As I’ve noted before, I’m a huge fan of the Beatles. Humongous fan. I have been so since I was in kindergarten (1963-1964). Today, I’m enjoying listening to the newly released digitally remastered stereo recordings of their entire oeuvre [that’s French for “oeuvre”].
I am a very happy boy!
And I’m even happier to have read this excellent analysis, by Daniel Finkelstein, of Brian Epstein’s role in managing the Beatles. Here’s a key point from Finkelstein’s article:
Appreciating the role of Epstein, allows one to appreciate that the Beatles are as much a triumph of commerce as of art. They were not merely brilliant musicians fusing avant-garde influences with rhythm and blues music. They were a showbiz act managed by an inspired entrepreneur. They weren’t simply class rebels against the Establishment, they were the brilliant product of capitalist enterprise, the early pioneers of globalisation.
(HT Mason Drake)
