pancras Old Church and St. Pancras Gardens, they posed with Gary around a park bench, later stopping for photos in front of the church’s arched doorway.

At this point, Don McCullin, one of the photographers, suggested that the Beatles and Yoko pose among the crowd of onlookers who had gathered behind a nearby railing. The assemblage featured several children, including one particularly cheeky boy who stood front and center with nary a care in the world. But Gary wasn’t having it, refusing to join the tableau; he was part of the Beatles’ entourage, after all—not some nameless bystander.

Moving on to East London, the Beatles were photographed in and around the Wapping Pier Head building. There, John, donning a camo jacket, played dead as the others solemnly collected around him.

At sunset, they concluded the Mad Day Out back at Cavendish Avenue, where Paul posed with Martha inside the geodesic meditation dome gracing his backyard. They were later joined by

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