In Photos: A Fashion Photographer Captured the Beatles

The week was a typically busy one for the Beatles – at the weekend, they had recorded an appearance for Saturday Club at the Playhouse Theatre in central London, performed a show that evening at the Fairfield Halls in Croydon, then traveled to Blackpool the following day for another concert.

Parkinson captured images of overflowing ashtrays and the band’s instruments – Lennon was playing the Rickenbacker 325 Capri he’d had repainted black from a natural finish earlier that year; McCartney his lefthanded 500/1 Hofner bass; and Harrison a Gretsch Country Gentleman.

Parkinson and assistant David Searle had arrived at the studio carrying only black-and-white film, since the shops had shut for the day and they hadn’t been able to purchase any color.