Photos: The Beatles’ Arrival in New York
When the Beatles landed in New York on February 7, 1964 for their first American visit, Life magazine photographer Bill Eppridge was there to meet them. He shot 90 rolls of film of the group (which he’d never heard of before getting the last-minute assignment) in the following days, though only four pictures appeared in the magazine. Highlights of the rest appear in his new book, The Beatles: Six Days That Changed the World (Rizzoli). Click through the gallery ahead for behind-the-scenes images from the new collection, from the screaming girls greeting them outside the Plaza to their Ed Sullivan Show dress rehearsal.
Pan Am Flight 101 touches down, just six weeks after Idlewild Airport became JFK.
Photo: Bill Eppridge
Check-in at the Plaza, with mayhem stoked by the D.J.’s on WMCA and WINS.
Photo: Bill Eppridge
Paul does one of several phone interviews from the hotel.
Photo: Bill Eppridge
An unmarked Chevy owned by one of the Plaza’s security staff takes John, Paul, and Ringo to a photo shoot in Central Park. (George stays at the hotel,...
An unmarked Chevy owned by one of the Plaza’s security staff takes John, Paul, and Ringo to a photo shoot in Central Park. (George stays at the hotel, fighting off the flu.)
Photo: Bill Eppridge. All Rights Reserved. 2012
Run-through onstage at CBS’s Studio 50 (now the Ed Sullivan Theater), sans George, who’s still sick. Road manager Neil Aspinall acts as a stand-in.
Ph...Run-through onstage at CBS’s Studio 50 (now the Ed Sullivan Theater), sans George, who’s still sick. Road manager Neil Aspinall acts as a stand-in.
Photo: ©Bill Eppridge. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO REPRODUCTION WITHOUT PERMISSION OF BILL EPPRIDGE. DO NOT REMOVE META DATA!
Dress rehearsal—this time with George. The band tapes a set later that afternoon for broadcast in late February, then performs live on the air at 8 p....
Dress rehearsal—this time with George. The band tapes a set later that afternoon for broadcast in late February, then performs live on the air at 8 p.m. Seventy-three million viewers hear five songs.
Photo: ©Bill Eppridge. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO REPRODUCTION WITHOUT PERMISSION OF BILL EPPRIDGE. DO NOT REMOVE META DATA!
After a day of promo duties, the band heads to Washington, D.C., to play an 8:30 p.m. show at the Washington Coliseum.
Photo: ©Bill Eppridge. ALL RIG...After a day of promo duties, the band heads to Washington, D.C., to play an 8:30 p.m. show at the Washington Coliseum.
Photo: ©Bill Eppridge. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO REPRODUCTION WITHOUT PERMISSION OF BILL EPPRIDGE. DO NOT REMOVE META DATA!
Back to New York for …
Photo: ©Bill Eppridge. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO REPRODUCTION WITHOUT PERMISSION OF BILL EPPRIDGE. DO NOT REMOVE META DATA!
… a pair of 35-minute shows at Carnegie Hall.
Photo: ©Bill Eppridge. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO REPRODUCTION WITHOUT PERMISSION OF BILL EPPRIDGE. DO NOT...… a pair of 35-minute shows at Carnegie Hall.
Photo: ©Bill Eppridge. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO REPRODUCTION WITHOUT PERMISSION OF BILL EPPRIDGE. DO NOT REMOVE META DATA!