The Man Who Made the Beatles: An Intimate Biography of Brian Epstein (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The title does not exaggerate: In the six years that he devoted to their careers, their creative freedom and their personal happiness, Brian Epstein did make the Beatles, and soon after his sudden death in 1967 at age 32, the group split up. Based on interviews with Epstein's family, friends and associates, this biography, by a man who knew him well, sensitively describes and tries to explain the charming, artistic, resourceful manager who realized the potential of his four young fellow-Liverpudlians. Having made the Beatles famous internationally, and amassed a fortune for them and for himself, Epstein nevertheless was restless, depressed, capricious, easily bored and increasingly irrational. From a middle-class, orthodox Jewish family, Epstein suffered the "dreadful inner conflict of reluctant homosexuality" at odds with his deep desire to marry and be a father. Coleman, biographer of Eric Clapton and John Lennon, writes fluently, objectively and with warmth but, in an attempt to provide as detailed a picture as possible, strings along more quotations and opinions than are necessary. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This is a business history of the Beatles, as told through the life of the man who launched them and managed their early career. The story of Epstein's five-year professional and personal relationship with the Beatles will be of great interest to fans. Coleman is at his best when he assesses Epstein as a businessman "better at visualizing, promotion, sales, and marketing than at hard dealing" and as a pioneer in the pop music industry with a unique sense of "grandeur" and "emotional commitment." As Coleman shows, Epstein "made the Beatles" with his special ability to bond four divergent personalities into an artistic whole. When he died of an accidental overdose in 1967, the Beatles' days as a group were clearly numbered.
- Donald W. Maxwell, Carmel Clay P.L., Carmel, Ind.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Mcgraw-Hill (June 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0070117896
• ISBN-13: 978-0070117891
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,056,375 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars He loved them, yeah, yeah, yeah, January 22, 2002

By	Stephen Collier (London) - See all my reviews

The biography of the Beatles manager which gets to grips with the enigma that was Brian Epstein.
Ray Coleman examines Epstein's life with telling contributions from family and friends and the artistes and business associates who populated his brief life.
Epstein's childhood and adolescence are sensitively probed with Coleman playing sleuth psychologist to good effect.
Interesting observations are made with regard to Brian's family and his peers. The author builds this picture of the young Brian Epstein skilfully.
Of course, the real meat of this story begins with Epstein's own discovery of The Beatles and Coleman doesen't disappoint. Aside from his own reflections of what drove Brian to enter a sphere alien to him, he ellicits some great contributions from the stars in Brian's stable (Cilla Black and Gerry Marsden, particularly). His business partners and rivals also get a good airing and the overall picture of the man and his devotion to his stable of chart-toppers becomes clearer with each page. Indeed, the many poignant examples of Brian's sheer love of The Beatles makes what happened towards the end unbearably painful to read.
As, it seems, with anything to do with The Beatles, there is a definite change of mood from mid 1965 onwards. From here on in melancholia is the watchword. I defy any reader not to feel a huge sadness at the way Brian Epstein's personality/character became imbued with negativity and chaos. The author pulls no punches as he guides us towards the ultimate despair.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely Book, November 26, 2001

By A Customer

I spent more time with reading this book more than my other Beatle books. Mr. Brian Epstein is very well brought out in this book than any other. Things writen in this book will be moved as the author describes almost every detail in the book. It has alot of interesting facts: The funny experiences Brian had in the military, how Brian was an off-and-on homosexual, his mood swings, the time he screamed with the other fans during a Beatle concert, problems he were having with his boyfriend Dizz, the relationship he had with the Beatles, cute pictures of him when he was a baby, and I could go on and on. Just read the book, Beatlefans interested in the Man who made The Beatles will enjoy it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The restless, debonair life of Mr. Brian Epstein (1934-1967), July 26, 2009

By	cathy earnshaw (Berlin, Germany) - See all my reviews

Could it be - with the "Fifth Beatle" Epstein biopic in the pipeline, an online petition for him to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and talk of a statue being built in Liverpool in his honour - that Brian Epstein, manager of The Beatles, will finally receive the recognition he deserves? Sadly, it doesn't seem that the remaining Beatles are at the forefront of this "campaign": in fact in 2000 they published an autobiography suggesting that Epstein wanted to pay The Beatles a fixed wage in order to keep the rest of the band's earnings for himself (many others who knew and worked with him have rebuffed this, pointing to his financial inexperience and ineptitude at the beginning of his managerial career). Cilla Black, whom Epstein also managed, let it be known last year that she had written to Paul McCartney, hoping that he would help Epstein to be better honoured, but never received a reply.

So for the time being, those who want to learn, hear or see more of the charismatic Beatles manager will have to content themselves with three books, two of which are now out of print: Epstein's autobiography A Cellarful of Noise (published in 1964 as Beatlemania was at its most maniacal), Ray Coleman's Brian Epstein: The Man Who Made The Beatles (1989) and Debbie Geller's The Brian Epstein Story (1999). And what a brilliant tribute Ray Coleman's biography is. Over 460 pages, Coleman - former editor-in-chief of Melody Maker and author of John Lennon: The Definitive Biography (1984) - unfolds the complex, multifaceted personality of the Beatles manager, peppering his account with engrossing insights, unseen photographs and private letters (showing Epstein's flowery handwriting). Written with the support and encouragement of the Epstein family, Coleman recounts Brian's erratic and eventful life, from his birth at 4 Rodney Street, Liverpool, to a rapid change of schools, his coming-out to his parents, the torturous identity problems he suffered as a Jewish homosexual, the short-lived theatrical training he received at RADA, his work at the family-owned NEMS record store on Great Charlotte Street to his discovery of the supergroup. Here Coleman debunks a few myths: Epstein had already heard about The Beatles before he set foot in the Cavern Club on 9 November 1961, not only from articles published in the Mersey Beat magazine sold at his shop, but also from numerous customer requests for their single 'My Bonnie' which had been released in Germany. Fascinatingly, Coleman also reveals that Decca was not the first record company to turn The Beatles down: EMI (who later signed them) first rejected them. Coleman reprints the rejection letter, confirmed by three senior producers at EMI, in which R.N. White informs Epstein: "We feel that we have sufficient groups of this type at the present under contract" (18 December 1961).

Tales follow of how the handsome Epstein (which he apparently liked pronounced Ep-steen) smartened and 'sanitised' The Beatles, hiding their private lives from fanatical fans and the hawk-eyed press. Of how he skillfully averted PR disasters after a Beatle had once again put the boot in. About how George Harrison was often the most difficult Beatle for him ("too demanding") and how pained he was by John Lennon's queer- and Jew-bashing humour. Coleman deftly denies claims that Epstein and Lennon had a homosexual relationship during their twelve-day escape to Barcelona in spring 1963 - a claim tediously reawakened by the new Philip Norman biography of Lennon. As The Beatles consolidate their fame, and Epstein takes on more and acts, he suffers a descent into acute insomnia, a gradual dependency on pills and alcohol (not necessarily unusual at that time), and an intensification of his long-standing loneliness and insecurity. His workaholic behaviour, characterised by an inability to delegate and a voracious desire to expand and succeed, became particularly straining. With his contract coming up for renewal in September 1967, Epstein feared losing control of The Beatles (correctly sensing a threat in the form of Allen Klein, who would later become manager of three Beatles after Epstein's death). But this doesn't prevent Coleman from capturing the jovial wit and flamboyance of the man. There is an amusing tale of Brian's chaotic erraticism: more than one colleague tells of how he had a habit of careering through red lights in his Bentley and then stopping at green ones (with the suggestion that he was in fact colour blind!).

Epstein's accidental death at 32 at his Chapel Street home in London - found with a "low lethal" level of barbiturates found in his blood - was a tragic waste. As one negotiating partner remembers, "[he was] a sensitive, cultured and caring person whose death struck me as a total waste. The Beatles never seemed to have that team stability when he had gone".

A gripping read!