THEY were two routine jobs for Holmfirth photographer Trevor Bray.
He had been commissioned by bosses of the ABC Cinema in Market Street, Huddersfield, to get pictures at pop concerts.
And Mr Bray would later admit to friends that he had never heard of the bands who were taking to the stage.
It was only later that he realised the significance of the events – for the bands were The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
Now rare photographs of the shows are to go on display in a one-off exhibition in Liverpool.
The exhibition of previously unseen and unpublished Beatles and Rolling Stones photographs will be on show on Monday, February 25, when a new Dawsons Music store opens on Williamson Street in Liverpool city centre.
The shop will exhibit a collection of never-before-seen black and white photographs of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones and it will be on what would have been the 70th birthday of Beatles guitarist George Harrison.
Ironically, Dawsons Music have a shop in Market Street, Huddersfield – less than 50 yards from the site of the former ABC Cinema, known as The Ritz.
The Beatles played a show on the evening of November 29, 1963, in front of some 2,000 screaming fans.
The Rolling Stones – with their original line-up of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman – took to the stage twice on March 10, 1965, as part of their first-ever British tour.
Seen together, the photographs highlight the difference between the very professional and respectable image of The Beatles, and the “bad-boy” antics of The Rolling Stones.
The photos are now the property of Trevor’s daughter Helen Bray, who is also a photographer. The Bray family have been photographers in Holmfirth and Huddersfield since 1917.
Helen said: “We are delighted they are going on show and we’d love to bring them and others to Huddersfield.
“Dad and his brother Morris had regular commissions from the bosses at the ABC to cover the concerts.
“The Beatles show was right at the start of their fame and dad had no idea who they were, nor the response they generated from the fans.
“It was only later that he began to appreciate the Beatles music.
“We were trawling through his negative files and found these and others from the shows he covered.”
Other acts captured by Mr Bray in his ABC days were Cliff Richard, Helen Shapiro, the Dave Clark Five and Gerry and The Pacemakers.
He died in 2006 aged 73.
Visitors to the Liverpool exhibition are asked to make a donation to the Linda McCartney Cancer Centre at the door.
FACTFILE
The ABC Cinema was opened in February 1936 at a cost of £100,000
The first film was First a Girl, starring Jessie Matthews
It seated 2,036 people in the single-screen auditorium
It was also a venue for live music and theatre
A second screen was added in 1974
The cinema was demolished in the late 80s to make way for a Sainsbury’s supermarket.
