Teatime! The Beatles, photographed by Michael Ward, taking refreshments near the Liverpool docks.

Come together: *top,* transporting Ringo Starr’s drum kit outside wasn’t an option, so Terry O’Neill had him hold up a cymbal; *above,* a portrait from Norman Parkinson’s “Shish Kebab” series shows the heads of George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Starr, and John Lennon squeezed together as if they’d been served on a large skewer.

Nowhere man: McCartney, shot by O’Neill.

While their guitar … Rehearsals, shot by Parkinson (*top*) and Ward (*above*).

Element of surprise: Derek Bayes had no idea that he would be photographing the Beatles that day in 1965. The 31-year-old photographer was on the fifth floor of the Time & Life Building when he heard a commotion in the street outside and took his Leica to investigate.

Hidden gems: *Top,* Bayes decided to hold on to the Beatles photos until the right moment arrived; they remained unpublished until now. *Above,* McCartney and Lennon at the mike, shot by O’Neill.

Cool as cucumbers: Ward photographed the Beatles in Liverpool during the “big freeze” of February 1963, one of the worst cold spells on record. The band’s debut album, *Please Please Me,* was released the following month.

Feeling fine: fans brave the cold to hang out with the Beatles, shot by Ward.

A Day in the Life

On the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ breakup, early photographs capture the band on the cusp of fame

While visuals of the Beatles at the height of their popularity abound, there’s very little chronicling their pre-fame days. A new volume, out now from ACC Art Books with text by music historian Tony Barrell, unlocks the archives of master photographers Derek Bayes, Terry O’Neill, Norman Parkinson, and Michael Ward, collecting nearly 200 rare and unseen images of the band in the years of 1963 to 1965. Ward photographed the Beatles when their fame was still confined to their home city of Liverpool. A young O’Neill shot them as newly established stars at EMI’s Abbey Road recording studio, just after they’d recorded what would become their first million-selling single, “She Loves You.” Next up was Parkinson, who photographed the band—in that same studio—at work on their second U.K. album, With the Beatles. Finally, Bayes. His candid shots of the Beatles running around the streets of Mayfair, filming their second feature film, Help!, have never before been published. Together, the images tell the story of the early days of the band, steady in its trajectory until seismic success carried it up and away. —Julia Vitale