Live: Gaumont Cinema, Bournemouth

This was the fourth of The Beatles’ six consecutive dates in the English seaside town of Bournemouth. They played two houses on each night. Also on the bill were Tommy Quickly and Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas.

22 August 1963 is the likely day of the cover shoot for With The Beatles. Photographer Robert Freeman joined The Beatles at their hotel, the Palace Court, and took a series of black and white photographs.

The boys liked the idea and the session was set up for noon the following day in the hotel dining room. The large windows let in a bright sidelight and the dark maroon velvet curtains were pulled round as a backdrop… We decided to use the black turtleneck sweaters which they wore at the time, to keep the picture simple.

The iconic shot was achieved using just natural light. Freeman was paid £75 for his work, rather than the £25 originally proposed by EMI.

They had to fit in the square format of the cover, so rather than have them all in a line, I put Ringo in the bottom right corner, since he was the last to join the group. He was also the shortest.