By Stuart Nulman
When longtime record executive Clive Davis was profiled on “60 Minutes” in 2009, he was called “The Man with the Golden Ears”.
And after reading his just released memoir “The Soundtrack of My Life”, I can readily understand why the late Mike Wallace gave Davis that label.
Since he joined Columbia Records in 1960 as its chief lawyer (and ended up running the label before the decade was over), Clive Davis was known as a record executive who had a fine ear for music, and knew what it took to create a recording star and hit records. Just take a look at his track record; while at Columbia, he discovered and signed up Bruce Springsteen, Janis Joplin, Sly and the Family Stone, Carlos Santana and Aerosmith. When he created Arista Records in 1974 (and later J Records), Davis’ track record continued with Barry Manilow, Patti Smith, Alicia Keys, and of course, the late Whitney Houston. And on top of that, he helped revive the recording careers of Simon & Garfunkel, Aretha Franklin, the Kinks, the Grateful Dead, Carly Simon and Rod Stewart, sometimes giving them their first Top 10 or #1 hit record after a long career in music.
But what were the secrets to the success of Clive Davis in an industry that’s cutthroat at best, and its measure of success is depended upon how many millions of copies a recording artist sells of his or her album? We get that story in “The Soundtrack of My Life”, which is probably one of the best inside looks at what makes the recording industry tick.
Davis attributes his successful longevity to knowing what type of songs would be ideal for the singer or musician whom he took under his wing, in which he effectively matched them with the right songwriter, artists and repertoire (A&R) executive, studio musicians and record producer. As well, he was able to see beyond the world of rock and pop music, and develop whom he felt were up and coming talent in the musical genres of country and western, R&B, jazz fusion, rap and hip-hop; talent that would translate into platinum level record sales.
And of course, sometimes that method of linking singer with songwriter — or suggesting when to release a certain album — met with a great deal of resistance. During his early years with Arista, Barry Manilow resisted many of Davis’ suggestions of potential songs to record (and after eventually giving in, these suggested songs became some of the biggest hits in his career, such as “Mandy” and “I Write the Songs”); in 1968, Simon & Garfunkel resisted Davis’ suggestion of releasing the soundtrack to “The Graduate” so close to the release date of their “Bookends” album, believing that the move would confuse their fans (the duo allowed Davis to go ahead with the plan, and both albums ended up being the biggest selling LPs of their career); and the back-and-forth dispute between Davis and first “American Idol” champion Kelly Clarkson over including two songs she recorded (and didn’t like) at Davis’ suggestion for one of her early albums ended up with Clarkson leaving a meeting between them in tears (the songs were left on the album and yes, it became a huge success).
Perhaps the most poignant chapter is the one that deals with his years with the singer whom he strongly feels was his most successful protégé … Whitney Houston. “Without question this is the most difficult chapter for me to write … For a long time, Whitney could do no wrong, and the only problem we had was how we could keep topping ourselves … When you have the rare opportunity to collaborate with an all-timer like her, you just never give up. Her death was an absolutely crushing blow to me,” he admits in the book. Davis recounts in painful detail how he realized true potential talent in Houston when she was just 19 years old, the songs that would make her an enduring recording star, and the problems she encountered that would hobble her career and end her life (Davis for the first time reprints the lengthy letters he wrote to Houston during those difficult stages of her life and career, which were filled with plenty of support, understanding, and strong encouragement to get her refocused on her musical career).
As well, he sheds a lot of light on how tough survival in the recording industry can be, which are exemplified in two incidents that could have easily meant permanent ruination and ostracizing. First was the financial scandal that plagued Columbia Records that led to Davis’ firing in 1973 (and the accusations of financial improprieties on his part that were later proved to be false); and the unceremonious “retirement” in 1999 of Davis as head of Arista Records by Michael Dornemann, the Chairman of the Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG), which owned Arista at the time. Yet through these two major setbacks, Davis managed to survive and become a much more stronger, influential figure in the recording industry.
“The Soundtrack of My Life” is an expansive and thoroughly enjoyable story of an individual who possesses a genuine passion for music, no matter what the genre may be. And his golden ear for what constituted a hit record and the artist who should sing it helped shape the careers of some of the most important, influential figures who defined contemporary music that we still listen to (and still buy their records) for nearly 50 years. And as Davis succinctly sums up such an illustrious career towards the end of his best selling memoir:
“I unexpectedly found both the passion of music and my career in the record business totally exhilarating – and, despite a few painful moments, fascinating and just plain fun.”
This review originally appeared in the March 23, 2013 edition of the West End Times
