In Disney+’s The Beatles: Get Back, Brian Epstein is mentioned quite a lot, but who is Epstein to The Beatles? The Beatles: Get Back is a documentary series of one of the band’s final recording sessions, taking place two years after Epstein passed away. It is thought that Epstein’s death contributed to The Beatles’ break-up about one year later, due to his intimate connection to each band member.
Brian Epstein was the first manager of The Beatles. The Beatles were formed in 1960 by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, but their rise to success didn’t start until 1961 when Epstein discovered the band. Epstein, who had never managed a band before, quickly proved his talent; it was Epstein who pushed The Beatles to adopt their original clean-cut style of dress and signed them to their first record deal. By 1964, Epstein had led the still-young Beatles to international stardom. Unfortunately, by the time The Beatles had grown tired of touring in 1966, they had also found less reason to rely on Epstein.
Though often referred to as “The Fifth Beatle,” Epstein soon was less involved in the band. Without touring to manage, he was relegated more to his financial duties. When each individual Beatle member was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and knighted in Britain, Epstein was again left out. Before his death, Epstein had increasingly felt abandoned by the band who once called him a friend, and sought solace in drugs. While not a stranger to using, Epstein steadily lost control, eventually succumbing to an overdose combination of sedatives and alcohol. In 1967, Epstein passed away at the age of 32.
The Beatles were addressing their growing discord at a meditation camp when they received the tragic news. Their stay was cut short by the flood of reporters coming for questions. Heartbroken and stunned at the loss of their friend, The Beatles lost direction for a short while; without the manager who regulated their conflicting energies, who would control this powerful creative force? To the others’ chagrin, McCartney quickly started dictating what The Beatles’ creative vision would be. Lennon pushed back aggressively while the other Beatles, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, were relegated against their wishes to the wayside. Their growing animosity came to a head when selecting a new manager to run The Beatles’ future; McCartney’s father-in-law was rejected for a shadier, grittier manager who had wooed Lennon successfully. Finally, the band found they could no longer coexist as one, and The Beatles officially split up in 1970.
If The Beatles had managed to work through their frustrations with each other, they might have stayed together, but Epstein’s death left a power vacuum that ensured that the band’s unity would shatter. Without the creative direction that lead them to international fame while keeping them sane, The Beatles were inevitably going to collapse. Most importantly, at a time when The Beatles were exhausted and strained by their newfound role in the world, they lost one of their closest friends. The fact that his name keeps coming up in The Beatles: Get Back proves Brian Epstein was not a man The Beatles would ever be able to forget.
The Beatles: Get Back releases over November 25th, 26th, and 27th, 2021.