 WogBlog |
- Linda McCartney's photos museum bound
- McCartney decorated by the Queen again
- Looking For Lennon docu - available in the UK
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Posted: 04 May 2018 08:36 AM PDT
Sir Paul McCartney has donated 63 photographs by his late wife Linda McCartney to the Victoria & Albert Museum (popularly known as the V&A) in London. The collection includes portraits of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix, as well as McCartney family snaps.
Some of Linda's original Polaroids will be shown to the public for the first time. The images by the former US female photographer of the year 1968 will go on display in the V&A's new Photography Centre when it opens on 12 October. Martin Barnes, senior curator of photographs at the V&A, said: "Linda McCartney was a talented eye-witness of pop culture and explored many creative approaches to artistic photography. Her camera also captured tender moments with her family. Our greatest thanks go to Sir Paul McCartney and his family for this incredibly generous gift." Linda McCartney (nee Eastman) was born in New York in 1941. She took a photo course with Hazel Archer and studied art history at the University of Arizona before settling in New York City, where she began her photo career shooting rock portraits. In 1966, during a brief stint as a receptionist for Town and Country magazine, Linda Eastman snagged a press pass to a very exclusive promotional event for the Rolling Stones aboard a yacht on the Hudson River. With her fresh, candid photographs of the band, Linda secured her name as a rock 'n' roll photographer. She went on to capture many of rock's most important musicians on film, including Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Simon & Garfunkel, The Who, The Doors, and the Grateful Dead.
She was the first person to not only have photographed Rolling Stone's cover, but to have appeared on the magazine's front cover herself, with her husband, in 1974. The couple married in 1969 and had four children - Heather (from Linda's first marriage), Mary, Stella, and James. After having become Mrs McCartney she kept photography as a hobby, otherwise she cared for her family, unless of course the band was touring, either Wings or the nameless band who accompanied McCartney from 1989 to 1993. Then she was up on the stage, playing keyboards and singing harmonies. The children usually went along, having private tuition. When not on tour, the children went to ordinary schools, not the private schools, as the McCartneys were keen not to have spoilt children. Another of Linda's favourite pastimes was horseriding.
 " in 1989. As a further development, Linda started up a company which specialised in frozen vegetarian food. This was such a great success that she became a rich businesswoman on her own. Her brand still exists today.Linda used her photos and snapshots to publish a series of calendar books, which were sold through Wings Fun Club, the official fan club of Paul McCartney and his bands. She also had published "Linda's Pictures: A Collection of Photographs  " in 1978, and a large hardcover book "Linda McCartney's Sixties: A Portrait of an Era " in 1993 which contained photos from the early days of the career.Linda died of breast cancer in 1998, at the age of 56 at the McCartney ranch in Tucson, Arizona. Paul McCartney was knighted before she died, so she did enjoy a brief spell as Lady McCartney.
After his marriage to Linda, Sir Paul McCartney has remarried twice, first to Heather Mills (2002-2008), with whom he has a daughter, Beatrice Milly, and then to Nancy Shevell (2011- ), to whom he is still married.
Still, Paul has always been championing his late wife Linda's photographs, and has staged several exhibitions and published more books of her work over the years, before now donating a chunk of the photos to the A&V. He also released a CD of her music, "Wide Prairie  ", which Linda recorded with Wings and other musicians over the years, but which was not published while she was alive.Paul and Linda's first born daughter Mary has followed in her mother's footsteps as a professional photographer and she has also written vegetarian cook books. The couple's second daughter Stella is a famous fashion designer with her own brand and shops. Their youngest, James has been following in his father's footsteps, so he releases music and holds concerts, although in a much smaller scale than his famous dad. Linda's oldest daughter Heather, who she had with her first husband Melville See, but who was adopted by Paul, is a ceramic artist and lives in New York.  | ||||||||
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Posted: 04 May 2018 08:40 AM PDT
Earlier today, Sir Paul McCartney had an appointment with Queen Elizabeth II, as he was again receiving a special honour. Sir Paul McCartney paid tribute to his parents as he was made a Companion of Honour for services to music. He received the honour from the Queen more than 20 years after his knighthood. In a written statement to the Press Association, Paul said: “I see this as a huge honour for me and my family and I think of how proud my Liverpool mum and dad would have been to see this.” Video Link  | ||||||||
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Posted: 04 May 2018 09:35 AM PDT
A new, British made documentary about John Lennon premieres on the internet today, as for now, only in the U.K. It will be shown publicly in Liverpool later this month.
The film promises to give an honest retrospective on the early life of John Lennon and the tragedies that shaped his personality and later his music. The film includes rare and previously unseen memoirs along with interviews with some of his closest family, friends and associates. The film is produced by Garry Popper and directed by Roger Appleton. Popper, a lifelong Beatles fan, decided that Lennon’s early life deserved a new and honest look that, in his words, “transcended the myths and fabrications,” that have been sensationalized for years, including films like Nowhere Boy  , Backbeat and Birth of The Beatles. He continued that this new documentary will be an “uncompromising reassessment of traumatic events that not only shaped Lennon’s complex personality but also how they influenced his adult life and relationships.” The film, which is being produced by SEIS Productions Ltd in the UK, is set to debut in May in the Beatles’ home town of Liverpool at “dozens of historic locations.” It promises to be “one of the most honest retrospectives on Lennon’s early life and the tragedies that shaped not only his personality but also his music,” say Appleton (director, “Get Back – the City that Rocked the World” and “Passport to Liverpool”) and David Bedford (author of “Liddypool  ” and “The Fab One Hundred and Four ”.)Bedford wrote, “Besides the film, which will be a feature length documentary, there will be a limited edition extended companion book. This is a retrospective examination of a complex man who turned a troubled life into some of the most haunting and passionate lyrics in modern music.” Members of Lennon's first band, the Quarrymen, give their perspective of their early friendship with John in the film. Bedford continued, “Michael Hill, (author of “John Lennon: The Boy Who Became a Legend  ”) is one of our special collaborators in the film and has some very unique insights into John Lennon's youth, because along with Pete Shotton (and a few others in a close-knit gang) he was one of John's closest and longest school friends. He also has the distinction of introducing Lennon to Little Richard's music. John heard it one lunch time in Michaels house and froze. Waaar? That was John's real Rock'n'Roll life changer.”A combination of biopic and investigative documentary, research has taken three years. Among the participants listed are: Sam Leach, David Bedford, Hunter Davies, Paul Farley, Jürgen Vollmer, Billy Hatton, Helen Anderson, June Furlong. Here's a trailer: U.K. residents can rent/buy "Looking For Lennon" using one of these links: In February, it was reported that "Looking For Lennon" so far had been sold to North America (SP Releasing), China (Lemon Tree), Italy (Koch Media), Brazil (Globosat), Spain (Vertice) and Poland (Against Gravity). Released through Evolutionary Films. Source for comments by Popper, Appleton and Bedford: Axs.com The Film's Facebook page: Looking For Lennon 
source: http://wogew.blogspot.co.uk/
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