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=56206336885115

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