Eric Easton
Eric Easton was an English record producer and the first manager of British rock group the Rolling Stones. Originally from Lancashire, he joined the music industry playing the organ in music halls and cinemas. By the 1960s he had moved into management and talent spotting, operating from an office suite in London's Regent Street. Easton met Andrew Loog Oldham in 1963; Oldham wanted to sign an unknown band, called the Rolling Stones, about whom he was enthusiastic. At the time, the band were still playing small clubs and blues bars. Easton saw them once—at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond—and agreed with Oldham. Their partnership was one of contrasts: Oldham has been described as bringing youth and energy, while Easton brought industry experience, contacts and financing. Together, they signed the group to both a management and publishing deal, which, while giving better terms for the group than the Beatles received, was to the advantage of Easton and Oldham who received a larger cut. Easton was primarily responsible for booking gigs—he was keen for the group to get out of London and play nationally—but also acted as record producer on a number of occasions, including on their first single, a cover version of Chuck Berry's "Come On" in June 1963. Easton was responsible for many aspects of the band's development, ranging from managing their fan club to organising their tour of America in 1964.
As the Stones' fame and popularity increased, so did their expectations of Easton. However, after a number of problems on an American tour, in 1965 Oldham decided to oust Easton from the partnership and bring in New York promotor Allen Klein. Oldham persuaded members of the group to support him and Easton was sacked. The band, with the exception of Bill Wyman, acquiesced. Easton launched a number of lawsuits for breach of contract, and eventually settled out of court for a large sum. In 1980 he and his family emigrated to Naples, Florida, where he went into business; his son, Paul, also became a music manager and booking agent.
Musical context
During the post-war era, British audiences became accustomed to American popular music. Not only did the two countries share a common language but Britain had, through the stationing of US troops there, been exposed to American culture during World War II. Although not enjoying the same economic prosperity as America, Britain experienced similar social developments, including the emergence of distinct youth leisure activities and subcultures. This was most evident in the popularity of the Teddy Boys among working-class youths in London from around 1953. British musicians had already been influenced by American styles, particularly in trad jazz, boogie-woogie and the blues. From these influences emerged rock and roll in America, which made its way to Britain through Hollywood films such as Blackboard Jungle and Rock Around the Clock. A moral panic was declared in the popular press as young cinema-goers ripped up seats to dance; this helped identify rock and roll with delinquency, and led to it being almost banned by radio stations.During this period, UK radio was almost exclusively controlled by the BBC, and popular music was only played on the Light Programme. Nevertheless, American rock and roll acts became a major force in the UK singles chart. Elvis Presley reached number 2 in the UK chart with "Heartbreak Hotel" in 1956 and had nine more singles in the Top 30 that year. His first number 1 was "All Shook Up" in 1957, and there would be more chart-toppers for him and for Buddy Holly and the Crickets and Jerry Lee Lewis in the next two years. The music journalist Stephen Davis notes that, by the end of the decade, "the Teds and their girls filled the old dance band ballrooms" of the kind Eric Easton had played, and guitarist Keith Richards called it "a totally new era... It was like A.D. and B.C., and 1956 was year one". Record production was dominated by five main companies and London-orientated until the early 1960s. Similarly, promoters—who often combined the roles of manager and agents for their clients—almost always worked out of London too, and used their contacts in the regional music centres to make bookings.
Early life, career and meeting Oldham
Easton's early life has left very little mark on the record. It is known that he was born in 1927 in Rishton, Lancashire. At some point he entered the music business and is known to have played the organ in cinemas, on piers, and other tourist venues such as the Blackpool Tower. Easton's early work consisted of performing popular pieces such as Ray Martin's "Marching Strings", Richard Rodgers' "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" and John Walter Bratton's "Teddy Bears' Picnic. He also played with his own ensemble, called Eric Easton and his Organites, and alongside contemporaries on the variety circuit such as Morecambe and Wise, Patrick O'Hagan and Al Read. Easton's career playing around Britain brought him experience of the music business both in and beyond London.By the time he met Oldham and the Stones he had many years in showbusiness, and, says the music journalist Steven Davis, "an old-line talent agent... and veteran of variety shows". Musically, the mild-mannered Easton was "a self-confessed 'square'", who kept family photographs on his desk; musician and author Alan Clayson said his "depths of depravity" were a 20-a-day smoking habit. Mick Jagger and Brian Jones, who often used a private argot between themselves, would refer to Easton as an "Ernie". Balding and middle-aged by the early 1960s, his company, Eric Easton Ltd, had offices in Radnor House, Regent Street. In a later interview, Easton explained how he and Andrew Loog Oldham had met:
Easton later described his business partner Oldham as having "something of the Hayley Mills" about him, complained about his telephone usage and demanded he itemise his calls. Oldham—always dapper compared to the strictly suit-and-tie wearing Easton—described their partnership as Machiavellian and as a combination of energy and experience. Bill Wyman agrees that Easton treated them in a business-like fashion when they first met, and Keith Richards later recalled how "if you opened any Melody Maker or NME at the time, you'd see an ad for Eric Easton Management Agency etc." He described how, as he saw it, Easton
Career with the Rolling Stones
The Crawdaddy Club
In 1963, the Rolling Stones comprised bandleader Jones, Jagger, Richards, Wyman, Charlie Watts, and Ian Stewart. Oldham had seen them play the Crawdaddy Club, Richmond that April and was impressed, thinking they would fill a gap in the British music scene. The Stones were the Crawdaddy's house band, under the aegis of the club's owner Giorgio Gomelsky, who had already "got them eulogized by Record Mirror... was their manager in every way other than writing". At 19 years old, Oldham was too young to hold a band manager's licence, and as such he "trawl the lower reaches of West End theatrical agents" looking for a partner. Eventually, Oldham turned to Easton because he saw the older man as possessing both the financial experience and the contacts in the industry necessary to forward the band's career; Easton also possessed the professional gravitas to give Oldham's involvement credibility. The two discussed the matter. Oldham argued that managing the Stones was "the chance of a lifetime", and begged him to come to the Crawdaddy with him the next week to see for himself. Easton disliked missing Saturday Night at the London Palladium on television, which Oldham compared to going to mass for Easton. Talking to Q Magazine later, he described himself as "an average character of my age, wearing a sports jacket" who hoped his night would not be wasted.Easton travelled to Richmond with Oldham and, in Crawdaddy's, says Clayson, "stood out like a sore thumb" in the young crowd. Gomelsky was absent, having recently left for Switzerland to attend his father's funeral. The future photographer James Phelge, who was also in the audience, later observed that Easton looked like a schoolteacher. For his part, Easton later complained to Peter Jones of his "total humiliation and embarrassment": surrounded by screaming teenagers, in "his heavy tweed suit and his heavy brogue shoes", Easton reckoned he looked a country squire. Of the crowd and the heat, too, he called Crawdaddy's "the first free Turkish bath I'd ever had". Although he "had winced more than once during the performance was experienced in spotting talent", says his biographer Laura Jackson, and recognised it in the Stones. The Stones were willing listeners, and, over a drink after the show it was agreed that Jones would visit the Regent Street office the following week.
Gomelsky knew nothing of events until his return towards the end of the month. A later assistant of Richards, Tony Sanchez, described how, "to Brian and Mick, who wanted–needed–so very badly to make it, walking over a couple of old friends was a small price to pay for the break that Oldham and Easton were offering them". Gomelsky says that he met with Easton a few days after the Stones had signed to Oldham and him. They wanted, Gomelsky says, to offer him compensation for his previous input to the band's development. What actually concerned them, he argues, was that Gomelsky would allow the group to continue their residency at the Crawdaddy Club. Gomeslky agreed; Easton also began booking them into the Marquee Club and Studio 51, in London's West End, at around the same time.
Signing and Decca contract
Easton and Oldham were keen to sign the Stones up to a label as soon as possible. Dick Rowe, of Decca Records, had heard of the Stones through George Harrison, but when Rowe tried to contact their agent, no-one appeared to know of one. Eventually, Easton's name was mentioned: "I knew Eric, of course. Once I'd spoken to him, the whole deal went through in a matter of days." Easton and Oldham formed an independent record label, Impact Sounds—through which they would manage the group—and signed them on 6 May 1963 for a three-year deal. Philip Norman describes the meeting: Dick Rowe was a friend of Easton's. Rowe—having missed the chance of signing the Beatles the previous year and was still annoyed over it—agreed to sign the band. For their part, Easton and Oldham retained the rights to the group's recorded material, while the group themselves were effectively leased to Decca. Easton intended that he and Oldham would cut out the traditional role of the A&R man, to which end they formed Impact Sounds. This would own and hold all master tapes and recordings, which they would also lease—"Spector-like"—when required for distribution. However, the deal almost did not happen: unbeknownst to Easton and Oldham, Jones had already signed a personal recording contract with IBC. Easton gave Jones £100 with which to buy his way out of his obligations, and in doing so bought the group's master tapes for themselves. The eventual deal with Decca was better news for Easton and Oldham than it was for the band. For example, Easton and Oldman were to be paid 14% of any profits from a single release, but their commitment to the band was for 6%, meaning that Easton and his partner received over half of what was earned.Easton later told Q that "because there was a lot of interest from other companies, I could go after a really good royalty rate on record sales. And we got it." Sandford comments—reflecting on the group's youth—that "everyone except Easton and Wyman had to have their parents co-sign" their contracts. Easton and Oldham received 25% of the group's earnings in fees. Easton, responsible for the group's wages, personally paid each member £40 a week. Wyman says that the band, too, recognised the different qualities Easton and Oldham brought to managing them, calling the two polar opposites. The group collectively saw them as a good combination, believing that Easton, while he understood little of their music was the kind of established agent they needed. Jagger, in a 1975 The Rolling Stone Interview called Easton "a 50-year-old northern mill owner. It was completely crackers."