LITMIR.BIZ

       PROLOGUE

      The Beatles Anthology weighs 8 lb 12 oz and includes references to more than 2,000 people who played a part in the story of the greatest band the world will ever see. It is the Beatles’ own definitive account of their momentous time together. But the man who was by the side of manager Brian Epstein when he first saw the Beatles playing, at the Cavern on 9November 1961, is not mentioned. Apart from John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best, his is the only other name on the Beatles’ first contract. He became the Beatles’ Mr Fixit. He arranged flights, deflected paternity suits, lent money and often a shoulder to cry on. He bought islands, cars and houses for the Fab Four. He survived a determined attempt by John Lennon to turn him on to LSD. He persuaded George Harrison not to quit the group. He lost Ringo in the middle of Paris airport. And he was a grief counsellor for Paul McCartney when Jane Asher dumped him because she came home early and found him in their bed with another woman.

      His name is Alistair Taylor and he has been effectively airbrushed out of official Beatles history. Yet he was the man who shared Epstein’s amazing early dream of transforming this wonderful raw talent into the fabulous finished product which dazzled the globe. Today, Alistair lives on Income Support and his memories. Yet he once turned down the offer of a 2½ per cent share of the Beatles from Brian Epstein. Estimates vary, but some years ago he was reliabiliably informed that he had rejected a deal which would have given him an estimated £150 million.

      In recent years Alistair has scratched a living any way he can. He has taken back-breaking labouring jobs, shovelling lead in a Dickensian factory near his tiny cottage just outside Matlock in the Derbyshire Dales and he has served as a barman and pot-washer in local pubs and hotels.

      Alistair was with the Beatles from their historic first meeting with Brian Epstein through the astonishing Beatlemania years. As a hard-working and trusted member of the exclusive inner circle, he witnessed the transformation of four young Liverpool musicians into the multi-millionaire international icons they became. Alistair was with the doctor who broke into Brian Epstein’s locked bedroom door in 1967 when the charismatic manager was found dead. In the confused aftermath that followed, he was one of the loyal figures who struggled to help the Beatles reorganise their lives. John Lennon asked him to become general manager of Apple Corps and all four Beatles saw Alistair battling to bring some sanity to the commercial mayhem of that enterprise.

      When the Beatles began to break apart and brash American accountant Allen Klein was brought in to take charge, Alistair was the most senior of a long list of employees who were sacked in 1969. It was a shattering blow to a man who had become totally devoted to ‘the boys’. He had never fiddled a penny of his expenses, never sold a whisper of gossip and never wanted more than to play his part in the greatest entertainment success story of the twentieth century.

      Yet when the axe came, he made four telephone calls – not to plead for his job, but to make sure that each of the Beatles knew exactly what was being done in their name. From John, Paul, George and Ringo, the response was precisely the same – not one of them would come to the phone. Alistair believes they were embarrassed, and having given Klein carte blanche to clean up the chaos they could not make any exceptions. Perhaps that embarrassment is why the name of their faithful aide does not appear anywhere in their own version of events. Who knows? Today, Alistair Taylor might be as poor as a church mouse but he is not bitter. He simply wants to tell his story.

      Stafford Hildred

       September, 2001