On Monday 1st June 1987 the "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album was issued on compact disc for the first time. To celebrate the CD release, and the fact that it was twenty years since the original LP was issued, EMI held a huge launch party in Studio 2 at Abbey Road. The party was attended by Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney, George Martin, Peter Blake, Roy Orbison, Roy Wood and BBC DJ Anne Nightingale as well as many other celebs.This was pretty much my first job as a photographer. I recall a friend of mine, Michael Mirecki, being the official photographer, a gig he got through someone that he knew at Abbey Road Studios (she was the studio head). We both went on a recce a few days before the launch and the plan would be that I would assist him by taking pictures so that we would have two bites at the cherry. We were told we would be the only snappers there and would have access to all parts of the building. What we didn't realise is that the entire world's press would be assembled in studio 2!!
On the day of the launch Paul and Linda arrived and Macca was taken into the control booth at the top of Studio 2 where all the knobs and buttons are, so that he could meet EMI executives and Abbey Road engineers. When it was time for him to come back down to the studio I was waiting at the foot of the stairs with crowds of people all around. It was a scrum and a fight to try to get any shots as Macca came down the stairs. Waiting at the foot of the stairs was Elsie, the Abbey Road tea lady. She and Paul posed for anyone that could get close, but sorry Pete, I missed that one.
Down in the studio there was a huge cake in the shape of the Sgt. Pepper bass drum. McCartney cut the cake and the press were going mad trying to get the perfect shot - yet again I missed out. The Daily Mail's photographer Alan Davidson (nicknamed "the Bruiser") was singled out by Macca who said to him, "you're the one nobody likes." Along with Paul and Linda was some old geezer who didn't stop moaning about only being recognized for doing the Sgt. Pepper album cover and not really being appreciated as an artist in his own right. I think his name was um, er...oh yeah Sir Peter Blake.
It all seemed over in no time and Macca went back up into the control room where he was joined by George Martin and Roy Orbison amongst others. Beforehand I had managed to get my Sgt. Pepper album signed by the great man and also had a photo with him and Roy Wood, who Macca had just grabbed. As with all these moments, it was over in a flash. I remember doing some shots of Roy Orbison and his wife as they walked up the stairs at Abbey Road and then a few shots of Paul and Linda in the studio's car park as they got into their car to be driven off.
Sadly, back then I was too inexperienced (and way too keen on getting things signed) to obtain anything really good out of the day, as can be seen by these shots that the BBFC editor described as "pathetic" and "couldn't you afford colour film?" But it was an exciting start and the first of many times that I would photograph Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr down the years...
No comments:
Post a Comment