Although they were rarely seen in public as a group by April 1969, on this day The Beatles took part in one of their final photo sessions together.
It took place in two locations, with three photographers taking pictures of the group. The first location was at the Madingley Club on Willoughby Road in East Twickenham in London, followed by more shots taken at number 4 Ducks Walk where they boarded a boat on the River Thames.
The Beatles and the photographers took three vehicles to the location – John Lennon’s Rolls-Royce, a white Mercedes, and a Humber Snipe. The first photographs were taken with The Beatles leaning against the Rolls-Royce, with the Thames behind them.
A crowd soon gathered, and The Beatles obligingly signed autographs. Afterwards the group moved to the second location, where they were photographed climbing into a rowing boat, the Fritz Otto Maria Anna. They rowed to a small island in the middle of the river, from which they waved to the camera on the river bank.
Following this day, The Beatles had photo sessions for the ‘Ballad Of John And Yoko’ single on 30 April 1969, the Get Back album in May 1969, the Abbey Road cover on 8 August 1969, and at at Tittenhurst Park on 22 August.
Also on this day...
- 2019: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Zepp, Nagoya
- 2011: Publishers announced for The Lennon Letters
- 2003: Paul McCartney live: Manchester Evening News Arena, Manchester
- 1990: Paul McCartney live: Rupp Arena, Lexington
- 1973: US single release: My Love by Paul McCartney and Wings
- 1970: Apple denies that Paul McCartney has left The Beatles
- 1967: Paul McCartney flies from Denver to Los Angeles
- 1965: UK single release: Ticket To Ride
- 1965: Filming: Help!
- 1964: Filming: A Hard Day’s Night
- 1963: The Beatles live: Gaumont State Cinema, Kilburn, London
- 1963: Television: Tuesday Rendezvous
- 1963: Radio: Pop Inn
- 1961: The Beatles live: Top Ten Club, Hamburg
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
Is it the session during which the unused cover to the unreleased “Get Back” album was made?
No, George has a little mustache in that photo, he’s clean-shaven here.
Hello,
Can I obtain copies of a couple of the images of the boat trip to the island? Who owns the copyright?
The article above states: “Following this day, The Beatles had photo sessions for the Get Back album in May 1969, the Abbey Road cover on 8 August 1969, and at at Tittenhurst Park on 22 August”.
If a small correction may be made, there was one more photo session between April 9 and May 13, 1969. As far as I know, the exact date of the session is not known, but it took place shortly after recording the single The Ballad Of John And Yoko and was intended to obtain a photo for the cover of this single, of course for markets outside the UK. In addition to the band members, Yoko took part in the event and Linda was the photographer. Source: https://www.the-paulmccartney-project.com/1969/04/the-ballad-of-john-and-yoko-photo-session/
Thank you. I found out the shoot took place on 30 April, so I’ve added a page here.
Excellent! Thank you! I couldn’t find the date of this session anywhere.
It’s a single source, but I checked the other On This Day dates that the Linda McCartney IG account has posted (for Mary Hopkin’s Post Card and Paul’s McCartney II) and they were both correct. In the absence of any other documentation it’s probably the best we have. I had to use a Chrome extension called “Exact Time Viewer for Instagram” to reveal the precise date, rather than a relative one.