Rare photographs of The Beatles’ in Dundee are set to go up for auction – and could fetch up to £5,000. Images taken by city-based photographer Winnie Forbes-Cochrane shows screaming fans at the Caird Hall on October 20 1964. In total, 33 images of the Dundee date will go under the hammer at the end of the month.
The photographs and negatives, which are being sold with full copyright, contain candid images of the Fab Four being interviewed beforehand, crowds surrounding their car as they arrive, shots of them on stage and scenes of frenzied fans. It was the last time John, Paul, Ringo and George played at the Caird Hall and their set couldn’t even be heard due to 6,000 screaming teenage girls drowning out the band’s entire set. A newspaper report from the day after said “scores” of paramedics were called into action to help collapsing fans, as songs like “She Loves You” and “Love Me Do” only managed to reach the ears of the first couple of rows. It went on: “Girls from all parts of the hall, the majority of them sobbing ecstatically or in a state of collapse, were led out to recover. The final tally of the casualties was 50.”
The 1964 date was the second time the Beatles played in Dundee having performed the previous year. At the time The Beatles were at the peak of their powers, and had returned to Dundee after playing shows extensively throughout Britain and America. Tickets to their comeback gig were so highly sought-after that even the Countess of Strathmore wanted to see them play. But huge levels of decibels created by all the screams apparently spoiled the whole show for the pop-loving countess.
She said at the time: “The audience was appalling, and completely bad-mannered to make so much noise. “Most of the time I had my fingers pressed over my ears to keep out the awful noise.”. “Suddenly, unbelievably, it was all over,” the news report added. “The last strains of ‘Long Tall Sally’ died away and the boys bowed their way out.”
The photographs, taken by Dundee based professional photographer Winnie Forbes-Cochrane, are up for sale alongside a black and white cine film of The Beatles during their stay at the Four Seasons Hotel in St Fillans on the banks of Loch Earn during their 1964 tour. The film is expected to sell for £4,000, when it comes up for sale in a specialist Beatles auction being held by Omega Autions in Merseyside on March 24.
source:eveningtelegraph