Billy J Kramer leads the fight to get Brian Epstein into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame

BILLY J KRAMER is delighted to have two versions of the same song on his new album, I Won The Fight it means the music world has finally done the right thing!

Now 71 years old, the Bootle-born star is based in the USA today, and his anger has grown over the years because Brian Epstein never got the recognition he deserved.

Billy has fought long and hard to get the man who managed himself and The Beatles inducted into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

He hoped his song To Liverpool With Love might help, and as soon as he had recorded it, Epstein was finally inducted!

So Billy has done a second version, with altered lyrics.

“He was my mentor, such an important guy in the history of music, and don’t forget, you might never have heard of The Beatles if he hadn’t worked so hard in the early days,” says Billy.

“Today, a music manager could fire off a few emails, and start a website, but back then, Brian had to get on a train, travel from Liverpool through to London, and then have door after door slammed in his face.

“There were a few evenings when I used to see Brian, looking very down and dejected, you know? There was a lot of rejection, so he deserved a place in the Hall of Fame.

“When I was putting this album together, I had been keen to get him recognised, because he was becoming this forgotten man, but he discovered the greatest band this world has ever known!

“In the early 60s, it was very difficult to breakthrough if you came from Liverpool. People looked down on us. I would go to London, and someone would ask where I was from.

“When I replied: ‘Liverpool’, they would look down their noses at me!”

Brian Epstein

They shared a special manager, but Kramer was extremely close to The Beatles John Lennon suggested he add that middle initial J to give him a bit of mystery.

Just as importantly, Billy had direct access to what would be the Holy Grail for today’s musicians Lennon and McCartney writing songs especially for him!

They gave him hits with Do You Want To Know A Secret?, Bad To Me, I’ll Keep You Satisfied, From A Window and others.

Amazingly, despite being told he was mad, he stopped relying on his Beatles mates, tried his own material and had even bigger hits with it!

“I’m In Love, on the new album, is another rare Beatles song that I wanted to do again,” he says. “I thought it was time to do it again, after releasing it years ago.

“I don’t think anyone’s come close to The Beatles. With their genius and the brilliance of George Martin, whom I also worked very closely with, they were unique.

“I’ve worked with people like Marvin Gaye, too, and James Brown, and I don’t think today’s black music is as good, either.

“Compare them with what’s going on today? Come on, it’s ludicrous! We have all the technology now, but not the talent.

“They can’t stand up and sing things 10 times until they get it note-perfect. They just fix it with Autotune technology.

“I saw a modern singer the other day, describing himself as a genius. No Albert Einstein, he was a genius!”

And, of course, the never-to-be-forgotten Brian Epstein, or the legendary Billy J Kramer.

I Won The Fight, Billy’s latest album and his first in many years, is out now.

You can see his first gigs in Britain for almost 20 years, too tickets available for UK-wide concerts by calling the box office at 0844 249 1000 or via the website www.flyingmusic.com/our-shows/ss60s.