1964

A luminous photographic record of the dawn of Beatlemania.

Now 80, McCartney has been working at a breakneck clip to get the record straight, as witness the Peter Jackson–restored and revisionist documentary Get Back. Against that careful campaign, this collection is something of an accident, McCartney writes, representing the discovery of 1,000 photos he had taken in 1964. “I’m not trying to claim to be a master,” he writes, “only an enthusiastic photographer who happened to be in the right place at the right time.” Humility aside, Sir Paul proves a fine documentarian of the chaotic scene around him. Some of the countless highlights include a color image of George Harrison, finally at rest in Miami after the hectic tour that introduced them to America via the Ed Sullivan Show, against the backdrop of an anonymous (and headless) swimsuit-clad woman and looking far too young to be holding the cigarette and drink in hand; “a rare picture of John in his glasses,” as McCartney writes, with Lennon looking more like a college quiz kid than a rock star, a weary-looking Ringo next to him; photos of fans of many ethnicities (as is now well known, the Beatles would not play a segregated room) and ages awaiting the arrival of the band, whose spirit-lifting tour occurred soon after John F. Kennedy’s assassination, leading McCartney to comment in a charged aside, “To this day, I am very happy that Britain doesn’t have the gun culture that exists in the U.S.” The ancillary texts are scene-setting but less interesting than McCartney’s own writing, including the introduction by noted historian Jill Lepore, who does a solid if dutiful job of placing the Beatles’ 1964 experiences in the larger context of the world around them. The book includes a timeline and notes about each photo.

Sir Paul knows his way around just about every artistic medium, and these photographs are a must for Beatles fans.