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The Beatles in London -
Tom Murray Interview & Photos

Photographer Tom Murray landed a dream assignment in July 1968. He was asked to accompany Don McCullin on a photo shoot. He had no idea that the subject of the day’s session was to be the decade’s biggest icons, The Beatles. Nevertheless he kept his composure and produced some fine work that day, some 23 pictures in all of The Beatles in various impromptu locations around London. The day after, The Beatles recorded Hey Jude. These photos were processed and printed and then, incredibly and somewhat mysteriously, locked in a bank vault for over thirty years. Tom has 250 of each and has now made these photographs available as limited editions, available for sale worldwide. Tom agreed kindly to talk about his life and work and about the day he photographed The Beatles.

Tom

Tom and his Beatles photos

Photographer Tom Murray ( above ) has worked with: Elizabeth Taylor, Yvonne De Carlo, Richard Burton, Jill St. John, Sir Hardy Aimes, Giorgio Armani, Angelica Huston, Elizabeth Montgomery, Dirk Bogarde, Dustin Hoffman, John Huston, John Schlesinger, Pierre Cardin, Calvin Klein, Michael York, George Cukor, Ralph Lauren, Luchino Visconti, John Weitz, Anthony Andrews, Ian McShane, Kate Nelligan, David Lean, Caspar Weinberger, Lindsay Anderson, H.R.H. Princess Margaret and, of course, The Beatles

Princess Margaret, Lord Snowdon and children

Paul McCartney

See Tom's site at www.tommurrayphotos.com

This article is the intellectual property of www.retrosellers.com and cannot be reproduced without express permission.

Digger: It’s a great story Tom. Have the photos really
been locked away for all this time?

Tom: Yes. When I was working for the Sunday Times
magazine, one of the world's greatest photographers,
Eve Arnold, told me to keep the best images for my
old age pension. This started me culling all of my
images down to the very best. I kept them in separate
files. My London studio had a fire and many of my
Africa images were damaged beyond repair. They
resisted the heat but not the water. After this I
put some of my best work into a bank. I probably
have less than 200 negatives and slides in the bank.
These are now the creme de la creme of my work.
The 23 Beatles images are the most valuable.



Digger: Did you literally have no idea who you were
going to photo that day?

Tom: Don McCullin only asked me to drive him around
and to help with his gear. This kind of shoot was totally
different from his usual gritty black and white images
and his great war work. I travelled to my parents'
home in Suffolk to collect my pride and joy, a red
XK150 Jaguar. I lived in Brynston square in London
and couldn't park so I kept the car in Suffolk. Don
never told me who we were shooting. He said on the day -
"Bring along your camera - you might get some nice snaps".
Boy, was he right.



Digger: What were your thoughts when you realised
it was The Beatles and did you have trouble
keeping cool and ‘focused’ on the job in hand?

Tom: I had at the time of the shoot been a photographer
for 9 years, including working in Africa. I was thrilled
and excited when I saw who we were photographing. It was
easy to keep cool once the camera came up to my eye.
The problem was I only had two rolls of colour film,
no flash, no tripod and one camera. Today I do most of
my own work in black & white, my paid work is 99%
colour. On this occasion Don McCullin was shooting
black & white, luckily I shot in colour.



Digger: Can you take us through that day?
How did the shoot progress and how did you
manage to get the various poses?

Tom: It would take a whole chapter of a book to tell of
the day. Don McCullin took charge of the shoot and
I realised that I had a unique opportunity to shoot what
I wanted and what looked great to me. It's a photographer's
dream to be free to shoot what they want: no brief,
no instructions and no restrictions.

The Beatles were great to get on with. I had a running
gag with Paul, where he would look over to see if I was
watching and do a quick pose. I watched him out of the
corner of my eye and would get great spontaneous shots.

The spookiest shot was down by the Thames. John dropped
to the ground, pretending to be dead. The Beatles
laughed. No shot for me. Then they went deadly serious,
John had his eyes open and the Beatles looked on with
very serious expressions. One frame for me. George put
on John's glasses and John closed his eyes. Another shot
for me. The whole incident was over in seconds. Little
did I know that years later I would be in New York
when John was shot. My photo was considered by Time
for the cover but it was deemed too spooky.



Digger: What were the highlights for you of that
Beatles photo shoot?

Tom: The highlights were the total fun of the day.
The Beatles were great, but then I was the third set
of eyes. This is why I feel that people say I have
the finest set of colour images of that day.



Digger: Who was the most cooperative Beatle,
who photographed the best and which was your
favourite of the fab four on that day?

Tom: One of my favourite pictures is a solo portrait
of George, which was printed for the first time ever
for my exhibition in London. I always knew it was a
great shot, but when I saw it for the first time,
Sky news were filming me seeing the prints and I did
get goosebumps at this fabulous photo. The other one is
Paul, Ringo and Martha, his lovely dog. I never knew
that Martha was the one he wrote the song
'Martha My Dear' for.



Digger: What Beatles albums do you have in
your collection?

Tom: I no longer have a Beatles collection because
I wore out my original records. My tapes have been
gobbled up by car stereos over the years. I was given
one compilation of tracks for Christmas.



Digger: What camera and what tricks and
techniques did you utilise that day?

Tom: I used, on the day of the shoot, a Nikon F. 35mm
camera and Kodak Ektachrome film. No tricks, no flash
techniques. I've been fortunate in working with some of
the best photographers in the world. I have a good eye.



Digger: Is there anything you would change
about the work you did on that day?

Tom: On the day, had I known, I would have taken
more equipment, more cameras and more lenses, and
probably have lost the spontaneity that makes my
shots look so great. They always say less is more.



Digger: Were you bothered by any fans
during the shoot?

Tom: The fans were very well behaved, but we could
not stay long at any location due to fans arriving in
droves. The grapevine was working overtime. Down at
the Thames, we were about to leave to go to Paul's house
in St. John's Wood and we could hear this drumming.
It was the fans running along the cobbled streets in our
direction. When we arrived at Paul's house, there were
girls waiting outside. I wonder where they are today and
what they must have thought when the 'Fab Four' drove up.



Digger: Is it true that the tramp featured
in one of the shots was totally unaware of the
presence of pop royalty and of his inclusion
in a piece of pop history?

Tom: The tramp never knew who was sitting around
him as he slept through the whole shoot. I wonder
if he is still alive today. ( continued below...)

Examples of Tom's other work:

John Huston

Elizabeth Montgomery

Digger: Are there any other photos locked away that
we should know about?

Tom: Sadly, I destroyed the other slides from that day
...but I kept the best.



Digger: Is it possible that these photos will appear
in book form?

Tom: Now that I have brought The Beatles pictures
out of the vault, who knows what will happen. I will
probably do a series of editions. One thing I am doing is
donating one print of each image to the 'Make A Wish'
foundation.They grant the wishes of very sick children. It
is a very worthy cause and one I am very proud of. I also
donated several prints to 'Project Angel Food', an AIDS
charity in Los Angeles.



Digger: What was the mood of The Beatles on that day?
Were they in high spirits or was it just another job?

Tom: The guys were in a great mood. Yoko made suggestions
to Don, but left me alone. The Beatles had lots of their own
ideas. It was a super shoot and great fun. I certainly enjoyed
myself. The previous week, I had taken a girlfriend of mine
on a car shoot for Rolls Royce. The weather was awful and we
were very cold and wet, a typical summer's day. She said no...
she nearly died when I told her who I had photographed.



Digger: Have your paths crossed at all since?

Tom: No, never again.



Digger: You have photographed many famous people
over the years – Elizabeth Taylor, Dustin Hoffman,
pop stars. How did The Beatles compare?

Tom: Many of the Hollywood stars that I have photographed
since have all had an impact on my career. I have found
that the bigger the star, the kinder they were to me. I
gained their trust and I never let out any photographs of
any stars that I did not like. ( continued below...)

More examples of Tom's other work:

Dustin Hoffman

Yves St. Laurent

Digger: What have been the favourite assignments
of your career?

Tom: I love photographing people but I am very nervous
before any photoshoot. I used to be sick prior to big shoots.
I have had a fabulous career and met many wonderful
people from all walks of life. I get well paid for having
fun, but I am always anxious to do the best photos that I can,
regardless if I am being paid £1 or £2,000.



Digger: What sort of work have you been doing in
more recent years?

Tom: In the USA, I did fashion work for top designers
such as Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, magazine covers for
Vogue, Time, GQ, Menswear, etc. I also did many first class
catalogues. You get paid well to make the clothes look great
and they are fun shoots. I try to keep the whole sitting
relaxed and fun for everyone. I chatter away and try to
get everyone to relax. That's when the great pictures come.



Digger: What advice would you give to youngsters
starting out in photography these days?

Tom: For anyone wanting to get into photography, acting,
films or anything else, try, try, try. Better to have tried
than be sitting in a chair at eighty saying, "I wish I'd tried..."



Digger: What are your impressions and
recollections of the 1960s?

Tom: I was really lucky I was in London for the 60s and
part of the 70s, New York for the 70s and 80s, then L.A.
for the 80s and 90s and now back here in the U.K.,
although I do travel to the states a great deal.

The 60s were great and everything was happening in London.
The hipster velvet trousers, Tommy Roberts' store, uniforms
for everyday wear, The Beatles and The Stones, The Kings
Road, Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton, my Jag, then the Lotus, the
Bentley and finally the Ferrari. Racing up Park Lane late at
night with Justin and Twiggy in his Lamborghini. Me in the
Ferrari. London was really swinging, the music was great. All
the top restaurants and Biba, etc.



Digger: Is digital photographic technology improving
results & standards or is it having the opposite impact?

Tom: Digital photography will have a huge impact on the
actual production of photographs. You'll still need a
good eye and a love of the light to create great pictures.
Photography has become rather sloppy and it can be changed
in the computer, but it would be better to get it right in the
camera. Sadly, in the U.K. many colleges and universities
do not want to have photographers to teach photography.
Many of these courses teach everything about photography
except how to take pictures and run a business in the real
world.



Digger: What do you think photographers and
musicians in the 1960s would have made of digital
cameras, dvds, cds, the internet and digital
remastering of music?

Tom: Technology should help and enhance both
photographers and musicians. Good music will be
created by talented people from all countries and
all walks of life.



Digger: How would you describe the impact
and legacy of the 1960s?

Tom: The 60s were a time when the youth of the day
found that we have a voice, we can make a difference
and we have so many opportunities if you grab every
one that comes along. It's the old try, try again ethos.



Digger: Where do you see photography going
in the future?

Tom: Photography is the eyes of the past and present.
It's our legacy, the written word opened one door,
photography, including film and tv is a giant window
into today's world, good and bad.



Digger: What did The Beatles mean to you?

Tom: The Beatles are probably the most famous
four people in the world. Their music is played somewhere
in the world every second of every minute 365 days
a year. What a great legacy to leave for future study.



Digger: What was it like being one of the
1960s ‘in-crowd’?

Tom: The sixties were great fun for me. I had one of the
plum jobs in London and I was the youngest photographer
ever commissioned by the Royal Family. I travelled all over
the world and I had a great time. London was the place to
be. Paris was a few hours away and I spent my holidays in
St. Tropez and Rome.



Digger: You do photographic workshops.
How does someone join one of these?
What are your plans for the future?

Tom: I have just returned from lecturing to 180 photographers
in Cyprus. I normally lecture in the States and in the U.K.
people tell me I am over-qualified. It's only taken me 40
years to get to be over-qualified. I love telling people
what I do, sharing how I do my work. I have no secrets
except a love of photography and the God given light
that makes it work.

At the moment of speaking I have been trying for a
teaching position, as I feel I should pass on much of the
information I have learnt over 40 years. Further plans for
The Beatles pictures are in the pipeline. I will keep
you informed via this website. I might be going to work
in Singapore, which would be fabulous. As you can see,
I have itchy feet.

My big thanks to Tom Murray for his time and kindness. A very busy man, he took time out to write to me and talk to me at length on the phone recalling the 1960s and The Beatles.

See Tom's site at www.tommurrayphotos.com

This article is the intellectual property of www.retrosellers.com and cannot be reproduced without express permission.