Brian Epstein
Brian Samuel Epstein (/ˈɛpstaɪn/;[1][2] 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was an English music entrepreneur who managed the Beatles from 1961 until his death in 1967.
"NEMS Enterprises" redirects here. For the Argentinian label, see NEMS Enterprises (label).
Brian Epstein
Epstein was born into a family of successful retailers in Liverpool, who put him in charge of their music shop, where he displayed a gift for talent-spotting. He first met the Beatles in 1961 at a lunchtime concert at Liverpool's Cavern Club. Although he had no experience of artist management, Epstein put them under contract and insisted that they abandon their scruffy image in favour of a new clean-cut style. He also attempted to get the Beatles a recording contract, eventually securing a deal with EMI's Parlophone label.
Within months, the Beatles were international stars. Some of Epstein's other young discoveries had also prospered under his management. They included Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Tommy Quickly, Cilla Black and The Big Three. In 1967, he died of a combined alcohol and barbiturate overdose, ruled as accidental, at the age of 32.
Ancestry[edit]
Epstein's grandfather, Isaac Epstein, was Lithuanian-Jewish. He arrived in Britain in the 1890s at the age of eighteen, from what was then part of the Russian Empire.[3][4] His grandmother, Dinah, was the daughter of Joseph, a draper, and Esther Hyman, who had emigrated from Russia to Britain circa 1871/72 with their eldest son, Jacob. The Hymans had six other children.
Isaac Epstein married Dinah Hyman in Manchester in 1900.[5] In 1901, Isaac and Dinah were living at 80 Walton Road, Liverpool, with Isaac's sister Rachael Epstein, above the furniture dealership that he founded.[6] Dinah and Isaac's third child, Harry Epstein, would become Brian Epstein's father.[7]
Eventually the family moved to a larger home in the Anfield area of Liverpool, at 27 Anfield Road. After Harry and his brother Leslie had joined the family firm, Isaac Epstein founded Epstein and Sons. He enlarged the furniture business by taking over adjacent shops at 62/72 Walton Road to sell a range of other goods, such as musical instruments and household appliances.[7] They called the expanding business NEMS (North End Music Stores), which offered lenient credit terms. Paul McCartney's father once bought a piano from them.[8][9][10] Epstein's mother Malka (nicknamed "Queenie" by her family, as Malka means "queen" in Hebrew) was also involved in the Hyman furniture business, which also owned the Sheffield Veneering Company.[7] Harry and Queenie married in 1933.[11]
Early life[edit]
Brian Epstein was born on 19 September 1934 at 4 Rodney Street, Liverpool.[12] Harry and Queenie also had another son named Clive, who was born 22 months after his older brother.[13] 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.[14] The Epsteins lived at 197 Queens Drive, Childwall in Liverpool, and remained there for the next 30 years.[15] The family was aided by a live-in nanny.[11]
Epstein's parents moved him from one boarding school to another, including Clayesmore School in Dorset, Liverpool College, and a Jewish school in Kent.[16] He spent two years at Wrekin College in Wellington, Shropshire, where he was taught the violin.[17] At Wrekin, Epstein suffered from the strict culture, possibly in part as a result of his suppressed homosexuality.[16] 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.[18] 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[19] his son finally had to "report for duty" at the family's furniture shop on a £5 per week wage.[20][13]
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.[20] Epstein used this posting to explore London's high culture for the first time and also visited local relatives.[21] By January 1954, Epstein had seen numerous Army psychiatrists, who recommended an early medical discharge.[21]
After returning to Liverpool, he was put in charge of the Clarendon Furnishing shop in Hoylake and in 1955 was made a director of NEMS.[13] In September 1956, he took a trip to London to meet a friend but after being there for only one day, was robbed of his passport, birth certificate, chequebook, wristwatch, and all the money he had in his possession. He did not want his parents to find out, so he worked as a department store clerk until he had earned enough money to buy a train ticket back to Liverpool.[22] On returning home he confessed his homosexuality to a psychiatrist—a friend of the Epstein family—who suggested to Harry Epstein that his son should leave Liverpool as soon as possible. During the sessions, Epstein revealed his ambition of becoming an actor, so his parents allowed him to go to London to study.[13][22]
In autumn 1956, Epstein enrolled in a two-year course at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London.[23] His RADA classmates included actors Susannah York, Albert Finney, and Peter O'Toole, but Epstein dropped out after the third term,[24] saying that he had become "too much of a businessman to enjoy being a student, and I didn't like being a student at all."[25] He said in 1964 that he "felt like an old man at the age of 21".[26] He also revealed that he would have liked to produce a theatre play, or even act, "in something by Chekhov", or a "straight drama" by John Osborne.[27]
In late April 1957, while a RADA student, Epstein was arrested for soliciting an undercover police officer for sex near the Swiss Cottage tube station. (Homosexual sex for men was illegal in Britain at this time.)[28] He appeared in a Marylebone courthouse the next day and pleaded not guilty. He was sentenced to two years' probation.[29] While still serving probation in May 1958, he was assaulted by a casual sex partner in Liverpool and extorted for hush money. Epstein reported the encounter to the police, forcing him to testify in court and reveal his sexual orientation to his family.[30] The court barred the press from revealing Epstein's identity during the trial. His assailant was sentenced to serve 2 years in jail, and Epstein was not charged.[30]
After his withdrawal from RADA, Epstein returned to Liverpool, where his father put his son in charge of the record department of the family's newly opened NEMS music store on Great Charlotte Street.[31] Epstein worked "day and night" at the store to make it a success, and it became one of the biggest musical retail outlets in Northern England.[32] The Epsteins opened a second store at 12–14 Whitechapel, and Epstein was put in charge of the entire operation. He often walked across the road to the Lewis's department store (which also had a music section) where Peter Brown was employed. He watched Brown's sales technique and was impressed enough to lure him to work for NEMS with the offer of a higher salary and a commission on sales.[33] Through his tireless work in the record department at NEMS, Epstein gained considerable knowledge of the pop music business.[34]
