![]() Napier-Bell, part of the reason British gay men of his era gravitated to the music business was because it was one of the few areas “where you could be out amongst yourselves. Their sexual orientation was mirrored by Americans including Nat Weiss (who oversaw the Beatles’ business interests and later managed James Taylor), Danny Fields (who managed Iggy Pop and the Stooges and, later, the Ramones), as well as music moguls including David Geffen and Clive Davis (who identifies as bisexual).Īccording to Mr. As managers of some of the era’s most potent British rock bands, they stood at the forefront of sounds, sensibilities and styles that would demolish and remake pop culture. ![]() Epstein was assaulted and was the target of blackmail before he died in 1967 from an accidental overdose of sleeping pills and alcohol.Īt the same time, many of these men had great power within their circle. Up until 1967, being gay was illegal in Britain, and long after that law changed, gay men remained a target of police entrapment, blackmail and beatings. Daltrey said in “Lambert & Stamp.” “Kit had this fearless quality.”Īt the time, men like Mr. “Kit was the only ‘posh’ guy I ever met who wouldn’t talk down to me,” Mr. Lambert, who had an upper-class background at a time when those of his tier rarely interacted with working-class ruffians like Mr. Roger Daltrey, the lead singer of the Who, had a similar respect for Mr. Nilsson had a rapprochement with the band and worked closely with John Lennon.) “George, like all the Beatles, was extremely supportive of Brian. “In a heartbeat, Harry was out of the house,” Mr. Epstein’s sexuality was known by many in the industry at the time.) “It was all great until Harry said, ‘The only thing is, I don’t think I could be managed by a gay man.’” (Mr. ![]() “George was talking about how wonderful the whole thing was going to be, trying to convince Harry to join the company,” Mr. Wenner did not come out to the press until the mid-1990s). And the documentary film “ Lambert & Stamp” made clear the important role played by Kit Lambert, the gay co-manager of the Who, in shaping the band’s identity.Īnother image maker of the classic-rock era, Jann Wenner, the co-founder of Rolling Stone, is the subject of a new biography by Joe Hagan, “Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine,” which stresses the role his sexuality played in his presentations of male rock stars throughout the magazine’s history. “The Fifth Beatle,” a recent graphic novel that focuses on the personal life of the Fab Four’s gay manager, Brian Epstein, was a New York Times best seller and is now in development as a six-part mini-series, with the approval of the Beatles’ estate. Lately, however, they have become a point of pride and celebration. Managers groomed them and shaped them, and in the classic rock era those managers were often gay men.įor decades, the close relationships between the managers and the predominantly straight musicians they advised were not discussed much. But those who embodied that character didn’t spring from nowhere. One of the 20th century’s most powerful creations was the rock star: the preening, erotic god of guitar-fired defiance.
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