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How this drugstore ended up on Paul McCartney’s Run Devil Run album

Read the fascinating story of how Paul McCartney came to use this unusual cover image on his 1999 album Run Devil Run.

In a fantastic post on Atlanta’s Creative Loafing, Chad Radford talks to Chris Miller, the owner of the drugstore that ended up on Paul’s album. Miller had no idea this was going to happen until he saw the record came out and two other parties apparently sued McCartney but settled out of court!

Read the story on the Creative Loafing site.

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12 Comments

12 thoughts on “How this drugstore ended up on Paul McCartney’s Run Devil Run album

  1. Photographers often sell/lease their work out on a “how integral to the design is it” and “how many people are likely to see it” basis – the price you’d pay for (say) a small photo an internal corporate newsletter will be far lass than (say) the whole album cover for an ex-Beatle! I’m surprised in this case that Macca’s legal people didn’t have an airtight “work-for-hire” / “full & final payment” contract with the photographer, but $10k is still cheap for an album cover!

    Nice story though, thanks for the link, Paul.

  2. It’s safe to presume that that the photog sued under the claim that he owned the photo, and it was not cleared for commercial use – as in “you are selling my art”. That’s what they do, believe me, I’ve been there. And he figured he would get a nuisance suit sum, and he did. But what I want to know is, can you buy the Run Devil Run album at the store? That would be a great little SDE, right? The CD and the anti-depression whatchamacallit in a little mojo box. Anyway, great passalong, Paul, thanks.

  3. I was on a walking tour of downtown Atlanta a few months ago and our guide pointed out the drug store and told the story. They were filming a scene for the new Spider-Man movie down the street that Saturday. I’m always surprised at how much history is in a few blocks of where I live. You can also by voodoo candles nearby.

    1. I appears to be the photographer (not sure why?) and the manufacturer of this ‘Run Devil Run’ product, a picture of which was used in the booklet without permission.

  4. It is a delightful story, but you do think Paul could have spared a few minutes somewhere in the last 18 years to telephone the guy’s wife and say ‘Hello’.

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