PAUL ON THE RUN

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Long-forgotten photos of the Beatles resurface

Croydon schoolboy's pictures show the Beatles in the days before they achieved stardom

Ben Quinn

Monday 11 June 2012 

In one of the images a young George Harrison seems to be staring into the camera as he glances across the stage, while John Lennon and Paul McCartney look out at the audience where young women sit peacefully in the front row.

In another the fab four sit bunched together backstage, kitted out in familiar Chelsea boots, skinny ties and collarless jackets of the band's early-60s incarnation.

The photographs, taken during and after an appearance by the band in Croydon on 25 April 1963, are part of a previously unpublished collection of pictures of the Beatles in the days just before their fame tipped over into true stardom.

They were taken by Andy Wright, then a 15-year-old schoolboy keen on pursuing a career in photography.

His father worked as a steward at Croydon's Fairfield Halls and he got the manager's permission to let his son wander around the newly-built venue, with a camera.

"I only had 12 pictures on my roll of film," said Wright, who only recently remembered he had taken the shots. "Film was expensive back then.

"The picture of all four of them backstage was taken with the last shot I had. They were very nice to me but they were a bit shattered after the concert.

"I went home on the bus, developed the pictures and proudly took them into the school the next day. I still have the Rollei camera I took those pictures with."

The event in Croydon came barely a month after the release of the band's first album, Please Please Me.

The band gave two performances (5.30pm and 8pm) as part of the Mersey Beat Showcase mini-tour featuring acts from their manager Brian Epstein's stable.

The Beatles backstage at Fairfield Halls, Croydon, in 1963. Photograph: Andy Wright/Getty Images/Fairfieldat50.com