On the Beatles walking tour in London, I saw quite a few sites I never imagined I get to see. Our first stop along the way was SOHO square. Unfortunately there was construction around the perimeter but I still got to see some of the park area. While our tour guide was telling us some background history of the Beatles, I unknowingly stood right in front of what is now PML, McCartney Productions Limited, the actual office of the one and only Sir James Paul McCartney! Not only that, it is also one of the worlds largest privately owned music publishers. Obviously, Paul (as well as The Beatles) has/have had an enormous impact on the music business of London.
The next stop that allowed me to see up close the impact that The Beatles and popular music of the 1960’s had on London was the Bag O Nails club on Kingly Street. So many famous bands played there that there’s a sign on the buildings façade that lists them! Some of the artists that I remembered were obviously The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Animals, and Tom Jones, James Taylor, and Eric Clapton. I would consider those some pretty notorious names! Not only was this music club significant because so many famous musicians performed there, also because one specific famous person met his future wife there. Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman first met at the club in 1967. She was there taking pictures of Georgie Fame for her work as a professional photographer. They married in March of 1969, only knowing each other for less than two years.
After seeing the Bag O Nails club, we walked a little farther to Carnaby Street. Carnaby street has been considered the center of fashion in London for many years. Although it’s shops today are a little less independent and include more main-stream clothing companies, it’s still a popular place for young people to shop and find the latest trends. When The Beatles were around they shopped at many different stores on Carnaby street to find the best fashion. As soon as fans found out, all they wanted to do was to come to Carnaby street, find the outfits the Beatles were wearing, and copy their style. I thought to myself how I would feel if I was a Beatle and everyone wanted to wear what I was wearing no matter how expensive, inexpensive, ugly, psychadelic or eccentric it was. Then I thought about how they felt being chased down by crazed fans in the stores they were visiting and it made sense to me that they began to shop elsewhere. Although The Beatles only shopped on Carnaby street until their fans found out, they certainly influenced style upon the youth of London.
After seeing Carnaby street, (I may be getting our tour out of order) we walked to Savile Row. This street would otherwise be insignificant if it weren’t for The Beatles. 3 Savile Row is the location of the famous “rooftop show” that the band performed on the 2nd of January 1969, John, Paul, George and Ringo went up on the roof of the studio to record live songs meant to be in their film “Let It Be”. There were still so many people that showed up even though the ‘concert’ was completely un-announced. After a few songs police showed up to get them to stop playing because they were disrupting the peace but it didn’t stop them until they were finished. The attitude the boys had was that they didn’t care what the police would have done, it would have been cool to get arrested for playing music because it was what they wanted to do and rules didn’t matter to them. Their attitude in this situation and many others was similar to a rebellious teenager who doesn’t care about societies rules. I feel as though the Beatles influenced music culture and indirectly pushed a certain lifestyle. It was cool to do things you weren’t allowed to do, so getting arrested during their rooftop performance would have made it better for them.
The Beatles were so popular then that they’re fame still reigns in London today. Although Liverpool was definitely more directed towards tourists interested in The Beatles, there are still signs of them everywhere. One place that radiates their underlying charm and impact is the SOHO mural near Carnaby street. If you look closely, (at this zoomed in image) the mural sort of resembles the Sgt. Peppers album cover. With many different people around but four significant characters at the center close to the front. Even after the band broke up and members died, their legacy still lives on in a huge way.
The all time favorite spot of Beatles enthusiast tourists in London has got to be Abbey Road. It is after all, the most copied photograph in the world! When we got their I wasn’t even sure if it was Abbey Road or not because it looks so different from how it does on the album cover taken 40 years ago. But after getting to walk across, take pictures, and sign my name outside of EMI studios on the graffiti covered wall, it felt much more real to me. I have wanted to do that since I was a little kid! It was truly an amazing experience and something that I’ll never forget.
