Paul McCartney Meets Linda Eastman at the Bag O’Nails – 15 May 1967
Monday 15 May 1967 | People
On the evening of Monday 15th May 1967, Paul McCartney walked into the Bag O’Nails nightclub in Soho and met the woman he would marry. It was the night of Brian Epstein’s dinner party to celebrate the completion of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and McCartney had gone on to the club to see Georgie Fame perform. Linda Eastman was there with the Animals, whom she knew from photographing them in New York. The evening ended at the Speakeasy on Margaret Street, where everyone at the table heard ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ for the first time.
The Sgt Pepper Dinner
The evening had begun at a dinner party hosted by Brian Epstein to mark the completion of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band — the album that had taken The Beatles from February to April 1967 to record and that would be released on 1 June. Epstein’s dinner was a celebration of its completion: a moment of collective satisfaction before the album went out into the world. After the dinner, McCartney went on to the Bag O’Nails — a club he knew well and where he had his own private table.
The Bag O’Nails, 9 Kingly Street
The Bag O’Nails was situated in the basement of 9 Kingly Street in Soho, London — a short walk from Carnaby Street, in the heart of the neighbourhood that had become the centre of London’s mid-1960s cultural scene. The Beatles were regular visitors, particularly in 1967 and 1968. McCartney had his own private table. On the night of 15 May, Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames were performing.
The Meeting: McCartney’s Account
Linda Eastman was at the Bag O’Nails that evening with the Animals, whose members she knew from her work as a music photographer in New York. McCartney later described the meeting in Barry Miles’s biography Many Years From Now:
“The night I met Linda I was in the Bag O’Nails watching Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames play a great set. Speedy was banging away. She was there with the Animals, who she knew from photographing them in New York. They were sitting a couple of alcoves down, near the stage. The band had finished and they got up to either leave or go for a drink or a pee or something, and she passed our table. I was near the edge and stood up just as she was passing, blocking her exit. And so I said, ‘Oh, sorry. Hi. How are you? How’re you doing?’ I introduced myself, and said, ‘We’re going on to another club after this, would you like to join us?’ That was my big pulling line! Well, I’d never used it before, of course, but it worked this time!”
— Paul McCartney, Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
The Speakeasy and ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’
The group moved on to the Speakeasy — a club on Margaret Street in Fitzrovia. It was there that everyone at the table heard ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ by Procol Harum for the first time. The record had been released on 12 May 1967 — just three days earlier. McCartney, Linda, and the others all assumed they were hearing Stevie Winwood.
Linda McCartney later described the evening in the same book:
“We flirted a bit, and then it was time for me to go back with them and Paul said, ‘Well, we’re going to another club. You want to come?’ I remember everybody at the table heard A Whiter Shade of Pale that night for the first time and we all thought, Who is that? Stevie Winwood? We all said Stevie. The minute that record came out, you just knew you loved it. That’s when we actually met. Then we went back to his house. We were in the Mini with I think Lulu and Dudley Edwards, who painted Paul’s piano; Paul was giving him a lift home. I was impressed to see his Magrittes.”
— Linda McCartney, Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
Linda Eastman: Who She Was
Linda Eastman was born on 24 September 1941 in New York City. By 1967 she was one of the most accomplished rock photographers in the United States, having photographed the Rolling Stones, the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, and many others. She was in London in May 1967 for work — the city was at the centre of the rock world that year — and her connection to the Animals gave her an entrée into the evening that led, almost accidentally, to the most significant encounter of her life.
The Reunion: 19 May 1967
McCartney and Eastman met again four days later, on 19 May 1967, when Linda attended the press party for Sgt Pepper at Brian Epstein’s house at 24 Chapel Street in Belgravia. The two encounters — the Bag O’Nails on 15 May and the Chapel Street party on 19 May — were the beginning of a relationship that developed over the following two years. McCartney and Eastman married on 12 March 1969. Linda McCartney died on 17 April 1998.
Key Facts: 15 May 1967
- Date: Monday 15 May 1967
- Epstein dinner: Sgt Pepper completion celebration
- Club: Bag O’Nails, 9 Kingly Street, Soho, London
- Performer: Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames
- Later venue: The Speakeasy, Margaret Street, London
- Song heard for the first time: ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ — Procol Harum (released 12 May 1967)
- Linda’s companions: The Animals
- Source: Many Years From Now, Barry Miles (1997)
- Next meeting: 19 May 1967, Sgt Pepper press party, 24 Chapel Street, London
- Marriage: 12 March 1969
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Paul McCartney meet Linda Eastman?
Paul McCartney first met Linda Eastman on the evening of 15 May 1967 at the Bag O’Nails club at 9 Kingly Street in Soho, London, after Brian Epstein’s Sgt Pepper dinner party. They met again four days later at the Sgt Pepper press party at Epstein’s house on 24 Chapel Street.
Where was the Bag O’Nails club?
The Bag O’Nails was located in the basement of 9 Kingly Street in Soho, London — a short walk from Carnaby Street. It was one of the key music industry clubs of the late 1960s and a regular haunt of The Beatles. Paul McCartney had his own private table there.
Who was performing at the Bag O’Nails the night McCartney met Linda?
Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames were performing at the Bag O’Nails on 15 May 1967. Linda Eastman was there with the Animals, whom she knew from photographing them in New York.
What song did McCartney and Linda Eastman hear for the first time on the night they met?
‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ by Procol Harum, released on 12 May 1967. They heard it at the Speakeasy on Margaret Street. Everyone at the table assumed they were hearing Stevie Winwood.
When did Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman get married?
Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman married on 12 March 1969. They first met on 15 May 1967 at the Bag O’Nails in London. Linda McCartney died on 17 April 1998.
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