Savvy Road

It’s normally tourists who flock to the Beatles’ legendary Abbey Road, but to celebrate Johnny Depp teaming up with Paul McCartney to appear in his latest music video ‘My Valentine’, a group of UK Captain Jack Sparrows undertook the ultimate homage to their heroes, by placing the pirate on the famous crossing.

Fans of both the Beatles and Pirates of the Caribbean will not fail to pick up on the connections and hidden references in this iconic image.

For the brainchild of the idea, Cristian Cornejo (seen in Lennon’s role on the far right of the picture) the project took on a life of its own when he first suggested it to a handful of friends. The plan was hatched to turn up at first light on a Sunday, ahead of the traffic and hordes.

Travelling in from across the UK, the first up was Graham Stevens at 3.30am which gave him just enough time to apply the complex makeup required for Cannibal King Jack, involving a set of eight painted eyes on his face. Seen on the left of the picture (in George Harrison’s role) wearing the unique crown and carrying his feather sceptre.

In front of Graham is Ryan Jenkyns, (Paul McCartney) a dedicated and talented costume and prop maker, whose other roles range from Superman to Kermit the Frog. His bare footed Jack will be familiar to fans of the first Pirates of the Caribbean film, and the keen eye will notice the cheeky switch from McCartney’s cigarette to a more apt bottle of rum.

Regarded by most as the UK’s finest professional Captain Jack impersonator, Simon Newton (Ringo Starr) is carrying the chalices from Jack’s last outing in the 2011 blockbuster, On Stranger Tides, a film that both he, and Cornejo both appeared in as a photo double and stand in to Johnny Depp respectively.

Cristian Cornejo (Lennon) leads the four Captains. As an avid collector of the Pirates franchise memorabilia, one can only guess at how much of his costume was used on set.  His fiancé Anna Miller provided the infamous shapely leg, out of focus, on the album’s back cover artwork, depicting the original Abbey Road tiled street  ign. The wall, long since demolished, recently threw up four tiled letters A, B, E, Y. which sold for a staggering £7000 on Channel 4’s “Four Rooms” antique treasure gameshow.

A keen eye may have spotted “The fifth Beatle” (Pete Best) in the shape of “Nutty” Nik Lawson, the proud owner and builder of The Black Pearl, his beautifully crafted and exquisitely airbrushed homage to the Pirates of the Caribbean legend. His custom Chevy van, based on a 1975 shorty panel van, found in Arizona in 2009 has undergone a total rebuild, including a well appointed pirate ship interior including steering by a wooden ships wheel.

Behind the camera, and perched on the second rung of a step ladder, was Mary Ann Russon who clung to her crows nest whilst the wakening London traffic hurtled past.


The day was blessed with almost unbroken sunshine, and the result, you must agree, is a triumph. In the words of side one, track one, things really did “Come Together”.

A sneaky behind the scenes look of what went into getting the right shot can be seen here