Episode of how they met The Beatles’ brilliant manager
Last time,The Beatles in their early years working their way upI contributed an article about [the topic], and it seems to have generated quite a response—thank you very much.
I will continue to introduce them up until their debut.
It all started with one young man.
Even though we’ve gained the skills, to make it big we have to sign with a record label and release our own records.
To do that, we needed a strong push in promotion, butThere's no way the Beatles would have those kinds of connections.And they themselves didn’t even know how to handle it.
On October 28, 1961, a young man named Raymond Jones visited the NEMS record store in Liverpool and said, "I want to buy the records that the Beatles released.…and that’s what I said to the store clerk.
This is the record shop from back then.
However, the clerk didn’t know about the Beatles, so they asked the manager.
The name of that manager is Brian Epstein.
Jones was a regular at the Cavern Club and came to listen to the Beatles play at the lunchtime shows almost every day.
And then, when I heard from my brother-in-law that the Beatles had released a record in Hamburg, Germany, I just couldn’t help myself and rushed out to buy it.
I was sure they had released a record, but I didn’t know the song title, so I figured I’d just go and listen for myself.
Indeed, the Beatles happened to visit there during their Hamburg tour.Tony SheridanI met a singer, and he recognized my ability and offered me to play as part of his backing band.
Speaking of Sheridan, he was a popular singer at the time, so he had no reason to turn down the Beatles.
I gladly accepted.
The fee was 300 marks.
However, the record’s credits were printed with “The Beat Brothers” instead of “The Beatles.”
Because in German, “The Beatles” sounded similar to the slang word “Piedels,” meaning male genitals, the record company judged it would be problematic to release the name as-is and had it changed.
I couldn’t find it because the name isn’t credited and I don’t know the song title.
The song starts as a slow ballad but shifts to an uptempo groove partway through, and even now it feels like a truly cool track—this is rock ’n’ roll, plain and simple.
Released in Germany in 1961, it became a hit, reaching number 5 on the singles chart.
youtube.
com/watch?v=UBZ2Mc-yjSI
Later, Jones heard from Bob Wooler, who was DJing at the Cavern at the time, that for that song...CavernBut I was told that they also perform.
Anyway, when Brian heard that the band the young man was so crazy about—the Beatles—were performing almost every day as the regular act at the Cavern, practically just around the corner, his interest was piqued and he decided to go see them.
It later became widely believed that this story was Brian’s fabrication, made to mythologize the Beatles’ success.
It was denied that such a young man ever existed in the first place, and for a time it was even thought that this might be the truth.
After all, the crucial person in question never came forward.
However, after nearly 50 years, the person in question has finally come forward.
This is a photo of Raymond Jones from that time.
His account matched the objective facts at the time and was deemed reliable.
So the question that arose was why there had been a long period of silence.
If I had come forward sooner, there's no doubt I would have been catapulted into the spotlight as the talk of the town.
However, because he was shy and disliked media attention, he did not come forward.
However, as rumors that differed from the facts spread and even my own existence came to be denied, I could no longer tolerate seeing the truth buried in darkness, and in August 2010 I finally decided to come forward.
Since many years have passed since then, they must have judged that even if they came forward now, it wouldn’t cause much of a stir.
Brian becomes a manager
On November 9th, Brian visited the Cavern.
And I was shocked by the Beatles’ performance and their looks.
That unheard-of, intense sound and beat, the bizarre hairstyles unlike anything seen before, and above all, the overwhelming charisma that dominates everyone aroundI was suddenly possessed.
This is a film that recreates what it was like at the time.
youtube.
com/watch?v=iLI3GchDr0M
Please note that although the movie portrays the store clerk as having detailed knowledge, this is probably not accurate.
After all, it was a record released in Germany, and even if they were a famous local band, unless you knew them personally, you probably wouldn’t have had such detailed knowledge.
In fact, Jones said in an interview that he didn’t know the name of the record, but he told Brian that, at any rate, it was a record with the Beatles playing in the background.
However, the Beatles and Brian look just like the real ones, and the atmosphere of the Cavern Club is faithfully recreated.
He was the manager of a record store, but he had no musical background; music just happened to be the business he chose.
However, even he was able to understand at least that the Beatles were no ordinary band.
And,I want to become their manager and turn them into a popular musician.I thought so.
He immediately offered to take on the role of manager to Allan Williams, who was managing the Beatles at the time.
As it happened, around that time he and the Beatles were at odds over the payment of fees for the Hamburg tour.
The Beatles refused to pay, arguing that the amount Williams demanded was too high.
So Brian took over the manager position by paying for it instead.
The amount is just 9 pounds.It is.
Later, Williams would end up being saddled with the unwelcome label of “the man who sold the Beatles for just £9,” but of course, at the time he had no way of knowing that.
He advised Brian, “Be careful—they’re greedy about money.”
On January 24, 1962, the Beatles and Brian formally signed a management contract.
Brian’s lone struggle
Brian was contracted as a manager, but his subsequent actions went beyond the scope of a manager.
I had practically become like a sales rep handling gigs for a celebrity managed by an entertainment agency.
He actively went around record labels across London, asking them to sign him.I did it.
However, every company treated me coldly.
After all, they were just an unknown local band from Liverpool, so everyone probably thought there was no way such a band could sell.
Brian was so deeply absorbed in the Beatles that people around him even warned him to stop getting involved with a band that had little chance of success, but he wouldn’t listen at all.
HeThey developed an image strategy, believing that image is vital for a star.I did it.
This too is taken for granted now, but the very fact that he came up with such an idea shows how exceptional he is.
With the slicked-back pompadour, all-black leather jacket, and boots style, the image of rock ’n’ rollers as delinquents clung to them, which made it difficult to win a broad fan base.
So Brian decided to switch their stage outfits to suits in order to broaden their fan base.It is (that).
At first, they resisted too, but they accepted that it couldn’t be helped if they wanted to sell.
They had already ditched the pompadour during their Hamburg days and switched to the mop-top—like a cleaning mop—so all that was left was the outfits.
That said, Pete Best alone still refused to give up his pompadour.
Also, they had issues with stage manners—smoking during performances and stopping mid-song to turn their backs to the audience if they didn’t like the crowd—but we had them correct that as well,I made them bow deeply to the audience after each song.It is (that).
This strategy was a great success in turning the Beatles into idols loved by everyone.It was.
After that, the main thing is to sign with a record label and make their record debut.
Brian’s lone struggle continued, but at last the day arrived when it bore fruit.