Brian Epstein (1) (1934–1967)

Last book of the year! A sweet, honest, self-deprecating autobiography from Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager from 1962 to his death in 1967. He is critical of his own achievements, after failing school, the army and a brief stint at RADA, but full to the brim with confidence and enthusiasm for 'his boys', then at the height of their success, and the other acts he managed, including Gerry and the Pacemakers and Cilla Black. And it's worth noting that Brian's own account of his life, minus the last three years, is about 400 pages shorter than the muck-raking 'biographies' published about him since. The poor man knew where his strengths lay and what people were really interested in - The Beatles.… (mehr)

One of the more curious aspects of Beatlemania was that there was even a market for their manager’s autobiography – back then managers may have essentially ruled the industry but they weren’t household names with Simon Cowell levels of fame, even Epstein. It’s a straightforward telling of his life to the time of publication, not quite hagiographic but almost entirely free of juicier elements – for obvious reasons of the stigma attached to homosexuality at the time there aren’t even allusions to this aspect of his life. These days it’s a fascinating period piece, particularly in relation to the artists he managed and how they fared in relation to his hopes for them – no-one’s infallible after all. Ultimately though, for all but the details of his early life, it’s been superseded by the seemingly infinite slew of Beatles biographies.… (mehr)