A NEW Brighton bookshop will play host to a special event next week when Merseybeat legend and showbiz impresario Joe Flannery will be talking of his days as friend and mentor to the Fab Four.

Joe has been often described as the "Secret Beatle" and, as business associate and partner of Brian Epstein, became an integral part of The Beatles' management team during their rise to fame in the early-1960s.

Now after more than 50 years, Joe has broken his silence about those heady days to write “Standing in the Wings - Brian Epstein, The Beatles and Me” - his account of this fascinating era, which included the controversial dismissal of Pete Best from the group, Epstein's fragility, and the importance of the Star Club in Hamburg.

His book is not just a biography, it also considers issues to do with sexuality in 1950s Liverpool, the vagaries of the music business at that time and the hazards of personal management in the Swinging Sixties.

Standing in the Wings provides an in-depth look at Flannery's personal and professional relationship with Epstein and his close links with the Fab Four.

Shortly before John Lennon's murder in 1980, it was Flannery who was one of the last people in the UK to talk to the great man.

Joe remains one of the few "Beatle people" in Liverpool to have the respect of the surviving Beatles, and this is reflected in this timely and revealing book.

He will be giving a talk and signing session during “An Audience with Joe Flannery” at Literally...A Bookshop, Atherton Street, New Brighton, next Wednesday, June 12, At 6.30pm.

Tickets cost £4 including Fab refreshments and are available in advance or on the night.