On this day in 1961, The Beatles met their manager, Brian Epstein

Epstein was at the time working as the head of the record department of  his family’s music store  In Liverpool, NEMS, where he gained an extensive knowledge of the pop music business. In mid 1961, he started seeing The Beatles on posters and in the Mersey Beat magazine, prompting him to ask the editor, Bill Harry, about the band. Before long customer of the shop where Epstein worked asked him to order a single by the band, “My Bonnie”.

Epstein had also been frequenting the Cavern Club over the year, and was informed  of a lunchtime performance by The Beatles. He contacted Harry and asked him to arrange for him and personal assistant Alistair Taylor to watch the show. His call allowed him to skip the queue and an announcement welcomed him over the PA system as the famous owner of the NEMS, informing the band of his visit. 

After the show, Epstein and Taylor went to the dressing room to meet with the group, and were immediately recognised by the band, being regulars of NEMS themselves. He and Taylor congratulated the band then left for dinner, where they discussed the performance. Taylor called them “awful” while Epstein said he thought they were “tremendous”. At the end of the dinner Epstein asked Taylor if he thought he should manage the group. 

Over the next three weeks the band played regularly at the Cavern Club, and Epstein watched every performance. He soon contacted their previous manager Allan Williams to confirm he was no longer in the position and was warned away from the group due to their refusal to pay a percentage from a Hamburg concert. This didn’t do much to dissuade Epstein who arranged a meeting at NEMS on the 3rd of December where he proposed managing the group. By the end of January 1962 their contract had been finalised. As manager Epstein carefully influenced their early dress code and on-stage attitude, as well as being responsible for the replacement of Pete Best with Ringo Starr. 

Epstein remained manager of the band until his eventual death of a barbiturate overdose in August of 1967. The band attempted to manage themselves for a time, and later found themselves in a dispute over who should take the position. Before anything could be settled, Lennon announced he was leaving the group and they recorded their last music together.