Beatles FAQ

Outside Paul's family home in the early 1960s Soon after first seeing them at the Cavern, Brian Epstein invited The Beatles for a formal meeting at his office. This was arranged for the afternoon of Sunday 3rd December 1961 at 4.30. Epstein wanted to manage the band but had doubts about their reliability and professionalism. The Beatles for their part had achieved success in Hamburg and Liverpool but had no record deal or national profile John, George and Pete took the bus to the meeting. They arrived on time - but after forty five minutes there was still no sign of Paul.  A call was made to the McCartney family home. This revealed that  Paul had just got up and was having a bath. Epstein exploded, "How can he be so late for such and important meeting?"     To which Harrison famously replied, "He may be late but he's very clean".  A frosty silence melted into laughter. Why was Paul so  late? On one level Paul's lateness was symptomatic of  what Epstein...

"I heard about them through a lad who was asking for a record by them in one of my stores, or my family’s stores in October 1961," Brian Epstein, 1964 Always diligent, Brian Epstein tracked down the record My Bonnie by Tony Sheridan and The Beatles, recorded in Hamburg. Staff informed him The Beatles, he learned were a local band who regularly played in a local club, close to the shop. Epstein decided to check them out Brian Epstein first saw The Beatles at the Cavern on November 9, 1961. He came backstage and then attended more gigs over the next few weeks. Then he told his brother he wanted to manage them. It was an extraordinary decision but Epstein's CV had followed an unusual trajectory. Before agreeing to manage the family business he had trained as an actor at RADA and his musical preferences were classical.  Epstein was also homosexual at a time when it was still illegal. This was not uncommon in the entertainment business but Brian appeared to court danger by hav...