The Beatles’ last public concert gets a definitive visual record. ‘Beatles by Jim Marshall: Live at Candlestick Park 1966’, out now via Chronicle Books, relives the historic night through the eyes of one of rock’s greatest photographers, collecting more than 150 photos and proof sheets, half of them never before seen.
The access was extraordinary. The Beatles specifically requested Marshall as their photographer, and he was the only one allowed backstage during the Candlestick Park show. He captured not just the concert but the intimate moments around it, the band meeting the Baez sisters and hanging out in the locker room before taking the stage.
The presentation matches the moment. The book shows the images at large scale in the rich, high-contrast tones Marshall favored, and includes his proof sheets, offering a look at how he selected his iconic shots. An in-depth essay by music historian Joel Selvin brings the night back to life.
Marshall’s standing is hard to overstate. The legendary photographer, who died in 2010, shot virtually every major musician of his era across rock, jazz, blues and country, and was the first photographer awarded a Grammy Trustees Award for chronicling music history. Annie Leibovitz simply called him THE rock and roll photographer. The book was assembled with Amelia Davis, who owns and manages Jim Marshall Photography, and Selvin, a longtime San Francisco Chronicle music journalist.
The timing carries weight too. August 2026 marks the 60th anniversary of the Beatles’ final live public concert, making this lavish 176-page volume a fitting way to travel back to that historic night.