Mad Day for a Bed-in

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A mad day to stand on the edge of a wall.

The Mad Day Out -- Interview with Tom Murray

Tonight for the weekly Wednesday Review, I have something a little different.   And it is an exclusive to "Meet the Beatles..for Real!"    

Over the years of running this blog, I have learned that one of my favorite photo shoots, the 1968 Mad Day Out, is one of all of yours as well.     One of the photographers that was there on July 28, was Tom Murray.   He didn't even know who he was going to be shooting, but just went along with another photographer and had two rolls of film with him.    Tom was just 25 years old at the time, and was the youngest person among the photographers.  

Tom has a new book called Tom Murray's Mad Day Out that features the photographs he took on that sunny Sunday in London.    Many of them have became classic photos to Beatle fans around the globe.

Photo by Tom Murray
This is my all time favorite photo taken during the Mad Day Out.   I used to have it as a poster hanging above my bed in my dorm room in college in the mid 1990's. 

I was able to quickly interview Tom and asked him some questions that I thought would fit in with the theme of this blog.

Sara:    How many photos of the Beatles did you take for the "Mad day Out" session?   

Tom:      I took less than 40 images all during the day, when I had processed the  2 rolls of color film, I edited them down to 23 of  the very best and destroyed the rest.

Sara:    Which of the photo are your favorites?

Tom:  "Nowhere man", as he never knew the most famous four boys in the world were all around him, he never woke up from his nap, I also love my solo photo of George and the one of Paul profile.

Photo by Tom Murray-- "Nowhere Man"

Sara:    My blog is about the Beatles' fans and encounters the fans had with the boys.    Do you recall any interactions the Beatles had with their fans during the sessions?  Were the fans still having Beatlemania in 1968?

Tom:  The fans were all so surprised to see the Beatles, Sunday in 1968 was very quiet, most shops did not open, pubs not until afternoon, it was church then home.   We did cause two small fender benders of kids screaming "dad dad it’s the Beatles", then boom.   Much to every one’s surprise, the Beatles did occasionally dash into the crowds. Most of the time we could travel around without any fuss, as no mobile phones to give the game away. Several girls were outside Paul’s house, two fainted when they saw all the Beatles getting out of the car.

Sara:    Were you a Beatles fan before the photos?   After meeting the Beatles, did your feelings about them change any?

Tom:  Loved the music, wore out the 45s and the LPs, every new record was taken to the Sunday Times studio and played full volume all the time.      I thought they were a great bunch of guys, mostly around my age, it never dawned on me how famous they had become until folks found out I had spent the whole day with them.

Sara:   The blog also likes to focus a bit on the people in the Beatles inner circle, Mal Evans, Neil Aspinall etc.   What members of the inner circle were there (I know I have seen photos of Mal Evans) and how did they help the photo shoot?

Tom:   Mal drove them around all day in Georges, Dark Green Mercedes Pullman, Mal’s son was with us, Yoko stayed In the background, the four Beatles really bounced ideas of off each other as we went from place to place for what is now knows as Tom Murray’s Mad Day Out.

When I got my  Jaguar XK 150 back to my mother’s  home, where I kept it, she asked:- “ what kind of day I had”, I told her I has spent all day with the Beatles, she screamed  then she asked what was it like, I said:- “it was a Mad Day Out”.

I want to send Tom Murray a big thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.  I hope you all found what he had to say as interesting as I did!   Just a little peek into the Beatles in 1968.   I love it!    I also want to thank Gabriella Vivaldi for her patience with me and for contacting me about this interview!

 I do not have the book "Tom Murray's Mad Day Out" yet.   However, I have only heard great things about the book and I am seriously thinking that I need to purchase a copy for myself for Christmas.      The  book not only features the photographs, but also contains Tom's memories of the day.    It is an expensive book ($100) but is from Archivum Publications, which put out outstanding books.    

There aren't a lot of the books left, so if you are wanting one, you need to act fast!  Please follow this link.

http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/tommurraymaddayout

A happy mad day out

I love how everyone else is just milling around in the background---seemingly oblivious to the fact that the Beatles were in the middle of a classic photo shoot.

Mad Day fan

Photo by Stephen Goldblatt 

John signs a copy of Rubber Soul for a lucky fan during the "Mad Day Out" photo session.

A Mad Day out for autographs

Ebay isn't always the best source for buying authentic high-end Beatles collectibles.   Unless it is a reputable dealer, such as Tracks, I advice fans to avoid ebay and look at an auction house for high end Beatles items such as autographs and clothing.

However, this appears to be the "real deal" and  was excited to see it listed (although I could never afford it).  

You remember the photos taken on what is known as the Beatles "Mad Day Out" of the guys standing behind a gate and there is a group of people of all ages standing with them?   It is sort of a "find the Beatles" photo and I have always wondered who the people were.   How did they just happen to get into a photo with the Beatles?

Well we now know a bit more about this.   Those gate photos were taken at the St. Pancras Old Church and Garden.  The main caretaker of the church was a man named Mr. Barnard.  In the photograph is his wife, their daughter, Jennifer, and two of Jennifer's three sons.

Jennifer's mother was able to get George, Paul and Ringo's autograph and interestingly enough, something I never noticed was that the older woman, who we now know to be Mrs. Barnard is actually holding a piece of paper and a felt marker that was used for the autographs.   She is holding a Threetles autograph in the photos.

Not the first time

So I found this photo from the "Mad Day Out" photo session in 1968 and it stated that it was the first photo of John Lennon and Yoko Ono taken together, which just made me laugh.   The first photo of John and Yoko together was taken during the recording session of "Fool on the Hill" in 1967!   But this is a neat photo even if it isn't the first photo of the couple ever taken.  

One very happy woman

I have posted a photo of shirtless Paul handing the autograph to this woman, but this is a different frame.   I think the older woman is much more excited about this than the little girl she is holding and check out the girl behind them!  

Shooting the Mad Day Out

Finding the Beatles

When I was a young Beatles fan, one of my favorite albums was the blue album.   I really loved the inside photo that showed the Beatles blending into a group of people by a fence.  I thought I was pretty awesome because I could locate them quickly (you didn't fool me Ringo....I see you down there trying to be one of the kids).   Now I know that the photo was just one of a million photos taken as part of the Mad Day Out shoot.   And I wonder who are all these people?   Where they just out and about one day and were asked if they wanted to pose with the Beatles?  How can they keep their composure?   The girl next to Paul appears to want to look at him.   And most importantly where are they now?   All of the kids in the photo....they are grown up and they have a story to tell.  I would really love to hear it.

At the Antique Market

Photos taken during the "Mad Day Out" photo shoot.

Ringo's mad day

Mad Day Out

For years I have seen this photo of Paul signing an autograph for someone during the Mad Day Out photo Session.   And now I finally get to see who the autograph was for! 

Tom Murry's Paul print for auction

One of the biggest surprises have found with having a Beatles blog is the number of people that contact me. I love hearing from other fans, especially those who have a fun story or photo to share. But I also hear from people who want to help spread the word about a Beatles event. I guess people think this is a popular blog and it a good way to get the word out. If the event has to do with Beatles photos or is something I think is neat, then I will almost always share it. It might not be in the category of Meeting a Beatle for real, but I am happy to spread Beatles news. I am always happy when I can post a photo with permission! And so is the case with the information I received about an upcoming auction for a print of Paul McCartney. You can read about it from the press release. What the press release does not tell you is that the beautiful photo of Paul was taken on July 28, 1968 for the well-known and well-loved "Mad Day Out" photo shoot. This photo was taken in the glass dome that was located in the backyard of Paul's Cavendish home. Paul was wearing his pink suit for most of this photo session, but did remove the pink jacket and was wearing a yellow vest underneath for a few shots (such as this one).

Rock Paper Photo, the largest online gallery of pop culture, fine art photography and Tom Murray, renowned Beatle’s photographer have joined together to donate one of Murray’s highly sought after Beatles prints for the GRAMMY-affiliated MusiCares 22nd annual benefit gala on Friday, February 10, 2012 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The gala will recognize 14-time GRAMMY winner, Paul McCartney, for his creative accomplishments and charitable work and award him as the 2012 MusiCares Person of the Year.

To mark the occasion, Murray created a one-of-one, 30 x 40 profile print of the legendary Beattle that will be featured during the gala’s silent auction. The print is normally available in a 20 x 24 size and is part of The Mad Day Collection: Summer Of ’68, which includes Murray’s photographs from the Beatles final group publicity shoot during the summer of 1968. From two rolls of film, Murray kept 23 negatives which are considered the most important color photographs of the group from that period of their career. The photos were revealed to the public for the first time in 1996 and have since been exhibited in cities across the US and Europe, including New York, Los Angeles, Paris, London and Stockholm.

Through auctioning or donating his Beatles prints for charities, Murray, has raised nearly $7 million for charities worldwide. All proceeds from the MusiCares silent auction will benefit the MusiCares Foundation, which helps provide critical assistance for music people in times of need.

The MusiCares Annual Benefit Gala is one of the most prestigious events to be held during GRAMMY Week and the celebration culminates with the 54th annual GRAMMY Awards on Sunday, February 12, 2012. Rock Paper Photo is participating in this event in partnership with Waste Management.

Mad Day out

The Mad Day Out photographer,Stephen Goldblatt, took this beautiful shot of John and Yoko through a car window. Even though he was there as a professional, I really think this particular photo was taken as a fan....

Paul in a pink jacket 1968

I love the Beatles, but sometimes I have to questin their fashion senses. I know it was the 1960's but some of the stuff they wore back then was strange! However, in this case, Sir Paul McCartney was ahead of his time. Here it is in the 2000's and men all over are wearing pink, well at least boys in my 2nd grade. But Paul started wearing a pink jacket in 1968. He can be seen in several fan photos here in the pink jacket and most famously during the "Mad Day Out" photo shoot where he was wearing the entire pink suit!! You go Paul! Rock that pink suit!