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The contract that John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George
Harrison and Ringo Starr approved on Oct. 1, 1962, confirmed
Brian Epstein, sometimes known as the fifth Beatle, as their
manager, and also brought in Ringo as their drummer.
It was the second contract the Beatles had signed with Epstein,
a former record-shop owner who became enamored of the group
after listening to them over and over at the Cavern Club in
Liverpool.
The contract replaced one the group had signed in January of the
same year, which had included Pete Best as drummer. He was
replaced by Richard Starkey, better known as Ringo.
It was signed days before the release of their first top-selling
single, "Love Me Do".
“Without this contract, and the relationship it represents, it
seems inconceivable that the Beatles could have achieved all
that they did," Gabriel Heaton, Sotheby’s specialist in books
and manuscripts, said in a statement.
"It took more than inspired musicianship and song-writing to
remake popular music. The presentation, direction, and internal
harmony of the Beatles all owed a huge amount to Brian Epstein.
He was, as Paul McCartney has acknowledged, the Fifth Beatle.”
The contract was included in a Sotheby's sale in London of rock
and pop memorabilia.
($1 = 0.6599 pounds)
(Writing by Michael Roddy; Editing by Susan Thomas)
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