The “Voyage of the Fritz” photo session

On this day, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr gathered for one of their final photo sessions as The Beatles. The session, later dubbed the “Voyage of the Fritz,” was organized to dispel growing rumours of the band’s breakup.

The day began at an unidentified indoor location in London. From there, they travelled to the Madingley Club on Willoughby Road in East Twickenham, London. They arrived in a convoy that included John’s Rolls-Royce, a white Mercedes, and a Humber Snipe. Against the scenic backdrop of the River Thames, The Beatles posed for photos, and graciously signed autographs for fans.

They then made their way to nearby 4 Ducks Walk, where they boarded a boat named Fritz Otto Maria Anna. Using a small rowing boat, they then rowed out to a mid-river island, waving to the photographers stationed along the riverbank.

Among the photographers that day was Bruce McBroom, an American photographer recommended by actor Peter Sellers. McBroom later recalled the casual atmosphere of the session — there were no stylists, no art directors, and The Beatles, joined by their partners Yoko Ono Lennon, Pattie Harrison, Maureen Starkey and Linda McCartney, dressed casually and arranged themselves naturally for the photographs.

Photographer David Bailey is often associated with this shoot, but most of the published images from the day are attributed to McBroom, leaving Bailey’s actual contributions somewhat uncertain.

Linda McCartney, a professional photographer herself, was both behind and in front of the camera — she appears in some shots and is also took photos during the session.

This session was among the last before the band’s dissolution. Subsequent photo sessions included the “Ballad of John and Yoko” shoot on April 30, the “Get Back” album session in May, the iconic “Abbey Road” cover shoot on August 8, and their final session at Tittenhurst Park on August 22.

Several photographs from the “Voyage of the Fritz” first appeared in The Beatles Monthly Book No. 72, published in July 1969.

Apple wanted fresh photos to refute rumors of them breaking up. We spent the entire day, first in the studio on a white background and later outside wandering around along the Thames. They showed up with their wives and girlfriends dressed as you see them in the photo, no stylists, art directors, hair, make up or assistants. They asked me what I wanted them to do and I said just stand on the white background. The photo you see and others from that session are purely their own body language and arrangement. A few months after this they parted ways.

Photographer Bruce McBroom – From LA Times, November 26, 2010

I can’t remember what we agreed, but I do know I sold myself very inexpensively. I never heard any more until about a week later during a lunch break on The Magic Christian. Peter Sellers said would I mind popping into his trailer for a minute? So I went over to his dressing room and Derek Taylor was there with all four Beatles. Of course, I knew Ringo, and Derek then introduced me to John, Paul and George.

And I can tell you this, it was a mind-numbing moment to see all four of them right in front of you. We talked about what we could do if we did a photoshoot. It was not meant to be mean-spirited but at some point Paul McCartney said, “This is all really wonderful but we have had so many bad experiences with photographers ripping us off and releasing unauthorised pictures. I have to ask, how can we be sure that you are not going to do that?”

I did not have an answer. There I am being interrogated by all four Beatles. Peter Sellers then came up behind me and said, “Boys, I would trust Bruce with my wallet.” And that is how I got the job. Peter just defused the whole situation in a way that was so characteristic of him. ‘The thing was that as far as The Beatles were concerned Peter was the big star. They really idolised him, having grown up listening to radio shows like The Goons. That was the backstory but Derek explained to me that there had been a lot of bad press recently and rumours were rife that the boys were breaking up. Which he said, of course, was untrue. So he told me they needed group photographs to rebuff those rumours. They wanted happy photos to put out to disprove the fact: they were all here, they were all mates and they would be continuing to work together. Little did I know or most of the world know they were already at odds. So that was the thrust of my assignment – to come up with happy photos of The Beatles together. […]

I didn’t get any art direction from anyone. There were no wardrobe people or make-up experts. I was mentally trying to figure out what to do so, like any photographer, I put up a white background and lit it so that when they came in we would be ready to shoot. […]

We made small talk before finally one of them said, “So, what do you want us to do?” So I said, “Why don’t you all go and stand on the white sheet?” That was all my direction. All the shots were those four guys arranging themselves without any direction from anyone else. They were talking and joking and they just seemed to have an understanding of each other, which I never experienced again with a group of people. I don’t want to say it was telepathic but you could feel how they reacted to each other.

The whole thing was very unprepared. And that is the way I like to take pictures, which is not to tell people what to do but to let it all happen organically. And that way you capture them much more naturally and that is what happened with The Beatles.

Bruce McBroom – Photographer – From “And in the End: The Last Days of the Beatles” by Ken McNab, 2019

In those days we were shooting still film, not digital. I had been shooting colour but I wanted to shoot black and white the way I had done that morning. John was steering the boat back to its mooring and I called out to them, “Hey, guys, could you do that again?” And John said from a distance, “Look, people are always asking us to repeat ourselves but we never do. So, no, we won’t be doing that again.” And I totally got it. I suddenly realised why they hadn’t wanted to tour anymore and why their music always had to progress.

Bruce McBroom – Photographer – From “And in the End: The Last Days of the Beatles” by Ken McNab, 2019

I never detected any attitude between them during the time I spent with them. In one of the final frames, McCartney is looking really glum but by then we had been at it for about four hours. Looking back at the pictures now, George Harrison looks a little detached from the rest, which may or may not have been significant. I got the impression that Paul was the spokesman for the group. George was very quiet. John was a free spirit. Ringo was a very zany, loose kind of guy. McCartney struck me as the businessman of the group but in a very nice way. It was a seminal moment in my career.

Bruce McBroom – Photographer – From “And in the End: The Last Days of the Beatles” by Ken McNab, 2019

Based on your date of April 1969, I have to accept that because I don’t recall the date at all. But it fits because we had the summer on Fritz Otto Anna Maria (FOAM) and then the owner turfed us off and set sail for the Mediterranean with a new crew.

The FOAM was a converted Baltic grain carrier with its full sailing rig. At the stern was a wheelhouse with accommodation in a double cabin. The hold had been converted to a large living room with a coal fired heater and with a small kitchen on the starboard (land) side and beyond that a corridor with 8 tiny cabins and a small bathroom. On that date there were 10 people living on board. At the time of the “Beatles Event” there were only three of us on board. Myself, Colin Bardwell and another whom I do not recall. Colin and I were BBC studio cameramen.

It was early afternoon. I was preparing a dinner party in the kitchen and was almost done making breaded asparagus tips as a starter. It was Colin who first became aware that something was happening.

FOAM was moored pretty much opposite where Swan Lane came down from The Green to the river. Along the towpath from there towards Richmond Bridge was the Old Palace Yard, a residence of King Henry VIII. With that as the backdrop, from the deck of FOAM, Colin saw a large crowd gathered in front of the Old Palace Yard with a lot of shouting going on. He decided to take our tender boat across the river to check it out. He asked me if I wanted to go but I was busy doing my stuff in the kitchen. I did however take the occasional look at where he was and saw him land on the other side.

The next thing I knew was Colin shouting from about 100 meters off FOAM and going up to see him in the boat with two people in the boat with him. The crowd on the other side was now moving slowly along the bank towards the Twickenham railway bridge which also had a footbridge. (The group had hoped to take pictures with the Old Palace Yard as a backdrop but having been “discovered’ that was no longer an option.

As Colin came alongside, I recognised the two people with him as Ringo and Paul. They came aboard and over FOAM and into the garden. 4 Duck’s Walk was essentially a mooring with a walled garden and a small door in the wall onto Duck’s Walk. Colin explained that “rest” were coming over the bridge and down Duck’s Walk and that he had offered FOAM as a good location to take pictures while sheltered completely from the crowds of fans. He set off to bring them to FOAM. Ringo and Paul ignored me politely, and started looking around.

When they finally arrived back with the rest, everyone in their party came onto FOAM. Their party consisted of David Bailey the photographer, the 4 Beatles, Yoko Ono, Pattie Boyd, Maureen and Linda Eastman. There were a couple of other people there too. They were on and around the FOAM for about 45 minutes taking pictures both on FOAM and in the tender. They finished off my asparagus. Throughout the visit they were all polite and grateful that we had given them refuge but no autographs and very little other interaction.

When they finished someone asked if we had a phone, which we did (no mobiles back then). They called and then gave me the phone to describe how to get to the door to 4 Duck’s Walk. When their transport arrived they left quite quickly and the crowd at the front door dissipated.

Colin had an instamatic camera with one shot left. During the visit he had Paul take a photo with Colin, myself and the others. We also gave them our phone and full address and asked them to send us some prints.

Colin immediately went up to the Evening Standards with our “Beatles just came to tea” story but when they developed the film, Paul had put his finger over the lens when he took the picture. They never sent us any prints. I went to David Bailey’s studio in Chinatown a few weeks later but was unable to get anything. 3 of the pictures did appear in the “Fab 208” magazine / newspaper sometime later.

Finding your pictures online was simply incredible. I’d been looking for them for years without any joy. Googling Fritz Otto Anna Maria Richmond found your site.

I hope my recollection puts some more perspective on the pictures. And I’m curious why no family photographs with the wives and girlfriends seem to have been taken.  Thanks for the memories!

Chris Stanley – August 2022 – From 9 April 1969 – London Photoshoot at Twickenham and Thames – Beatles and Solo Photos Forum

Going further

• https://www.nemsworld.com/beatles/fritz/fritz.htm