The Beatles booking manager Joe Flannery, who worked with the band as a booking manager from 1962 – 1963, has died in Aigburth, Liverpool at the age of 87. He played a pivotal role in launching The Beatles’ career, even being called the ‘secret’ Beatle.
Flannery’s nephew Norman Meek said about the tragic death to NME, “He had been unwell for the past month but he was still making plans for the future. Fans from all over the world would call at his home and he was always happy to speak with them.
He had a song, ‘Much Missed Man’, and I’m sure the city would agree with that sentiment.”
Flannery met future Beatles manager Brian Epstein at Epstein’s house, as their mothers were doing business together.
“He was quite a handful and I thought at the time something of a spoilt brat,” Flannery wrote in his 2013 book Standing in the Wings: The Beatles, Brian Epstein and Me. “So much so in fact that he had me in tears by the end of the afternoon” when Flannery went to play with a toy coach and Brian “deliberately trod on the lead horses, breaking their legs, rather than have it distract my attention away from him.”
“I remember Brian coming to me and asking if I’d go round the clubs taking bookings for the Beatles because he was very well-spoken and didn’t think it would suit if he was going round taking the bookings,” he said in 2015. “So that became my job and Brian handled the contacts and business side of things. We would meet up every few days to share notes. We had other bands on our books too, such as Gerry and the Pacemakers, Cilla [Black], Beryl Marsden and Billy J Kramer.”
