The Velvet Mafia: The Gay Men Who Ran the Swinging Sixties

By Darryl W. Bullock

Winner of the prestigious Penderyn Music Book Prize in 2022!

'[A] brilliant book examining the preponderance of gay men in 1960s pop management' The Guardian

In the fifties and sixties, in the period leading up to the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality and the founding of the Gay Liberation movement, a group of gay men behind the scenes of rock’n’roll was changing pop, politics and society for good.

Through a mix of new interviews and contemporary reports, Darryl W. Bullock shines a light on the lives of the so-called ‘Velvet Mafia’, including impresario Larry Parnes, Beatles manager Brian Epstein, songwriter Lionel Bart, record producer Joe Meek, and Bee Gees and Cream manager Robert Stigwood.

Compelling and enlightening, The Velvet Mafia explores how the LGBT professionals at the heart of the music industry were working together and supporting each other at a time when being homosexual could mean the end of your career – or much worse.

‘A superb study of ‘outlaw’ entrepreneurs… detailed and evocative. An extraordinary chronicle of extraordinary times… brilliantly researched, informative and engrossing.’ Record Collector

‘The overlapping of the musical, theatrical and cinematic worlds is brilliantly captured, as is the way the protagonists gravitated towards – and supported - each other through tough times’ Shindig!

‘As a gay man I found this book to be thought-provoking, enlightening and thoroughly enjoyable, and as a music lover I found it to be fascinating and informative… a fantastic read, well written and full of interesting facts about the music industry.’ Louder Than War

Publication Date: 04.02.21
ISBN: 9781787602311
Extent: 368 pages
Format: Hardback & eBook

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