The Soundtrack of My Life

by Clive Davis, Anthony DeCurtis (Editor)

Overview

Music legend Clive Davis recounts an extraordinary five-decade career in the music business, while also telling a remarkable personal story of encounters with some of the greatest musical artists of our time, including Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Simon & Garfunkel, Barry Manilow, the Grateful Dead, Patti Smith, Whitney Houston, Carlos Santana, Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, and Alicia Keys.

Orphaned in his teens, Davis earned a full scholarship to New York University and another to Harvard Law School. He served as General Counsel of Columbia Records and, in a totally unexpected stroke of fate, became head of the company overnight. More surprisingly, he learned he had “ears,” a rare ability to spot special talent and hit records. Those ears contributed to the success of three companies—Columbia, Arista, and J—where Davis dis­covered and developed more unique artists than anyone in the history of the music industry.

What began on the grass at the Monterey Pop Festival with the signing of Janis Joplin has evolved into a lifelong passion and calling, spanning genres, including rock, pop, R&B, country, jazz fusion, and hip-hop. His is the imprimatur that has helped shape contemporary music and, over the years, our popular culture.

The Soundtrack of My Life is an essential book for anyone interested in the story of popular music, the fascinating ups and downs of the music business, the alchemy of hits, and the dramatic life of a brilliant leader...and listener. It is a riveting read from beginning to end.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476714790
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	11/05/2013
Pages:	608
Sales rank:	396,004
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 8.94(h) x 1.54(d)

About the Author

Clive Davis is the Chief Creative Officer of Sony Music. He has worked with innumerable musical stars and media personalities. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he attended New York University and Harvard Law School.

Anthony DeCurtis is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, where his work has appeared since 1980. He has written for numerable music and entertainment magazines and newspapers. A former on-air correspondent and editorial director at VH1, he has contributed to a myriad of television specials and programs. DeCurtis holds a PhD in American literature from Indiana University and he teaches at the University of Pennsylvania and the Gradudate School of Journalism at the City University of New York.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Welcome to the Party ix

Straight Out of Brooklyn 1

Recovering from Shattering Losses 13

A Harvard Man 19

A New Life Back in New York 27

The Offer That Changed My Life 34

Running Columbia Records 44

Making A&R Moves 53

Monterey Pop 64

Columbia Gets Hot 72

Pearl 89

Simon and Garfunkel 100

Dylan 110

What Kind of Career Do I Want? 125

From Santana to Springsteen 133

Talent Raids and Finding the Company's Soul 149

The End of One Fantasy 163

Searching for a New Beginning 179

Arista Means Excellence 186

Manilow Mania 192

Building a New Label 206

Patti Smith and Lou Reed 220

Ready to Rock 231

The Grateful Dead 241

Gil Scott-Heron and Ghostbusters 251

Broadway, Soundtracks, and Comedy 263

Dionne Warwick 271

The Queen of Soul 278

New Wave, Heavy Metal, and Eurythmics 297

Whitney 307

Beyond the House That Barry Built 341

Arista Pop Explodes ... into Milli Vanilli 355

Arista Nashville and New Country Music 373

LaFace Rules! 385

Bad Boy 400

Sarah McLachlan, Ace of Base, and the Freewheeling Nineties 412

Supernatural Santana 423

Instant Major 435

Alicia 452

The J Records Years 462

Rod Stewart and the Great American Songbook 472

Rock at the Dawn of the Twenty-first Century 483

American Idol and Kelly Clarkson 498

More on the Idol Franchise 517

Accepting Change and Moving Forward 536

Acknowledgments 553

Index 555

Editorial Reviews

The book shows why Davis holds a rarefied status in the music world — an executive almost as famous as his performers.

Associated Press

"The pages of The Soundtrack of My Life are filled with fantastic scenes and revelations."

The Los Angeles Times

There are so many incredible stories; this book is literally a walk through musical history.

Ryan Seacrest

The Midas Touch. Until now, no one has written a book that reveals as much about the industry as Mr. Davis’ book does. It is hard to imagine a better survey of popular music during its 50 year commercial peak than this one.

The Wall Street Journal

His enormous success comes from luck and a phenomenal gift for recognizing, nurturing and selling talent. His drive helped make him one of the most visionary music men. In his memoir, The Soundtrack of My Life, the man who guided stars from Springsteen to Houston shares the secrets of his success.

People

Who put the bomp, Barry Mann asked in his 1961 single, in the bomp bah bomp bah bomp? Mr. Mann wanted to shake that person’s hand. For much of the 1960’s, 70’s, 80‘s 90’s and 00’s, a pretty good answer to that existential question was Clive Davis. As the head of Columbia Records and then Arista, the label he founded, Mr. Davis had a knack for introducing good singers to good material. The results tended to be explosive, as if he were dropping packages of Mentos into two-liter bottles of Diet Coke.

The New York Times

Who put the bomp, Barry Mann asked in his 1961 single, in the bomp bah bomp bah bomp? Mr. Mann wanted to shake that person’s hand. For much of the 1960’s, 70’s, 80‘s 90’s and 00’s, a pretty good answer to that existential question was Clive Davis. As the head of Columbia Records and then Arista, the label he founded, Mr. Davis had a knack for introducing good singers to good material. The results tended to be explosive, as if he were dropping packages of Mentos into two-liter bottles of Diet Coke.

The New York Times

"The pages of The Soundtrack of My Life are filled with fantastic scenes and revelations."

The Los Angeles Times

The book shows why Davis holds a rarefied status in the music world — an executive almost as famous as his performers.

Associated Press Staff

…the 80-year-old hitmaker who has launched and reignited a staggering number of high-profile music careers…probably doesn't care about wowing anyone with his capacity to turn phrases. What he does care about is ensuring that his version of industry history gets documented, in permanent, published ink. On that front, he's done his job…Soundtrack will undoubtedly be listed as required reading on many History of Pop Music college-seminar syllabuses.

The Washington Post - Jen Chaney

The Midas Touch. Until now, no one has written a book that reveals as much about the industry as Mr. Davis’ book does. It is hard to imagine a better survey of popular music during its 50 year commercial peak than this one.”

"The pages of The Soundtrack of My Life are filled with fantastic scenes and revelations."

“His enormous success comes from luck and a phenomenal gift for recognizing, nurturing and selling talent. His drive helped make him one of the most visionary music men. In his memoir, The Soundtrack of My Life, the man who guided stars from Springsteen to Houston shares the secrets of his success.”

“Who put the bomp, Barry Mann asked in his 1961 single, in the bomp bah bomp bah bomp? Mr. Mann wanted to shake that person’s hand. For much of the 1960’s, 70’s, 80‘s 90’s and 00’s, a pretty good answer to that existential question was Clive Davis. As the head of Columbia Records and then Arista, the label he founded, Mr. Davis had a knack for introducing good singers to good material. The results tended to be explosive, as if he were dropping packages of Mentos into two-liter bottles of Diet Coke.”

“There are so many incredible stories; this book is literally a walk through musical history.”

“The book shows why Davis holds a rarefied status in the music world — an executive almost as famous as his performers.

From the Publisher

In more than 50 years in the music business, Davis has discovered such artists as Bruce Springsteen, Alicia Keys, and Barry Manilow. Born into a working-class family in Brooklyn, he won scholarships to New York University and Harvard Law School and eventually landed a job as legal counsel for Columbia Records. He was handed the presidency of the company by chance, and it was then he learned he had “ears”: the ability to spot talent and create hit records. The first artist Davis signed was Scottish folk singer Donovan in 1966, but he established himself with Janis Joplin, whom he signed after being blown away by her performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. From there, he went on to work with everyone from Billy Joel to Luther Vandross to the Grateful Dead and had successes on his own with Arista Records and then J Records, which he founded in 2000. Of course, his relationship with Whiney Houston (1963?2012) is well known, and he devotes a chapter to her that begins, “Without question this it the most difficult chapter for me to write.” At 81, Davis is still going strong and working on a Broadway musical.

Verdict An important addition to the literature of American music and an essential title for anyone who enjoys insider stories about famous musicians. [The S. & S. audiobook also received a starred review, LJ 5/1/13.—Ed.]—Rosellen Brewer, Sno-Isle Libs., Marysville, WA
(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Library Journal

Clive Davis—Harvard Law School alumnus, former Columbia Records president, and founder of both the Arista and “J” record labels— provides a lackluster and monotone narration of his memoir of his business career. Davis presents himself as an imperious egotist whose legal and business capabilities somehow assisted him in developing “golden ears,” which helped him build the careers of countless platinum-selling musical artists such as Barry Manilow and Whitney Houston. Dennis Boutsikaris’s contribution to the narration is smooth and measured. His voice is pleasant, strong, and youngish. But his lack of emotion and variability in style combined with what seems like dictated text makes for a tough slog for the listener. Still, music fans will get a unique and authentic look at the music world amid the author’s continual boasting. W.A.G. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2013 - AudioFile

Revealing, entertaining account of the fortunes--almost always waxing--of the music mogul. Writing with ace Rolling Stone journalist DeCurtis, Davis recounts his rise from an impoverished Brooklyn childhood to heading Columbia Records and other labels. That rise came by way of hard work and attendance at Harvard Law School, where he qualified for the Review but, ever entrepreneurial, joined the activities board because the post offered a small stipend. As counsel to Columbia, he found that he had an ear for music and an eye for talent, and from there, he rocketed upward. In his tenure at Columbia and Arista, Davis discovered many artists and elevated many others, and he is gracious toward almost all, if carefully so: Paul Simon, we gather, is prickly, and Whitney Houston was a constant handful (about The Bodyguard: "She held her own, but you couldn't say her performance was inspiring"). Davis is also remarkably catholic in his tastes, having worked with everyone from Miles Davis to Laura Nyro to Johnny Cash to the Grateful Dead to Sean Combs and his coterie of rappers ("When I went to artist showcases or parties Puffy threw for his label's stars in clubs around the city late at night, I never once brought a bodyguard"). The anecdotes are fun to read, if seldom newsworthy; what is of greater value is Davis' detailing of how hits are made. As he writes, "I think there's a bit of confusion between pop music and pop success," adding that although the Dead and Patti Smith, and even Aretha Franklin, weren't pop artists, he was able to work his magic on them to produce hits--and lots of money. A touch overlong, but a pleasure to read, elevated and mensch-y at the same time.

Kirkus Reviews