Epstein meets the Beatles
We’ve heard the story for years. A young Beatles fan named Raymond Jones walked into the record department at Brian Epstein’s store, Nems (North End Music Store). He asked for “My Bonnie” by The Beatles. As the disc was a German release, Nems had no copies. But Epstein had a policy to find any disc a customer asked for, and that was what started the search that would result in Epstein finding The Beatles playing a lunchtime show at The Cavern Club on November 9, 1961. On that date, what many consider the most important manager/client relationship in rock music history began.
But did it really happen exactly that way? Alternate stories have surfaced over the years that there really was no Raymond Jones, that it was just a tidy story that sounded good. In addition, there are those who would say that Brian Epstein had actually seen and even talked to The Beatles before that afternoon in November of 1961. Can the truth actually be sorted? Is it even possible to know for sure what happened sixty years ago? This episode of the Beatles60 podcast will looks into these questions and more.
In 1965, both Paul McCartney and George Harrison, on being awarded their M.B.E.s by the Queen, said "M.B.E. stands for Mr. Brian Epstein."
