1963 Beatles Early Photo by Angus McBean

An Original Angus McBean Photograph, Signed In Mid-1963

In the Beatles' early years, as manager Brian Epstein crafted their image and spearheaded their publicity machine, it wasn't unusual for the group's schedule to include multiple events in a single day. Monday, January 21, 1963 was one of those days. In the morning alone, they would attend a photo session and make a radio show appearance. As convenience would have it, both would take place at EMI House, 20 Manchester Square, in London.

The photo session was conducted by veteran theater photographer Angus McBean for the purpose of creating some new publicity portraits. McBean took numerous shots of the band against a wall of window blinds and also took several of them peering around a corner in a hallway. However, McBean's most iconic image of the group would be one from a series of photos he also took of the group at EMI House, but at a different session. His indelible shot of The Beatles gazing down from the railings of the EMI house stairwell would be used for the cover of The Beatles' first album, entitled