Brown Meggs; Former Chief of Capitol Records

Brown Meggs, the onetime chief executive of Capitol Records who signed the Beatles to their first American recording contract and who pioneered classical recordings at reduced prices, has died.

Meggs, who also was an author, was 66 when he died Oct. 8 of a brain hemorrhage at his San Francisco home.

Meggs worked for Capitol Records, a subsidiary of EMI records, in the 1960s and early 1970s. Although he signed the most popular rock group of its time to a lucrative contract, he personally preferred classical music and opera.

His biggest professional accomplishment may have come in 1963, when he lured the Beatles to his label for American distribution. After Capitol rejected the group’s first four singles, Beatles manager Brian Epstein persuaded Meggs, then the company’s director of East Coast operations, to sign them by playing him an advance copy of “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”

One of his major contributions to the industry was considered the establishment of Seraphim records, a budget line for Capitol’s classical label, Angel. Through it, quality recordings were offered at low prices.

After serving as CEO for several years, Meggs resigned from Capitol in 1976, citing a lack of enjoyment in the job. He returned to EMI in 1984 as president of Angel. He stayed until 1990, when his wife, Nancy Bates Meachen, was found to have pancreatic cancer.

Meggs published several successful novels, including “The Matter of Paradise” in 1975, “Aria” in 1978 and “The War Train” in 1981. “Aria” is considered a definitive treatment of how a classical recording company operates.

His first novel, “Saturday Games,” won the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1974.