Welcome to Nothing Is Real a podcast about the Beatles. Everybody thinks they know the Beatles, but how much do we really know?

My name is Jason Carty. My name is Stephen Corkroft.

And we're live on tape from Dublin and Belfast.

This is the second part of our look at the last year in the life of Brian Epstein.

And we managed to get towards the end of 1966.

We started off at Campbell Stick Park, but his life was still very much packed towards the end of 1966.

And there's a couple of things going on.

He's been in out of the priory.

He's been travelling with the Beatles.

He's been in the US with Georgie fame.

There's two maybe notable things that are going on as well.

At the end of October, a close friend of his dies, Alma Cogan.

And there's a bit of, it kind of adds to the general air of sadness and, you know, around Brian.

Yes.

So for those people that don't know, Alma Cogan was a singer who had had a very high profile career in the UK in the late 50s, sort of really into 1960, 1961.

The Beatles, ironically, probably contributed to the decline in her career, as she was seen as being a bit passei by then.

But she had a very, very close friendship with Brian Epstein and also with John Lennon.

And Lennon commented that, you know, as teenagers, they used to mock Al McCogan.

They used to make fun of her.

Yes.

She would appear on television.

Very unhip character.

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