© John Loengard, 1964, The Beatles, Miami Beach, Florida

“Somebody said to me, ‘But the Beatles were anti-materialistic.’ That’s a huge myth. John and I literally used to sit down and say, ‘Now, let’s write a swimming pool.’” (Paul McCartney)

John Loengard tells the story of this famous photograph in his book ‘As I See It’:
“Four high school kids, the kind with fuzzy chins, on their first trip to America, arrived in Florida during a cold snap. We could not find a heated pool that could be closed off from the rest of the press, so we settled for one that was not. The kids’ manager told them the cover of LIFE magazine was important and to get in the water. They did. I asked them to sing. They sang, each in his own way. They started turning blue. I said that was it. If the pool had been heated, I’d have a longer story to tell.”

This image appeared in LIFE magazine: February 28, 1964. (+)

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