As most of us know, Paul went ahead and went into the recording studio that day and says that he listened to recently recorded material because he simply didn't feel like sitting at home. He says in his 1984 Playboy interview that when he returned home that evening he sat and watched the news with his children and cried all night. But before he made it home that evening, reporters shoved a microphone at him and asked him what he thought to which Paul said those famous words, "Drag, isn't it?" But really what more could McCartney say? It WAS a drag.
These photos were taken on December 9, 1980 by Linda McCartney. They really stand out to me because they aren't the typical clear photos Linda takes. It is almost as if the photos themselves were mourning as well.
are those more pics of Jimmy Savile?
ReplyDeleteOh no! I sure hope they aren't!
DeleteHe has little resemblance to Saville, and McCartney et al despised the man.
DeleteThat's Paddy Maloney from the Chieftans, who played on the song that Paul was recording that day, called "Rainclouds", which became the b-side to "Ebony and Ivory". The track was recorded on December 8th (before John's murder), Maloney's overdub was on the 9th. The first song McCartney cut after Lennon's death was "Tug Of War", and maybe I'm just reading into it, but you can definitely hear it in McCartney's voice, as if he aged a hundred years.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting these, I had never seen them, you can see the pain in his face. I really hate it when people say awful things about Paul for the way he reacted. What did they expect? Your best friend is brutally murdered and you are supposed to have a prepared speech full of meaning and all the rest of it? For Christ's sake!
ReplyDeleteI agree.
DeleteIt didn't come out right, the "it's a drag" line. He wants to explode but he's British and restrained, and it came out that way. It was an awful time.
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell was he supposed to say? I remember that night just like everyone back then. It was a fucking drag, still is..
DeleteThe people all look haunted here
ReplyDeleteWhen I heard his comment on the news that day, I took it as a sarcastic remark to the reporter fro asking such a ridiculous, personally invasive question...
ReplyDeleteyeah
DeleteGeoff Emerick in the middle pic. He talked about this day in his book. Said Paul puttered around the studio for a little bit, tinkered here and there, and decided it was best to shut it down for the day and go home. That's Paul: Let's give it a go and do our best.
ReplyDeleteMy mate had just scored a few pounds of Kashmir Twist and I got up early to score a quarter weight. It was a freezing morning and I had to ride my Suzuki Hustler very carefully down from Highgate to Clissold Park. He wasnt up, so I sat in a cafe on Green Lanes and eat a bacon sandwich and drank rank tea. The radio was playing and the Nine o'clock news came on.
ReplyDeleteThats one morning in 1980. I know where I was.