Gary Kemp bought Brian Epstein’s address book and discovered ‘the DNA of the Beatles’

A lifelong Beatles obsessive, Gary Kemp bought Epstein’s black leather address book at auction and (with Simon Halfon) researched its 404 names to construct a picture of him, “a 360-degree look” built around musicians, managers, impresarios, hustlers, grifters, ‘walkers’, tricksters, writers, deejays, scene-makers and assorted fashion and media folk. It’s fascinating. As is this podcast where he talks about what he discovered compiling ‘1967: the World of Brian Epstein and the Beatles’ and how the contacts were like “an Advent Calendar leading to his death in August 1967”. We touch on …… what he paid for the address book (but couldn’t tell his wife!)… the last person Brian spoke to… how the Age of Innocence became the Age of Experience… the legal, contractual and social problems overwhelming him in 1967… cracking the code that hid the Beatles’ phone numbers… “these days Lennon would be cancelled many times over”… the crisis just before Shea Stadium in 1965… why Brian missed the last Beatles show and his absurd idea for the Sgt Pepper cover… and “how different all our lives would have been if he hadn’t walked down those steps to the Cavern”.Order copies of ‘1967: the World of Brian Epstein and the Beatles’ here: https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/1967-the-world-of-brian-epstein-and-the-beatles-the-address-book-that-defined-an-era-gary-kempsimon-halfon?variant=56206336885115Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.