Short answers, pulled from the story.
Dick James was born Richard Leon James, with the original name Isaac Vapnick, on the 12th of December 1920 in the East End of London. His parents were Polish Jewish immigrants, and his father worked as a kosher butcher.
Dick James called Philip Jones, the producer of Thank Your Lucky Stars, and played "Please Please Me" down the telephone line on the 27th of November 1962, securing the group their first nationwide television appearance. That call was made at the request of the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein.
Northern Songs Ltd. was a music publishing company founded by Dick James and Brian Epstein to represent the original compositions of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. James sold the company in 1969 without offering the Beatles any opportunity to buy control of it, an act the band regarded as a betrayal that left them permanently without the rights to their own songs.
Dick James signed Reginald Dwight, who had not yet taken the name Elton John, along with lyricist Bernie Taupin in 1967. The introduction came through James's son Stephen, who found Dwight using the Dick James Music recording studios late at night without permission.
Elton John was involved in a court case with Dick James over royalties in 1982. By June 1985, the music magazine NME reported that John was also suing James over the rights to his earlier recordings. John lost that case.
Dick James died of a heart attack in London on the 1st of February 1986, at the age of 65. Dick James Music was acquired by PolyGram, which was later purchased by Universal Music Group; the catalog now resides within Universal Music Publishing Group.