lunes, 30 de junio de 2014

Richard Lester Talks The Beatles in Newly Restored Mod Classic 'A Hard Day's Night'

blogs.indiewire.com
Richard Lester Talks The Beatles in Newly Restored Mod Classic 'A Hard Day's Night'
BY JOE LEYDON
JUNIO 27, 2014

Back in October 1985, director Richard Lester came to Houston for a retrospective of his films at the Rice University Media Center. I had the pleasure of interviewing him before he arrived in H-Town -- and the privilege of conducting a Q&A with him after the Media Center screening of "A Hard Day's Night." We talked a lot about that seminal cinematic treat -- and its influence on a then-trendy phenomenon known as MTV. Starting July 4, several venues nationwide (including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Nashville's Belcourt Theatre) will celebrate the 50th anniversary of "A Hard Day's Night" by screening a newly spiffed-up version of Lester's merry masterwork. So I thought it might be a good time to recycle my 1985 feature story about the man behind the merriment.

If "A Hard Day's Night" didn't exist, someone at MTV might have tried to invent it by now. But it does exist, thank heaven, and it remains as vibrantly fresh as ever, more inventive and exhilarating than 99.9 percent of the music clips introduced by cable VJs. The larky musical-comedy showcasing The Beatles was on view at the Rice Media Center as part of a two-week retrospective tribute to its director, Richard Lester, at the time of this interview.

Earlier that week, Lester laughed politely at the suggestion he created the world's first, and longest, music video when he directed "A Hard Day's Night."

"Fortunately," he said, "I didn't know I was doing that. I plead total innocence. But I must say, it was very kind of the MTV people: Apparently, I was their first inaugural Hall of Fame member.

"Of course, I didn't really know there was a Hall of Fame for MTV."

Lester, a Philadelphia native, had only two features to his credit when producer Walter Shenson tapped him to direct "A Hard Day's Night" in 1963. At that point, The Beatles were only slightly less obscure than Lester in the United States. By the time the film opened, however, the boys from Liverpool had already launched their first assault on America. Most film critics of the time expected the worst from "A Hard Day's Night," which threatened to be just another quickie rock-music exploitation film. But the reviewers were pleasantly surprised. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called the movie ''a whale of a comedy... much more sophisticated in theme and technique than its seemingly frivolous matter promises.''

Much of the credit for the film's success went to Lester, whom Crowther praised for directing the musical madness ''at such a brisk clip that it seems to come spontaneously.''

Almost overnight, Lester established himself as one of his generation's most innovative filmmakers, a wildly eclectic virtuoso who merged the gracefully zany farce of silent-movie comedy with state-of-the-art editing and cinematography techniques. Just as important, Lester -- who began his career as a director of live television programs, then worked his way into the quick-cut, hard-sell world of TV advertising -- somehow had devised the perfect visual style to accommodate the flashy, frantic ambiance of what was then being hyped as the era of Swinging England.


'A Hard Day's Night'



www.movingpictureblog.com
Flashback: Richard Lester on A Hard Day's Night
Thursday, June 26, 2014

Note: Back in October 1985, director Richard Lester -- the bloke being poked by John Lennon in the above photo -- came to Houston for a retrospective of his films at the Rice University Media Center. I had the pleasure of interviewing him before he arrived in H-Town -- and the privilege of conducting a Q&A with him after the Media Center screening of A Hard Day's Night. We talked a lot about that seminal cinematic treat -- and its influence on a then-trendy phenomenon known as MTV. Starting July 4, several venues nationwide (including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Nashville's Belcourt Theatre) will celebrate the 50th anniversary of A Hard Day's Night by screening a newly spiffed-up version of Lester's merry masterwork. So I thought it might be a good time to recycle my 1985 feature story about the man behind the merriment.

If A Hard Day's Night didn't exist, someone at MTV might have tried to invent it by now. But it does exist, thank heaven, and it remains as vibrantly fresh as ever, more inventive and exhilarating than 99.9 percent of the music clips introduced by cable VJs. The larky musical-comedy showcasing The Beatles will be on view at the Rice Media Center as part of a two-week retrospective tribute to its director, Richard Lester. After the screening, Lester will be on hand to answer questions about his life, his films -- and his work with The Fab Four.

Earlier this week, Lester laughed politely at the suggestion he created the world's first, and longest, music video when he directed A Hard Day's Night.

''Fortunately,'' he said, ''I didn't know I was doing that. I plead total innocence. But I must say, it was very kind of the MTV people: Apparently, I was their first inaugural Hall of Fame member.

''Of course, I didn't really know there was a Hall of Fame for MTV.''

Lester, a Philadelphia native, had only two features to his credit when producer Walter Shenson tapped him to direct A Hard Day's Night in 1963. At that point, The Beatles were only slightly less obscure than Lester in the United States. By the time the film opened, however, the boys from Liverpool had already launched their first assault on America. Most film critics of the time expected the worst from A Hard Day's Night, which threatened to be just another quickie rock-music exploitation film. But the reviewers were pleasantly surprised. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called the movie ''a whale of a comedy... much more sophisticated in theme and technique than its seemingly frivolous matter promises.''

Much of the credit for the film's success went to Lester, whom Crowther praised for directing the musical madness ''at such a brisk clip that it seems to come spontaneously.''

Almost overnight, Lester established himself as one of his generation's most innovative filmmakers, a wildly eclectic virtuoso who merged the gracefully zany farce of silent-movie comedy with state-of-the-art editing and cinematography techniques. Just as important, Lester -- who began his career as a director of live television programs, then worked his way into the quick-cut, hard-sell world of TV advertising -- somehow had devised the perfect visual style to accommodate the flashy, frantic ambiance of what was then being hyped as the era of Swinging England.

Modestly, Lester insists his stylistic approach to A Hard Day's Night sprang from necessity, not inspiration: ''Generally -- and I think this is true of almost everybody who tries to earn a crust of bread -- I was just trying to find solutions to problems. And the solutions came out of the set of circumstances given to me.''

In this case, Lester said, he was charged with making a film that would reflect the frenzy of Beatlemania, contrasted with the ironic calm of the four lads -- John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr -- who were generating all the excitement. To get a first-hand glimpse at the phenomenon, Lester accompanied the Beatles on a tour of Paris. He didn't see much in the way of glitz and glamour -- but he did notice The Beatles had to barricade themselves in hotel rooms to hide from zealous fans.

''That weekend,'' Lester remembered, ''the film wrote itself. John mentioned that they'd just come back from Sweden, so I said, 'Well, how did you like Stockholm?' And he said, 'It was a car and a room, and a room and a car.' Well, that was the film. The means of making the music continue the mood of the piece -- all that seemed to grow out of that weekend. Because I saw their behavior was musical, and their music was behavioral. It was easy.''

It was also, in many scenes, improvised.

Essentially plotless, A Hard Day's Night follows The Beatles as they hide from fans, travel by train, hide from fans, rehearse for a concert, hide from fans, perform in concert, and hide from fans some more. One of the film's best production numbers, ''Can't Buy Me Love,'' serves as a liberating break from the rigorous routine.

''All that page of the script said was, 'The boys escape by playing in the field.' So we ad-libbed on three different locations, each two hours long. The circumstances of some shots were dictated by the fact that Paul got drunk one night, and was very hung over -- and didn't show up for filming. So I put on a pair of his boots -- I happened to be wearing black trousers, anyway -- and hand-held the camera, and used my feet as the fourth member of the group. Otherwise, I think the brighter members of the audience might have noticed that 25 percent of the group was missing.

''Expediency does count a lot in art. I think anytime you ask an artist, 'Why that yellow?' he'll probably say, 'I'd run out of blue that day.'''

Ironically, the ''Can't Buy Me Love'' sequence often is excerpted and shown nowadays as a music video -- much to Lester's chagrin.

''Until that point in the film, the boys were in very confined spaces, and being told to go here, do that. They were managed and organized, pushed into this and that, told they should rehearse, go into this hotel room. And, no, you can't get out of the car because the crowd's here.

"So I wanted that scene to be an explosion of absolute exuberance, as they escape into open air. That piece of film works best when you have four reels before it with low ceilings. I don't take offense, but, really, taken out of context and just put on as a rock video, it has less impact emotionally than it would have in the movie.''

With A Hard Day's Night, Help! (another Beatle comedy, and in many ways a much better film) and The Knack, Lester almost single-handedly created in the mid-1960s a new cinematic syntax that was quickly and widely emulated -- most notably, by the producers of The Monkees -- but rarely used with the same kinetic imagination and giddy effervescence. He later polarized audiences and critics when he brought this same flamboyant visual flair to How I Won the War, a scathing anti-war satire, and The Bed-Sitting Room, an episodic black comedy about life after a nuclear holocaust.

Lester matched style and content perfectly, even brilliantly, in Petulia, an unexpectedly moving romantic comedy about two rational adults seeking love in a totally irrational '60s San Francisco. And his romantic streak appeared even more pronounced in his glorious Robin and Marian. In recent years, Lester has toned down the visual pyrotechnics. But his better films -- The Three Musketeers, Juggernaut, The Ritz -- reveal him as a moviemaker blessed with impudent wit, an iconoclastic disdain for genre conventions, and a fondness for inspired offbeat casting.

And, no, he's not interested in offers to direct music videos.







domingo, 29 de junio de 2014

Paul McCartney under fire from neighbours

www.dailymail.co.uk
If I Fell: Sir Paul McCartney under fire from neighbours over plans to strip thousands of trees from his Scottish estate
· McCartney bought farm in 1966 with first wife Linda and lived there in 70s
· There are plans to remove 300 lorry-loads of timber per year from estate
· Neighbours say trucks driving down single-track road will be dangerous
By CHRIS PLEASANCE
PUBLISHED: 28 June 2014

Neighbours of Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney spoke of their fury yesterday over his plans to strip thousands of trees from his Scottish estate.
The trees will be uprooted from the singer's 600-acre High Park Farm near Campbeltown in Argyll and Bute as part of a forestry maintenance programme.
McCartney's management company is understood to have proposed to move 300 lorry loads of timber a year using a single track road.

Neighbours say plans to remove 300 lorry-loads of timber a year from Sir Paul McCartney's Scottish farm down a single-track road are unsafe (McCartney pictured on the farm in 1970 with first wife Linda, left)
Neighbours say plans to remove 300 lorry-loads of timber a year from Sir Paul McCartney's Scottish farm down a single-track road are unsafe (McCartney pictured on the farm in 1970 with first wife Linda, left)

But nearby residents already endure heavy vehicles using surrounding roads to service a quarry, and have said adding more vehicles is dangerous to pedestrians and other drivers.
Colin Chrystie, of Upper Ballywilline Farm, said: 'We are already at saturation point. This wood could easily be taken out another road on McCartney's estate which joins the A83 at his Craig's Farm.
'My son and his partner have just built a house opposite me and they have a four-week-old daughter and there is no way you would want to push a pram on that road.
'It is a dangerous, single-track road with blind corners, potholes and limited passing places.'
Colin lives at the foot of a steep hill which is particularly difficult for both cars and lorries to climb.
He said: 'I'm not sure McCartney is even aware of this proposal. I think if he knew, he would see sense, he's a family man.

Sir Paul purchased the farm in 1966 and moved there with first wife Linda and his children in 1970 after The Beatles split up
Sir Paul purchased the farm in 1966 and moved there with first wife Linda and his children in 1970 after The Beatles split up

'I've met him lots of times and think he would listen. He's always respected this area and his neighbours always protected his privacy when the media came sniffing around.
'We have been very loyal to him.'
Sir Paul, 72, shocked his fans around the world when he purchased the farm in 1966.
He later moved there with his wife Linda and their children for peace and quiet after the band's infamous break-up in 1970.
His family used the farm to grow their own food and keep horses for riding around the local countryside.
Neighbours were known to frequently send reporters looking to find High Park on wild goose chases to places as remote as the Mull of Kintyre.
McCartney said the beauty of the peaceful and rugged area saved him from a nervous breakdown caused by the pressures of his stardom.
Since Linda's death at the age of 56 from breast cancer in 1998 he began severing ties to the area, but there is a memorial garden in Campbeltown named in her memory.
William Taverner, who also lives close to the farm, said: 'I have three young children and I am concerned about road safety.
'It is busy enough with quarry lorries. Timber lorries would be too much.
'Mr McCartney is perfectly entitled to take out his timber, I just hope he looks at this differently.'
Local councillor John Semple said: 'There have already been concerns about the safety of those using Gobagrennan Road.
'It is also part of the Kintyre Way and well used by cyclists and walkers.'
A spokesman for McCartney's management team, MPL, said: 'Plans for felling have been underway for some time in the interest of good forestry management.
'No decision have been made on how the wood will exit the estate. All available options are being explored taking into account a whole range of factors including impact on residents.'

Memorial Garden
Linda's Memorial Garden


sábado, 28 de junio de 2014

John Lennon classic books to be republished in December

www.thebookseller.com
Canongate to republish Lennon classics
Joshua Farrington
27.06.2014

Canongate will publish facsimile editions of John Lennon's two books, In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works this December.



First published in 1964 and 1965 respectively, the books combine drawing, poetry, and stories. In His Own Write was one of the biggest books of the 1960s, selling 600,000 copies in the UK alone.



An auction of original art and poetry from the books at Sotheby's in New York earlier this month saw the pieces selling from $2.9m.
Publisher Jamie Byng said: "Fifty years on, these two books by Lennon remain wonderfully fresh and memorable and distinctive and it is a great honour to be publishing new editions of them which do justice to the original drawings. Lennon was an exceptional artist and there is a growing appreciation of this which is borne out by the recent, record-breaking sale at Sotheby’s."
The new hardback editions will be published on 8th December 2014, the anniversary of Lennon's death.

  


PAUL McCARTNEY IN IBIZA

www.dailymail.co.uk
'Feeling great!' Sir Paul McCartney, 72, assures fans he's fighting fit following mystery illness... and proves it by diving into the Med during boat ride in Ibiza 
By JASON CHESTER
PUBLISHED: 25 June 2014

He recently celebrated his 72nd birthday, but aging former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney proved he’s as sprightly as ever during a boat ride in Ibiza on Monday. 
Sporting a pair of blue beach shorts, the legendary musician looked surprisingly agile as he hopped overboard and into the Mediterranean some several feet below. 
Sir Paul’s impromptu plunge suggested he’s well on the road to recovery after a mystery illness forced him to postpone numerous gigs in Japan and South Korea during his Out There world tour in May.

Feeling great! Sir Paul McCartney, 72,  proves he's back on form by jumping into the Mediterranean during his current sunshine break in Ibiza
Feeling great! Sir Paul McCartney, 72, proves he's back on form by jumping into the Mediterranean during his current sunshine break in Ibiza

The ailing performer returned to London to recuperate before jetting off to the Balearic party island with Nancy following a low-key birthday celebration in the capital on June 18.
In a video message he assured fans he is now 'feeling great' and had rescheduled a number of axed shows.
'Everybody's been asking me how I feel,' he said. 'I feel great - thank you very much for asking.'

Don't mind me: Macca gets ready to take the plunge during a cruise across the Med with socialite wife Nancy Shevell
Don't mind me: Macca gets ready to take the plunge during a cruise across the Med with socialite wife Nancy Shevell

Free as a bird: The aging former Beatle looked surprisingly sprightly during his latest outing
Free as a bird: The aging former Beatle looked surprisingly sprightly during his latest outing

Splashtastic: Macca hits the water after plunging several feel from the deck of his boat on Monday
Splashtastic: Macca hits the water after plunging several feel from the deck of his boat on Monday

And adding that the postponed shows have been rescheduled for September, he went on: "Come and see us then; we'll come and see you. Feeling great, rocking and rolling.'
Sir Paul will resume his tour in the United States on July 5. 
Elsewhere fans received an insight into the music legend's life thanks to a new excerpt from ‘Man on the Run: Paul McCartney in the 1970s’ by Tom Doyle.
The snippet, published in Esquire, is focused on a period in the star’s life – following the Beatles split - when he felt he almost had a ‘nervous breakdown’.
Tom Doyle writes: ‘It was as if he’d suddenly and unexpectedly lost his job, been made entirely redundant. 
‘This was an identity crisis in extremis: Who exactly was he if he wasn’t Beatle Paul McCartney?’

Cooling off: The legendary musician is being accompanied by his third wife, wealthy American socialite Nancy Shevell
Cooling off: The legendary musician is being accompanied by his third wife, wealthy American socialite Nancy Shevell



50 Years After the Beatles' Hollywood Bowl Concert

la-confidential-magazine.com
50 Years After the Beatles' Hollywood Bowl Concert
BY MICHAEL VENTRE

Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics heads up the Hollywood Bowl's all-star tribute to mark the Beatles' big 5-0...and that legendary first LA concert.

Hollywood Bowl
Can you hear me now? On August 23, 1964, the Beatles first played the Hollywood Bowl—although “the eternal shriek from 17,000 healthy, young lungs” made their 25-minute set virtually inaudible.

When they visited Los Angeles for the first time in the summer of 1964, the Beatles went to the Whiskey A Go Go, where George Harrison hurled a glass full of water at an annoying photographer and instead soaked actress Mamie Van Doren, who happened to be walking by. They attended a party in their honor at the Brentwood home of the mother-in-law of then-Capitol Records head Alan Livingston, where well-heeled parents paid $25 a pop (the money went to charity) to have their kids meet the lads, and where stars like John Forsythe, Edward G. Robinson, Groucho Marx, Rock Hudson, and Jack Benny joined the mop-top madness.

But the single most important event of their stay in LA—the one that leaps off the tip of every music-obsessed tongue whenever that time and place and those Liverpudlians are mentioned—was their concert at the Hollywood Bowl. And on August 22, 23, and 24, the Bowl will observe the 50th anniversary of that seismic happening with an equally seismic tribute. Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, an über-Beatles fan, will serve as ringmaster and musical director.

“I’ve heard many stories from George, Ringo, and Paul about their experiences in the USA back in 1964, but the news footage of the Hollywood Bowl remains embedded in my mind,” recalls Stewart, who was a close friend of Harrison. “Olivia Harrison [George’s wife, who told Stewart she was at the Bowl, although she and George would not meet until years later] just recounted to me how crazy it was: ‘Girls jumping into the pond at the front and swimming to the stage, limos with the roof squashed and windows gone, total hysteria.’”

The Beatles first played the Bowl on August 23, 1964 (they returned to the Bowl the following year and played two nights there). As their shows went, it was typical. They opened with “Twist and Shout,” played 11 more songs to the sellout crowd of 18,700, closed with “Long Tall Sally,” and left after about a 25-minute set. As usual, the Beatles had difficulty hearing themselves sing or play. That concert was recorded to become a live album (released much later, in 1977), although their producer, George Martin, later lamented, “the eternal shriek from 17,000 healthy, young lungs made even a jet plane inaudible.”

Yet that concert was historic, primarily because the Beatles themselves considered it so. “That’s the only place they wanted to play,” says radio and television personality Bob Eubanks, the promoter of that original show, who was then a local disc jockey for KRLA. “They wanted to play the Hollywood Bowl because it was the premier place. It still is.” Tickets for the show ranged from $3 to $7, he recalls. They were only available at two outlets: the Bowl box office, and the Automobile Club of Southern California. The event sold out in three and a half hours, Eubanks says, which was lightning speed in pre-Internet days.

“I happen to think the Hollywood Bowl concert in ’64, next to Woodstock, is probably the most famous concert of all time,” Eubanks adds. “That’s my personal opinion.”

While other acts of the day, like Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland, were commanding $10,000 to $15,000 per show, Eubanks says he and his business partner at the time had to take a loan out against a piece of property they owned in order to meet the terms set down by Beatles manager Brian Epstein: $25,000, plus 60 percent of anything over $40,000 at the box office. But, as many years of raves would attest, it was worth it.

Debra Rittmiller, a lifelong resident of Burbank, was 12 in 1964. She not only attended that show, she went to another Beatles concert in 1966, at Dodger Stadium. “I saw them on TV,” she remembers. “I bought their records. Total Beatlemania. I’d get together with my girlfriends, play their records, and scream. We went to see A Hard Day’s Night and we screamed in the theater. At the [Bowl] we were way in the back. You couldn’t hear them sing at all. Everybody was screaming. We had binoculars. It was fantastic.”

In The Beatles Anthology, John Lennon said about that show: “The Hollywood Bowl was marvelous. It was the one we all enjoyed most, I think, even though it wasn’t the largest crowd—because it seemed so important, and everybody was saying things. We got on, and it was a big stage, and it was great.”

Neither Stewart nor Johanna Rees, presentations director for the Bowl, will reveal any secrets about what they have planned for the anniversary festivities. But given the subject matter, it’s a no-brainer that a fab time will be had by all. “It’s fun to work on a show where every song is a great song,” Rees says. And at the Hollywood Bowl, no less. “When I leave town and I tell people [I work for the Bowl], they say, ‘Oh, where the Beatles played,’” Rees explains. “For people who have never been to LA, the Hollywood Bowl is famous. The Beatles’ appearance cemented it in people’s heads. They go together.” The Beatles’ 50th at the Bowl, August 22–24, 323-850-2000










viernes, 27 de junio de 2014

SIR PAUL 'ROCKING AND ROLLING'

www.dailymail.co.uk
SIR PAUL 'ROCKING AND ROLLING'
By PRESS ASSOCIATION
PUBLISHED: 25 June 2014

Sir Paul McCartney has assured fans he is now "feeling great" after recent health woes which led to the cancellation of a number of gigs.
In a video message posted online, the former Beatles star told how he was now back on form and had rescheduled a number of axed shows.
The musician - who turned 72 last week - pulled out of shows in Japan due to a mystery bug and doctors ordered "complete rest". He pulled shows in the US to allow him to recuperate more fully.
Sir Paul, who will resume his live shows on July 5, said in his YouTube message: "Everybody's been asking me how I feel. I feel great - thank you very much for asking."
And adding that the postponed shows have been rescheduled for September, he went on: "Come and see us then; we'll come and see you.
"Feeling great, rocking and rolling," he added.




Ringo Starr surprised Paul McCartney in the hospital during illness

somethingelsereviews.com
‘I just sort of dialed’: Ringo Starr surprised Paul McCartney in the hospital during illness
BY SOMETHING ELSE!
JUNE 26, 2014

Paul McCartney had a special friend looking in on him, even as he battled a roaring infection that forced the rare cancellation of a series of concerts. Ringo Starr, McCartney’s treasured former Beatles bandmate, was in constant contact with his ill friend, and from the first.

“I spoke to him, actually, while he was in the hospital,” Starr tells Access Hollywood, laughing. “Not knowing the time, I just sort of dialed. He picked up, and we said ‘hi,’ and he said he was doing OK.”

Since, Starr has kept in touch via text messages as his former bandmate made a slow but steady recovery. On a recent night, while the affable drummer continued his own All-Starr Band dates, McCartney and his wife Nancy even joined Starr’s wife Barbara Bach, Bach’s sister and her husband Joe Walsh for dinner.

“They all say he’s doing good,” Starr adds, and indeed McCartney has rescheduled the slate of postponed shows that followed his illness.







miércoles, 25 de junio de 2014

NEW Video: Paul Getting #OutThere in Costa Rica

www.PaulMcCartney.com

JUN
24
2014

NEW Video: Paul Getting #OutThere in Costa Rica

NEW Video: Paul Getting #OutThere in Costa Rica
Paul recently played the Estádio Nacional in San José, Costa Rica, the third gig of his current tour of Latin America. The show was Paul's first ever concert in the country, and PaulMcCartney.com was on hand to capture his welcome! 
In case you'd forgotten, England play Costa Rica in Belo Horizonte today. We'd like to know who you'll be supporting! 
Watch the video below...





martes, 24 de junio de 2014

Paul McCartney with wife Nancy Shevell relax on board lavish yacht in Ibiza

www.dailymail.co.uk
All you need is love! Sir Paul McCartney, 72, shares a tender kiss with wife Nancy Shevell, 53, as they relax on board lavish yacht in Ibiza
By NOLA OJOMU
PUBLISHED:  24 June 2014

They are in the middle of a relaxing sunshine break in Ibiza.
And Sir Paul McCartney and his 53-year-old wife, Nancy, swapped the beach for a yacht on Monday as he continued to make the most of his time off.
The 72-year-old veteran has been in recovery after being struck down with a mystery illness during his tour of the Far East in May.

All you need is love:  Sir Paul McCartney and his 53-year-old wife, Nancy, swapped the beach for a yacht on Monday as they were pictured sharing a loving kiss
All you need is love: Sir Paul McCartney and his 53-year-old wife, Nancy, swapped the beach for a yacht on Monday as they were pictured sharing a loving kiss

And it seem some quality time with his wife and friends is doing the star a world of good as they were seen sharing a tender kiss.
The pair had just been for a dip in the lovely blue sea and quickly washed off before they both wrapped up in matching red towels.
Earlier in the week, the couple arrived on the beach in casual attire with Sir Paul opting for red swimming trunks and his wife sporting a floral rash vest paired with animal print bikini bottoms.

Washing off: The pair took a dip in the lovely blue sea and proceeded to wash off once they got back on board the yacht
Washing off: The pair took a dip in the lovely blue sea and proceeded to wash off once they got back on board the yacht

In great form: Nancy looked trim and toned as she wore a rash vest and  navy bikini bottoms In great form: Nancy looked trim and toned as she wore a rash vest and  navy bikini bottoms
In great form: Nancy looked trim and toned as she wore a rash vest and  navy bikini bottoms

Paul was keen to make the most of the sunshine as he went for a quick dip in the Mediterranean Sea.
The pair waded in the waves for a short while before making their way back up the beach to lounge with their fellow holiday makers.
The group enjoyed the heat as they lay on their sun loungers but opted not to lie in direct sunlight.

A bit of TLC: It's understandable that Sir Paul McCartney opted to get away on a sunshine break
A bit of TLC: It's understandable that Sir Paul McCartney opted to get away on a sunshine break

Summer vacation: The musician and a few pals have been lapping up the sunshine on the Spanish island
Summer vacation: The musician and a few pals have been lapping up the sunshine on the Spanish island

Healing rays: Sir Paul has been in recovery after being struck down with a mystery illness during his tour of the Far East in May
Healing rays: Sir Paul has been in recovery after being struck down with a mystery illness during his tour of the Far East in May

Stylish ensemble: Nancy looked chic in a floral top teamed with animal print bikini bottoms and a fedora hat Stylish ensemble: Nancy looked chic in a floral top teamed with animal print bikini bottoms and a fedora hat
Stylish ensemble: Nancy looked chic in a floral rash vest teamed with animal print bikini bottoms and a panama hat

Fans recently received an insight into the music legend's life thanks to a new excerpt from ‘Man on the Run: Paul McCartney in the 1970s’ by Tom Doyle.
The snippet - published in Esquire -  is focused on a period in the star’s life – following the Beatles split - when he felt he almost had a ‘nervous breakdown’.

Rock on: Nancy seemed to be seeking to catch the attention of someone further down the beach
Rock on: Nancy seemed to be seeking to catch the attention of someone further down the beach

Cool blue: Paul was keen to make the most of the sunshine as he went for a quick dip in the Mediterranean Sea
Cool blue: Paul was keen to make the most of the sunshine as he went for a quick dip in the Mediterranean Sea

Relax: The pair waded in the waves for a short while before making their way back up the beach
Relax: The pair waded in the waves for a short while before making their way back up the beach

Time to dry off: American socialite Nancy looked trim and toned in her beachwear Time to dry off: American socialite Nancy looked trim and toned in her beachwear
Time to dry off: American socialite Nancy looked trim and toned in her beachwear

Tom Doyle writes: ‘It was as if he’d suddenly and unexpectedly lost his job, been made entirely redundant. 
‘This was an identity crisis in extremis: Who exactly was he if he wasn’t Beatle Paul McCartney?
Paul is then quoted saying: ‘I hit the bottle. I hit the substances.’

Laid-back: Sir Paul put on a navy shirt after his dip in the sea
Laid-back: Sir Paul put on a navy shirt after his dip in the sea

Hats off to them: The couple enjoyed the heat as they lay on their sun loungers but opted not to lie in direct sunlight
Hats off to them: The couple enjoyed the heat as they lay on their sun loungers but opted not to lie in direct sunlight

Can't take the heat: Nancy soon opted to remove her swimming top and revealed a black bandeau bikini underneath
Can't take the heat: Nancy soon opted to remove her swimming top and revealed a black bandeau bikini underneath

Opening up: Fans recently received an insight into the music legends life thanks to a new excerpt from ¿Man on the Run: Paul McCartney in the 1970s¿ by Tom Doyle
Opening up: Fans recently received an insight into the music legends life thanks to a new excerpt from ¿Man on the Run: Paul McCartney in the 1970s¿ by Tom Doyle

Feeling better: In May McCartney had to cancel several dates in Japan and South Korea on his Out There world tour after falling ill with a mystery virus
Feeling better: In May McCartney had to cancel several dates in Japan and South Korea on his Out There world tour after falling ill with a mystery virus

The singer described how he felt at the time saying it was like ‘a barreling, empty feeling rolling across his soul’ but credited his late wife, Linda as the saving grace that helped him through.
In May McCartney had to cancel several dates in Japan and South Korea on his Out There world tour after falling ill with a mystery virus.
But the dedicated performer has turned a corner health-wise and will hit the road again on July 5 for the North American leg of his show.

Not so shady: The trio enjoyed a brisk walk across the sand
Not so shady: The trio enjoyed a brisk walk across the sand

Shoes off: The couple prepared to leave their location underneath their parasol
Shoes off: The couple prepared to leave their location underneath their parasol

Hats off to them: Paul places a tender hand on Nancy's shoulder
Hats off to them: Paul places a tender hand on Nancy's shoulder

Making tracks: The icon and his wife made their way into the cool blue sea
Making tracks: The icon and his wife made their way into the cool blue sea

Easy does it: The singer looked a little wary as he negotiated with the dinghy
Easy does it: The singer looked a little wary as he negotiated with the dinghy

'I’m sorry but it’s going to be a few more weeks before we get rocking in America again. I’m feeling great but taking my docs' advice to take it easy for just a few more days. 
'Look forward to seeing you all soon,' the singer said in a statement on his website at the time.
No doubt the little break away will do the rocker the world of good. At one point, he waded out into the water and carefully got into a dinghy with his wife by his side.

All aboard: The group made their way to a larger boat
All aboard: The group made their way to a larger boat

Keeping afloat: The party got ready to make their way to their next destination
Keeping afloat: The party got ready to make their way to their next destination

Help! The gentlerman gives his lady a little hand as she leaves the dinghy
Help! The gentlerman gives his lady a little hand as she leaves the dinghy

Getting a tutorial: Concentrating hard, Paul listened to another member of the crew
Getting a tutorial: Concentrating hard, Paul listened to another member of the crew

Time to relax: The pair chatted on deck as they made the most of their time off
Time to relax: The pair chatted on deck as they made the most of their time off

As they sailed out to a yacht, the pair seemed happy and content with their surroundings, with Nancy taking pictures of the view on her camera and Paul doing a muscle man pose. 
The pair were then spotted relaxing on board and chatting to several members of the crew as they stood in his and hers trilby hats and sunglasses. 
Nancy later stripped off to a pretty blue and white bikini to make the most of the sunny weather. The  two-piece showed off her stunning figure.

Safety first: The sensible pair lathered on sun cream to make sure they didn't get burned
Safety first: The sensible pair lathered on sun cream to make sure they didn't get burned

Arms up: Nancy made sure she was super thorough with the high factor
Arms up: Nancy made sure she was super thorough with the high factor

Making memories: Paul took photos on his mobile phone as he paced around the deck
Making memories: Paul took photos on his mobile phone as he paced around the deck

Snap happy: Nancy showed off her figure in a stunning two piece as she took lots of photos
Snap happy: Nancy showed off her figure in a stunning two piece as she took lots of photos

He's the champ: The happy rocker gave his best muscle man impression while Nancy took a picture of the view
He's the champ: The happy rocker gave his best muscle man impression while Nancy took a picture of the view