Bill Harry tells true story of how Brian met the Beatles

Bill Harry tells true story of how Brian met the Beatles
by David Haber, WGO Managing Editor

In an exclusive article published today on the Internet Beatles News
and Opinion Magazine, Beatles Today, Mersey Beat founder Bill Harry
tells how it really happened that Brian Epstein came to be interested
in the Beatles.

In his autobiography, A Cellarful of Noise, published in 1964, famous
Beatles manager Brian Epstein tells the story of teenager Raymond Jones
who happened into Brian's record shop asking for a record by a "German
group called the Beatles". But Bill Harry says it couldn't possibly
have happened that way.

Bill says he met and had a relationship with Brian previous to this
time. He had just started the new Mersey Beat paper, and was
distributing them to stores by hand. He says, "At NEMS in Whitechapel I
asked to see the manager and a dapper young man called Brian Epstein
came down the stairs from his office. I showed him the publication,
explained its content and he took a dozen copies. Then he began to
phone me ordering more and more copies. With issue No. 2 he ordered 12
dozen copies, an incredible amount of newspapers from a single store.

Bill Harry with The Beatles
"Brian called me into the office to discuss the newspaper. He poured
over the pages, astonished that such a thriving music scene existed
around him. He asked if he could be my record reviewer and his reviews
began to appear beginning in Issue No. 3. on 3 August.

"Brian Epstein invited me to lunch on a couple of occasions to discuss
this new musical scene which he found exciting. He asked me if I could
arrange for him to visit the Cavern one lunchtime so that he could have
a look at these Beatles himself.

"I had discussed the Beatles on numerous occasions with Brian, he had
noticed them in his store during the months following their lunchtime
sessions at the Cavern. They'd drop into NEMS to listen to the B sides
of records in the recording booths - and Pete Best even recalls Eppy
looking at the boys clad in black leather to ask his shop girls who
they were.

"I don't know the reason why Brian opened his book 'A Cellarful of
Noise' with the claim that he'd never heard of the Beatles until a boy
came into his store on 28 October asking for a copy of the record which
I'd promoted in the pages of Mersey Beat, but the physical copies of
Mersey Beat, display the truth in black and white and put the lie to
it."

Mr. Harry recounts many more remembrances from the earliest years of
Mersey Beat on this, its 45th Anniversary, in the new article on
Beatles Today. The full article can be read here.

fattuchus...

Bill Harry is a fascinating person. He has a lot of knowledge
regarding the Beatles' "early days." For example, he was friends with
Stu and John before the Beatles were famous. He also claims to know
and recall quite a few details.

Cynthia's book "John" and the site had comments by someone who called
himself "William Harry" (I think) and he wrote a number of paragraphs
disputing the "facts" mentioned in Cynthia's book. Although I don't
know who or what to believe, this reviewer's writing style and his
meory for detail was impressive.

Thanks for the interesting post.

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