Meeting Paul and Linda for the first time

A wonderful fan, Graeme found his photos on this blog and contacted me about them.   He then sent me the colored version of the photos plus his story.   Thanks you SO MUCH Graeme!  You are awesome!

Rick Wright (from Pink Floyd) with Graeme July 1975

Graeme with Linda and Paul outside Cavendish August 1975

Lind and Paul outside Cavendish August 1975 (photo: Graeme Leonard.  Photos posted with permission)

MEETING PAUL & LINDA McCARTNEY... THE FIRST TIME

In 1964, at the tender and impressionable age of seven, I was dragged by my elder sister into the Odeon cinema in Newcastle to see ‘A Hard Day’s Night’... kicking and screaming, as my mother had promised that she was taking me for an afternoon of cartoons.  From that moment I was hooked... a Beatles fan, a McCartney fan.  I had to wait until 10th July 1973 to see Paul live, the Wings gig at Newcastle City Hall.  What a night!!!  Probably not the greatest gig ever... but certainly the most memorable.  Just over two years later I was fortunate enough to meet him for the first time.

I’d only recently left school and had very little money but managed to get enough cash together for a trip to London in early July 1975.  I travelled with a friend, Garry... we had three objectives... to see Pink Floyd at the Knebworth Park festival, to meet the Floyd guys and to, somehow, meet Paul McCartney.  It was an adventurous plan, which partially succeeded.  We teamed up with two London-based friends, Nicky Pope and Pat O’Brien, for the Knebworth event and had a wonderful time.  A couple of days afterwards Garry & me went to Abbey Road studios as we’d heard that Pink Floyd were putting the final touches together on their ‘Wish You Were Here’ album.  We met David Gilmour and the late, great Rick Wright that day.  Unfortunately, David refused to have his photo taken with us.  Thankfully, Rick was more pleasant and posed for the camera.  So, the final objective was to see Macca.  We walked the short distance from Abbey Road to his house and it was immediately apparent that he & Linda weren’t at home... window shutters closed, no sign of life.  So disappointed...

A few weeks after that, I heard that Paul & Wings were rehearsing for their forthcoming UK tour at the Elstree Studios and we decided to do another trip to London.  In mid-August we took an overnight bus from Newcastle, arriving at Victoria Coach Station at about 6am.  We headed straight for St John’s Wood tube station and onwards to Cavendish Avenue.  The house looked occupied... we realised that we could be lucky this time.  From what I remember, we sat around on the pavement for about 5 hours.  It didn’t matter to us... the weather was pleasant.  At around noon, or early afternoon, we heard a door open and then voices.  So excited!!!!  A few seconds later the green gates opened and there was Paul McCartney standing right in front of us.  It’s a moment I’ll never forget.  He and Linda were incredibly nice.  They weren’t hurrying to leave... quite happy to have photos taken with them... Paul asked us where we were from... Linda did a brilliant mimic of our Newcastle accents... Paul looked through my autograph book and made comments about the previous entries.

My idol became even more of an idol that day!!!!!

After waiting so long for this special moment, it was repeated the following month... with my friend Nicky and a guy from Belfast, who became a lifelong friend...