Macca shares Linda's snaps of the Sixties

Sir Paul McCartney has chosen a selection of rare images taken by his late wife Linda for an exhibition at the Hard Rock Calling music festival this weekend.

Sixteen black and white portraits and live performance shots taken between 1968 and 1971 will decorate the interior walls of the Hard Rock Café VIP tent backstage.

They were chosen by Sir Paul from Linda's private collection to mark his headlining appearance on Sunday night in Hyde Park.

They include a shot of Sir Paul with fellow Beatle John Lennon and portraits of Jimi Hendrix, Aretha Franklin and Pete Townshend from The Who.

Linda wrote about some of the images in her book Sixties — Portrait of An Era, published shortly before her death from cancer in 1998.

Of the Aretha Franklin shot she revealed: "She told us that her husband, who was also her manager, was giving her a hard time and she was very depressed. She fixed the wig, put on a brave face, and by the time we got outside to the pictures we were no longer discussing her problems."

She said of the photo of her husband and Lennon: "When it came to creativity, they weren't that different. They both had a tough side and a sensitive side."

The festival begins on Friday.