Photo by Michael Spencer Jones. Design by Brian Cannon assisted by Matthew Sankey and Martin Catherall. The Building is 'Stocks Hotel and Country Club' located near Tring in Hertfordshire. The hotel was one of Keith Moon's (former drummer in The Who) favourites. The white Rolls Royce submerged in the pool is a reference to Keith Moon when, in celebrating his birthday, piled a Lincoln Convertible into a hotel swimming pool. The Rolls Royce is a copy of that driven by John Lennon in the late 60's. After the picture was taken the blank license plate of the car was replaced with "SYD 724F" which parallels that of the police van on the right hand side of the famous cover of The Beatles' "Abbey Road" LP. The parking meter in the pool with the Rolls Royce alludes to the Beatles track "Lovely Rita", about Rita the meter maid. The white TV, showing the album cover, resembles that seen in The Who film "Tommy". In the Beatles film "Magical Mystery Tour", there is a scene in which Ringo looks through a telescope, as Noel does in the background of the Be Here Now cover. The Clock leaning against drummer Alan White's right leg alludes to the station clock found in the Beatles film "A Hard Day's Night". | | The Gramophone, resembles a tribute to the record label HMV, that which first signed the Beatles, and whose logo features a dog (Kipper) sitting next to a gramophone. The Vespa scooter behind which Liam stands is a typical "mod" from the 80's. Liam also drives a Vespa in the video for Oasis' Rock'N'Roll Star. In original pictures of the cover, the calender was set to the date September 3, paralleling the day John Lennon and Yoko Ono left British shores in 1971. However August 21, the release date of Be Here Now, was the day in 1988 when British legislation was passed allowing British Pubs to be open 12 hours a day... except on Sundays. Also in initial pictures the cover featured a red telephone box appearing in the pool to the left of the Rolls. This was an allusion to the telephone box into which all four Beatles flee to escape fans in the film "A Hard Days Night". A red telephone box was present on stage of the Be Here Now Tour in 1997/8, so was the white Roll's Royce and the yellow clock. |