FEATURE:
Paul McCartney at Eighty
PHOTO CREDIT: John Pratt/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Thirty-Five: When Paul Met Linda…
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ON 15th May, 1967…
IN THIS PHOTO: Linda takes pictures of Paul McCartney at the press launch for The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band; held at Brian Epstein’s house at 24 Chapel Street, London, on 19th May, 1967
Paul McCartney met Linda Eastman. A historic and hugely important day in his life: meeting a woman that became his soulmate. Although the night they met was then met with a gap of absence soon after, one cannot underestimate the importance of that night in 1967. Ahead of the fifty-fifth anniversary of a meeting that would change the life of Paul McCartney – and would impact his songwriting -, I wanted to source a couple of articles that explore that meeting in London; they chart the course of events soon after. I wonder whether McCartney and Eastman knew they would end up together when they first saw one another! Ultimate Classic Rock wrote about the event on its fiftieth anniversary in 2017:
“It was just another night out in London for Paul McCartney. After attending Brian Epstein’s dinner party to celebrate the completion of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Beatles' bassist hit the town with some buddies. McCartney headed to Soho’s Bag O’Nails club, where he was a regular with his own table. That night, May 15, 1967, Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames were playing.
A little before McCartney showed up, a young photographer by the name of Linda Eastman had been taken to the Bag O’Nails by some of her friends, members of British rockers the Animals. She had become acquainted with rock royalty, such as the Animals, through her work as a shutterbug. What could be loosely described as a career began when she shot the Rolling Stones, followed by her role as the unofficial photographer at New York’s Fillmore East. She would capture rock icons including Jimi Hendrix, the Who, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin and many others.
But in May 1967, Eastman was in the U.K. because of an assignment to shoot photos for a book titled Rock and Other Four-Letter Words. The American was also there to enjoy the height of swinging London, with its mind-bending substances and free love. As one of the London scene’s pillars, McCartney was enjoying himself too.
During Georgie Fame’s set that night, McCartney remembers that he caught Eastman’s eye. He’s said that he was attracted to her smile.
“The band had finished and [Linda and the Animals] got up to either leave or go for a drink or a pee or something, and she passed our table,” McCartney told Barry Miles in Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. “I was near the edge and stood up just as she was passing, blocking her exit. And so I said, ‘Oh, sorry. Hi. How are you? How’re you doing?’ I introduced myself, and said, ‘We’re going on to another club after this, would you like to join us?’ That was my big pulling line! Well, I’d never used it before, of course, but it worked this time! It was a fairly slim chance but it worked.”
Down the road, after becoming a family man, McCartney would often make fun of his corniness when telling the story. Apparently being a Beatle in 1967 didn’t require one to be too slick with pickup lines. As McCartney said, his line worked and they moved on to the next location, the Speakeasy. Eastman remembered the night not just for meeting her future husband, but for hearing a certain song for the first time.
“I remember everybody at the table heard ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ that night for the first time and we all thought, ‘Who is that? Stevie Winwood?’ We all said Stevie,” she told Miles. “The minute that record came out, you just knew you loved it. That’s when we actually met.”
Years later, the McCartneys would consider Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale” to be their song, because of their musical memory. But the night didn’t end at the Speakeasy. McCartney, soon to be 25, welcomed Eastman, soon to turn 26, back to his place under the auspices of showing the photographer his original paintings by the surrealist Rene Magritte. The Beatle was impressed that Eastman was also a fan of the Belgian painter. Memories are hazy as to if the pair impressed each other in any other ways that evening.
McCartney and Eastman would meet again a few days later at Epstein’s house in London. Eastman sought to shoot photos of the Beatles for her book and the Beatles manager agreed for her to come to a press party for Sgt. Pepper on May 19. She took more than a few famous shots of the boys, but also had her photo taken – the first picture of the future Mr. and Mrs. McCartney”.
I can only imagine what the atmosphere was like in the Bag O’Nails club in May 1967! At that time, The Beatles had completed work on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. That was released in June. A high and hugely important time for the band, there would have been so many eyes on McCartney. On an album where he took creative control and was debatably replacing John Lennon as the band’s leader, McCartney was probably looking to unwind and not be hassled after a busy day - though he was also looking for a bit of fun too. What he found on 15th May, 1967 was an event that would change the course of his life! To reiterate and expand on what has already been sourced, here is some more detail about the meeting between McCartney and Eastman – and how their first interaction was undeniably passionate and pure:
“The night I met Linda I was in the Bag O’Nails watching Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames play a great set. Speedy was banging away. She was there with the Animals, who she knew from photographing them in New York. They were sitting a couple of alcoves down, near the stage. The band had finished and they got up to either leave or go for a drink or a pee or something, and she passed our table. I was near the edge and stood up just as she was passing, blocking her exit. And so I said, ‘Oh, sorry. Hi. How are you? How’re you doing?’ I introduced myself, and said, ‘We’re going on to another club after this, would you like to join us?’
That was my big pulling line! Well, I’d never used it before, of course, but it worked this time! It was a fairly slim chance but it worked. She said, ‘Yes, okay, we’ll go on. How shall we do it?’ I forget how we did it. ‘You come in our car’ or whatever, and we all went on, the people I was with and the Animals, we went on to the Speakeasy.
Paul McCartney – from “Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now”, Barry Miles
[…] When I came to London in 1967, The Beatles and Stevie Winwood were the two acts I was determined to photograph. Having already taken the first pictures of Traffic in Berkshire, that left only The Beatles.
I took my portfolio over to Brian Epstein’s office and left it with his assistant, Peter Brown. While I was waiting for his response I happened to meet Paul at a club called the Bag O’Nails in Kingly Street, London where I had gone with Eric Burdon and some other friends to see Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames.
Paul walked in after we had arrived and came and sat at the table right next to us. It was one of those “our eyes met” situations. As I was about to leave Paul came over and invited me to go with him to The Speakeasy which was not too far away in Margaret Street. That was where we all heard “Whiter Shade Of Pale” for the first time and fell in love with it; we all thought it must be Stevie Winwood, but it turned out to be Procol Harum. […]
Linda McCartney – from “Linda McCartney’s Sixties“, 1992
We flirted a bit, and then it was time for me to go back with them and Paul said, ‘Well, we’re going to another club. You want to come?’ I remember everybody at the table heard A Whiter Shade Of Pale that night for the first time and we all thought, Who is that? Stevie Winwood? We all said Stevie. The minute that record came out, you just knew you loved it. That’s when we actually met. Then we went back to his house. We were in the Mini with I think Lulu and Dudley Edwards, who painted Paul’s piano; Paul was giving him a lift home. I was impressed to see his Magrittes.
Linda McCartney – from “Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now”, Barry Miles”.
Fans of The Beatles and Paul McCartney will mark 15th May as a very special one. Fifty-five years ago, he would encounter a woman who would change his life! As part of a run of features ahead of his eightieth birthday next month, I just had to include something about a fateful and magical night in Soho in 1967. In a feature soon, I will mark fifty-five years of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It still makes my spine tingle to imagine what it was like for people around Paul McCartney when he locked eyes with Linda Eastman: his Wings band member and...
THE love of his life.