Alistair Taylor

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Alistair Taylor bigraphy, stories - Personal Assistant and General Manager

Alistair Taylor : biography

1935-6-21 – 2004-6-9

James Alistair Taylor (21 June 1935 – 9 June 2004) was the English personal assistant of Brian Epstein who accompanied him to the Cavern Club when he first saw The Beatles play on 9 November 1961. Taylor later became General Manager of Apple Corps for a short period.

Artistic work

Books

He was the author of :

  • Yesterday: The Beatles Remembered with Martin Robers, Pan Macmillan (7 April 1988), ISBN 0-283-99621-8
  • Yesterday: My Life With the Beatles (a reedition of the last) Movie Publisher Services (July, 1991) ISBN 1-55698-292-5
  • A Secret History, an Inside Account of The Beatles’ Rise and Fall, published in 2003. Blake (December 2001) ISBN 1-903402-24-7
  • With the Beatles (a reedition of the last) John Blake Publishing, Limited (1 September 2003) ISBN 1-904034-73-X

Taylor collaborated in his official biography :

  • Hello Goodbye: The Story of Mr. Fixit by George Gunby, Yesterday Once More (2001) ISBN 0-9542120-0-2

Theatre

  • "From Cavern to Rooftop" in which he spoke about his memories with interludes of Beatles music.

Tapes

He made a series of six audio tapes with the titles of: "From Cavern to Rooftop" ; "From Strawberry Fields to Magical Mystery Tour" ; "Remembering Brian" ;"Inside Apple" ; "John" and "Paul". These are available as CDs from Yesterday Once More. Alistair also narrated "A Beatles Liverpool Guide – Walk and Drive".

Biography

Born in Runcorn, Taylor did his National Service in the Royal Air Force and worked in a series of jobs as a mover, timber importer and docker in the Liverpool Docks, before being successfully interviewed by Brian Epstein for a salesman job at North End Music Stores (NEMS). Brian liked him so much that he decided to offer him a job as his personal assistant in the shop.

Alleged role in Epstein’s discovery of the Beatles

Taylor said he invented the name of Raymond Jones to order Tony Sheridan’s album, which featured backing music by the Beatles, because he thought NEMS was losing sales by not stocking the disc:

Taylor’s claim is in some doubt, as NEMS and Epstein communicated with a real Raymond Jones to acknowledge their debt once the Beatles became famous.http://www.beatlesbible.com/features/raymond-jones-interview/

The Cavern

Taylor accompanied Epstein to the Cavern Club when he first saw The Beatles play on 9 November 1961. During the show Taylor met The Beatles, and his opinion was "..these four horrible young men on stage, dressed in black leather trousers, black jackets, smoking, drinking and making noise. .", but also said "…they were charismatic and exciting" and "I thought they were sensational"Interview by Juan Agüeras, in The Beatles Garden, fanzine of the Spanish Sergeant Beatles Fan Club, Nº 18, 1997

As Brian Epstein’s personal assistant, Taylor witnessed crucial moments in the Beatles’ career and was present at the signing of the first contract with Brian (which Taylor signed as "In the presence of:").

In 1962, Taylor worked for Pye Records for 15 months, and moved to London (before the Beatles) due to his wife’s asthma.

Mr. Fixit

In 1963 Taylor returned to NEMS to work as general manager for £1,550 per annum.

The Beatles named him Mr. Fixit for his ability to find solutions to all the boys’ needs. For example:

  • Buying cigarettes
  • Hiring limousines
  • Devising escapes from Beatles’ fans after their performances
  • Organizing holiday trips
  • Acting as consultant to John for the purchase of Dorinish Island (Ireland) for £1,550.
  • Being the middle-man in the purchase of High Park, the Scottish farm, for Paul, Jane, and Martha
  • Renting the Magical Mystery Tour bus
  • Resolving the copyright issues around the photographs of famous faces on Peter Blake’s cover for Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
  • Arranging the money exchange in the unsuccessful purchase of the Greek island of Leslo (July 1967).The Beatles: A diary, Barry Miles, Omnibus Press, 1998, ISBN 978-0-7119-6315-3