New clive davis book reveals a lot

[glencro]

In the history of popular music, no one looms as large as Clive Davis. His career has spanned more than forty years, and he has discovered, signed, or worked with a staggering array of artists: Whitney Houston, Janis Joplin, Simon and Garfunkel, Barry Manilow, Patti Smith, Lou Reed, Dionne Warwick, Carlos Santana, The Grateful Dead, Alicia Keys, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, and Aretha Franklin, to name a few. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy, and hosted the world’s highest profile parties.

In this fully illustrated, personal account, Davis tells all, from becoming an orphan in high school and getting through college and law school on scholarships, to being falsely accused of embezzlement and starting up his own record company, J Records. His wealth of experience offers valuable insight into the evolution of the music business over the past half-century and into the future.

Told with Davis’s unmatched wit, frankness, and style, The Soundtrack of My Life exposes a trove of never-before-heard stories—some hilarious, others tragic, all revealing—that will captivate and inspire all music lovers.

He also opens up about his divorces and bi-sexual relationship[[s).

[Soul Sister]

Sounds interesting

WHO WROTE IT?

S.S.
***

[jobeterob]

Clive wrote it I guess.

Wouldn't you know that the following would be the part that makes the news! It also means he must not have dished too much dirt on his stars.

02/19/2013
Clive Davis comes out as bisexual


Music mogul Clive Davis [[pictured) has come out of the closet as bisexual in his new memoir, The Soundtrack of My Life.

The 80-year-old exec, who has worked with Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen, Janis Joplin and Alicia Keys, candidly dicusses his sexuality during a five-page section toward the book's end, according to Rolling Stone.

The former Arista Records head and current Sony Music chief creative officer, who is twice-divorced, reveals that he first began sleeping with men during "the era of Studio 54."

"On this night, after imbibing enough alcohol, I was open to responding to his sexual overtures," he writes in the book, adding that the encounter was a "welcome relief." He has been in relationships with both men and women in the years since and has been in a monogamous relationship with a man for the past seven years.

Davis further discussed the revelation in an interview for Katie Couric's talk show that airs today [[February 19) in conjunction with the book's release. "I'm still attracted to women," he told Couric. "You don't have to be only one thing or another. For me, it's the person."
More Music News:

irt on his stars.

[Roberta75]

Clive wrote it I guess.

Wouldn't you know that the following would be the part that makes the news! It also means he must not have dished too much dirt on his stars.

02/19/2013
Clive Davis comes out as bisexual


Music mogul Clive Davis [[pictured) has come out of the closet as bisexual in his new memoir, The Soundtrack of My Life.

The 80-year-old exec, who has worked with Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen, Janis Joplin and Alicia Keys, candidly dicusses his sexuality during a five-page section toward the book's end, according to Rolling Stone.

The former Arista Records head and current Sony Music chief creative officer, who is twice-divorced, reveals that he first began sleeping with men during "the era of Studio 54."

"On this night, after imbibing enough alcohol, I was open to responding to his sexual overtures," he writes in the book, adding that the encounter was a "welcome relief." He has been in relationships with both men and women in the years since and has been in a monogamous relationship with a man for the past seven years.

Davis further discussed the revelation in an interview for Katie Couric's talk show that airs today [[February 19) in conjunction with the book's release. "I'm still attracted to women," he told Couric. "You don't have to be only one thing or another. For me, it's the person."
More Music News:

irt on his stars.

I have always like Mr Clive Davis and always had a feeling he was a homosexual gentleman. Good for him for writing a honest and witty book.

He looks real good for 80 years old. A very distinguished gentleman and a real class act.

Yours, withy every good wish.

Roberta

[smark21]

He wrote it with Rolling Stone writer Anthony DeCurtis. Apparently Kelly Clarkson is not happy with what he wrote about her and has taken to her blog to blast him and set the record straight. I’m with Kelly on this one. Davis may know hits, but he’s a very crass record exec who saddled great talents like Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, and Carlos Santana with commercial crap. Sure it sold, but the material was often beneath them.

http://m.etonline.com/music/130742_Kelly_Clarkson_Responds_To_Clive_Davis_Clai ms/index.html

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-kelly-clarkson-not-happy-with-clive-davis-memoir-20130219,0,1171265.story

[smark21]

Another book on Davis came out last month written by someone who worked at Arista in the late 70s and early 80s. The author gives Davis his due for knowing a hit song when he heard one, but criticizes him for only caring about hits and not giving any due to artistry or artistic development.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-clive-davis-book-bisexual-don-silver-arista-20130219,0,4430044.story

[soulster]

6199

There's no love lost between Davis and Kelly Clarkson:

http://www.whosay.com/kellyclarkson/content/515466?wsref=tw&code=GLO5cY7#like


February 19, 2013Hey y'all,

So I just heard Clive Davis is releasing a memoir and spreading false information about me and my music. I refuse to be bullied and I just have to clear up his memory lapses and misinformation for myself and for my fans. It feels like a violation. Growing up is awesome because you learn you don't have to cower to anyone - even Clive Davis.

First, he says I burst into "hysterical sobbing" in his office when he demanded Since You Been Gone be on my album. Not true at all. His stories and songs are mixed up. I did want more guitars added to the original demo and Clive did not. Max, Luke and I still fought for the bigger sound and we prevailed and I couldn't be more proud of the life of that song. I resent him dampening that song in any way.

But, yes, I did cry in his office once. I cried after I played him a song I had written about my life called "Because Of You." I cried because he hated it and told me verbatim that I was a "sh*tty writer who should be grateful for the gifts that he bestows upon me." He continued on about how the song didn't rhyme and how I should just shut up and sing. This was devastating coming from a man who I, as a young girl, considered a musical hero and was so honored to work with.
But I continued to fight for the song and the label relented. And it became a worldwide hit. He didn't include that in the book.

He also goes on to say My December wasn't successful because I co-penned the album and it didn't have "pop hits". Well, first let me say, I've co-penned many of my "pop hits." Secondly, My December went platinum [[It sold 20,000 less than All I Ever Wanted which followed My December.) Hardly a huge failure. Never Again, the ONLY single they released in the US from that record was a Top 10 hit. I am very proud of that and I have my fans to thank. But, again, what's most interesting about his story is what he leaves out: He doesn't mention how he stood up in front of his company at a convention and belittled me and my music and completely sabotaged the entire project. It never had a chance to reach it's full potential. My December was an album I needed to make for myself for many reasons and the fact that I was so completely disregarded and disrespected was so disheartening, there really aren't words to explain….

Anyway, I love my job. I love my music. I love my fans. I love my label and all of my professional relationships… now. And I am grateful for Clive for teaching me to know the difference.

Cheers to another amazing year! And, as always, thanks for listening!

KC

[jobeterob]

Good for Kelly Clarkson. Just what happened; stuck to facts. Stated how she felt. Although, I have to say it is easier to do that and be happy when you turned out to be a Superstar no matter what he said or did.

[jaybs]

Always been something about Clive over the past few years that has not sat comfortable with me, I tend to feel like Cowell he wanted to be the star rather than the artists! I have no doubt his talent when he first started but I think he has gone on for far too long and tends to show he is a little out of touch now.

[Glenpwood]

Just finished the book and its entertaining and informative but you come off feeling Clive feels no one would've made it as successful as they did without his interference. he writes of watching an early cut of The Bodyguard and telling the filmmaker he was making a mistake by not showcasing Whitney's voice with performances and that the movie needed to be about her relationship with Costner so people could connect to it. He basically says Melissa Manchester wasn't huge because she was so resistant to outside writers songs and had to fight her to get her to record Dont Cry Out Loud and You Should Hear How She Talks About You. He does compliment her for writing Midnight Blue and Come In From The Rain but says she couldnt keep coming up with songs of that caliber to sustain a pop career. He also claims the resistance he got from Curtis Stigers and Taylor Dayne to his ideas and songs for them and the need to cowrite killed their careers. He says he years later got a letter from Taylor expressing regret she didn't listen to him. Curtis he claims had so much money thrown into launching his first album that he was in the red when it didn't sell but his one cut on the Bodyguard erased the debt with enough left over to buy a house. Expose didnt last because they were driven by songs and the girls lacked "Star Power." I won't give the rest away because it's worth reading particularly for the Whitney, Aretha, American Idol winners, and Dionne chapters but you definetely come away with the feeling its his hands on control that made Arista and its artists huge and that he always knew best....

[alanbill1074]

Does he mention Jermaine Stewart at all?

[mr_june]

I want to read what he says about Gamble & Huff.

[Jerry Oz]

Devil or angel, he was responsible for many stars being able to shine. I'm pretty sure there aren't a lot of artists who stood their ground against him, gave back their advances, and cut "artistic" records that put them over the top. The record buying public is not interested in artistry; it's interested in devouring the plates full of crap that the industry puts out. When they want our opinions, they'll give them to us.

To that end, Davis is a pusher who gives the people what they want and he's very good at it. I can't criticize him as a businessman because he has an ear for successful product. Nah, I criticize the people who sell their souls to him and later wonder what they could have been; they're the ones cheating their fans and themselves. Money ain't everything.

[Glenpwood]

Just mentions his name once in the book during his chapter about Milli vanilli that they sent out MV's first single to radio on a sampler with new singles from Aretha and Jermaine. No other mention was made.

[Kamasu_Jr]

Clive wrote it I guess.

Wouldn't you know that the following would be the part that makes the news! It also means he must not have dished too much dirt on his stars.

02/19/2013
Clive Davis comes out as bisexual


Music mogul Clive Davis [[pictured) has come out of the closet as bisexual in his new memoir, The Soundtrack of My Life.

The 80-year-old exec, who has worked with Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen, Janis Joplin and Alicia Keys, candidly dicusses his sexuality during a five-page section toward the book's end, according to Rolling Stone.

The former Arista Records head and current Sony Music chief creative officer, who is twice-divorced, reveals that he first began sleeping with men during "the era of Studio 54."

"On this night, after imbibing enough alcohol, I was open to responding to his sexual overtures," he writes in the book, adding that the encounter was a "welcome relief." He has been in relationships with both men and women in the years since and has been in a monogamous relationship with a man for the past seven years.

Davis further discussed the revelation in an interview for Katie Couric's talk show that airs today [[February 19) in conjunction with the book's release. "I'm still attracted to women," he told Couric. "You don't have to be only one thing or another. For me, it's the person."
More Music News:

irt on his stars.

My mind just wobbles.

[soulster]

Whatever turns him on, I guess...but that's no excuse to treat people like dukey on a stick.

[soulster]

Does he mention Jermaine Stewart at all?
Stewart wouldn't take his clothes off! :D

[marv2]

Whatever turns him on, I guess...but that's no excuse to treat people like dukey on a stick.

He is a creep in my opinion for having that party while Whitney Houston lay dead just upstairs.

[marv2]

Stewart wouldn't take his clothes off! :D

He said he didn't have to.........hehehehehehe!

[nomis]

I once asked The Thompsons Twins Alannah Currie what he was like..she said he was a creep and the rest of what she said is unprintable here....

[jobeterob]

Legendary music executive Clive Davis—most famous for being the brains behind the success of Whitney Houston—has worked with everyone from Aretha Franklin and Bob Dylan to Kelly Clarkson and Alicia Keys. Yet the buzziest part of his new memoir may be the 80-year-old’s disclosure that he is bisexual. From candid talk about his sexual adventures to spats with Bob Dylan and a close encounter with Janis Joplin, more of the juiciest bits from The Soundtrack of My Life.
130219-davis-book-krantz-tease
Clive Davis and Whitney Houston on Oct. 28, 2006 in Beverly Hills. [[Matt Sayles/AP)


1. Yep, He’s Bisexual


After separating from his wife in the ‘80s, Davis reveals, he was in three simultaneous relationships—two of which were with women, and one with a man. “I enjoyed my time with all of them and honestly felt I had no strong sexual preference,” Davis writes. “Naturally, all of this preoccupied me.” It wasn’t until 1990 that Davis entered a monogamous relationship once again, with a man. That relationship lasted until 2004; for the last seven years, Davis says, he’s been in a “strong monogamous relationship” with a man.


2. Bob Dylan Accused Him of Censorship


When Davis worked as a lawyer for Columbia Records, he consulted with Bob Dylan on The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. According to Davis, Dylan wanted to include the satirical song “Talking John Birch Society Blues,” which mocked the then-influential right-wing group. When Davis decided certain lines would be considered libelous in court, he had to personally tell Dylan that Columbia would not put the track on the record. Of course, Dylan was not pleased. “‘What is this?’” Davis remembers Dylan saying. “‘What do you mean I can’t come out with this song? You can’t edit or censor me!’” The song never made it onto the famed album, but was later released as part of the Bootleg Series Volumes.


3. He Cried Over Whitney Houston


Davis is largely credited with discovering Whitney Houston and sending her on her way to massive stardom, and he devotes a chapter to his late protégée—the one that was “hardest to write.” In it, Davis reprints several of the letters he wrote to Houston, including one sent in 2001 after he saw her at a concert looking “skeletal.” “Dear Whitney,” Davis wrote. “When I saw you Friday night at the Michael Jackson concert I gasped. When I got home, I cried. My dear, dear Whitney, the time has come ... I join your mother in pleading with you to face up to the truth now, right now, and there is no more time or postponement. You must think not only of yourself but you must think of those who love you.”


Davis says never received a response to the letter.


4. He Turned Down Sex With Janis Joplin


When Davis saw Joplin perform as part of the band Big Brother at Monterey Pop in 1967, he says it was downright revelatory. “The impact of seeing an artist that raw, earthy and fiery just floored me ... I experienced a personal epiphany as well. This has got to be my moment, I thought. I’ve got to sign this band.” When he finally was about to sign the band a year later, Joplin’s manager came to him with an unusual offer. “She’s talked about meeting you, and she thinks it only fitting and proper that she ball you to cement the deal,” Davis recalls her manager saying. “That would be her way of showing this is a more meaningful relationship—not in lieu of signing, but in addition a way to make the signing different from what it normally would be in the business world.”


Davis politely declined, the band signed anyway, and the rest is history.


5. John Lennon Didn’t Listen to the Radio


Davis recalls running into John Lennon and Yoko Ono at a coffee shop on Columbus & 72nd St. in 1973, right before they moved into the Dakota. The trio got into a conversation about music and Davis asked Lennon if he liked to stay current by listening to the radio. He got a shocking answer.


“He said ‘I don’t listen to the radio at all.’ I was flabbergasted. ‘Not at all?’ I said, ‘When you’re not recording you have no interest in knowing what else is happening?’ ‘No,’ he said. ‘I haven’t listened to any new music at all ... Clive let me ask you a question. Do you think Picasso went to the galleries to see what was being painted before he put brush to canvas?’”


Only Lennon could compare himself to Picasso and not be totally out of his mind.


6. He Had Creative Differences With Kelly Clarkson


The American Idol winner is "obviously very talented," Davis writes in a portion of the book that has already earned a rebuttal, but the two didn’t always agree. Davis claims that Clarkson "hated" what would become her hit tracks “Since You Been Gone” and “Behind These Hazel Eyes” when she first heard them, and wanted both songs off her album.


"It was a very tough conversation, and it didn't get any easier when Kelly burst into hysterical sobbing. We all just sat there and she cried for a several minutes. No one knew what to say." On Tuesday, Clarkson responded to Davis's characterization, saying “his stories and songs are mixed up. I did want more guitars added to the original demo and Clive did not. Max, Luke and I still fought for the bigger sound and we prevailed and I couldn’t be more proud of the life of that song.” Clarkson added, “Growing up is awesome because you learn you don’t have to cower to anyone—even Clive Davis.”


7. But He and Aretha Are Pals


Clarkson, Dylan, and Paul Simon may have been difficult to work with sometimes, but Davis’s relationship with the Queen of Soul reads like a virtual slumber party.


"Among my most frequent topics of conversation with Aretha are food, fashion, and men, not necessarily in that order,” Davis writes. “She’d call and tell me, ‘Wait until you see me, I’m on that Jenny Craig diet, and I’m doing great with it.’ Then I’d see her a few weeks later, and it wouldn’t look to me as if she’d lost much weight. I’d take her aside and whisper, ‘You’re not on the Jenny Craig diet, clearly. I think you’re on the Shirley Craig diet!’ She’d laugh and laugh.”

[smark21]

A musician who has played with Kelly Clarkson had this to say about Kelly and Clive at another board:

Kelly Clarkson has one of the best voices out there and is much more than a Star Search singer. It is tiresome to hear people give opinions based on nothing but disdain for a television show and no knowledge of the artist.
She has a history of standing up for her principles and whether it is adding more guitars, advocating for her favourite songwriters or refusing to sing certain songs in certain circumstances. Kelly is no diva, but has things to say and is at her best in concert, with her fans. She has a great sense of humour and loves singing more than the image business. Not a small things these days.
I am a musician and have worked with her, and what you see is what you get. She is a fucking wonderful chick who loves what she does, and loves all kind of music. Anyone who has been to a Kelly Clarkson concert knows that she can sing anything from country, to indie rock, to the American songbook to Springsteen, Dylan, Creed, Shania Twain, ONJ, or Aretha, Florence and the Machine, Annie Lenox or Bruno Mars. She is like the best bar band singer in the world, but one who has a gorgeous soprano head voice and is a great belter in mid register, with rasp and bell tones available to her, plus a whistle register too. I have never heard her sound perfect. But I have seen her give joy and make people weep. She write songs too and not bad ones. "Because of You" is a song that is meaningful lyrically, musically and emotionally to many.
Sober is a fantastic song and she deserves real rock cred for her performance of "Never Again." Kelly is so underestimated as to make me wonder if the gays don't really prefer the non singing Divas that they say they hate ?
When American Idol was doing it's PR telethon for African relief, her record label insisted that she perform Never Again, her new single. She refused to sing it as it was nothing but a angry done wrong rock attempt and insisted on singing Patti Griffin's "Up to the Mountain" instead. She had Jeff Beck accompany her. She is not afraid to so say no, and is not above firing musicians who don't perform well either. She respects her audience.
She loves music of all kinds and has voiced frustration with what her label wanted verses what she wanted to do many times. She understands the game, and likes to have hit records too. I am not saying she is Janis Joplin or Joni Mitchell but she has plenty of integrity and talent and taste.
She is not a perfect vocalist, sometimes scraping the high notes and sometimes flat. Sometimes. But she is a more dynamic vocalist with a superior range to Adele or please jesus Carrie Underwood. Kelly sings from her heart and has no divadom trappings. Not a great beauty, not given to histrionics, and not usually thin. She expresses what is appropriate to the song and has a beautiful voice if you take the time to listen to her complete ability. She always sings LIVE.
Once again some idiots are posting about some "fat" chick only knowing one or two of her most innocuous songs.
Kelly will be singing her whole life. That is what she does. She is a pure singer, through and through, a rocking chick and sensitive woman who respects other artists and has her own things to say. She is one of the least neurotic stars in music. She is generous and fun, but speaks up loud and clear when things are not righteous.
I know that her statements regarding Clive Davis are not only true, but are not even half of what she could say.

[R. Mark Desjardins]

It's great that two books on Clive Davis have been published at the same time. There is always two sides to every story and I will attempt to track down a copy of each to read. As for his sexuality, who cares, and at 80 years of age.............. well, who really wants to know?