-Secrecy is the whole thing.
Without secrecy, nothing else works.
You know, John doesn't sign the checks.
It ends. It's over.
This was really serious,
that they really were making a record,
and that musicians had been arranged,
and this was something they were doing,
and Yoko was in charge.
John and Yoko were going to be going into the recording studio
to start working on a new record.
This is the first time they'd really made a record
in seven years.
Nobody had really heard anything from John and Yoko
pretty much in five years.
The assignment was given to me as,
"You're gonna meet them at The Dakota.
You're gonna get photos of John and Yoko
leaving The Dakota, getting in their limo,
arriving at The Hit Factory."
Basically in the same breath,
"This could get cancelled at any time.
Do not tell anybody.
And there's no guarantee
you're gonna get any photos of John and Yoko.
There's no guarantee you're gonna meet them.
You might get kicked out,
asked to go home, whatever it is.
So be prepared."
I remember pulling up in front and being,
from a photographer point of view,
I was intimidated, because I asked him.
I said, "Is this the main entrance?"
And then I saw the guard booth, the copper guard booth.
And the gentleman with the uniform and the hat,
the guard, came out to greet somebody who was arriving,
which I thought was pretty cool.
So, right, you were asking about the first photo that I took,
and I'm kind of looking at it now.
And it shows that John was aware that I had said to him,
"I just need to get a good photo of you and Yoko together.
That's my assignment."
She was ahead of him when we were leaving.
And, so, John's immediately reaching to pull her back,
and he was saying, "Mother, dear,
we're doing this together now."
He pulled her together. I got two shots.
The second shot was them both together.
He's got the briefcase with the sheet music in it.
And they're looking like, you know, starting over.
They're looking like they're coming out to face the world.
And I just felt so good getting that shot.
I was able to get another shot of John
getting into the limousine and then John waving
as he was leaving in the limousine.
♪ Here in some stranger's room, ♪
♪ late in the afternoon ♪
-We pulled up in front of The Hit Factory.
I noticed that there was an awning with a sign that said
"The Hit Factory" on it,
and I knew that was a really key shot.
I wasn't to be the hired photographer.
I couldn't say that I was with John and Yoko, for instance,
if someone came up to me and said, "What are you doing?"
Or I was at The Hit Factory and they were gonna kick me out,
I couldn't say, "Oh, well, I was told not to say
I was with John and Yoko."
I'll put it that way.
This could very well have been my last photo of them
walking into The Hit Factory.
And, so, when I took this shot,
I really felt like that's a shot that could be used.
When I took the shot, I said, "What the heck.
I'm just gonna keep going here."
And so I followed right behind them through the front door.
I followed behind John, and John took a right,
went up a couple of steps through a doorway.
I followed him, and I realized I was in the control booth.
We just took one picture, very candid.
I think there was nervousness and there was absolute,
like -- I don't know.
I think we were all kind of in disbelief.
The first thing he did was, he plugs in his guitar
and he starts playing.
And it was -- that just energized everything.
I mean, people really started coming in.
And, so, I would take a couple of shots.
I didn't want to disturb John.
I didn't want to break his spell, and I didn't.
It was toward the end.
I took a couple of shots of Yoko and John.
And he said, "This photographer here is me wife's idea."
And then he laughed.
And I got this great shot.
I moved in on John, and he's smiling and laughing.
And I just don't remember taking this picture.
But it was just such a wonderful image to see later,
the smile, and the excitement, energy on his face.
So to me, that photo means a lot.
♪ Our life together ♪
-"Starting Over"
reminded me of the energy when I was there,
that the energy in that song was the energy
I felt that day from John.
♪ We have grown ♪
-I think my images were sort of relegated
to the dust bin of history, perhaps.
The photo that was selected was the shot
that I predicted they'd select.
I think it was published in "People" magazine.
That was it. My assignment was done.