Beatles Contract Could Fetch £500,000

A management contract that launched the career of The Beatles could fetch up to half a million pounds when it goes on sale later this month.

The document extending an earlier management contract with Brian Epstein was signed in 1962 - four days before the group released their first single Love Me Do.

Gabriel Heaton, Sotheby's specialist in books and manuscripts, said: "Without this contract, and the relationship it represents, it seems inconceivable that The Beatles could have achieved all that they did.

"It took more than inspired musicianship and song-writing to remake popular music.

"The presentation, direction, and internal harmony of The Beatles all owed a huge amount to Brian Epstein. He was, as Paul McCartney has acknowledged, the Fifth Beatle."

Paul McCartney and George Harrison were both under 21 when the new deal was struck extending Epstein's management by another five years, so their fathers acted as co-signatories.

The terms of the deal granted Epstien 10% commission on the group's earnings up to £400 a week, 20% between £400 and £800, and 25% for anything more.

They also added a clause that stated members of the band could be kicked out "should two or more of them desire to remove one or more of the other Artists with the consent in writing of the manager".

Epstein died from an accidental overdose in August 1967.

The contract goes on sale at Sotheby's on 29 September.