Terry Doran

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.

Early life Doran was born in 1939 and grew up in Liverpool. His parents were Joseph and Elizabeth (née Molloy) Doran. He also supplied the group with luxury cars as the band members showed an increasing interest in expensive automobiles.

His first signing at Apple was the band Focal Point for whom he secured a record deal on Decca. After signing songwriter George Alexander to Apple, he introduced Alexander to his subsequent bandmates in the group Grapefruit. According to Peter Brown, Epstein's friend and personal assistant, Doran's inexperience was revealed when he inadvertently signed over Harrison's US publishing interests to Melcher, resulting in Apple Records head Ron Kass having to negotiate for their return.

Through Doran's introduction, Liverpool singer Jackie Lomax became one of the first acts signed to Apple Records. In November 1968, when Grapefruit parted ways with Apple Publishing, Doran commented in The People: "I like the Beatles as friends, but not bosses ... there's too much driftwood at Apple." He enjoyed success as the manager of Apple Records artist Mary Hopkin, although Hopkin later said she was highly dissatisfied with his management. Doran's role as manager of Apple Publishing ended in 1969 after Lennon, Harrison and Starr appointed Allen Klein to manage Apple Corps.

In early 1970, Doran became estate manager at Harrison's new property, Friar Park, in Oxfordshire. He assisted Harrison in renovating the Victorian-era house and gardens, much of which was dilapidated. The project took over four years to complete. He worked at Harrison's company Oops Publishing until resigning in February 1975.

After leaving Friar Park in the early 1980s, Doran ran a business in California renting out rehearsal space. He later returned to car sales, working at a dealership on London's Saab Piccadilly from 1984 to late 1990s . as well as his first post-Beatles solo album, the 1970 triple LP All Things Must Pass. Through Doran, Harrison became friends with comedian "Legs" Larry Smith, the subject of his 1975 song "His Name Is Legs".

Doran shared Harrison's fascination with Indian religion.

Pattie Boyd wrote: "So saddened to hear of the passing of Terry Doran. Terry was a major part of my life at Friar Park and he was also very close to George." Former Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley described him as a "wonderful man" and recalled how, when Shirley was eighteen, Doran presented him with Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi to help comfort him when his mother died.