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

About this episode

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