大象传媒

by Bob Stanley

I suppose Evie was being protective of her artists, but she was stupid about it...

Brian Matthew on Eve Taylor

They will be appearing on the website over the next few months and the one thing that jumps out is that Brian's voice and style have barely changed in the five decades since. "That's right" he says, "still husky as hell!"

We get on to the subject of legendary sixties managers. A few weeks ago, Brian was telling me about the Stones' guru Andrew Loog Oldham. He had a few less enjoyable encounters with Eve Taylor, manager to and , one of which was at a "mammoth all-star concert at the Albert Hall. All the top pop people of the day were in that show, Adam was one of umpteen. Evie Taylor, Adam's manager, was a difficult lady to deal with. All the time she behaved as if Adam should be paid the earth and it didn't matter if other people didn't get the same amount."

Taylor said that Adam Faith wouldn't appear unless he was paid £1,000, more than twice what anyone else on the show was receiving. "We were sitting in the Albert Hall during rehearsals in the day, and I'd got the 大象传媒 radio controller Jim Davidson sitting close to me, while Evie was sitting alone, sulking elsewhere, waiting to do battle over dear Adam. Jim Davidson said 'Go and talk to her Brian, see if you can sort her out'. So I went over and had a long argument with Evie, saying I had no objection to her request but, quite seriously, with all those top people on the show how could we possibly afford to pay the sort of money she was asking?

Still she refused - pay us £1,000 or Adam doesn't play. "Jim Davidson was furious. He said 'Go and tell Evie I remember her when she used to do a number on stage herself, holding her skirt up, banging her knees together with tambourines attached to them, and wearing union jack knickers'!" Coincidentally or not, she soon backed down, and the show went on.

A little later, Eve Taylor had taken on the management of an Adam Faith discovery from Dagenham called Sandie Shaw. "We were doingwhich we recorded on the outskirts of Birmingham. Sometimes managers travelled up and down with their artists. Sandie was totally new at the time, so Evie went up in the car with her."

Unfortunately for Brian, "we were all in the same car on the way back, and I remember Sandie had been arguing with her boyfriend. I suppose Evie was being protective of her artists, but she was stupid about it. She argued beyond their abilities. I really thought she was an irritating woman in every respect. But from the artist's point of view, I suppose it had its merits... to some extent. I mean, I love Sandie and I think she's a great singer, but you don't have to be like that. There are plenty of others around."