Photo books show intimate moments of Beatles, Rolling Stones

At this point, is there any more insight to be had about the Beatles and the Rolling Stones? Any images one could possibly see that one hasn’t already viewed? Just when you think the answer to those questions is “no,” along come two books that seek to color in the few spaces left open in the incredibly complete picture of these two bands.

Bob Bonis isn’t a name I was familiar with before receiving two books in the mail from It Books — The Lost Beatles Photographs and The Lost Rolling Stones Photographs. Bonis was the tour manager for each band during their U.S. tours in 1964-66. I was skeptical, for the reasons stated above, that I would find anything of value in either. But each is a revelation. Fans of either band surely have seen photos of the members in their earliest days, fresh-faced, earnest kids who don’t yet know that they’ll one day rule the world. In these books, which gather the best of the thousands of shots Bonis’ took of them over the course of three years, these intimate moments in aggregate capture the catalysis of the bands as they move from energetic relative unknowns to road-weary stars.

The Rolling Stones book offers more candid moments, with the photos largely divided into sections for each of the five members, plus founding member Ian Stewart and manager Andrew Loog Oldham. Whether by default or by design, the individual Stones seemed better able to be on their own, and this yields photos that feature moments of silliness intercut with those of introspection. Already you can see the personalities emerging. The engaging eccentric Brian Jones, the moody muso Keith Richards, the preening singer Mick Jagger, the aloof drummer Charlie Watts and the good-timin’ non-entity Bill Wyman.

The Beatles book is organized differently, sections mostly given over to 11 of the band’s dates during its U.S. tours. The most revelatory photos are from August 1964. The band was between shows — the Hollywood Bowl and Red Rocks — and spent a few days at the Bel Air, Calif., home of actor Reginald Owen. There, the boys goof for the camera and seem to be genuinely having fun.

From there, we get live performance pictures that span from Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto midway through their first U.S. tour in September 1964 to Busch Stadium in St. Louis in August 1966 toward the tail end of their last shows in the U.S. The crowds get larger, the band’s suits more elaborate and the sideburns longer. But the grins on the faces of John, Paul, George and Ringo never waver.

Uber fans of both groups likely have seen images like these, and know some of the back story shared here. But they haven’t seen these photographs. Bonis rebuffed attempts throughout his life to publish his photos. He died in 1992, and 15 years later, his son, Alex, connected with Larry Marion, who assembled the books. The result is two time capsules that shed just a bit more light on two very well-illuminated bands.