brought back memories of the good times they had in Hamburg. Paul admitted, looking back, that they were rotten to Stu. He had perhaps been jealous of John’s admiration for Stu and sometimes felt a little bit excluded.
‘I was pretty nasty to him on the last day. We were leaving Hamburg, and he was staying behind with Astrid. I caught his eye on stage, as he was playing with us for the last time. He was crying. It was one of those feelings, when you’re suddenly very close to someone.’
*
It took me a long time to realize that Brian Epstein was homosexual. When I did, I thought at first it didn’t matter, either way, but I slowly recognized it was a vital part of his character and of his relationship with the Beatles.
Brian Epstein loved them. When at last I spent some time with him, and managed to get him to sit down and think back to the early days, it was hard to stop him. He gave me copies of his old memos to them, which he had typed himself, telling them how to behave on stage and not to smoke or chew. He also gave me his old typewritten list of their early local engagements, which I had no room for in the book, though they might be of interest to Beatle experts. Whole books have subsequently been written on what the Beatles did each day during their Beatlemania years.
Even more interesting is the note, monogrammed BE, that he sent to George Martin before their first recording session on 6 June 1962, suggesting likely songs they might do. Now I look at that list again, there are some compositions I have never heard of, such as ‘Pinwheel Twist’. I wonder what happened to that one?
He also dug out for me the very first press handout about the Beatles and the office memos he sent to his staff when NEMS, his company, opened its first office in London. It’s full of Brian telling them how to behave and to be courteous to everyone. Very typical.
I collected as many documents as I could during all my interviews, as well as handouts and fan club bulletins, both in Britain and in the USA. Brian himself had spare copies of many of them and gave them to me.
He was terribly careful and organized in those early days. It was only as I got to know him better, during 1967, that I learned what a mess his life was now in. He was constantly in the depths of depression, living on pills, having tantrums with his staff and closest friends, over petty things, then collapsing in tears as he apologized to them. He had twice tried to commit suicide, though this had been kept quiet at the time.
Paul’s early handwritten letter to an unknown journalist called Mr Low, seeking some publicity for the group.
In his sexual life, he was not simply a homosexual, but a masochist, deliberately picking up non-homosexual boys, often sailors, bringing them back to the house, treating them, giving them drinks and drugs. It usually ended with him being beaten up and his possessions stolen, very often Beatle material. Then he would be blackmailed, and end up in further depressions.
I spent one weekend with him at his country home in Kingsley Hill, Sussex. On Saturday evening, we had a very enjoyable dinner, at which we were joined by a well-known pop music personality of the time. (Even better known today, but I better not name him.) After the meal, they decided they would like some boys to amuse them, but it was by this time eleven o’clock, and a Saturday evening.
Brian got out a sort of credit card, which was his membership to some homosexual call-boy organization, and dialled a certain number, giving his name and number. There was a lot of discussion on the phone, with the person at the other end saying it was far too late, everyone was booked up, the best boys had gone. When Brian mentioned he was in Sussex, not London, the voice said that was it, no chance. Brian said he would pay for taxis, and pay double the rates, just send down whatever could be found, then he hung up.
I sat up with them, drinking, until midnight, but then I went
‘I was pretty nasty to him on the last day. We were leaving Hamburg, and he was staying behind with Astrid. I caught his eye on stage, as he was playing with us for the last time. He was crying. It was one of those feelings, when you’re suddenly very close to someone.’
*
It took me a long time to realize that Brian Epstein was homosexual. When I did, I thought at first it didn’t matter, either way, but I slowly recognized it was a vital part of his character and of his relationship with the Beatles.
Brian Epstein loved them. When at last I spent some time with him, and managed to get him to sit down and think back to the early days, it was hard to stop him. He gave me copies of his old memos to them, which he had typed himself, telling them how to behave on stage and not to smoke or chew. He also gave me his old typewritten list of their early local engagements, which I had no room for in the book, though they might be of interest to Beatle experts. Whole books have subsequently been written on what the Beatles did each day during their Beatlemania years.
Even more interesting is the note, monogrammed BE, that he sent to George Martin before their first recording session on 6 June 1962, suggesting likely songs they might do. Now I look at that list again, there are some compositions I have never heard of, such as ‘Pinwheel Twist’. I wonder what happened to that one?
He also dug out for me the very first press handout about the Beatles and the office memos he sent to his staff when NEMS, his company, opened its first office in London. It’s full of Brian telling them how to behave and to be courteous to everyone. Very typical.
I collected as many documents as I could during all my interviews, as well as handouts and fan club bulletins, both in Britain and in the USA. Brian himself had spare copies of many of them and gave them to me.
He was terribly careful and organized in those early days. It was only as I got to know him better, during 1967, that I learned what a mess his life was now in. He was constantly in the depths of depression, living on pills, having tantrums with his staff and closest friends, over petty things, then collapsing in tears as he apologized to them. He had twice tried to commit suicide, though this had been kept quiet at the time.
Paul’s early handwritten letter to an unknown journalist called Mr Low, seeking some publicity for the group.
In his sexual life, he was not simply a homosexual, but a masochist, deliberately picking up non-homosexual boys, often sailors, bringing them back to the house, treating them, giving them drinks and drugs. It usually ended with him being beaten up and his possessions stolen, very often Beatle material. Then he would be blackmailed, and end up in further depressions.
I spent one weekend with him at his country home in Kingsley Hill, Sussex. On Saturday evening, we had a very enjoyable dinner, at which we were joined by a well-known pop music personality of the time. (Even better known today, but I better not name him.) After the meal, they decided they would like some boys to amuse them, but it was by this time eleven o’clock, and a Saturday evening.
Brian got out a sort of credit card, which was his membership to some homosexual call-boy organization, and dialled a certain number, giving his name and number. There was a lot of discussion on the phone, with the person at the other end saying it was far too late, everyone was booked up, the best boys had gone. When Brian mentioned he was in Sussex, not London, the voice said that was it, no chance. Brian said he would pay for taxis, and pay double the rates, just send down whatever could be found, then he hung up.
I sat up with them, drinking, until midnight, but then I went
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