December 31, 2016: Allan Williams, the man credited with discovering the iconic British rock and roll band The Beatles and the group's first manager, has died. He was 86.

The Jacaranda Club in Liverpool, which Williams once owned, announced his death on social media Friday.

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Williams worked with the band from 1960 to 1961, allowing them to play at the Jacaranda, while also booking gigs for them in Britain and elsewhere.

He drove the band in his van to Hamburg, Germany, where the Beatles' popularity began to take off.

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Shortly after Williams and the band parted ways, Brian Epstein became the band's manager and the rest is legendary music history.

Williams told The Liverpool Echo in 2010, "I've always been proud of The Beatles and proud and happy to have been just a small cog in the wheel of the most famous group in the world."

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Williams wrote a memoir entitled "The Man Who Gave The Beatles Away." (VOA)