Alan Aldridge - A Beatles illustrator

Today we learned that Alan Aldridge passed away.   I do not think that Alan was someone that was a friend of the Beatles per say.    I haven't ever read any accounts of him hanging out at Paul's house or having an office at Apple or anything along those lines.   However, Alan was someone the Beatles all knew and he was a small part of the story.

Like many of you, I know of Alan mostly from his books "The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics Volumes 1 & 2."   My Dad someone obtained an original copy of the hardback book for me when I was a new Beatles fan.   At the age of 13 or 14, I was intrigued by the lyrics and fascinated by the illustrations.   They were so bright and colorful and a little naughty.     I loved figure out the Beatles songs in the illustration.

Looking at it now, I see that his work really captured the essence of the 1960's.  And the Beatles liked his work as well.   As a freelance artist, Alan designed many of Apple's logos, including the Apple itself and the Zapple label.   John had one of his art pieces hanging in the sun room of his home, Kenwood.

The "Dracula" type artwork hanging above John is one of Alan Aldridge's artwork

When I was in Cleveland a few years ago, I had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe there and took a photo of this Paul McCartney mask that was designed by Alan.   It is one of the first things Beatles related that he ever did and it is what got the ball really rolling on his work with the Fab 4.

So to hear of the passing of such a talented artist.   Hopefully new fans will discover his illustrated lyrics books and enjoy them as much as those of us have already.

Thank you!

 

I want to thank everyone who has written to me through comments and on facebook that supports me and this blog.  Your support really  means a lot to me and I cannot express how much your messages touched me. 

You know, I do this blog because I want a place to keep the stories and photos of the fans.   I started the blog for myself and I continue to do things the way I like them to be done.  That being said, it really is an honor that MTBFR has become part of so many of your daily routines.  

As for the accusations that I am liar, I am not sure what to say.   I am never purposely a liar.  I work hard to find the correct information to post.  I admit that some nights I am lazy and I do not put as much effort in finding out things as I do on other nights.   I also know that there is a lot of false information about the Beatles out in the world.    I am thankful for friend of this blog, Mark Lewisohn's work in getting the true Beatles history in print.   But I am not Mark Lewisohn---far far from it.   I try my best and I might get some wrong information out.  But I promise that my intentions are pure.   One thing I love about the internet and this blog is that we can work together as Beatle fans to find the correct information.   Alone I am not a Beatles expert, but with all of you working with me---this blog has turned into a goldmine of correct Beatles information.    I am proud of it and I thank all of you who have been positive and helpful along the way.

I am not sure why I seem to have made some enemies except that they must be jealous in one way or another.     The arguments that they make do not make a lot of sense to me and when I try to understand them, I end up being called "rude" and "immature" and other things, so I am done trying to understand.    I do admit that I have been not so nice to some people online a few times.   I get frustrated and irritated and while I never curse and try to stay calm, it isn't always easy to do.  I apologize for that. 

But at the end of the day we are all Beatle fans, right?   Shouldn't we be sticking together?    We are a special group of people and we should not be divided.   We can disagree on things, but at the end of the day we love John, Paul, George, and Ringo.

Peace and Love,

Sara S.