Brian Epstein facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Brian Epstein
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Brian Epstein, 1965
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Brian Samuel Epstein |
| Born | 19 September 1934 |
| Origin | Liverpool, England, UK |
| Died | 27 August 1967 (aged 32) London, England, UK |
| Occupation(s) | Personal manager, impresario |
| Years active | 1961—1967 |
| Associated acts | The Beatles, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas, The Fourmost, and Cilla Black |
Brian Samuel Epstein (19 September 1934 - 27 August 1967) was an English businessman. Epstein was the manager of The Beatles, who became the most popular rock band in the world during the 1960s.
Contents
Early life
Brian Epstein was born on 19 September 1934 in 4 Rodney Street, Liverpool. Harry and Queenie also had another son named Clive, who was born 22 months after his older brother. During World War II the Epsteins moved to Southport, where two schools expelled Epstein for laziness and poor performance, but returned to Liverpool in 1945. The Epsteins lived at 197 Queens Drive, Childwall in Liverpool, and remained there for the next 30 years. The family was aided by a live-in nanny.
Epstein's parents moved him from one boarding school to another, including Clayesmore School in Dorset, Liverpool College, and a Jewish school in Kent. He spent two years at Wrekin College in Wellington, Shropshire, where he was taught the violin. Epstein fell in love with the arts, particularly theatre, and it was his one consistently successful school subject. His favourite book as a child was Pamela Brown's The Swish of the Curtain. Shortly before his 16th birthday he sent a long letter to his father stating that he wanted to become a dress designer, but Harry Epstein was adamantly opposed, and after serving a six months' apprenticeship at another company his son finally had to "report for duty" at the family's furniture shop on a £5 per week wage.
In December 1952, Epstein was conscripted to do his national service as a data entry clerk into the Royal Army Service Corps, and was posted to the Albany Street Barracks near Regent's Park in London in spring 1953, where he was often reprimanded for not collecting his army pay. Epstein used this posting to explore London's high culture for the first time and also visited local relatives.
Epstein started out to become an actor, and went to school at RADA (the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) with future movie stars Peter O'Toole and Susannah York. He was not happy at school, though, and quit to work in his family's furniture stores in Liverpool. He was a skillful salesman, and loved classical music. When his family opened a record department in one of their stores, Epstein was put in charge. The department was so successful that the family decided to open a whole store to sell music and records. This was named NEMS, for North End Music Stores, and Epstein became its boss. This store was also a big success.
Popular music, rock and roll especially, sold better than classical music, and Epstein wanted to sell what the public would buy most. He began to stock rock and roll records, and record buyers around England liked Epstein and his store. Some of his customers were members of bands, looking for new music to play or to pass the time, and came often to the store. Among those bands were the early Beatles.
Epstein was Jewish and homosexual.
The Beatles
Late in 1961, when a fan asked Epstein about a record the Beatles had made in Germany, Epstein was unable to find it through his sources. When he learned the band were playing at the Cavern Club not far away, Epstein visited them there, and was impressed by their act. He found out what he needed to know to get the record, so NEMS could sell copies. Epstein also discovered that the band had no manager, but they wanted one, and their main goal was to get a recording contract in England. Epstein became their manager.
Epstein used his sales ability to get the band more and better jobs playing music. He also used his position (as manager of one of the leading music stores in northern England) to make contact with different record labels, hoping to get the Beatles signed up. An audition with Decca Records on New Year's Day 1962 sounded hopeful, but Decca decided to turn the band down, as did most of the labels Epstein approached.
Decca gave Epstein a copy of the band's demo (demonstration) tape, which he used to promote them, but could not find anyone interested. He thought an actual record might work better than the tape, so he went to have a test record made. The recording engineer who made the record told Epstein about George Martin, who worked for EMI's Parlophone Records and had been looking for a rock band to record. Martin liked what he heard well enough to offer the band another audition.
The Beatles passed their EMI audition as a group, and signed a contract with Parlophone. Drummer Pete Best did not meet Martin's standards, though, and Martin planned to use a studio drummer instead on their records. When the band found out, they asked Epstein to fire Best, and they replaced him with Ringo Starr, who quit another band to join them.
Over the next year (1963), The Beatles became the most popular recording act in Britain and Europe, and then in America during 1964. Following their success, Epstein signed up other bands and singers, including Gerry and the Pacemakers, Cilla Black, Billy J. Kramer and the Remo Four. Each found success and hit records, but none became as popular as the Beatles. Epstein started a management company, NEMS Enterprises (named after the music store), who later signed up the Bee Gees, Jimi Hendrix, and Cream.
Like many pop stars, Epstein also had fans, and gave away signed photographs of himself. He published an autobiography (his life story) in 1964, with help from Derek Taylor, who was the Beatles's press agent. Epstein was still interested in theater, and he bought the Saville Theatre in London, which presented plays and rock concerts.
Death
Epstein died in his sleep on 27 August, 1967. He was only 32.
The Beatles and all the artists he managed mourned his death. It was said later that losing him was the beginning of the Beatles breakup, which happened in 1970.
Legacy
Epstein was upset that he was not honoured along with Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr when they received the MBE in 1965, though Harrison once said that the MBE stood for "Mister Brian Epstein"; The Beatles were among the earliest entrants into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but Epstein was not included in the Hall's "Non-Performers' Section" until 2014. Martin Lewis, previously Taylor's assistant, created the official Brian Epstein website, which included a petition that Epstein be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Lewis also organised the 1998 re-publication, in the United States, of Epstein's 1964 autobiography A Cellarful of Noise.
McCartney summarised the importance of Epstein when he was interviewed in 1997 for a BBC documentary about Epstein, saying, "If anyone was the Fifth Beatle, it was Brian." In his 1970 Rolling Stone interview, Lennon commented that Epstein's death marked the beginning of the end for the group: "I knew that we were in trouble then ... I thought, 'We've [...] had it now.'"
On 27 August 2022, the 55th anniversary of his death, a bronze statue of Brian Epstein was unveiled near the former site of his family's NEMS record shop in Liverpool. "NEMS" is short for North End Music Stores. One of the statue's sculptors, Jane Robbins, is a cousin of Paul McCartney.
Images for kids
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Epstein hosting the teen music program Hullabaloo, 8 January 1965
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The Daily Mirror Headline: "EPSTEIN (The Beatle-Making Prince of Pop) DIES AT 32"
See also
In Spanish: Brian Epstein para niños
