Rare original Scotch 7-inch reel-to-reel tape containing a 62-minute recording of a March 1967 interview between Brian Epstein and Murray the K of WOR-FM radio. Epstein traveled to New York to announce the merger of NEMS with The Robert Stigwood Organisation and to promote Stigwood acts The Bee Gees, The Who, and Cream. Both the front of the tape and the included Scotch box bear affixed labels that read: “Murray the K & [and] Brian Epstein, Interview, 2 Track Stereo.” During the interview, Epstein talks about a variety of subjects, including rumors of a Beatles split, the Sgt. Pepper's album, the group’s stage performances, the 1966 ‘Bigger than Jesus’ comments by John Lennon, and UK pirate radio stations. He also discusses other artists including Jimi Hendrix, The Monkees, Paul Simon, and The Four Tops. In fine condition. Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Tracks and a signed letter of authenticity from Epstein’s nephew, Henry.
Epstein's business associate Nat Weiss later recalled of this interview: ‘Before he was to give a radio interview with Murray the K, I came into the room (in the Waldorf Towers) to find Brian slurring his language. Obviously, he had taken several Nembutals. He had this interview coming up and there were people in the waiting room waiting to see him, and he was like this. I found the bottle. I had to wrestle with him on the floor, throw the bottle out of the window of the hotel, and just yell at him. Eventually, with coffee and things like that, we got him together and we took him to the interview.’
Per Beatles biographer Mark Lewisohn: ‘The Beatles had many wild and eventful years – every year, in fact – but 1967 was full even by their hectic standards. The album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band…the films Yellow Submarine and Magical Mystery Tour…the formation of Apple…meditating with the Maharishi…and the loss of their manager, mentor, and friend Brian Epstein, who died (aged all of 32) that August. Five months earlier, in March 1967, Epstein was in New York with two other acts his company represented—Cream and the Who—and during this trip he sat down at length with the radio presenter Murray Kaufman, better known as Murray The K…This is the original spool of tape taken away by Brian Epstein at the end of the interview, carried back home to England, and retained by his family ever since. It is the last significant recorded voice of the man who guided the Beatles, the biggest musical force of the 20th century—truly a historic and important artifact.’
Originates from the estate of Brian Epstein.
