‘He’s terrified, panicked, can’t sleep’: the tragic, lonely death of Beatles manager Brian Epstein
Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp paid £10k at auction for Epstein’s address book. He then used it to co-author a thrilling account of the swinging 60s – and an intimate portrait of a tormented man whose life was unravelling The email from Sotheby’s might easily have gone unread. Despite his deep appreciation for the musical heroes who came before him, Gary Kemp is not a collector of rock memorabilia. But there, among the…
Key points
- Gary Kemp paid £10,710 at a Sotheby's auction for Brian Epstein's 1967 address book.
- Kemp and Simon Halfon co-authored '1967: The World of Brian Epstein and the Beatles', based on the book's 404 entries.
- Epstein died alone on 27 August 1967, aged 32, from an accidental overdose of sleeping pills.
Spandau Ballet's Gary Kemp paid £10,710 at a Sotheby's auction for a 160x100mm black Twinlock binder that belonged to Beatles manager Brian Epstein. The address book, from 1967, the year Epstein died, contains 57 pages and 404 entries, many handwritten, cataloguing his social and business network.
Kemp co-wrote '1967: The World of Brian Epstein and the Beatles' with film-maker Simon Halfon. The book, published by HarperCollins at £25, tells Epstein's story through his contacts, offering an intimate portrait of a man unravelling in the last months of his life.
A who's who of the 60s
The address book lists figures such as David Bailey, David Frost and most of the Rolling Stones. Kemp, who was in a recording studio bidding by phone, said he thought, 'I've got to have this. I've got to hold it.' After Epstein's death, the book passed to his brother, then his nephew, and one more sale before Kemp became its fifth owner.
Halfon, a friend of Kemp's since the 90s, saw the book and suggested it could be the basis for a project. Kemp agreed, and the pair spent months researching each name to establish who the people were and why they crossed paths with Epstein.
It'd just be nice to push Brian slightly to the foreground
— Simon Halfon
Epstein's final year
In 1967, Epstein's contract with the Beatles was up and the group had stopped playing live. That January, he merged his NEMS Enterprises with Robert Stigwood's agency, causing friction with the Beatles. Kemp said Epstein was 'terrified' and 'panicked', taking uppers and downers.
Epstein, who was gay when it was still a criminal offence, struggled with addiction and mental health, attending rehab at The Priory. He died alone on 27 August 1967, aged 32, from an accidental overdose of sleeping pills. Kemp believes the address book was on his bed when he was found, as he had been calling people.
