Noted author discusses the ‘Fifth Beatle’ during Walnut Ridge event

When Broadway producer and Tony Award winner Vivek Tiwary decided to write a book about the Beatles first manager, Brian Epstein, he made two key decisions. He decided to put in a graphic form, almost like a comic, and he made the calculation to complete the novel before pitching it to publishers.

His ideas worked and the book “The Fifth Beatle” became a New York Times best seller. Tiwary told Talk Business & Politics there’s little doubt Epstein was one of the reasons the Beatles became iconic and his untimely death was part of the group’s demise. Tiwary spoke during the Beatles at The Ridge festival in Walnut Ridge on Friday (Sept. 14).

“Brian thought of the Beatles as his boys. … They were a family,” he said.

The graphic novel format of the book came from Tiwary’s own reading experiences, he said. As a child he learned to read with comic books. Two renowned comic artists, Andrew C. Robinson and Kyle Baker agreed to take part in the project, he said. Dark House Comics agreed to publish the book.

“The Fifth Beatle” details how Epstein discovered the band in Liverpool in the fall of 1961. He’d heard rumors about a popular local band and he went to local club, The Cavern Club on Nov. 9, 1961. Epstein was 27 years old at the time, and he became friends with John Lennon and Paul McCartney. George Harrison LAO was in the band, and eventually Ringo Starr was brought in as the band’s drummer.

Epstein believed early on the group was special and could be “bigger than Elvis.” He made the band members wear suits and had them cut their hair a certain way. Female fans flocked to the clubs and other venues the band played in throughout western Europe at the time.

His branding ideas worked and the band became a sensation in Great Britain. When the song “I want to hold your hand” topped the American music charts in 1964, the band made its first trip to the United States. On Feb. 9, 1964 the band played on the Ed Sullivan Show, and it marked the beginning of the so-called “British invasion” of the American music scene.

It was during an American tour later that year that the band landed in Walnut Ridge. The band wanted to take a few days break from the tour to recuperate, and decided to go to a dude ranch in Alton, Mo. They left Dallas Sept. 18, 1964 and headed for Walnut Ridge airport, one of the few in the region large enough to handle the jet in which they were traveling. Lennon, Starr, and Harrison exited the jet and got into a smaller plane that took them to the ranch. McCartney was scared of the smaller plane, and opted to be driven to the ranch.

It’s the only time the band set foot in Arkansas while they were together.

As the band became internationally famous, Epstein had to juggle the young musicians’ egos, especially Lennon’s and McCartney’s. The two had played together for several years before the Beatles formed and where friends, but the two were strong-willed. Epstein was friends with both, and they trusted him, Tiwary said. There was no question who the leader of the band was, however.

“There’s no question that John Lennon was the leader, and Brian dealt with him the most,” Tiwary said.

The Beatles produced number one hit after number one hit as the 1960s advanced. Epstein died unexpectedly in August 1967 from an accidental drug overdose at the age of 32. Without Epstein’s calming influence, band members started to drift apart, and two years later the Beatles were no more.

The Beatles would have likely split even if Epstein had lived, but it would have been handled much differently, Tiwary said. Epstein said the exit would have been orderly and “graceful,” not the volcanic split that mired Beatles history, he said. One thing is certain: Band members considered Epstein as one of their own.

“If anyone was the fifth Beatle, it was Brian,” McCartney once said.