A Cellarful of Noise

Last book of the year! A sweet, honest, self-deprecating autobiography from Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager from 1962 to his death in 1967. He is critical of his own achievements, after failing school, the army and a brief stint at RADA, but full to the brim with confidence and enthusiasm for 'his boys', then at the height of their success, and the other acts he managed, including Gerry and the Pacemakers and Cilla Black. And it's worth noting that Brian's own account of his life, minus the last three years, is about 400 pages shorter than the muck-raking 'biographies' published about him since. The poor man knew where his strengths lay and what people were really interested in - The Beatles.

Truly a fascinating, if brief, look into the carefully described world of Brian Epstein. Written at the literal height of Beatlemania, and published less than two years before his death, we get a cautious, self-effacing look into the man who helped put the Beatles on the map. His importance with the band cannot be overstated, and despite his having little experience in managing any band, let alone the biggest one the world has ever seen, the aftermath of his death also shows what a steadying influence he was on them.

This is a good book, but also a tragic one, knowing all that we know in the almost sixty years since his passing.

A short and lightweight 'autobiography' published just two years after the Beatles hit the world. Epstein (or rather his ghost-writer) provides a mannered and upbeat but shallow account of how he and his 'artistes' (Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Petulla Clark, etc) found and managed fame.

One of the more curious aspects of Beatlemania was that there was even a market for their manager’s autobiography – back then managers may have essentially ruled the industry but they weren’t household names with Simon Cowell levels of fame, even Epstein. It’s a straightforward telling of his life to the time of publication, not quite hagiographic but almost entirely free of juicier elements – for obvious reasons of the stigma attached to homosexuality at the time there aren’t even allusions to this aspect of his life. These days it’s a fascinating period piece, particularly in relation to the artists he managed and how they fared in relation to his hopes for them – no-one’s infallible after all. Ultimately though, for show more all but the details of his early life, it’s been superseded by the seemingly infinite slew of Beatles biographies. show less

An interesting book, written by the man who managed the Beatles, at least in their early days. (Or maybe throughout their entire career; it's been a while since I was up on my Beatles trivia). A great book for Beatles fans.