Once There Was a Way...: Photographs of the Beatles

Two photographers indelibly etched the early image of The Beatles: Robert Freeman, whose trend-setting work graced early album covers including Meet The Beatles and Rubber Soul, and Harry Benson, a seasoned photojournalist for London newspapers whose b&w backstage and onstage pictures of The Beatles touring Paris, New York and Miami became the template for the neo-realism of the film A Hard Day's Night. Published in anticipation of the 40th anniversary of The Beatles' arrival in the U.S. in February 1964, this thoroughly entertaining coffee-table-sized volume offers excellent prints of photos that will be immediately recognized by Beatles fans, who may not have known that they all were the work of one man. All of Benson's most memorable images from 1964 are here: The Fab Four shopping on the Champs Elysees, and pillow-fighting at the Hotel George V; riding in a carriage through Central Park and performing on the Ed Sullivan Show; clowning in a boxing ring with the then-Cassius Clay; and relaxing between-takes on the set of their first movie. The book also includes Freeman's famous pictures from The Beatles' final tour in 1966, including the Chicago press conference where John Lennon had to explain his controversial statement that The Beatles were""more popular that Jesus."" Benson supplements the images with pithy comments and insider facts, such as the information that the band had actually wanted to meet the fighter whom Clay later beat, Sonny Liston.