Remembering Brian Epstein: The Late, Great Manager of the Beatles

A gay Jewish man living in 1960s England, Brian Epstein was a double outsider, all the more out of place with his natty attire and crisp diction as he ran his record store and sought affection in dangerous, degrading ways. But in November 1961, he gazed, mesmerized, upon four pumped-up boys in leather jackets and jeans driving crowds wild at Liverpool’s Cavern Club. He was particularly captivated by one: John Winston Lennon. Epstein soon became the band’s manager, in possibly the most auspicious match in rock history.

The predominant narrative of Beatles history gives insufficient credit to the role Epstein played in shaping the group’s image and preparing them for international adulation. He dressed them in tailored suits (better for attracting the girls); shopped their records to label after label, armed with little but his name and his unyielding faith; fostered their songwriting; and encouraged the musicians’ penchant for goofy wordplay in press interviews while urging sophistication.

Source: Joseph McCombs 

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