Cavendish Avenue: more dome etc.

Apparently it's someone's birthday. Here are 3 Cavendish Avenue shots which I'd never seen before, together with a spot o' context. They were originally in an issue of the Observer magazine published in 1969, though the pics clearly date from earlier.
Above, Sir Fumbs admires his newly installed meditation dome (still there, though now containing Groucho Marx's old bed).
Below, Macca, sporting his MMT getup, looks out over the garden:


And, finally, in said garden surrounded by his Alice In Wonderland statues, later Ballad Of John And Yoko-ised:


Extrinsic affections and signalizations. Or something like that.

Cavendish Avenue: circa August/September, 1967.

John arriving at Paul's, and another to add to the pile of same.
I'm guessing August or September '67 based on the barnet, and the "Joseph" coat, which also saw an outing on the way to Bangor to meet that ol' Maharishi circa then.
However, an exact date for this would be of interest; it might even capture John's arrival at the first post-Brian-demise meeting round Macca's "crib", when it was decided 1. to continue, and 2. to make a start on MMT asap.
(Or, as ever, not.)

Cavendish Avenue: 'tachefest '67.

Paul and John talkin' the 'tache in Cavendish Avenue circa Sgt Pepper. Interesting for any number of reasons to those who may be interested, but the Night o' The Eyes always in mind (not literally).
Intereshtingly, John caught in almost the same position as Paul:


Cheers Tammy... Oh you.

Cavendish Avenue: refurbishment - 1965.

It took Paul over a year to move in to Cavendish Avenue, mainly because of the inevitable internal and external refurbishment. Above is how the place looked shortly after he bought it, but before he'd moved in: no gate yet, and the door still to be replaced. But comparing these 3 shots (1961/1965/1968), I don't see a lot of difference (though I'm sure all the work was "essential", not to mention, surely coincidentally, "extortionate"):

Cavendish Avenue: October 9th, 2011.

It's been quite a day at Cavendish Avenue; possibly the last old skool "great day" there (with press, camera crews, fannage, irritated neighbours etc). Ringo's been round, amongst others. But you wouldn't expect any of that here, would you? Instead, it's all about the bricks and mortar, so a then & now: Paul's place as seen in 1969, on the occasion of his first wedding, and the same spot today, on the occasion of his third.
As the sun went down every light inside came on, and it was rather nice to see the auld place full of life once again:


Good on yer, Macca.

Cavendish Avenue: chrome dome.

The dome, of Mad Day Out fame, en-route to the bottom of the garden at Cavendish Avenue, complete with the girlfriend of its designer, there for purely business reasons; of that there can be little doubt.
The dome provided the climax of the aforementioned Day O' Mad:


...and here is the skinny, from a contemporary newspaper report. For the journals of the time, no item of Beatle news was too trivial to report. Errr...


Many thanks to Bruno Dupont.

7 Cavendish Avenue: 1961 & 1974.

After the recent Kenwood binge, a little digestif - namely, a fascinating pic of 7 Cavendish Avenue, dating from 1961. According to Fount of all Knowledge (in this area, at any rate) The Beatles' London, Paul bought the place from a doctor called Desmond O' Neill, and it's therefore quite likely that the doc was the owner when this snap was snapped. Note - no gate: It was Mr McCartney who installed one, for obvious reasons, before moving in.
In 1961, o' course, Paul is mainly in Hamburg and Liverpool, consolidating the Beatles' growing reputation.
And all the while, 7 Cavendish Avenue sits there, waiting...

Also below, another shot from 1974, showing the more familiar view, including Maccagate the first. The gate that's there now is a different one (for any collectors of gate trivia, of whom I trust there are none).


Many thanks to Julian Carr for his sterling picture research, and to the City of London, London Metropolitan Archive for permission to use these pics.

Cavendish Avenue: living room, 1969.

Interior pictures of Cavendish Avenue are fairly rare, but here's one of John and Yoko in the living room, in 1969. This room, overlooking the familiar back garden steps, was where the Beatles met before recording sessions or other Beatle business pre-Apple. On March 21, 1967, it also saw a visit from the Emperor of Eternity... apparently.

Cavendish Avenue: music room - February 7, 1967.

Paul may have owned the house at Cavendish Avenue for almost half a century, but he has been fairly canny about allowing pictures of the interior to appear in public. It's instructive that even in the day, he was the only one of them who didn't allow Beatles Book Monthly photographer Leslie Bryce in. And so it has continued - anyone attempting to use Google Street to get a look at the exterior of the place will find it's been removed at JP's request...and fair enough, too (although pictures of the exterior abound).
The most intriguing corner of the house was/is the music room, as those who have read the Hunter Davies biography will attest. That book has a famous section which remains the only vérité account of a Lennon/McCartney songwriting session, for "With A Little Help From My Friends", in (fairly obviously) Paul's music room. There are detailed descriptions of the room in both the Beatles Monthly and the Davies book, but being a little bit older and a little bit slower, I hadn't connected them with these fairly familiar photos of Monkee visiting Beatle on February 7, 1967. However, the ones immediately above and below were taken in that very location, in front of the Paolozzi sculpture (Solo, by name).
The music room was/is on the top floor at the front of the house overlooking the courtyard. Back then, in addition to Solo, it was home to Paul's hand painted piano, broken stereo equipment, records, and a large triptych of Jane Asher. How it looks these days is anyone's guess, but nothing like this (or that) I'm sure:


Three days after these photos were taken, the orchestral session for A Day In The Life took place at Abbey Road, attended by the Monkees, amongst others. Mike Nesmith was staying at Kenwood at this time, having taken John up on a casual invitation made during the Beatles' 1966 tour of the States, much to John's initial displeasure.
These may also have been taken in the music room:

Cavendish Avenue: more rear stairs.

John and Yoko by the rear stairs at Cavendish Avenue, towards the end of the Mad Day Out. Plus two more of Paul in the same location.

Ringo, John & Paul: cathode radiation.

One vital, throbbing debate can now be laid to rest. As these pics prove, Ringo, John and Paul all had the same type of television. I seem to remember reading somewhere that they had prototype colour models, supplied by the BBC. These may be them. I also seem to remember reading that George didn´t own a tv in the 60s. John, of course, had multiple teles, on constantly.

Cavendish Avenue: 1968.

I was asking before about the 2nd pic here - well, Lizzie was right. Compare with the first, which is definitely Cavendish Avenue. Both 1968, I'd say: the one of Paul from around White Album time, the one of John and Paul from just before they went to India. UPDATE - The second pic was taken by Ringo at Cavendish Avenue in the living room. It is a favourite of his, and he had, and possibly even still has it on display at one or other of his various luxury caves.

'Tache debate: fin.

When not at Kenwood, John was generally to be found either at Abbey Road, or else at one of the other Beatles' houses. Here are two shots of him at Cavendish Avenue in April, 1967.
What's more, Lizzie Bravo has provided the answer to the tache debate which has been tragically raging on this blog for some minutes. Paul shaved his on May 5, 1967, and John shaved his on June 8, 1967. She recorded this in her diary, and has a photo of the newly shaven John and herself outside EMI on that very day.
Merci to Bruno Dupont once again for these.