BEATLEMANIA RICHES FOR THE YOUNG MAN WHO BEGAN IT ALL

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30393, 18 March 1964, Page 16

BEATLEMANIA RICHES FOR THE YOUNG MAN WHO BEGAN IT ALL

IBy

SIMON KAVANAUGH)

Less than two years ago, 29-year-old Brian Epstein took an hour from selling records in his father’s Liverpool furniture shop, walked across the road to a basement music club, and listened to four scruflylooking lads pounding out pop songs.

Though Epstein could not read music or play any instrument himself, he did know what made a hit tune when he heard it. And Epstein was convinced that this group—The Beatles—could become stars, if handled properly.

Quickly, he played his hunch and signed them up. He hired an office, up a 'flight of concrete stairs past a dull corridor of estate agents and insurance brokers, and went into business as News Enterprises. Through his astounding personal enterprise he is responsible for the phenomenon which is rocking the world Beatlemania and Brian Epstein could well become the impresario of the Twentieth Century. Now he controls eight recording groups or artists— The Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Cilla Black, Billy J. Kramer, Tommy Quickly, the Fourmost, the Dakotas and Sounds Incorporated. He has just taken London offices next to the world-famous Palladium, signed a contract to run pop concerts in London's Prince of Wales Theatre every Sunday night and will soon begin to produce films.

Merchandising Campaign

But the Epstein Empire doesn’t stop at mere music. He has master-minded a multimillion pound Beatle merchandising campaign and employs a team of lawyers to suppress any attempts at unlicensed merchandising. Cilla Black, the lone girl in his “stable,” has just reached the top of the hit parade—the tenth time in twelve months that an Epstein artist has reached No. 1 position. The adolescent world pounds and screams to the Merseyside Beat, but Epstein remains cool and calm as the money rolls in. Only five feet seven inches tall, but handsome, Epstein does not resemble his home town Liverpudlian stars. An ex-public school boy (he went to Wrekin College) he sounds and looks the part. He drives a Jaguar and lives in a £2OOO-a-year flat in elegant Belgravia. When he left school he thought he wanted to become an actor but after 18 months at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art he quit to return to Liverpool and open a record department in one of the family businesses. “I really disliked dramatic school. Leaving that sphere for pop music may seem crude but it isn’t. It suits my temperament,” he says. Epstein made a point of stocking whatever records the

public asked for. And they kept asking for the Beatles, who unbeknown to him at the time were playing no more than a 100 yards away from his shop. He was forced to import the only record they had made from Germany. Then came the day when he met them. “I signed them up fairly quickly,” he says “but first, like any other employer, I asked around a bit, found out their backgrounds, their reputations.” Perhaps Epstein’s success as a manager is because he resists any desire to change natural talent. However, after seeing the Beatles for the first time he decided that their appearance needed sprucing up. He persuaded them to wear suits.

Most agents charge about 10 per cent of gross earnings of a group or artist but Epstein takes 25 per cent out of which he pays all expenses The Beatles do not begrudge a penny, for they consider him “a fifth Beatle and the best friend we have.” As Epstein says: “I know I have excellent lads and I know they trust me. When 1 drew up their contracts I knew it was fair, and more important, would still be fair when they had become stars. “I have seen a lot of raw deals since I came into show business—jealousy, dissatisfaction, sharp practice. I want none of it.”

So far this good looking young bachelor hasn’t put one elastic-sided boot wrong. He succeeded in getting EMI to record The Beatles and simultaneously embarked on a giant advertising campaign. Before long, the Liverpool Sound was being chanted throughout Britain. EMI are making a cool £500,000 a month out of Beatle records while other recording firms are furious with themselves for turning down Epstein in the first place. Then the Beatles took Paris

by storm. French teenagers swooned over the mop-headed quartet. They were a sensation. Tour Of U.S. Meanwhile, Epstein had planned a tour of the United States. But up until midNovember American teenagers remained aloof. So Epstein flew over, talked Capitol into spending 50,000 dollars on a crash publicity campaign and sold Ed Sullivan on the idea of having the Beatles on his television show. The tour has been an outstanding triumph though Epstein says it was only a “preliminary scuffle” compared with that he plans to give Americans later this year. While in the States. Epstein received the news that Cilia Black had topped the hit parade. He first met this dockworker’s daughter when she had given up singing blues around Liverpool's teenage clubs because she felt that she was not getting anywhere. At the time she was working as a cloakroom attendant, for five shillings an hour plus a free lunch, at The Cavern where the Beatles were playing. He asked her to sing with them, then promptly signed her up and changed her name from Priscilla Maria Veronica White.

“Eppy,” as his artists affectionately call him, tries to see each of them at least once a week. “I want them to feel like individuals—and important.” “Gerry and the Pacemakers” made history in the record industry by hitting the top of the Pop Parade with their first three recordings. They will feature in a film Epstein plans to produce later this year. But first they too will go on a tour of America. To become a producer is one of Epstein’s main ambitions. In a fortnight’s time shooting will begin on a Beatle film. Money Pours In The money comes pouring in. Last year Beatle record sales around the world made 18 million dollars. Beatle clothes, wigs, guitars, talcum powder, cushions, wallpaper and souvenirs worth 50 million dollars are expected to sell this year in the United States alone.

Mr Epstein cannot even guess what his salary will be. But last year the figure was more than £30,000. But it means he is working at least 18 hours a day. Barry Leonard resigned as his personal assistant because he found the strain of success too much for him. But “the King of the Pop Trade” seems to thrive on it although it has meant, sacrificing his leisure hours. The only regret is that the whirl of show business leaves him no time for his favourite hobby—listening to Bach and Sibelius.