Gary Kemp’s auction find reveals Brian Epstein’s 1967 world
Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp bought Brian Epstein’s address book at auction and used it with filmmaker Simon Halfon to create a book about the Beatles’ manager and his world. The project turns a collection of contacts into a portrait of Epstein in 1967, showing the people and pressures surrounding him in the final months of his life.
Kemp paid £10,710 for the black binder, which contains 57 pages and 404 entries, many handwritten by Epstein. The pair researched the names and assembled images, tracing Epstein’s connections across music, business and London society. Their book, *1967: The World of Brian Epstein and the Beatles*, presents these findings as an alphabetical series of fragments rather than a conventional biography.
- Gary Kemp paid £10,710 for Brian Epstein’s address book.
- The book contains 404 entries across 57 pages.
- Its contacts reveal Epstein’s world in 1967.
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Brian Epstein was the Beatles’ manager and helped guide their career from their early days to international fame. By 1967, the band’s success had brought major changes, while Epstein was dealing with the demands of managing their affairs and his own personal pressures.
Epstein’s address book recorded contacts from music, business and London social life. Looking at who appears in it can help show the network around him and the world he moved through in the final months of his life.
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Originally published by The Guardian as “‘He’s terrified, panicked, can’t sleep’: the tragic, lonely death of Beatles manager Brian Epstein”.