Former Life magazine photographer Bob Gomel is sharing his private cache of pictures of The Beatles taken in the 1960s during the height of what was called "Beatlemania," some of them never seen before by the public.
Gomel was on the team of photographers sent Miami Beach by the magazine to cover the Beatles' second appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" on Feb. 16, 1964, according to
KHOU-TV.
"Their stardom, although it had already begun, had not affected their personalities," the Houston-based Gomel told the television station. "They were quite humble."
Gomel said the original plan was to take casual photos of the Fab Four at the hotel pool, but that was foiled when the hotel was overrun by screaming teenage fans. The photographer said comedian Myron Cohen, though, came to rescue and arranged for the pictures to be taken at the private pool of a friend in the area.
"That's how Life magazine ended up with a series of what became famous photographs of The Beatles singing in a swimming pool," wrote Doug Miller of KHOU-TV. "One of those photos, taken not by Gomel but by one of his colleagues, eventually wound up on the magazine's cover."
Gomel, though, kept numerous never-published shots from the session for himself.
"They were the whitest white people I had ever met," said Gomel. "When they took their shirts off, living a life in nightclubs in Hamburg and London, it was blinding."
The Houston Chronicle said Gomel was one of fewer than 100 photographers who took pictures for Life magazine from 1936 until the iconic magazine suspended publication in 1972.
"If you are old enough to remember the 1960s, chances are good that at least one of the most vivid images you hold in memory originated through the lens of Bob Gomel," wrote Judi Griggs of the Chronicle.
"… From 1959 to 1969, the Memorial-area resident was part of the elite cadre of Life magazine photographers who enjoyed unprecedented access to the people and events that shaped the world. Gomel, 81, photographed the Kennedys, the Beatles, Malcolm X, Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammad Ali), Mickey Mantle, Marilyn Monroe and hundreds of others."
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