Terry Doran

rdf:langString Terry Doran

rdf:langString Terence James Doran (14 December 1939 – 18 April 2020) was an English luxury car dealer, pop music manager and music publishing executive, best known for his association with the Beatles. With Beatles manager Brian Epstein, he co-owned Brydor Cars in the 1960s, supplying sportscars to many figures in the Swinging London era, including the Beatles and members of the Rolling Stones and the Moody Blues. In 1967, he became the manager of Apple Publishing, the first appointment in the Beatles' Apple Corps business organisation. He also managed the Apple artists Grapefruit and Mary Hopkin. He was a personal assistant to John Lennon and then George Harrison. Throughout the 1970s, he worked as Harrison's estate manager at Friar Park in Oxfordshire and assisted in restoring the property. Doran first met the Beatles in Liverpool, through Epstein, and sold the band their first car, as well as the van in which they travelled to gigs around the North of England. He relocated to London in 1963 when they moved south to capitalise on their national breakthrough. He remained among the group's inner circle, along with other friends from Liverpool who went on to work at Apple, and was a trusted confidant to each of the band members. He is often cited as the inspiration behind the line "Meeting a man from the motor trade" in the Beatles' 1967 song "She's Leaving Home", although Paul McCartney later denied the story. Doran died in 2020 of COVID-19, aged 80.