Book Review: A Cellarful of Noise by Brian Epstein

March 1999

It is important to read this book in the context of when it was written. To this end there is an introduction by Martin Lewis which is almost as long as the whole book. When Brian Epstein wrote this autobiography (ghost-written by Derek Taylor) he was still a very young man and the Beatles had just broken in America. As such this is hardly the full autobiography of Brian Epstein but a snapshot of how he viewed the Beatles' success.

Furthermore, there is little insight into Epstein as a person. Homosexuality was very taboo in those days and is not even mentioned in the book. Clearly, therefore, there was a major part of his life missing from the book. What is interesting is Epstein's insights on the development of the Beatles. He knew that they were going to become the phenonenum that they were even at this stage. Indeed, he was telling record company A&R staff that they would be bigger than Elvis and he genuinely believed it. He was right though.

What is especially interesting is to look at the life of Brian Epstein in terms of what came next, after this book had been completed. He was to die young just three years later having accomplished a tremendous amount in such a short time. His influence over the Beatles was so strong that Paul McCartney recently noted that Brian was the fifth Beatle. His importance to the group is most evident when you consider the group's downhill slide after Epstein's death. The Beatles lost some direction and leadership and this resulted in personality conflicts. Epstein may have been able to prevent this.

The book is certainly still worthy of a read and not just by Beatles fans. It allows the reader, partly, into the mind of a man who was having a major impact on the times and on the future. It is also interesting to speculate how his writing would have developed had the autobiography been written later in his life. Even at this stage he tries to give equal billing to the other artists in the NEMS stable. Good though they were, there was some considerable gap to the Beatles. In addition, if he was able to open up more about his own life. Something that is possible now but maybe less so in those days.

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Details

ISBN: 0-671-01196-0

Republished 1998 by Souvenir Press

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