Famed photographer Norman Parkinson snapped the Fab Four at Abbey Road Studios in September 1963.The Beatles released their debut album, ‘Please Please Me,’ in March and were on their way to superstardom
Originally published in 'Queen,' the photos are part of a new book called ‘The Beatles: London, 1963’
By DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
On September 12, 1963, Norman Parkinson photographed the Fab Four as they recorded songs at Abbey Road Studios. The photos show a young John, Paul, George and Ringo singing, playing guitar and the harmonica, taking a tea break, and joking around. Initially published that year, his photos are now part of new book, ‘The Beatles: London, 1963.’
The band’s debut single ‘Love Me Do,’ was released in the United Kingdom in October 1962 and hit number 17 on the charts. It started to turn the ‘virtual unknowns outside their native Liverpool’ - John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr - into pop stars, Pat Gilbert, a journalist and author, explained in the book.
Their debut album, ‘Please Please Me,’ was released in March 1963 and while The Beatles were on tour that year, there were inklings of the ‘hysterical screaming’ that would characterize the forthcoming Beatlemania, Gilbert wrote.
‘The band’s boys-next-door charm and bright, upbeat harmony pop seemed to touch a nerve in a country (England) emerging from years of grey, post-war austerity – as did the novel appeal of their strange mop-top haircuts and odd-shaped instruments,’ he wrote.
'By the end of the tour, groups of teenage girls were besieging stage doors, demanding autographs and kisses from the band.'Despite the fact that The Beatles had notched their first number 1 single with ‘From Me To You’ in May, and their album ‘Please Please Me’ was doing well on the charts, the band members still shared rooms when they stayed at the President Hotel, where this photo was taken in 1963
