Brian Epstein

Brian Samuel Epstein (19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was an English businessman, best known as the manager of The Beatles. His role in their initial success was integral. The application of Epstein's entrepreneurial and promotional skills to their immense talent was the transforming agent which propelled them to an unprecedented worldwide fame and popularity.

Epstein took over management of the group at a time when they had been struggling without success for several years. They were just one of over 300 beat groups in Liverpool alone at the time. Though he had had no previous experience in artist management, Epstein revealed considerable innate abilities in presenting and promoting The Beatles. After his early death (of accidental causes) in 1967, The Beatles started to unravel as a unified entity.

Early days

Epstein was born into a Jewish family. His parents owned a furniture store in Liverpool, England (where Paul McCartney's family had bought a piano). He was educated at Wrekin College in Shropshire before attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, where his classmates included actors Susannah York and Peter O'Toole; but, when he had dropped out after his third term, his father put him in charge of the record department of the newly opened North End Music Stores (NEMS) on Great Charlotte Street, Liverpool. Eventually, a second location was opened at 12-14 Whitechapel, and Epstein was put in charge of the entire operation. On 3 August 1961, Epstein began a regular music column in Mersey Beat magazine.

Managing The Beatles

Epstein first noticed The Beatles' name on a concert bill, thinking it sounded "silly." In the commonly accepted version of the story, when several customers began asking for a single that The Beatles had recorded with Tony Sheridan in Germany, Epstein couldn't find it through any of his record label contacts, and decided to ask the band themselves for details. He and his assistant Alistair Taylor went to see them perform at a lunchtime concert at the crowded Cavern Club, which was just down the street from his store; his arrival was met by a V.I.P. admission, and a welcome was announced over the club's public-address system. Epstein said of The Beatles' performance, "I was immediately struck by their music, their beat, and their sense of humour on stage. And, even afterwards, when I met them, I was struck again by their personal charm. And it was there that, really, it all started." (He also recognised the band's members as regular customers at NEMS; they passed the time between shows by browsing records.)

There is a claim by one person that the famed story of Epstein's first encounter with The Beatles is apocryphal; Bill Harry (then editor of Mersey Beat magazine) has claimed that he personally introduced Epstein to John Lennon. That story is unverified, and Lennon never said anything on public record to that effect; from 1962 until his death in 1980, Lennon's published recollections on the first meeting with Epstein always matched Epstein's. It is true that, at some point (date unverified), Harry had convinced Epstein to carry his fledgling magazine at his record store, and those magazines heavily promoted The Beatles, with whom Harry was well acquainted. Harry's openly-declared personal dislike of Epstein and his disparaging public comments about Epstein's management of The Beatles may have contributed to Harry's version of events.

In a meeting in 10 December 1961, it was decided that Epstein would manage the band. The four members signed a five-year contract with him at then-drummer Pete Best's house on 24 January 1962. Epstein himself did not sign the contract, giving The Beatles the option of withdrawing at any time. (The agreement also wasn't technically legal, as McCartney and Harrison were still below legal age; their fathers would have had to co-sign. Nobody realised this at the time.) Epstein also contacted their previous booking agent, Allan Williams, to confirm that he had no remaining ties to them. Williams didn't, but advised Epstein "not to touch them with a barge pole".

Although he had had no prior experience at artist management, Epstein became a major force behind the band's early appearance and success. When Epstein discovered the band, they were wearing blue jeans and leather jackets, performing rowdy rock 'n' roll shows. He encouraged them to wear suits and clean up their stage performance. He insisted that they not smoke or eat onstage, and suggested the famous synchronised bow at the end of their performances. Although this image evolved over time, the comparatively clean-cut appearance (with the exception of the "mop top" hairstyles) helped the band become accepted by the mainstream media and the general public—something that almost certainly would have been impossible in the UK and U.S. of the early 1960s without Epstein's guidance.

After being rejected by every major record label in England, including Columbia, Pye, Philips, Oriole, and, most famously, Decca, Epstein was eventually able to get the band signed to EMI's small Parlophone label. Epstein visited a local HMV store to have a Beatles demo tape transferred to disc. An HMV technician named Jim Foy liked the recordings and referred Epstein to Parlophone's George Martin. Martin then agreed to meet with Epstein's band and scheduled an audition, which they passed - with one exception; drummer Pete Best. When the news came that Martin wanted to replace Best on their recordings with a session drummer, Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison asked Epstein to fire Best from the band; and Ringo Starr took his place.

Personal life

Though it wasn't publicly disclosed until after his death, Epstein was gay. While he was attracted to Lennon, there has been little evidence that he acted on his feelings. There were rumours of a brief sexual encounter between the two when they went on a four-day holiday together to Spain in April 1963. Lennon (known for his unflinching candor) always denied this, telling Playboy in 1980 "it was never consummated, but we had a pretty intense relationship." McCartney, too, said his and Lennon's relationship with Epstein was platonic. A fictionalised account of the Spanish holiday was portrayed in the film The Hours and Times.

One source, longtime Lennon friend and confidant Peter Shotton, claimed in his book The Beatles, Lennon and Me that under provocation from Epstein, Lennon did partly give in: "I let him toss me off, and that was it." Biographer Hunter Davies also recalled Lennon telling him he'd consented to an encounter "to see what it was like." Writer Albert Goldman expanded on both claims in his The Lives of John Lennon, alleging a longtime affair between the two men, but this claim has been denied by almost everyone who knew them. In any case, throughout his management of The Beatles, Epstein was very careful to not play any kind of favourites, for fear of creating a strain in his stewardship of the group.

In addition to managing The Beatles, Epstein also successfully managed Gerry & The Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas, The Fourmost, Cilla Black and many other artists. He also socialised with the band's producer George Martin and future wife Judy Lockhart-Smith, and hosted their 1966 bridal dinner. In October 1964, Epstein's autobiography, A Cellarful of Noise, was published in the UK and later in the US. It was cowritten by journalist Derek Taylor, who had served as Epstein's assistant that year, then later as publicist for The Beatles from 1968-1970. (Lennon joked to Epstein that the memoir should have been titled A Cellarful of Boys.)

Evolution of the relationship with The Beatles

Over the next three years, the management relationship evolved to reflect the changing nature of The Beatles' career. Their decision in 1966 to cease live performance caused Epstein to express some concerns that they might not renew his management agreement, when it expired in 1967. This growing concern, coupled with the pressure of having to keep his sexuality closeted because of England's then-draconian laws against homosexuality (that incidentally were amended and relaxed just weeks after Epstein's death in 1967: see Wolfenden report), sent him into a spiral of depression and addiction to prescription drugs. Epstein's concerns about The Beatles staying with him as artists were almost certainly needless. This was made clear in statements over the years after Epstein's death by the band members - especially Lennon and McCartney; a view reinforced by Martin. The likelihood was that they would have wished him to stay as their manager - but perhaps with a reduced role to reflect their retirement from live performance.

Death

Epstein died of a drug overdose on 27 August 1967, the weekend The Beatles were in Wales meeting with the Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. At the statutory inquest, his death was officially ruled accidental, and was deemed to probably have been caused by a gradual buildup of barbiturates (Carbitral and/or Seconal) in his system, possibly mixed with alcohol. There has been some unfounded speculation that Epstein committed suicide, but those close to him were emphatic that Epstein was not the type to take his own life. Additionally, his father had recently died, and they make the point that he would never have inflicted the pain his own death would cause his beloved mother, Queenie — especially so soon after she had lost her husband.

None of The Beatles were in attendance at Epstein's funeral, wishing to give his family privacy and not draw the media and their fans, but they did attend a memorial service for him a few weeks later.

Wild rumours circulated at one point that Epstein had been poisoned as part of some undefined conspiracy, but no evidence has ever emerged to support such a notion. The rumors sprang up at the same time as the 1969 "Paul Is Dead" hoax, and such conspiracy theories were not uncommon in Western society in the post-JFK era.

Epstein held the group together by developing the strategies and campaigns to launch each new record, resolving the inevitable petty differences between members, managing every aspect of The Beatles' career, including helping found the company that became Apple Corps. When he died, each of the band members started taking their separate ways, quarrels intensified and their business affairs unraveled. Lennon summarised the impact in a 1970 interview: "When Brian died I knew that was it. I knew we'd had it."

Legacy

While The Beatles were among the earliest entrants into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the man almost universally regarded as having been responsible for guiding them to their success finds his place in popular history less assured; he has never been considered for membership in the Hall's "Non-Performer's Section", just as he was overlooked for an MBE medal—an award that The Beatles received in 1965. Beatles scholar and producer Martin Lewis, a protegé of Derek Taylor, has become a vocal champion of Epstein's memory, and has created "The Official Brian Epstein Website", which includes a petition to request consideration that Epstein be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

External links

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