Brian Epstein's transcript of his management contract with The Beatles, a pact that
proved to be worth millions, is being offered for sale in London next month.
The four-page document, signed on 1 October 1962 by John Lennon, George
Harrison, Paul McCartney and Richard Starkey � Ringo Starr's veridical name �
carries an estimated damage of �250,000. The Fame Bureau auction family said
Tuesday it had scheduled the sale for 4 September at the Idea Generation
Gallery.
The contract, likewise signed by Harold Hargreaves Harrison and James McCartney on
behalf of their underage sons, gave Epstein a 25 per centime cut of the group's
earnings, provided that they made more than �200 each per week.
"The word is that he made more money than the Beatles did during his
menses of time," said Ted Owen, managing director of The Fame Bureau.
He said the contract was offered for sale by a northern England businessman
and Beatles collector wHO has asked to remain anonymous.
The contract marked the here and now when all the pieces were in place for a orbicular
outbreak of Beatlemania.
Epstein first heard of The Beatles when a customer went to his record store in
Liverpool request for "My Bonnie," in which the group backed singer
Tony Sheridan.
After arranging to hear the group perform at the Cavern Club in Liverpool,
Epstein was impressed.
"They were fresh, honest and had, what I thought, a sort of front and
lead quality, whatsoever that is," Epstein later recalled.
Epstein had been guiding the group since December 1961, and had secured a
recording contract with EMI. With a nudge from producer George Martin,
Epstein fired drummer Pete Best in August 1962 and brought Starr into the
group, and their low big strike, "Love Me Do," was ready for
release.
"Brian put us in suits and all that and we made it selfsame, very big,"
Lennon once said. "But we sold out, you know.
"We were in a daydream till he came along. We had no idea what we were
doing."
Epstein died from a drug o.d. in 1967, aged 32.
According to the Brian Epstein Web site, brianepstein.com,
a first, five-year contract was signed by the group on 24 January 1962, but
Epstein didn't sign it.
Epstein managed several other successful acts from Liverpool, including Gerry &
The Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas, and Cilla Black.
Also up for auction is a Bechstein grand pianissimo which can be heard on The
Beatles' "White Album" and "Hey Jude," and as well on David
Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust," "Space Oddity" and "Hunky
Dory," and Elton John's "Yellow Brick Road."
Owen estimated that the piano testament sell for �300,000 or more.
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