Paul McCartney Photo Exhibit Coming To Brooklyn Museum

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Self-portrait, Paul McCartney, 1964 © Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney published a new book based on largely unseen photos that he took from the end of 1963 through early 1964, in which The Beatles became an international sensation. 1964: Eyes of the Storm arrived June 13, 2023, via Liveright, the same publisher that released his acclaimed 2021 book, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present. (Order it here.) Many of the photographs are the subject of an immersive installation, Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-1964: Eyes of the Storm, of photography, video clips, and archival material, tracing the period when The Beatles played concert halls in Liverpool and London and began to tour internationally, first to Paris and then to the United States. It’s coming to the Brooklyn Museum from May 3 – August 18, 2024. See many of the photos below.

The exhibition opened at Britain’s National Portrait Gallery on June 28, 2023. While touring the exhibit with Martha Kearney of the BBC’s Today program, he revealed that a “new” Beatles song, based on a John Lennon demo, would be released later this year, using artificial intelligence. More details are here.

These never-before-seen images offer a uniquely personal perspective on what it was like to be a Beatle at the start of Beatlemania – and adjusting from playing gigs on Liverpool stages, to performing to a television audience of 73 million Americans on The Ed Sullivan Show.

“Millions of eyes were suddenly upon us, creating a picture I will never forget.”―Paul McCartney

John Lennon and George Harrison, from the book 1964: Eyes of the Storm (Photo © Paul McCartney)

From the publisher’s announcement: Taken with a 35mm camera by McCartney, these largely unseen photographs capture the explosive period, from the end of 1963 through early 1964, in which The Beatles became an international sensation and changed the course of music history. Featuring 275 images from the six cities―Liverpool, London, Paris, New York, Washington, D.C., and Miami―of these legendary months, the 336-page 1964: Eyes of the Storm also includes:

•A personal foreword in which McCartney recalls the pandemonium of British concert halls, followed by the hysteria that greeted the band on its first American visit

•Candid recollections preceding each city portfolio that form an autobiographical account of the period McCartney remembers as the “Eyes of the Storm,” plus a coda with subsequent events in 1964

•“Beatleland,” an essay by Harvard historian and New Yorker essayist Jill Lepore, describing how The Beatles became the first truly global mass culture phenomenon

Watch the official clip for the book

The exhibit is currently at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, VA, through April 7. Click here for ticket information.

Self-portrait, London 1963 (Photo © Paul McCartney)

Photographers in New York’s Central Park, 1964 (Photo © Paul McCartney)

Related: McCartney made a surprise appearance to promote his 2021 book, The Lyrics

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4 Comments so far

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  1. Wharfrat
    #1 Wharfrat 26 January, 2023, 03:29

    I saw The Beatles in D.C. in the mid 1960s, the screams were so loud I couldn’t hear the music, but it was great to be there.

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    • DaddyAl
      DaddyAl 1 April, 2023, 04:00

      Saw The Beatles in Detroit, August 13, 1966. Loud sure but I heard every word. Seeing them was it for me. Girl I was with said “Alan you were catatonic!” Love it! One of my top ten moments in my life. I have a Beatles room that everyone is jealous of.

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  2. MAK
    #2 MAK 1 April, 2023, 08:26

    Ah! Back when they were still zany moptops! I was 13 then.

    Reply this comment
  3. Gary Max
    #3 Gary Max 28 June, 2023, 13:15

    The Beatles changed my life! After that Sunday night on Sullivan the next day I told my mom that I needed to get a guitar and have been playin ever since! Just turned 68 in May. Sure I am not the only one…..

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