News

November 17, 2008

Photog saw Beatlemania up close

Harry Benson recalls the early days of the Fab Four

Michael Lello The Times Leader

When Scottish photographer Harry Benson was dispatched to document a young rock band, he was disappointed; he had been hoping to go to Africa for another assignment instead.

Luckily for Benson, the music assignment took precedence with his newspaper bosses, so the Africa trip had to wait. The band was the Beatles, so you could say things ended up working out just fine for Benson.

Benson — who moved to New York after accompanying the Beatles to their iconic 1964 appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” — is known for his work with Life magazine and is currently under contract with Vanity Fair and a contributor to publications like Architectural Digest and Newsweek. He has photographed every U.S. president from Dwight D. Eisenhower to George W. Bush, was just a few feet from Robert F. Kennedy the night he was assassinated and stood in the room with Richard Nixon when he resigned. Benson covered Martin Luther King’s Meredith March and was next to his widow Coretta Scott King at his funeral. He witnessed the Berlin Wall going up and coming down, and more recently, he photographed the destruction of Hurricane Katrina.

The Everhart Museum in Scranton opened “The Beatles: Photographs by Harry Benson” on Nov. 9 and the display will continue through Dec. 31.

In advance of the Scranton showing, Benson answered some of the Weekender’s questions about his remarkable career via e-mail.

Times Leader: Tell us a little bit about the photos we’ll see at this exhibit and some of the stories behind them.

Benson: The photographs in my exhibit at the Everhart include the Beatles in 1964 in Paris, America, Amsterdam and Copenhagen, and again in America in 1966. I traveled with the Beatles photographing them for a London newspaper on their trip to Paris where Beatlemania started to surface. They were playing at the Olympia, and we were staying at the George V Hotel in Paris. In Amsterdam and Copenhagen they were mobbed by screaming fans, as they were in New York. In New York on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and at Shea Stadium and at Carnegie Hall, the girls in the audience were making so much noise screaming and crying you could hardly hear them play.

Times Leader: You’ve had a front-row seat for many historical events. How were you able to gain such access, and what type of memories do you have?

Benson: I don’t know. It seems the more I worked, the more assignments I was given and the more access I obtained. But I never forgot what magazine I was there for, that heavyweight magazine I was carrying in my back pocket. That always helped. And I have always been willing to stay the course. It is the way I work, and it comes from the competitiveness of working on London’s Fleet Street where there were about 15 daily morning papers. And when you were scooped, you knew it very late that night when the first editions came out. To come back with a picture is not always possible, but it is what you aim for.

Times Leader: Is there one particular event you photographed that is your favorite?

Benson: The [Beatles] pillow fight — it is a happy picture.

Times Leader : What was it like to photograph them? Were they comfortable? Confident? Playful?

Benson: They were four very young, smart kids. Very quick on the uptake when being interviewed — and they had a good sense of humor. After Beatlemania began, they had to stay in their hotel rooms or else they would be mobbed. They couldn’t believe their own success at first, either.

Times Leader: Why did you end up moving to the U.S.?

Benson: The pillow fight photo was taken on the night in January 1964 the Beatles were told that “I Want to Hold Your Hand” was No. 1 in America and they would be coming to America to be on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” So that was an historic night for them, and it meant I was coming to America with them. I had always wanted to work in America for Life magazine, and luckily that did happen.

If you go

“The Beatles: Photographs by Harry Benson,” through Dec. 31 at the Everhart Museum, 1901 St., Mulberry St., Scranton. Noon-4 p.m., Thurs., Fri., Mon.; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat.; noon-5 p.m. Sun. Admission: $5 adults, $3 students/seniors, $2 children 6-12, free for museum members. Info: 570.346.7186, general.information@everhart-museum.org, www.everhart-museum.org.

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