#11feb1964

The Beatles at the Washington Coliseum on the 11th February, 1964.

George & John on the train to Washington. Buddies & Pals. 

George at the Washington Coliseum on the 11th February, 1964.

John and Cynthia (wearing a wig as a disguise) on the train to Washington, 11th February 1964. 

Photos of The Beatles at the Washington Coliseum on the 11th February, 1964. These pictures were taken by Fred Ward, a National Geographic photographer and writer, who was on freelance assignment to cover the Beatles’ arrival by train in Washington two days after their debut performance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Previously, Fred Ward had been known for photographing political figures including President John F. Kennedy, First Lady Jackie Kennedy and Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. He took these amazing photos, thought to be the only high-quality colour photographs of the Beatles’ concert at the Washington Coliseum (he also shot a couple of rolls of black and white pictures). Almost unbelievably, a lot of these photo remained unprinted and unseen until 2014 when Fred Ward’s son, Christopher had some printed from the negatives for an exhibition in LA.