IT WAS just another day in the life of the photographer Michael Ward when he took his first pictures of the Beatles. To be precise, the day was Tuesday, February 19, 1963, when it became known that Please Please Me was about to become the band's first No 1 record.
Until Ward was given the assignment he knew nothing of the four Liverpudlians, even though their first single, Love Me Do, had crept into the Top 20 in the previous autumn. "I'd never heard of them and they weren't remotely interested in me," said Ward.
He met them in a pub in Liverpool on a freezing morning before taking photos of them in and around the city. There were pictures on the stone steps of the Pier Head beside the Mersey and on the balustrades of the Queen Victoria monument. "Paul was very helpful but John would insist on trying to ruin a picture," said Ward. "Of course he thought it was extremely funny."
Ward's final picture of them walking through the streets was on a pedestrian crossing, foreshadowing the iconic photo on a crossing in Abbey Road, north London. Unfortunately, in Ward's picture Paul McCartney disappeared behind Ringo Starr just as he took the shot.
Ward photographed them in the office of their manager, Brian Epstein, where a map on the wall showed forthcoming British tour dates. They then moved on to the Cavern, where the Beatles were practising and, later that night, Ward photographed their performance at the club. "They seemed slightly surprised by their success," he said. The group, who earned less than £100 that night, would perform only twice more at the club they made internationally famous.