{"id":8814,"date":"2022-09-06T13:24:04","date_gmt":"2022-09-06T18:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?p=8814"},"modified":"2022-09-06T13:24:04","modified_gmt":"2022-09-06T18:24:04","slug":"an-ode-to-remarkable-beatles-manager-brian-epstein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/an-ode-to-remarkable-beatles-manager-brian-epstein\/","title":{"rendered":"An ode to remarkable Beatles manager Brian Epstein"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;It\u2019s Not Personal, It\u2019s Strictly Business&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>by Jude Southerland Kessler,<\/p>\n<p>author of <strong>The John Lennon Series<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>With the unveiling of the beautiful tribute statue to Brian Epstein in Liverpool just a few days ago, The Fest for Beatles Fans pauses to commemorate the remarkable man who brought our lads into the bright lights. We love you, Brian. You were \u201ca class act\u201d in every way. <\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Frequently these days, I hear people espousing the maxim, \u201cIt\u2019s not personal, it\u2019s strictly business\u201d as if it were a yardstick of excellent business practice\u2026the benchmark of what is equitable in one\u2019s professional relationships. And I wince, knowing that this quote originated not in Shakespeare or Ben Franklin or <em>The Bible<\/em>, but came straight from the lips of Michael Corleone in <em>The Godfather<\/em>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bing.com\/videos\/search?q=michael+corleone+it%27s+just+business&amp;view=detail&amp;mid=F4E2216A8345F0810D94F4E2216A8345F0810D94&amp;FORM=VIRE\">Here\u2019s the movie clip<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>If one examines outstanding leaders throughout history, one will rarely find this \u201cIt\u2019s just business\u201d rule-of-thumb to be his\/her guideline. Brian Epstein, The Beatles legendary manager, is one of those who prized his personal reputation more than money. He sincerely believed that honesty and a bargain well-kept championed all else in the \u201cdog-eat-dog\u201d world of entertainment. In fact, promoter Sid Bernstein (who booked The Beatles at Carnegie Hall in 1964 and Shea Stadium in 1965) said, \u201cOnce [Epstein] gave his word, he never changed terms or renegotiated. He had that kind of quality; you believed him; you trusted him. That isn\u2019t true of very many people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Let me give you a just few examples of Epstein\u2019s policy of personal integrity over profit:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Epstein honored his agreements<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Epstein became The Beatles\u2019 manager in December of 1961, and at that time they were quite popular around Merseyside and in Hamburg. However, they weren\u2019t well-known outside those realms. In London, The Beatles were virtual unknowns. So, as we all know, Brian set about getting the boys gigs anywhere that he could, often at unflattering rates. Exposure and publicity were Epstein\u2019s primary goals.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>You know the rest of the story. Quite rapidly, The Beatles began to capture the attention of the masses and press. Everywhere they traveled they were an astounding hit, and people started flocking to their performances \u2013 filling town halls, theaters, dance clubs and cellars. So, not surprisingly, the asking price for upcoming Beatles gigs quickly flew up, up, up. In fact, in Craig Brown\u2019s book <em>100 Glimpses of The Beatles<\/em>, one Merseyside promoter, Peter Stringfellow, tells the story of how he delayed booking the four boys for several days. And while he hemmed and hawed over the decision, the asking price soared from \u00a350 to \u00a365 to \u00a3100. He who hesitated was lost.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>However, Epstein firmly believed that a promise made was a promise kept. And he refused to renegotiate contracts signed months earlier. He refused to charge club owners more than he had initially agreed upon. And many of those bargains were word-of-mouth only! You see, Epstein didn\u2019t require a written contract to do what was right. Integrity was ingrained in him.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Epstein kept ticket prices affordable<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In June of 1965, when the highly successful Beatles toured France, Italy, and Spain, Brian noticed that the crowds weren\u2019t as large as they\u2019d been on the 1964 tours; so, he asked Neil Aspinall to explain the drop in numbers. At first Barrow pointed out that the unusually high temperatures that summer had somewhat diminished the crowds for afternoon shows. But Epstein instinctively knew that heat alone couldn\u2019t be the sole reason that the fans had decided to stay home. So, he pressed Barrow for the bottom line. Finally, Barrow muttered, \u201cIt\u2019s the ticket prices, Brian. They\u2019re more than the average fan can afford.\u201d Epstein was heartbroken. The young manager cared about the fans. And he had always striven to keep ticket prices at fair rates \u2013 to make it possible for anyone who loved The Beatles to be able to see them in person. He had no idea that tickets had climbed out of reach, and the moment Epstein heard this frank explanation, he made adjustments. (For the full story, see <em>Shades of Life, Part 1,<\/em> p. 638-640)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A month and a half later, when The Beatles played the mega-concert in Shea Stadium, the best ticket available \u2013 for a field-level box seat \u2013 was rigidly set at $5.65. And, of course, for that price, fans got to see the King Curtis All-Stars, the Discotheque Dancers, Cannibal and the Headhunters (\u201cLand of 1000 Dances\u201d), Brenda Holloway (\u201cEvery Little Bit Hurts\u201d), the vivacious Sounds Incorporated, and yeah, yeah, yeah, The Beatles. It wasn\u2019t just a \u201cfair price.\u201d It was a bargain!! Throughout the summer of 1965, The Beatles (and their opening bands) filled one stadium after another with fans, fans, and more fans! Lest we forget, in Chicago, the boys gave two performances in front of 50,000 fans total. They played the Hollywood Bowl in front of a sold-out audience. <em>And in Shea Stadium, The Beatles gave the performance of a lifetime to 55,600 awed Beatlemaniacs. <\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Brian could have charged a great deal more for those tickets and made more profit. In fact, you\u2019ll recall that promoter Sid Bernstein was willing to pay $10 a seat for any unsold Shea Stadium tickets. (However, there were none.) Bernstein thought the ticket to see The Beatles worth <em>at least that price<\/em>! But Brian Epstein valued what was right, what was just, and what was fair. He wanted everything associated with The Beatles to be completely above-board.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>3) Epstein never dealt underhandedly with business associates<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In <em>The Man Who Made The Beatles,<\/em> famous journalist and Beatles friend Ray Coleman stated, \u201cBrian\u2019s name was a byword for class and integrity \u2013 and he cherished his reputation.\u201d (p. 218) Coleman goes on to say that Epstein had \u201ca central core of integrity.\u201d And when asked to give \u201ca certain person [in the United States] a thousand dollars to oil the wheels\u201d so that Epstein\u2019s rising folk group, Silkie, could obtain a work permit for nine television shows in America, \u201cBrian flatly refused.\u201d (p. 303) Coleman explains, \u201cHe said he had never bought his artists into anything with cash and did not intend to start.\u201d (p.303)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Honesty was the yardstick of Epstein\u2019s success. As Coleman says in the touching conclusion of <em>The Man Who Made The Beatles<\/em>, \u201c\u2026Brian died with a golden reputation for integrity and charm intact.\u201d His artists \u2013 Gerry and the Pacemakers, Cilla Black, Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas and so many more including that group called The Beatles \u2013 were the bright lights of the 1960s. But their fame and his wealth were not amassed at the cost of Brian\u2019s soul. Epstein wheeled and dealed with \u201cthe big cigars\u201d of the entertainment industry and yet, remained unsullied.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In the 1960s, Brian Epstein was regarded as \u201cna\u00efve.\u201d No doubt, he would be ridiculed in our cutthroat world of today. But in August of 1967, Epstein left this world with his honor intact. And his high standards of business behavior contributed much to the outstanding quality that shown through John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Brian expected \u201chis boys\u201d to be \u201cbetter,\u201d to be special. And they were. To Brian Epstein, everything was personal, especially business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;It\u2019s Not Personal, It\u2019s Strictly Business&#8221; by Jude Southerland Kessler, author of The John Lennon Series \u00a0 With the unveiling of the beautiful tribute statue to Brian Epstein in Liverpool just a few days ago, The Fest for Beatles Fans [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":8815,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[76,117],"class_list":["post-8814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-beatles","tag-brian-epstein","tag-the-beatles"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8814"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8816,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8814\/revisions\/8816"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}