Brian Epstein - Details

Brian Epstein, born to Harry and Malka (known as Queenie), on 19th Sep 1934 in Liverpool Nursing home, his brother was born 22 months later. His parents owned a furniture store, next to North End Road Music Stores (NEMS), which they eventually took over as the business expanded.
Brian worked at the shop until he reached 18, then he was needed for conscripted service in the army. He was kicked out eventually for being emotionally and mentally unstable, when in fact he’d only been caught impersonating a guard!
On his return Brian was assigned to manage a branch of the family business in Hoylake, where he excelled. Epstein had other plans though and pursued a career in acting. He auditioned and gained a place at The Royal Academy; soon after he quit feeling showbiz life was not for him! Again he returned to work at the family business.
Following the massive success at yet another branch (in Great Charlotte Street), Brian managed the most profitable store of them all, in Whitechapel. A music publication called ‘Mersey Beat’ was sold at NEMS by Brian, who became so interested in the music scene he started writing a column on a regular basis. Just around the corner from the Whitechapel store was a dingy, tiny club called The Cavern, where unknown artists perform to packed crowds at lunchtime. Brian had heard of a popular local band called The Beatles, so went to see them perform.
Brian witnessed a group of four boys oozing charm and raw talent, so Brian decided if they wanted, he would manage them. Having never managed a band before, Brian knew this would be the start of something very different, but very interesting…
The first step along the ‘long and winding road’ had begun.
"I was immediately struck by their music, their beat, and their sense of humour on stage. And even afterwards when I met them I was struck again by their personal charm. And it was there that really it all started..." Epstein

With the massive success The Beatles achieved with Brian Epstein as manager was utterly amazing. No one could ever have imagined the level of success worldwide; everyone had succumbed to Beatle mania!

There were very hard times too for Brian throughout these years, the evidence lay in his drug addiction.
Brian battled his affliction, which eventually killed him. In 1967, he overdosed on a concoction of narcotics.
Brian Epstein, a man of so much worth, achieved so much in his short life .
"It occurs to me that I'm going to be asked why in the midst of a busy life I should take time off from the personal management of my artistes to whom, after all, I have signed myself, to write my own autobiography when I'm not yet thirty. It is simply that I wanted to put down at an early stage an accurate account of the emergence of the Beatles and other artistes from my own point of view. So much has been said that is exaggerated, inaccurate, extravagant, and open to misinterpetation that I thought that a detailed account could only help and, I hope, prove of considerable public interest..."
Brian Epstein wrote the above words in 1964 as a prologue to his autobiography A Cellarful Of Noise.


Brian was undoubtedly The Beatles’ United force. After Brian’s death, great music was still produced, but conflicts manifest, arguments the only communication. Without Epstein, the band grew apart.

The end was nigh, three years after the death of Brian Epstein, The Beatles split.