On January 24th 1963, Brian Epstein's central Liverpool record store, NEMS, received a personal visit from The Beatles before going onto an evening concert in Mold, Wales. Copies of the recently-released Please Please Me single were signed and an impromptu a brief acoustic performance tokk place at the foot of the store's staircase. John Lennon and George Harrison played acoustic guitars; Ringo did the best he could with a single snare drum - Unfortunately no recording of the performance is known to exist.
This week, more of Liverpool's Beatles heritage s being destroyed - the demolition Of NEMS has begun.
Beatles manager Brian Epstein’s NEMS offices on Whitechapel in Liverpool city centre is part of a block that is being cleared to make way for a clothing store.
This is part of a £25m project to build a flagship store for budget retailer Forever 21, nicknamed the ‘American Primark." It means the offices in which the Beatles agreed a five-year management deal with Epstein, a contract that would ultimately pave the way for their world domination, will no longer exist.
On January 24, 1962, John Winston Lennon, George Harrison, James Paul McCartney and Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr) signed a deal that would guarantee them the princely sum of a farthing each for every record sold.
Epstein, who ran the NEMS record store in Whitechapel, drew up the contract after seeing the band’s performances at the Cavern, just up Mathew Street opposite NEMS.
