50 Years Ago This Month, These Chiswick Residents Stepped Into Beatles History With ‘Paperback Writer’
50 years ago this month, these unassuming residents of Chiswick took a walk in their nearby park, and accidentally stepped into pop music history. It came about as they crossed the peaceful grounds of Palladian villa Chiswick House in West London - formerly home to the infamous Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (played by Keira Knightley on screen) - and came across a group of four young men, drinking cups of tea and rehearsing with instruments. Just another day in the park, it seemed, except these were the Beatles, and they were about to record their timeless video for ‘Paperback Writer’.
To put it in perspective, this was 1966 - with Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison’s mastery of the pop charts already in the can with songs ‘Please Please Me’, ‘Love Me Do’ and ‘She Loves You’ behind them, but with ‘Penny Lane’ and ‘I Am The Walrus’ still to come. ‘Paperback Writer’ and its accompaniment ‘Rain’ would feature on ‘Revolver’, along with ‘Eleanor Rigby’ and ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’. Tension was beginning to bubble between the four boys from Liverpool, but their creative ambitions were also taking flight. That day in Chiswick marked a dawning of fresh pop consciousness, as the stars set about creating what cultural historian Saul Austerlitz would describe as “among the first true music videos”, even if the surprised locals had no idea of its significance.
“I was walking across the gardens - I was with my friend, we both had prams - and we literally bumped into them,” Shirley Bascran remembers of her meeting with the Fab Four. “My son Jim was with me, and he and his friends were running around. Shirley’s daughter Lisa was there too."
By: Caroline Frost
Source: Huffungton Post UK
