Brian Epstein: Thoughts

[Greg]

I'm sorry if you've covered this endlessly in previous posts.  Epstein.  I think it would have ended very, very, very badly.  That clause about collecting royalties til '76 would have caused a huge riff for..ever.  I think he financially benefited too much from what he did.  On the other hand his contribution was so large that he may have deserved everything he got.  But, man, was he getting a lot.  The merchandising screw up was monumental.  Yet his perseverance in the early days was priceless.  I think they would have not renewed his contract in 67 or whenever it was up, though.  He was done without them touring.   

[mervap]

What is lost in a modern discussion of Brian Epstein's relative worth to the Beatles is this:

There was no precedent to the Beatles' popularity, no template to follow...what we now know as the 'business' of rock & roll was being invented on the fly in the early to mid sixties. There were many mistakes made by a lot of folks just trying to define what a rock & roll manager was, much less what a good one was worth. I think you are right about his renewal...without tours and the attendant business, there wasn't very much for Brian to do.
Brian took his unshakeable belief in the Lads and parlayed that into tremendous success for them all...without him, who knows?

[Greg]

Yeah.  I think his most amazing feat was his perseverance.  Even after being turned down and turned down he kept going.  He didn't look elsewhere for a band.  He stuck by them...and stuck by them some more.  I wonder what became of his estate.  Is his brother still alive?  Did/does his brother have kids?

[Paperback Writer]

I agree with Mervap; significantly, Brian's inner demons were strong enough to induce paranoia and self- medicating, this limited his vision and patience for what could evolve with he and the Beatles in a new realm.
tragically, he missed out on a new dimension for he and the lads.

[Greg]

I guess he (Clive) had three kids.  One is in the U.S. I think.  They would be very comfortable.  Even people of that time were surprised how much he (Brian) was getting and that he was taking expenses right off the top too.  The guy gave his all though.  That first year or so was worth a fortune.