Brian Epstein

Brian Epstein

BRIAN EPSTEIN d1967. English music entrepreneur, best known for managing the Beatles. He first discovered the Beatles in November 1961 during a lunchtime Cavern Club performance. He was instantly impressed and saw great potential in the group. After being rejected by nearly all the major recording companies in London, Epstein secured a meeting with George Martin (head of EMIs Parlophone label). In May 1962, Martin agreed to sign the Beatles, partly because of Epstein's conviction that the group would become internationally famous. The groups early success has been attributed to Epstein's management style and they trusted him without hesitation. In addition to handling the Beatles' business affairs, he often stepped in to mediate personal disputes within the group. The Beatles' unquestioning loyalty to Epstein would later prove detrimental, as the band rarely read contracts before signing them. Shortly after the song Please Please Me rose to the top of the charts in 1963, he advised the creation of Northern Songs, a publishing company that would control the copyrights of all Lennon-McCartney compositions recorded between 1963 and 1973. Music publisher Dick James and his partner Charles Silver owned 51% of the company, Lennon and McCartney each owned 20% and Epstein owned 9%. Brian Epstein died of an overdose of Carbitral (Sleeping Pill) in his locked bedroom aged just 32 on 27th August 1967. His death really marked the beginning of the group's downfall and had a profound effect on each individual Beatle. By 1969, Lennon & McCartney had lost control of all publishing rights to ATV Music Publishing. In 1997, Paul McCartney said, "If anyone was the Fifth Beatle, it was Brian ...". Epstein's influence on the Beatles and his complicated personal life continue to provoke controversy ....

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