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Brian Epstein

 
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iwarburton



Joined: 08 Dec 2006
Posts: 2133
Location: Northumberland

PostPosted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 1:00 pm    Post subject: Brian Epstein Reply with quote

Am a bit puzzled by this morning's R2 news report on the death of the Maharishi, who schooled the Beatles inter alia in transcendental meditation.

It said that the Beatles were spending a weekend with the Maharishi when they received the news that their manager, Brian Epstein, had killed himself.

But I thought that the inquest on Mr Epstein concluded that his overdose was accidental.

Does anyone know what's what here?

Ian.
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RockitRon



Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 7646

PostPosted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 4:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The popular perception is that he killed himself by an overdose of "drugs" (sleeping pills). He took six, apparently not unusual, with alcohol.

I'm not intimate with the fine detail but I believe the inquest concluded that it was accidental, since he had built up a tolerance of the sleeping pills taken close to a lethal level.

Usage of the phrase "had killed himself" implies suicide and is wrong in the light of the verdict. Either way "had died" would have been quite sufficient and, on the day, would probably have been all they would have been told anyway.

You could say that the accuracy of BBC news reporting in this instance is not quite what it used to be.
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Briant



Joined: 02 Jun 2007
Posts: 964
Location: Liverpool England UK

PostPosted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 5:31 pm    Post subject: Brian Epstein..... Reply with quote

I wrote this poem last year as it was forty years since Brian died.
It was broadcast a couple of times on local BBC Radio in Liverpool.
Brian's nickname was 'Eppy', hence the title:

Eppy-Taph

Brian Epstein was a friend of mine
Yeah, yeah, yeah! They all say that!
It's true, I could tell you about the time
That he lent me his favourite cravat!
Brian Epstein was a friend of mine
Yeah, yeah, yeah! They all say that!

Hello Brian. Is it really forty years since you went away?
Standing here by your graveside, wondering what to say
I can still see you smiling when I asked for a record to play,
There in NEMS in the listening booth
Where I first heard three chords and the truth,
And instead of more than forty years, it seems like yesterday.
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SantaFefan



Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 11258
Location: top of the cliffs in Norfolk

PostPosted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 5:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Excellent Briant, it's really good.
Might seem like a daft question, but did you really know him?
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Briant



Joined: 02 Jun 2007
Posts: 964
Location: Liverpool England UK

PostPosted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 6:04 pm    Post subject: Brian Epstein.... Reply with quote

Thanks Santa. Yes, I did know Brian. I worked in WH Smiths close to NEMS in Gt Charlotte Street in Liverpool, and Brian used to buy The Stage, Record Mirror and Disc from the shop. He knew I liked rock'n'roll and used to tell me which new records he had in stock. This was from 1959 to 1961, just before The Beatles came along. Strangely enough, I preferred The Searchers and Gerry and The Pacemakers during those years! I did borrow a cravat from him when I had a date once! With a girlfriend, I hasten to add! Laughing
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SantaFefan



Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 11258
Location: top of the cliffs in Norfolk

PostPosted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 9:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, I'm impressed! thanks for sharing that with us Briant, it must be really nice to have such memories of such a great time.
I've never met anybody famous although Gerry Marsden of Gerry & the Pacemakers has called into our place here once or twice when it was a Hotel because his parents liked staying here sometimes.
Oh, and I also stood in a queue next to Frank Ifield back in the 60s. Laughing

I loved most bands from those days, particularly the Hollies and Kinks but for me, The Beatles were waaay in front with the Stones halfway behind! Razz
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Johnnie Walker read out my message on Pirate Radio! Very Happy 13/8/07
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Briant



Joined: 02 Jun 2007
Posts: 964
Location: Liverpool England UK

PostPosted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 10:32 pm    Post subject: Another poem.... Reply with quote

Cheers Santa. Here is a link to another of my poems that I hope you might enjoy:

http://www.liverpoolmonuments.co.uk/warmemorials/cenotaph17.html
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iwarburton



Joined: 08 Dec 2006
Posts: 2133
Location: Northumberland

PostPosted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 1:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the poems, Briant--very moving.

Brian Epstein tends to be portrayed as an unhappy, even tortured soul. But no doubt even he had some happy moments.

As a 15-year-old in late 1963 I lived in Cheshire. I was then living a thoroughly humdrum life, a non-academic struggling with the imminence of 0-Levels. Yet even I couldn't miss the excitement of that time.

I don't recall ever meeting any of the 60s Liverpudlian beat group members as such but once saw Scaffold at Liverpool Exchange Station, apparently en route to Glasgow. I was merely going on a local trip to, I think, Aintree that day

I have happy memories of Exchange Station from about 1967 to 1970, when I travelled several times between Cheshire and Glasgow and Exchange acted as terminus for the expresses to and from Scotland. Shortly after that, the expresses switched terminus to Lime Street Station but I've a feeling that Exchange was retained for local services to Southport and Ormskirk. Briant--or anyone else--can you tell me if Exchange is still going today?

Ian.
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Briant



Joined: 02 Jun 2007
Posts: 964
Location: Liverpool England UK

PostPosted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 1:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Ian. Thanks for the comments. As regards Exchange Station, it closed many years ago and like many old buildings is now used for housing and offices in Liverpool. Moorfields Station which is close by is still functioning as a train station. It is very close to the Town Hall where the Fab Four came back to in celebration after their world wide success in the sixties.
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iwarburton



Joined: 08 Dec 2006
Posts: 2133
Location: Northumberland

PostPosted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 11:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Briant et al.

Mention of the A41 at Birkenhead in this morning's travel news made we wonder what now stands on the site of what was Woodside Station. It used to be allocated jointly to LMS and GWR and would have been quite a busy express terminus at one time but I saw it shortly before its closure around 1967 and it was rather a sad shadow of its earlier self. So what's there now?

Ian.
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