a day in the park with macca

Quick, Beatle fangirls and boys of San Francisco: get yourselves to the de Young before October 5 so you can see museum-quality prints of shirtless Beatles while you can!

Ok but really, I've been meaning to go see Paul McCartney's photo exhibit at the de Young museum since March of this year, and am so happy to have finally made it, six months later (sometimes I miss being a short walk away from Golden Gate Park...).

This particular Sunday, I was already at the park on a gorgeous 75-degree day, wrapping up a Plant ID class, and met up with Alex for a throwback sando from Arguello Market before we dipped into the museum for a Beatley afternoon.

The exhibit was larger than I'd expected: half a dozen rooms filled with Paul's photos from the early-to-mid-60s, accompanied by video footage from their first US visit, and cool Beatles memorabilia like Paul's 1963 journal:

I'd seen many of these photos before (the curse of being an obsessive Beatlefan on the internet in the early 2000s), but still, lots were new to me! Plus, seeing them in large print on the walls of the museum, especially the color photos from Miami, made the experience extra special.

They are impressively artful shots, but beyond that, I just love the closeness of them. I love that 20-year-old Paul was sentimental enough to take so many off-the-cuff, intimate photos of his Liverpudlian buddies (who happen to be in the biggest band in the world) as they found themselves in new cities around the world for the first time.

Take these photos of John and George in the back of a cab in London (sleeping George! also, I have a thing for John's pre-hippie Buddy Holly glasses)...none of the tens of thousands of publicity or paparazzi photos could capture them like this. 🥹

I also loved all the personal and charming photos of the people in the Beatles' orbit: George's parents beaming backstage during the Beatles' first run of shows in London, Brian Epstein chilling at the George V hotel in Paris, Cynthia Lennon attentively reading the paper in New York, George Martin and his wife goofing around by the pool(!) in Miami.

Paul also took photos of the people behind the scenes on tour: airport crews welcoming the band, policemen on the streets, photographers, train attendants, backstage photos of the musicians the Beatles toured with in 1963 and 1964: Billy J. Kramer, Cilla Black, Clarence 'Frogman' Henry, Jackie DeShannon, etc. It's just a cool time capsule of early 1960s popular music from the eye of the storm (which is, appropriately, the name of the exhibit).

While wandering between rooms I ran into my mom's best friend, who is the biggest Beatles fan I know and was back for her third visit to the exhibit (she and I literally live in the same neighborhood, but of course the only time we run into each other is across town at the Beatles show 😄). We chatted a while about Fabs and baseball (beat LA) and when we crossed paths again later, of course we had both bought the commemorative photo book from the museum store, lol.

Anyway, as I've mentioned before, I've grown to really appreciate Paul's role in the Beatles beyond the cute, people-pleasing bassist. It's obvious he cared a lot about the Beatles' image and music (to a fault, at times), but you also gotta respect his ongoing efforts as band historian and storyteller. Think of all the new generations of fans getting to experience Beatlemania through these pictures!

Also, something that I hadn't realized until this exhibit: The Beatles' US touring life began and ended in San Francisco. Their first official US tour kicked off on August 19, 1964 at the Cow Palace (technically Daly City, but we'll take it), and as most fans know, their last public show was at Candlestick Park on August 29, 1966 (this is an interesting summary of that show: the Beatles had a hunch it would be their last, so took some selfies and home recordings, which of course have now made it out into the world).

A related fact: Paul McCartney was the last artist to perform at Candlestick Park before it was torn down, on August 14, 2014. I was there!)

And just for fun, some more pics from the rest of my day in the park...