Terry Doran
Terence James Doran (14 December 1939 – 18 April 2020)
Doran first met the Beatles in Liverpool, through Epstein, and sold the band their first car, as well as the van in which they travelled to gigs around the North of England. He relocated to London in 1963 when they moved south to capitalise on their national breakthrough. He remained among the group's inner circle, along with other friends from Liverpool who went on to work at Apple, and was a trusted confidant to each of the band members. He is often cited as the inspiration behind the line "Meeting a man from the motor trade" in the Beatles' 1967 song "She's Leaving Home", although Paul McCartney later denied the story. Doran died in 2020 of COVID-19, aged 80.
Early life
Doran was born in 1939 and grew up in Liverpool. His parents were Joseph and Elizabeth (née Molloy) Doran.[1] He was the second of four children,[2] and had three sisters.[1] His childhood nickname was "Teddy".[3]
Career
Car sales and dealership
Liverpool
After leaving school, Doran started working for a
As a salesman for Hawthorne Motors in Warrington, Doran sold the first car owned by a member of the Beatles – a blue Ford Anglia – to George Harrison, the youngest member of the group.[6] In exchange for the reasonable terms offered by Doran, Harrison agreed to pose with his bandmates John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and the car, in an advertisement for Hawthorne.[6] The ad appeared in the local Mersey Beat music newspaper in July 1962, at a time when the Beatles' popularity had yet to expand beyond the north of England and the club circuit in Hamburg.[7] Doran then supplied the band – who were soon to fire Pete Best as their drummer and probably lose Best's van as their means of transportion to gigs – with an eight-seater Ford Thames van, which NEMS purchased on the group's behalf.[8]
London
In 1963, Doran moved to London when Epstein relocated NEMS there, following the Beatles' national breakthrough. He shared a flat in Shepherd Market in Mayfair with BBC Radio producer Bernie Andrews.[9] According to Harrison's first wife, Pattie Boyd, Doran's move from Liverpool came about through a heated telephone conversation with Bradshaw Webb, an upmarket car dealership in Chelsea, during which Doran declared, "If you treat your customers anything like you treat me you're fucked – you'll never sell another car." The company's chairman responded by sending him a first-class train ticket to London and offering him a job.[10] As a Bradshaw Webb salesman, Doran sold a Maserati to Epstein, who became interested in the potential of a car sales business.[10]
Doran co-owned (with Epstein) and ran the car dealership Brydor,
Epstein added to his own car collection with a customised Bentley S3 saloon. Doran fulfilled this order by having the car delivered to Heathrow Airport as Epstein and the Beatles returned to England after the group's highly successful first American tour.[1] Lennon started buying cars from Brydor even though he did not possess a driving licence at first,[12] while Starr only passed his driving test in October 1964.[13] Starr then spent a day selecting a car before settling on the Facel Vega, which he test-drove by taking it up the M1 motorway at 140 miles an hour.[14]
Brydor's business thrived as English rock stars were drawn to Epstein's connection to the company.[12] Among Doran's other sportscar customers were Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, Lionel Bart, and members of the Moody Blues and the Yardbirds. When Andrew Loog Oldham, the Rolling Stones' manager, was undecided about the colour of a particular model he wanted, Doran had eight cars in different colours circle Berkeley Square so that Oldham could make his choice from his office window overlooking the square.[1] According to Boyd, Epstein was delighted when Doran made cash deals but would then gamble the money away, resulting in the enterprise's failure.[10]
Music publishing and management
Following Epstein's death in August 1967, the Beatles decided to manage themselves
After signing songwriter
Through Doran's introduction, Liverpool singer Jackie Lomax became one of the first acts signed to Apple Records.[26] In November 1968, when Grapefruit parted ways with Apple Publishing, Doran commented in The People: "I like the Beatles as friends, but not bosses ... there's too much driftwood at Apple."[27] He enjoyed success as the manager of Apple Records artist Mary Hopkin, although Hopkin later said she was highly dissatisfied with his management.[28] Doran's role as manager of Apple Publishing ended in 1969 after Lennon, Harrison and Starr appointed Allen Klein to manage Apple Corps.[29]
In early 1970, Doran became estate manager at Harrison's new property, Friar Park, in Oxfordshire.[30][31] He assisted Harrison in renovating the Victorian-era house and gardens, much of which was dilapidated.[32][33] The project took over four years to complete.[34] He worked at Harrison's company Oops Publishing until resigning in February 1975.[35]
After leaving Friar Park in the early 1980s, Doran ran a business in California renting out rehearsal space. He later returned to car sales, working at a dealership on London's Park Lane.[2]
Social and creative interaction with the Beatles
Following the Beatles' retirement as live performers in 1966, Doran was among a select coterie of friends, all from Liverpool or Hamburg, that shared in a bond between the band members that their wives and girlfriends were unable to break.
During the sessions for the group's 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Doran joined Beatles aides Mal Evans and Neil Aspinall in contributing percussion to the song "Strawberry Fields Forever".[42] He also supplied Lennon with the verb that had eluded him in the line "Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall", from "A Day in the Life".[43][44][nb 3] He is often cited as the "man from the motor trade" mentioned in another Sgt. Pepper track, "She's Leaving Home", although McCartney later denied the story.[45]
When Derek Taylor, the Beatles' former press officer, returned from California shortly before the album's release, he and his wife Joan were surprised to be met at the airport by Lennon, Harrison and Doran all transformed in their hippie clothes and preaching an ethos of universal love.[46][nb 4] In July 1967, the Beatles travelled to Greece with the intention of buying an island in the Aegean Sea and setting up a hippie-style commune.[49] The community would have included Doran, Aspinall, Evans and Taylor,[50] but the idea came to nothing.[51]
After Lennon left Cynthia for Japanese avant-garde artist
Doran shared Harrison's fascination with Indian religion.
After leaving Harrison's estate in the 1980s, Doran remained intensely loyal to the Beatles. In the same 1981 TV interview, he described the band as "the finest human beings I've known". Unlike other members of their inner circle, he refused all offers to write a memoir of his years with the group, and turned down requests to take part in documentaries about them.[2]
Illness and death
Doran suffered from poor health and was afflicted with Parkinson's disease. He spent his final years living in a nursing home in north London.[2]
His death, at age 80, was announced by Mark Lewisohn on 19 April 2020. Lewisohn did not provide a precise date nor details on the cause of death, but wrote: "Not only the 'man from the motor trade' in She's Leaving Home, also a Scouse pal of Brian Epstein (manager of their Brydor Cars business), mate to all the Beatles, a laugh, joint-roller and merry tripper, ran Apple Music and was George's PA at Friar Park."[37] According to his obituary in The Daily Telegraph on 26 April, Doran died of COVID-19.[2]
Pattie Boyd wrote: "So saddened to hear of the passing of Terry Doran. Terry was a major part of my life at Friar Park and he was also very close to George."[37] Former Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley described him as a "wonderful man" and recalled how, when Shirley was eighteen, Doran presented him with Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi to help comfort him when his mother died.[2]
Notes
- ^ Epstein had planned the publishing company with Doran in the manager's role.[19] Apple Music changed its name to Apple Corps in January 1968.[21]
- ^ Along with Harrison and Boyd, he was part of the support group for what Lennon titled "Operation Cynthia" – namely, to ensure that Cynthia had a pleasant, controlled LSD experience and would appreciate the heightened perception and sense of enlightenment afforded by the drug. Cynthia was nevertheless terrified by the experience.[41]
- ^ At the time, Lennon said of this contribution: "It was Terry who said 'fill' the Albert Hall ... Perhaps I was looking for that word all the time, but couldn't put my tongue on it. Other people don't necessarily give you a word or a line, they just throw in the word you're looking for anyway."[43]
- ^ During this time, Doran's car was a Rover with a psychedelic paint design by The Fool,[2] a Dutch design collective much favoured by the Beatles in 1967.[47][48]
- ^ On the record's inner sleeve, Harrison gave thanks to "Ted Doran".[61]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Terry Doran obituary". The Times. 22 April 2020. p. 52. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Telegraph Obituaries (26 April 2020). "Terry Doran, confidant of the Beatles and Brian Epstein – obituary". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 27 April 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
- ^ a b O'Dell 2009, p. 131.
- ^ Lewisohn 2013, p. 277.
- ^ Lewisohn 2013, p. 570.
- ^ a b Lewisohn 2013, pp. 618, 683.
- ^ Lewisohn 2013, p. 683.
- ^ Lewisohn 2013, p. 684.
- ^ Clayson 2003, p. 151.
- ^ a b c Boyd 2007, p. 142.
- ^ a b c Harding, G.H. (20 April 2020). "The Glorious Corner" > "Terry Doran RIP". Times Square Chronicles. Archived from the original on 24 April 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
- ^ a b c d Brown & Gaines 2002, p. 163.
- ^ Miles 2001, p. 173.
- ^ Miles 2001, p. 174.
- ^ Ingham 2006, pp. 43–44.
- ^ Clayson 2003, pp. 237–38.
- ^ Doggett 2011, pp. 30–31.
- ^ Womack 2014, pp. 43–44.
- ^ a b The Beatles 2000, p. 270.
- ^ Norman 1996, pp. 321, 325–26.
- ^ Doggett 2011, p. 28.
- ^ Yorke, Ritchie (21 December 1968). "Life at the Core of the Beatles' Apple". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 19 September 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2020 – via ritchieyorke.com.
- ^ Everett 1999, p. 144.
- ^ "Beatles' Firm, Melcher Deal". Billboard. 23 December 1967. p. 4. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
- ^ Brown & Gaines 2002, p. 287.
- ^ Clayson 2003, pp. 239–40.
- ^ Miles 2001, p. 320.
- ^ Everett 1999, p. 208.
- ^ Womack 2014, p. 237.
- ^ Clayson 2003, p. 319.
- ^ a b Harrison 2002, p. 71fn.
- ^ O'Dell 2009, pp. 130, 136.
- ^ Harrison 2002, pp. 71–72.
- ^ Boyd 2007, p. 153.
- ^ Badman 2001, p. 151.
- ^ Norman 1996, pp. 276–77.
- ^ a b c Best Classic Bands staff (20 April 2020). "Beatles Associate Terry Doran Dies". Best Classic Bands. Archived from the original on 22 April 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
- ^ Brown & Gaines 2002, pp. 206, 268.
- ^ O'Dell 2009, p. 130.
- ^ Brown & Gaines 2002, p. 204.
- ^ Norman 2008, pp. 463–64.
- ^ MacDonald 1998, p. 188.
- ^ a b The Beatles 2000, p. 247.
- ^ Everett 1999, p. 117.
- ^ Miles 1997, p. 316.
- ^ Norman 2008, pp. 496–97.
- ^ Clayson 2003, pp. 211, 238.
- ^ Everett 1999, p. 307.
- ^ Norman 1996, p. 299.
- ^ The Beatles 2000, p. 258.
- ^ Miles 2001, pp. 273–74.
- ^ Boyd 2007, pp. 142–43.
- ^ Bosso, Joe (22 July 2019). "Peter Frampton Tells All: Life-Changing Diagnosis, New Album, Harrison, Bowie and Humble Pie". Guitar World. Archived from the original on 2 December 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
- ^ Chelstowski, Ray (24 July 2019). "Peter Frampton Gives His Farewell to the Road". Goldmine. Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
- ^ Clayson 2003, p. 350.
- ^ Harrison 2002, p. 304.
- ^ Spizer 2005, pp. 226, 228.
- ^ Boyd 2007, pp. 156–57.
- ^ Boyd 2007, pp. 163–64.
- ^ Spizer 2005, pp. 265–66.
- ^ Spizer 2005, pp. 265, 267.
Sources
- Badman, Keith (2001). The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After the Break-Up 1970–2001. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-7119-8307-6.
- ISBN 0-8118-2684-8.
- ISBN 978-0-7553-1646-5.
- ISBN 978-0-4512-0735-7.
- ISBN 1-86074-489-3.
- ISBN 978-0-06-177418-8.
- ISBN 0-19-512941-5.
- ISBN 978-0-8118-5900-4.
- Ingham, Chris (2006). The Rough Guide to the Beatles. London: Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-84353-720-5.
- ISBN 978-0-316-72960-4.
- ISBN 978-0-7126-6697-8.
- ISBN 0-8050-5249-6.
- Miles, Barry (2001). The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-8308-9.
- ISBN 0-684-83067-1.
- Norman, Philip (2008). John Lennon: The Life. New York, NY: Ecco. ISBN 978-0-06-075402-0.
- O'Dell, Chris; with Ketcham, Katherine (2009). Miss O'Dell: My Hard Days and Long Nights with The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and the Women They Loved. New York, NY: Touchstone. ISBN 978-1-4165-9093-4.
- ISBN 0-9662649-5-9.
- ISBN 978-0-313-39171-2.
External links
- Terry Doran discography at Discogs