Brian Epstein
January 22nd, 2010
Many have heard of Brian Epstein, the manager of the Beatles. We at the beatles let it be would like to elaborate further on this man, who many think is the “Fifth Beatle”.
It was Brian Epstein who made his impact on the Beatle’s early dress-code, and the attitude that they displayed on stage. He encouraged the group to wear suits. He also stopped them from smoking, swearing, drinking or eating onstage. Remember the synchronized bow at the end of the Beatles performances? It was Brian who suggested that move.
Brian made many trips to London to try and secure a recording contract for the Beatles. He was rejected by many labels, including Columbia, Philips, Pye, Oriole, and Decca. The Decca audition in particular is historic, and we will be discussing this in another post. Eventually Brian worked his way over to EMI, and they were signed by their Parlophone label after the group had been rejected by almost every other company. George Martin, the A&R manager of Parlophone, who had never even see the Beatles play, said it was Brian’s enthusiasm that won the deal.
Brian died of a drug overdose on August 27, 1967. The Beatles did not attend the funeral as they wanted to give his family privacy, and they would only have drawn the media and fans. Years later, in 2008, the first contract that the Beatles signed with Brian was auctioned off for 240,000 pounds… Many believe that it was Brian Epstein who was the bond that kept the Beatles together. Once he was gone, their break-up was guaranteed.
Entry Filed under: Miscellaneous