Bill Harry

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Bill Harry : biography

17 September 1938 –

The Beatles and Brian Epstein

Harry often heard Lennon, McCartney and Harrison rehearsing or playing in the Art College canteen in the basement, but after Sutcliffe joined The Quarrymen, Harry complained that Sutcliffe should be concentrating on art and not music, as he thought he was a competent, but not brilliant bassist. As Harry and Sutcliffe were members of the Liverpool College of Art’s Student Union committee, they put forward the idea that the college should buy its own P.A. system for college dances, which The Quarrymen often played at, but the equipment would later be appropriated by the group and taken to Hamburg. As late as 7 March 1962, the Student’s Union sent Pete Mackey to ask Lennon to either return the equipment or pay for it, but Lennon told him it had been sold in Hamburg. Harry asked Lennon to write a short biography of The Beatles for the first issue of Mersey Beat, which Harry titled, "Being A Short Diversion On The Dubious Origins Of Beatles, Translated From The [sic] John Lennon": Lennon was very grateful that Harry printed his ‘Dubious Origins’ piece without editing it and later gave Harry a large collection of drawings, poems and stories (approximately 250), telling Harry he was free to publish whatever he liked (under the pseudonym of "Beatcomber", which was appropriated from a Daily Express column, Beachcomber).

Harry convinced Epstein to sell 12 copies of the first Mersey Beat newspaper at his North End Music Stores (NEMS), which sold out in one day, resulting in Epstein having to order more copies. After ordering and selling 144 copies of the second issue, Epstein invited Harry to his office for a glass of sherry, proposing the idea that he (Epstein), should write a record review column. It was published in the third issue on 3 August 1961, entitled "Stop the World—And Listen To Everything In It: Brian Epstein of NEMS". Epstein saw numerous posters around Liverpool advertising concerts by The Beatles as well as in the second issue of Mersey Beat, which had "Beatles sign Recording Contract!" on the front cover, as The Beatles had recorded the "My Bonnie" single with Tony Sheridan in Germany. Some months after its release, Epstein supposedly (as stated in his biography), asked his assistant Alistair Taylor about the single, because a customer, one Raymond Jones, had asked Epstein for the single on 28 October 1961, which made Epstein curious about the group. Harry and McCartney repudiated this story, as Harry had been talking to Epstein about The Beatles for a long time (being the group he promoted the most in Mersey Beat), and by McCartney saying, "Brian [Epstein] knew perfectly well who The Beatles were, they were on the front page of the second issue of Mersey Beat."

The Beatles were due to perform a lunchtime concert at The Cavern Club on 9 November 1961, not far from Epstein’s NEMS store. Epstein asked Harry to arrange for him and Taylor to watch The Beatles perform without queuing at the door. Harry phoned the owner, Ray McFall, who said he would inform the doorman on the day, Delaney, to let Epstein in. Epstein and Taylor bypassed the line of fans at the door and heard a welcome message announced over the club’s public-address system by Wooler: "We have someone rather famous in the audience today, Mr. Brian Epstein, the owner of NEMS …"The Beatles Anthology DVD (2003) (Episode 1 – 0:57:74) Harrison talking about Bob Wooler’s announcement.

Lennon had once given Harry a collection of photos taken in Hamburg, showing Lennon standing on the Reeperbahn reading a newspaper and wearing nothing but his underpants, performing on stage with a toilet seat around his neck, and one of McCartney sitting on a toilet. After Epstein became The Beatles’ manager, Lennon rushed into Harry’s office and asked for them back, saying, "Brian [Epstein] insists I’ve got to get them back—the pictures, everything you’ve got. I must take it all with me now." When Epstein finally secured a recording contract with EMI, he sent Harry a telegram from London to the Mersey Beat office to announce the news.