Robert Whitaker (photographer) - Disraeli Gears and Oz

Disraeli Gears and Oz

In late 1966 The Beatles withdrew from touring and during the first half of 1967 they were ensconced in Abbey Rd working on Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. With the demands of touring now over, Whitaker’s association with The Beatles and NEMS came to an end.

By this time he was living and working in a residential studio space which he called Joubert Studios, located in the well-known building called The Pheasantry in King's Rd, Chelsea. This venerable artists' colony was also home to friends from Australia—Martin Sharp, Philippe Mora and Germaine Greer.

Martin Sharp: "Bob setting to work with The Beatles was a real breakthrough. When Richard Neville and I left for England, Bob was on the TOP or my list of people to contact."}

Whitaker's next major project, and one of his most famous collaborations, was created with Sharp—the classic psychedelic album cover for Cream's landmark 1967 LP Disraeli Gears:

"Cream were going to do a tour of the north of England and Scotland. I just jumped in a car. Various things presented themselves to us on our journey around Scotland, none of which I could have recreated in a studio. I was very lucky that Martin had discovered day-glo paint. I had all the pictures, which I knew were for some form of publicity. I made a whole series of colour prints and Martin just started cutting them up - much to my annoyance, because they weren't cheap to do. He then laid them out on a 12-inch square as a piece of finished artwork and then painted all over it."

Whitaker's friendship with Sharp and Greer also led to him becoming closely involved with Oz magazine in 1967-68, and he contributed to many of the early editions of the famous underground magazine, including a famous collage depicting a woman seated on a flying toilet symbolically defecating on the Houses of Parliament.