Philip Norman returns to talk about Mr. Moonlight, his first book devoted entirely to Brian Epstein, and what emerges from decades of Beatles research focused through a single lens is a portrait more complex than the one most people think they know. Norman reveals the extraordinary story of how the Kray twins plotted to exploit Brian’s gambling addiction and seize control of The Beatles, the antisemitism and homophobia Brian faced even at the peak of his success, and new evidence around the circumstances of his death that raises serious questions about the official verdict.
Philip also covers areas that too often gets overlooked: Brian’s family history, his time in the army and at drama school, his instinct for a hit record, and the way he shielded The Beatles from a fame that might otherwise have consumed them. The question Norman keeps returning to is the one that still stings: why, given everything he did, does Brian Epstein undervalued?
Further information
Philip Norman — Mr. Moonlight: Brian Epstein and the Making of the Beatles
Podcasts also available: Philip Norman on the Beatles, Philip Norman on John Lennon, Ray Ennis – The Swinging Blue Jeans, Mike McCartney’s Early Liverpool
This podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Google apps and all usual platforms
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It’s somehow strange, that everytime there is talk about Brian Epstein, it’s mostly about him being gay. Just take a look into the 60s scene and you find countless acts with gay managers like Who, Yardbirds, Bee Gees, Dave Dee & Co…no one cares about that.
Surely he made some financial mistakes. But without him (and several other people) the biggest story in the history of music would not have happened !
The only thing I do not understand about his management was his strategy of touring. From the beginnings of their live tours till the end he never did anything to improve their sound system or adjust the size of their touring personal. Even in 1966 they had one (!) road manager (Mal Evans) and just three amps. The “biggest band on earth” toured around the world like a local dance band. And according to the Mal Evans-book Epstein didn’t even give him an appropriate pay for all his work. Obviously Epstein was more worried about any expenses than the technical quality of the performances. A big mistake as we know, that even turned against him. When the Beatles stopped touring cause of the poor stage equipment, he lost a big part of his own job…