The Beatles: Rare Shots Gallery

It’s been 50 years since the Beatles first came to America on Feb. 7 1964. The rare photographs shown here, shot by Curt Gunther, capture some the behind-the-scenes moments from that watershed moment in music history.

These images are provided courtesy of MPTV. MPTV was founded by photographer Sid Avery,whose work was known for capturing candid, intimate shots of celebrities. Today, MPTV has one of the largest collection of celebrity photographs in the world. Curated by Avery’s son, Ron Avery, MPTV is dedicated to archiving and preserving Avery’s and others’ classic images of Hollywood.

To see more of MPTV’s Beatles Collection, visit MPTV’s website.

All photos © 1978 Gunther/mptvimages.com.