Capturing the birth of Beatlemania

Fifty years ago, the U.S. was on the verge of a cultural revolution. A song called "I Want to Hold Your Hand" was at the top of the charts, and the four young men who recorded it were about to lead a British invasion of America, starting in New York. One photographer, Harry Benson, caught it all on film.

Benson was 34 years old and working for London's Daily Express when the Beatles arrived in New York in February 1964. It was the birth of Beatlemania, and Benson almost missed it.

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The Daily Express newspaper wanted Benson to cover the Beatles' big trip, first in Paris, then America. His preferred assignment: the revolution in Kenya.

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"They said, 'OK, Harry, go to Africa," Benson says. "Phone rings about five minutes later and the editor says, 'You're going to Paris.'"

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When the Beatles got off the plane in New York, Harry Benson was a step behind Ringo.

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For two weeks, Benson provided a look at the birth of Beatlemania from inside the limo.

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John plays the guitar.

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Here, Benson captures a candid moment.

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The famous "pillow fight," which Benson shot in a Paris hotel, was actually a pillow celebration.

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Benson says before the pillow fight, the Beatles got a message saying "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" was number one in America; about a half-hour later, they received a message that they were going on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

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The Beatles' famous pillow fight at the George V Hotel in Paris in January 1964.

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Benson brokered a meeting in Miami with another star about to explode onto the scene: Cassius Clay.

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"He said to Paul McCartney, 'Oh, you're the pretty one, but you're not as pretty as me,'" Benson says of the Beatles' meeting with Cassius Clay.

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Two-and-a-half months after President John F. Kennedy's assassination, when America was just starting to smile again, the Beatles appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

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The Beatles perform on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in New York in February 1964.

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Benson with three of the Beatles.

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John sits alone at the piano.

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Benson would go on to take photographs of presidents, document the civil rights struggle and was standing feet away from Bobby Kennedy when he was killed. But 50 years later, considering his life's work, his photographs of the Beatles are still second to none.