Fantastic original set design concept drawings by Paul McCartney, accomplished in ink and colored marker on an off-white 19.5 x 13 sheet, featuring twelve hand-drawn and annotated images conceived for use as set designs at Brian Epstein’s Saville Theatre, London, England. One of these was used for the first-ever UK performances of the Four Tops, which took place in two sets (6 PM and 8:30 PM) at the venue on November 13, 1966. In preparation for these performances, Brian Epstein needed appropriate backdrops for the Saville and commissioned none other than Paul McCartney to come up with ideas. Paul presented the stage designs to Brian Epstein and John Lyndon, a NEMS employee and Director of Productions at the Saville. Included is an original issue of the UK music paper New Musical Express from November 11, 1966, with a blurb documenting the event: "Beatle Paul, Designer… The back cloth for the Four Tops concerts at London’s Saville Theatre on Sunday night is from a drawing by Paul McCartney."
The twelve drawings, with McCartney's annotations, are as follows:
- An elaborate design featuring a mirrored wall with entrance to the stage, annotated: "entrance" and "12 mirrors in which the audience catch a glimpse of themselves."
- An upside down house with the annotation "this way up."
- A mechanical rotating backdrop with the annotation "slow moving machinery."
- A detailed hinged design with numerous annotations: "red curtains behind here," "backed with silver," "hinges," and "this piece of the set falls on the stage, revealing red curtains through which performers emerge, smiling."
- A colorful design with the annotations "Festival set" and "entrance."
- A psychedelic design with the annotations "silver," "gold," and "entrance hole."
- A "plain comedy set" featuring mustaches and glasses, noting: "comedian enters through mouth, not smiling, crawling."
- A take on the American flag with the annotation "American set, British group"—as used for the Four Tops performance.
- A stage backdrop of "3 black ducks" flying between clouds.
- A drawing of the woman's head and body, marked "set for female vocalist or male, as the case may be."
- A set featuring flowers and lights, with annotation "23 lights hang against background of silver, reflecting, and flickering."
- An unnumbered diagram, showing the "side view" of the above, featuring three lines and the letters "a, b, c."
The sheet is archivally matted and framed to an overall size of 29.5 x 23.5. In fine condition, with some small stains and minor paper loss to the right edge.
Accompanied by a letter of provenance from John Lyndon, in part: "This set of stage designs was given to me by Brian Epstein in the mid-sixties when I was Director of Productions for NEMS Enterprises. It hung on my office wall at the Theatre. The bottom left image of stars and wavy lines was used as a stage curtain for the Four Tops at their Saville Theatre concert December 1966." Also includes an original program from the Four Tops' UK tour, a photograph of the band on stage in front of the McCartney-designed backdrop, and certificates of authenticity from TRACKS and Fab Four Memorabilia Ltd. Notably, these drawings were exhibited at the Liverpool Beatles Museum in 2023.
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