Mandela to McCartney

The National Portrait Gallery is currently holding anexhibition of photographs taken by the late Michael Peto in the 1950’s and1960’s.

Portraits of Nelson Mandela, Ian McKellen, Elizabeth Taylorand Richard Burton are joined by a photograph of The Beatles and Dick Lester(pictured left), first published in the Genesis limited edition NOW THESE DAYS ARE GONE.

The photo was taken in a recreation of Buckingham Palaceduring the making of Help! Filmingwas not allowed in the palace, so some scenes were shot in Cliveden House andothers (that involved damage to the building) in a set built at TwickenhamStudios. The Beatles and Dick Lester share their memories of filming in NOW THESE DAYS ARE GONE, which isavailable to buy here.

‘We would occasionally get stoned on the way to the filmset. My main memory is of being in hysterics because for all of us, one of thegreat things about early pot was the sheer hysteria – the laughs. And nobodyquite knew why we were laughing, and of course this made it even funnier.’ – Paul McCartney in NOW THESE DAYS ARE GONE