Alan Bradley - For No One

AlanBradley

Copyright 2013by Alan Bradley

SmashwordsEdition

All rights reserved. This book or any portionthereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoeverwithout the express written permission of the publisher except forthe use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarlyjournal.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Laverna
Priestley Court
Staffs.Technology Park, Staffordshire, ST18 0LQ

http://www. for-no-one.com

enquiries@for-no-one.com

The Beatles were one of the most importantmusical phenomena of the twentieth century and ruled the musicalworld for much of the sixties. Together with the inspiredmanagement of Brian Epstein, it can truly be stated that theychanged the world. Epstein found a rough-and-ready group playingsmall clubs in and around Liverpool. Within five years he developedthem into the group chosen to represent the United Kingdom in thefirst ever satellite broadcast to the world!

But there were dark aspects to the Beatles storyto go along with the million-sellers, and the record-breakingtours. Lost opportunities, millions of pounds squandered or stolen,and the involvement of some very unpleasant characters.

This book is an affectionate and penetratingretelling of that amazing story, laced with a huge amount ofmaterial never previously released. For the first time ever, thisbook tells the true and incredible story of Seltaeb, the companyset up to sell Beatles merchandise around the world. As a result ofdreadful errors, caused by stupidity and arrogance, the deal whichset up Seltaeb cost the Beatles untold millions during thedecade.

And those mistakes and those lost millions leddirectly to the problems and conflicts which caused the break-up ofthe Beatles at the end of the decade. Along that painful road camethe alleged death of Paul McCartney in November 1966 and themysterious death of Brian Epstein in August 1967

"For No One" is the story of the Beatles rise tosuper-stardom and their descent into a petty squabbling break-up, aprocess accelerated by two tragic events.

The first was the alleged accidental death ofPaul McCartney in a car crash in 1966.

The second was the death of Brian Epstein, atthe age of 32, just weeks after the release of Sergeant Pepperand All You Need is Love. On top of the world, and then Epsteinis dead. Accident? Suicide? Or something more sinister broughtabout by those dark elements that crawl all over the Beatlesstory?

Alan Bradley has been responsible for theproduction of a number of fiction and non-fiction books, plus alarge catalogue of television and radio scripts. The work on ForNo One was first created some fifteen years ago, but all of thelimited number of manuscripts disappeared in unexplainedcircumstances.

Fresh, intensive research and exhaustiveinterviews with major characters has led to new information beinguncovered, and the decision to re-write the book. This newpublication in novel form tells the full, eventful tale to enablereaders to learn about these tragic and bizarre incidents. Even ifnot persuaded by the author or the story, it is certain thatreaders will be left using one word to describe much of the sad,tumultuous Seltaeb story.

Curious!

A book of this scale requires a great deal ofwork, but it is a task that cannot be achieved in isolation.Particularly in this case, for I am indebted to the support offamily and friends during the long wearying months to get themanuscript completed.

More notably, I must express thanks to BradleyReed for his constant encouragement, and also for his adroit designand formatting skills which have proved so helpful to theproject.

And finally, it is imperative to expressheartfelt thanks to two major characters in the book. John Fentonand Lord Peregrine Eliot were pivotal figures in the Seltaeb storybut their significance has been largely forgotten. At the start ofthe project I knew very little about these men, largely because,like so many others I had swallowed the accepted myths about theoverwhelming importance of Nicky Byrne.

Writing this book has been therapeutic for me inmany ways, not least because I have been able to shatter some ofthose myths and restore John Fenton and Lord Eliot to the historicimportance they deserve for their roles in the story of the Beatlesand Brian Epstein.

Without their enthusiastic, considered andinformative contributions, the book would have been much harder towrite, and the process would have been much less enjoyable. Mysincere thanks go out to both of them.

Finally, I must give thanks to, and clarify theexistence of, Chrissie, who features so strongly in this book.Chrissie does not exist. However, she is an invented character whois an amalgam of two real women, one of whom lives in New York andone in Oxfordshire. Both were happy to speak to me, once I hadproved that I could be trusted, but neither wished to be identifiedby name. Both had concerns about having their name attached to thebook, and both were, perhaps surprisingly, worried about theirsafety. And this some fifty years after the events described in thebook.

And surely any sensible person would regard thatas curious.

Extremely curious.

The Beatles had to stop performing. Thesongs werent theirs anymore. They belonged to everybody - ElvisCostello

You can put a price on what Brian Epstein'lost' for the Beatles. You can't put a price on what he gave them- Dennis O'Dell

I'd always felt that Brian was extremelyefficient, but it soon became clear to me that while he was adeptat arranging tours, he had no financial expertise of any kind. -James Isherwood

I have a box of evidence that's going to acertain person, should anything happen to me, so if you top me offit's still going to that person, and the truth will come out. Iknow everything and I know the truth- Heather Mills

I am the last remainingBeatle - Ringo Starr

It had been an extended, and generally painfulprocess, but finally the edit was finished. We could turn thefinished programme over to the Channel and let their Schedulingmaestros get to work. Find the time when the most people could beinduced to view my programme, but nobody, least of all me, expectedthat to be a large number.

"Pub?" enquired Jeff, the producer and consolewizard, breezily as he wiped his right hand wearily across hiseyes.

"Please!" I groaned. "I need to get out of here,get somewhere without glowing lights on a computer and banks ofmonitor screens."

"Sounds like the King's Head" he smiled. "Comeon, I'm buying."

Twenty minutes later, after closing everythingdown and sending the hard disk off to the Production Company on amotorbike courier, we were drinking in the lager and the wildsights of Soho. It was a warm, perhaps unseasonably warm, night inMay and the sudden end of the prolonged winter had brought out thescantily-clad peacocks of every brand and sexual persuasion.

"That's one edit I'm not sorry to see the backof!" remarked Jeff heavily.

"It's not been that bad" I replied, consciousthat the workload had fallen much more heavily on him.

"They're squeezing all the time. Less time inpre-prod, less time for filming, and editing is becoming a realluxury. I had to fight for the time and the money for you to finishthe voice-overs!"

I took a healthy swig of my lager, took off myglasses and rubbed my stinging eyes, which seemed to have been madeworse by the bright early evening sunshine. I know it's notcoalmining but editing tv shows can be really hard, intensive work,especially when you know that what you're editing is a heap ofcrap.

"Want to grab a bite to eat?" I asked. "There'sa Pizza Hut round the corner, on Charlotte Street."

"I know!" laughed Jeff. "I've been there before- with you!"