BEATLES - EPSTEIN MEMORIAL PLANS SLAMMED BY PAL

A close friend of former BEATLES manager BRIAN EPSTEIN has slammed plans to build a monument of the music mogul in his Liverpool, England hometown - dismissing the idea as "rubbish". Solicitor Rex Makin is unimpressed by the city councillors' plans to create a lasting tribute to Epstein, after the proposal was approved at a meeting on Wednesday (30Jan08). Makin, who lived next door to Epstein for several years and helped plan his funeral, believes the popularity of The Beatles' music will ensure the legendary manager's memory lives on - without the need of a memorial. Epstein, often referred to as the fifth Beatle, died in 1967 aged 32 from a sleeping pill overdose. Makin says, "I think it's rubbish (not good). I don't believe in statues of any kind. Brian's work with the Beatles is there - it doesn't need any monument. "He wouldn't have wanted one, the family wouldn't of (sic) wanted it. Brian was a very private person. It seems to be people jumping on a bandwagon."