November 6, 1998/ 17 Cheshvan 5759, Vol. 51, No. 7
The life of BrianBeatles' manager Epstein helped Fab Four hit it big by taking care of businessMARSHALL TERRILL
Time seems to have forgotten Brian Epstein, manager of the "Fab Four" rock group the Beatles, in the three decades since his death. Recognition of the importance of Epstein's contribution to the success of the group as their manager and driving force has nearly dissipated. As Beatles historian Martin Lewis wryly observed, "In the indecent haste of the late sixties, Brian Epstein was swept under the carpet and forgotten. It's my belief that he was not appreciated properly in his lifetime - and appreciated even less since his death." |
 The title of Brian Epstein's autobiography, "A Cellarful of Noise," refers to where Epstein was when he first heard the Beatles play - in the cellar of an old warehouse in Liverpool. The 1964 book was recently re-released with the approach of the 35th anniversary of the Beatles' arrival in America. |
"I am an elder son - a hallowed position in a Jewish family - and much was to be expected of me," Epstein says. "My father, Harry, son of a Polish immigrant, naturally sought in me some sign of an adequate heir to the family business but, alas, he scarcely saw a sign of any quality at all beyond a loyalty to the family, which, thanks to the steadfastness of my parents, has not faltered."
During a series of short stints at public and private schools, including Liverpool College, Epstein recalls that he was often subjected to anti-Semitism.
"Even now it lurks round the corner in some guise or other, and though it doesn't matter to me anymore, it did when I was young," he wrote in 1964.
By 16, Epstein had had it with formal education and dropped out of school. He reported to the family furniture store where he became a successful salesman. However, his success was short-lived. On Dec. 9, 1952, Epstein was drafted by the Royal Army Service Corps.
Brian's stay in the British Army was a disaster. To him, it felt like a prison sentence. He saw several military psychiatrists, who determined Epstein was unfit for duty. Brian was medically discharged a mere 10 months after he was drafted and returned to the family business with his tail between his legs.
Even though Brian was an excellent furniture salesman, something inside of him yearned for more in life. He joined the Liverpool Playhouse and tried his hand at acting, in which he excelled far above the local talent. He auditioned and secured a spot at the highly regarded Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. Once again, he left the stable environment of his parents' store in search of finding himself, dreaming of stardom and fame, though his parents, Harry and Queenie, were none too pleased. "They believed that becoming an actor was only a shade better than my boyhood dreams of becoming a dress designer," quipped Epstein.
Brian found himself in good company. Members of Brian's class included Peter O' Toole, Albert Finney, Susannah York and Joanna Dunham. The Liverpudlian discovered that he loved the art form, just hated the people. He stayed for three terms before leaving, citing among his reasons, "The narcissism appalled me, and the detachment of the actor, from other people and their problems, left me quite amazed."
Brian threw himself into the family business with a vengeance, full of resolve to make a success of himself. He pleaded with his father to open a record section of the store, and when he did, Brian turned it into a smashing success called North End Music Stores. A second NEMS store soon followed. Epstein took great pride in keeping all types of records in stock, especially the hard-to-find obscure import records. Brian was almost obsessive in his efforts to keep all types of records on hand, and thought nothing of putting in an 18-hour day. He was relentless in tracking down obscure records.
As pop mythology has it, a gentleman by the name of Raymond Jones entered NEMS record store on Saturday, Oct. 28, 1961, asking for a German-released record by the Beatles called "My Bonnie." (It should be noted that Raymond Jones has never been found, and that Epstein's assistant Allistair Taylor claimed in 1996 that it was an innocent fabrication he'd come up with that subsequently became the folklore version of how Brian Epstein first heard of the Beatles.)
Four lads from Liverpool
On Nov. 9, 1961, Brian Epstein made his way to hear the Beatles play a lunchtime gig at the Cavern, a disused warehouse beneath Matthew Street in Liverpool. Epstein claims in his autobiography, "A Cellarful Of Noise," that it wasn't exactly love at first sight.
"They were not very tidy and they were not very clean," recalled their future manager. "I had never seen anything like the Beatles on any stage. They smoked as they played, and they ate and talked and pretended to hit each other. They turned their backs on the audience and shouted at them and laughed at their own private jokes."
But something about the group transfixed Epstein, and he introduced himself after they finished playing. He invited the group - then John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best - to drop by the NEMS shop. Suddenly and without warning, during the Beatles' visit, Brian blurted out, "Quite simply, you need a manager. Would you like me to do it?"
Brian seemed an unlikely candidate to manage the Beatles. He had little experience in the music industry and virtually none as a band manager. Personally, he was also very different from the Beatles - he came from an upper-class family; he was a well-refined, classy businessman, and he was homosexual. However, after a series of meetings with Brian proposing what he could do for them as their manager, John Lennon declared, "Right, then, Brian. Manage us, now. Where's the contract? I'll sign it." None of their lives would ever be the same again.
Heading for fame
As the Beatles began recording and their profile started to rise, Brian confounded his family with his new obsession, the Beatles. He decided to leave the family furniture store to manage the Beatles full-time. Brian's cousin, Raymond Weldin, explained, "You just didn't leave a high-powered furniture business to manage a pop group!"
After a June 1962 audition, record producer George Martin informed Epstein that drummer Pete Best couldn't keep time - and that he wouldn't use him on recording sessions. Martin only confirmed what the Beatles already knew, and they gave Epstein the unpleasant task of dismissing him from the group. Pete was out and Ringo Starr was in.
With Ringo as their new drummer, the Beatles went on to rack up seven straight number one singles in a row. They took England by storm and only had one place left to conquer: America.
With the assassination of John F. Kennedy in November 1963, the United States needed an emotional lift. Along came the Beatles. Behind the scenes, Brian had been working with American promoter Sid Bernstein for six months to bring the Beatles to America, specifically, to appear at New York's Carnegie Hall. Brian realized the Beatles didn't have an audience in the states, and Brian wanted to make sure the group had lots of air play in the meantime. Brian made a deal with Bernstein: If the group didn't have a number one hit on the charts by the end of 1963, he would cancel their appearance at Carnegie Hall.
"Please Please Me" was offered to EMI's American company, Capitol Records, but EMI showed no interest. Capitol's rejection gave Epstein the right to sell it elsewhere, which he did - to a small Chicago label called Vee Jay Records.
Somehow Epstein managed to persuade Capitol Records to release, "I Want To Hold Your Hand," and he also talked them into a $50,000 promotional campaign which included printing up five million "The Beatles Are Coming" badges to generate interest in the group's arrival. Brian also booked the Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show" for three performances starting on Feb. 9, 1964. The rest is history.
Blazing the trail
Over the next six years, the Beatles became the trailblazers of pop music culture, though Brian would only live another three-and-a-half years after their arrival to America.
His work output during that time period is best described by Beatles historian Martin Lewis. He notes: "In a five-and-a-half year span dating from 1962 to Brian Epstein's death in 1967, he not only groomed the Beatles for stardom but he also managed 12 other artists. All together, his artists racked up 50 Top 40 singles and 16 Top 40 albums. He was also present at every major concert by the Beatles, he became an enormously successful concert promoter, produced plays, was UK host for NBC's 'Hullabaloo' and even found time to write his autobiography, 'A Cellarful of Noise.' It was an astonishing output of work and Brian was steering the Beatles' career at the same time!"
By 1967, the Beatles were no longer touring and Brian's role as their manager was changing. Perhaps the most significant contribution that Brian made to the Beatles - beyond the brilliant and essential task of his initial discovery, grooming and selling of the group - was his support of their creative growth. Most managers are inherently conservative and would have urged them to stick to the safe formula that was pleasing to the lucrative teenage audience. But Epstein was the opposite. He took great delight in their growing sophistication and positively encouraged the quantum creative leaps that led to "Sgt. Pepper" and beyond.
In the last two years of his life, Epstein had grown dependent on sleeping pills, due to the constant pressures of his work. He also suffered from insomnia, depression and excessive irritability. On Aug. 27, 1967, Brian Epstein quietly slipped away into another world. The cause of death was a lethal dose of Carbital. In layman's terms, he took too many sleeping pills, and his death was ruled accidental. Lying beside him when he died was a pile of open correspondence, a working script for "Yellow Submarine" and an open book he was reading, "The Rabbi," by Noah Gordon.
One can only surmise how Beatles history might have differed had Brian lived and remained their manager. The Beatles themselves realized that a tough road was ahead of them without Brian to take care of all of their business matters. John Lennon remarked in an interview with "Rolling Stone" editor Jan Wenner in 1970, "I knew we were in trouble then. I didn't really have any misconceptions about our ability to do anything other than play music, and I was scared. I thought, 'We've had it.' "
Despite the credit they gave him at the time, members of the Beatles over the years have remained fairly quiet about the role Brian played in their success. Nevertheless, other important people in the Beatles' career have spoken out about Brian.
"Brian Epstein was a man with a great sense of vision," said George Martin, the Beatles' record producer. "He saw the possibilities with the Beatles long before anyone else. Brian gave them style, taste and charm. He was passionate about the Beatles and convinced of their talent. He worked tirelessly for them and was committed to his vision that they were the best artists in the world."
Ray Coleman, who has written biographies of Lennon, McCartney and Epstein, said of the Beatles' manager: "Brian Epstein's special qualities were his honesty, passion, determination, and the fact that he was a loyal friend and trustworthy. He cared very, very deeply for them. He believed from the moment he saw them that they were going to be the world stars they became.
"Without Brian Epstein we wouldn't have seen the Beatles. That's my strong view."
Only just last year did Paul McCartney candidly speak about Brian in an interview for BBC filmmaker Anthony Wall, for a new documentary on Brian. Paul declared that the Beatles never intended to drop Brian as their manager. Paul also made a long overdue statement: "If anyone was the fifth Beatle, it was Brian."
Marshall Terrill writes from Mesa. This article originally appeared in the Beatles fan magazine "Daytrippin'."