Fifth Beatle

A quote from Paul McCartney, I think it was from 1997 BBC interview.

He looked back at the whole arc of Brian Epstein's life and his involvement with The Beatles, and he said, "If anyone was the fifth Beatle, it was Brian." I think that's very important, because I've always said when I'm talking about The Beatles, I, I see George Martin as the fifth Beatle.

But I think I see George Martin as the fifth Beatle the second half of their career, especially when the studio was more important, Rubber Soul going forward.

I see Brian Epstein as the fifth Beatle from the start of the group going forward and getting them broken in.

And neither one would work without the other, obviously.

And it's very curious that these two people, Brian and George Martin, held very different positions and different influences in The Beatles as a band.

Yeah, and I think that sentence, that simple sentence by Paul McCartney saying, "If anyone was the fifth Beatle, it was Brian", I think that really settles a lot of arguments, because we can talk about the problems he had with business.

Some of the business decisions weren't the best.

...

the Fifth Beatle.

Yeah.

But for a second, I was wondering if it was the guitar player or not.

Yeah, I think that's kind of a strange argument.

Well, here's the thing, is a lot of people call him the fifth Beatle, but he joined the band before Mr., uh, Ringo Starr, so I think that after, and since he, and also, he kicked out Pete Best.

He had to fire him, right?

Well, he was told to fire him-

... because the rest of the guys were too chicken shit.

Yeah, [laughs] exactly.

So I figure he bumps up into Pete Best's spot, and then Ringo Starr becomes the fifth Beatle.

Uh, that's a very interesting take, but he never did join the band-

Leon Russell was a fantastic gospel and boogie-soaked piano player and band leader who played on countless sessions and led Joe Cocker's Wild Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour.

Billy Preston was such a great gospel-rooted keyboard player that he played with the Beatles on Get Back and became known as the Fifth Beatle.

And he toured with the Rolling Stones for years.

Nicky Hopkins was the quiet genius whose piano graced records by the Stones, the Who, the Kinks, and dozens more, one of those players who made everybody else sound better.