Beatles management contract expected to fetch €318,000

The first management contract between The Beatles and their manager Brian Epstein is expected to fetch £250,000 (€318,771) at auction.

The document, billed as the most important music contract of all time, belonged to “fifth Beatle” Epstein, the businessman who helped launch The Beatles to international fame in the 1960s after seeing them play at Liverpool’s now-famous Cavern Club.

He became the band’s manager in 1961 but the contract was not signed by “John Winston Lennon”, “George Harrison”, “James Paul McCartney” and “Richard Starkey” (Ringo Starr) until January 24, 1962.

Epstein only inked his name on the document on October 1, 1962, after getting the Fab Four a deal with EMI for the release of the single 'Love Me Do', following rejections from other record companies.

Epstein said he did not sign earlier because he wanted the Fab Four to have the freedom to walk away if he could not deliver on his promise to get the band a record deal and a Number One.

The valuable piece of music memorabilia also features the names of Harold Hargreaves Harrison and James McCartney, giving consent on behalf of their sons as they were under 21.

Epstein pledged in the document to “undertake all necessary advertising and publicity for the Artists” and to “advise the Artists on all matters concerning clothes, make-up and the presentation and construction of the Artists’ acts”.

He encouraged the band to swap their blue jeans and leather jackets for suits and ties.

In return for his work, Epstein, who also managed Gerry and The Pacemakers, Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas, and Cilla Black, was entitled to a quarter of the band’s earnings if each Beatle made more than £200 (€255) a week.

If their income fell below £100 (€127) a week, Epstein would make 15% and he would take 20% if they earned between £100 and £200.

Epstein was found dead at the age of 32, on August 27, 1967, at his London home after an accidental overdose of sleeping pills.

Following his death, the business affairs of The Beatles rapidly crumbled before they split in 1970.

The contract is being sold by a Beatles’ collector at The Fame Bureau’s 'It’s More Than Rock and Roll' auction on September 4 at the Idea Generation Gallery in London.

Fame Bureau managing director Ted Owen said the contract fetched £125,000 (€159,418) around seven years ago when it was sold by the Epstein estate.

He said: “It is the most important music contract to have ever appeared. There’s no other artist that’s going to be historically, socially or politically as important as this.”

Other items going under the hammer include a grand piano, expected to fetch £400,000 (€510,117), used by The Beatles to record Hey Jude in 1968.

David Bowie, Queen and Elton John also used the Bechstein to compose and record.

Lennon’s lyrics for a song – carved on a piece of wood in India in 1968 while the band were meditating with their guru the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, attempting to get over Epstein’s death – are expected to sell for £55,000 (€70,128).

The song was originally entitled 'Maharishi What Have You Done?' but was changed to 'Sexy Sadie' to save the maharishi from embarrassment. The song appeared on the double album 'The Beatles' (aka the White Album).

A model of the actor Tom Mix that appears on Peter Blake’s 'Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band' album cover in 1967 is expected to fetch £40,000 (€51,000).