Book Review: The Soundtrack of My Life by Clive Davis

Back in 1974 I read a book called Clive: Inside the Record Business and it remains one of my favorite non-fiction books. Still have the paperback edition. I was not many years from being a musician at the time, so reading about the inner workings of the record business was interesting and enlightening.

Now we have Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of My Life which is an updated version of that 1974 book in my estimation, covering his early years as well as his record executive experience up to 2012. I enjoyed the book but that's because I love any book that reveals the behind the scenes goings on, whether the movie, music or book business.

This is not a gossip filled account of celebrity musicians, but concentrates on the business side of how Clive Davis became a successful music executive and how he dealt with the singers and bands throughout his career and helped them become commercially successful.

The Soundtrack of My Life begins with his early life, family history, education and how he was able to become a lawyer despite his middle class, Brooklyn upbringing. Clive Davis did not set out to be a music mogul, but earned a scholarship to Harvard and, after getting his law degree, became a lawyer at Columbia records after a series of unplanned events.

He became the driving force who led Columbia Records from its successful history of pop classics, Broadway cast albums and movie soundtracks, to one of the major labels of rock n roll, and it all started at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. The provocative rendition of the song Ball 'n' Chain by Janis Joplin and her band Big Brother and the Holding Company thoroughly enthralled Davis and he insisted on signing the group to Columbia, even though he wasn't really in charge of signing new artists at that point in time.

From Monterey Pop to American Idol, the history of Rock 'n' Roll behind the scenes is laid out, including his sudden firing at Columbia in the early 70's to the rise of Arista Records to the formation of J Records. The Soundtrack of My Life is filled with fascinating stories about some the most successful icons of music in the last 50 plus years.

A couple of stories stand out, those of Barry Manilow, Aretha Franklin, the tragic demise of Whitney Houston and the amazing revival of Carlos Santana's career with the release of Supernatural, the number one hit of 1999.

There was an ongoing conflict between Clive Davis and some of his artists, including Manilow, regarding which songs would appear on their albums. Barry wanted to record just the songs he'd written, but Davis felt this was a mistake. Davis wanted Barry to allow him to choose two songs for each album, which Manilow finally agreed to. Thus many of Barry's major hits ended up being songs written by other songwriters, which helped boost him into super stardom. On the other hand, Taylor Dayne wouldn't agree to this arrangement, to her detriment. Her career rapidly declined after a few years and years later she expressed her regret to Clive Davis that she didn't follow his advise.

The stories about how Clive Davis helped revive the careers of both Aretha Franklin and Carlos Santana are fascinating. One important element of these stories is that Davis doesn't take all the credit for himself. He consistently lavishes praise on the producers, A & R personnel, songwriters and other company executives who took part in these successes.

The triumphs and tragedy of Whitney Houston is told in detail by Davis as he unsuccessfully attempted to steer her career away from the drugs and unhealthy relationship that ended up bringing her down. This is probably the longest section about one artist. Whitney Houston had a major impact on the music business and it's sad that such a talent could lose everything due to addictions that suffocated her life. But it's a common tragedy in the world of celebrities and a stark warning for those who are paying attention.

Of course, The Soundtrack of My Life is an autobiography, so we are getting the stories from one point of view. I'm sure there are those who will have major disagreements with how Clive Davis renders the facts. In fact, there are many who believe that Clive Davis and the entertainment business is evil and has a bad influence on culture and society. So be it. There are many other publications out there with different opinions you can check out.

If you're not interested in the business side of the music business, then this probably isn't the book for you. I enjoyed the inside stories about how artists are signed and developed. I didn't really need the details about his sex life, but other than that, The Soundtrack of my Life is a fascinating history about how one man successfully became a major power player in the music business and changed the direction of rock 'n' roll forever.

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Book Review: Sanctus by Simon Toyne

Once in awhile I buy a book on impulse, never having heard about the author or the book, but simply due to the cover art and the brief plot summary.

In the past, this impulse has led me to some great authors and books, including Relic, by Preston and Child as well as John Connelly's The Killing Kind.

If you're into reading thrillers, then standing in a book store skimming a copy of Sanctus will definitely get you excited. The art work is top notch and the plot summary is intriguing.

From the back cover:
In the oldest inhabited place on earth, atop a mountain known as the Citadel, a Vatican-like city-state towers above the city of Ruin in modern-day Turkey.

Now, thanks to media coverage of a climber's assent, the eyes of the whole world are on a group that has prized its secrets above all things. For the Sancti—the monks living inside the Citadel—this could mean the end of everything they have built and protected for millennia . . . and they will stop at nothing to keep what is theirs.

For American reporter Liv Adamsen, driven by the memory of a tragic loss, an earth-shaking discovery awaits that will change everything . . .

British author, Simon Toyne, was working in television previous to starting his writing career. He was getting restless and too comfortable in his job because his ambition had always been to write novels. In 2007 he finally left his career behind and moved to France for six months to work on his book. It takes a lot of confidence for anyone to make this commitment to yourself, and it has paid off as the novel has become a well deserved International Best Seller.

Sanctus has been compared to the DaVinci Code, which is a fictionalized version of historical facts. Sanctus, however, is totally fiction. The Citadel, the city of Ruin, the Sacraments, which are at the centre of the plot, the various religious factions and the historical background are all made up by the
author, Simon Toyne. This is a major accomplishment because every detail rings true and feels believable.

One excellent device Toyne uses throughout is to keep the chapters short, which encourages you to keep reading. Some chapters are only a page or two and this keeps the action flowing. You keep thinking, 'okay, I've got time for one more chapter' and before you know it, you've read fifty pages in no time at all.

Character development is as good as you would expect from this type of novel, and it's easy to get right into the flow of the action, which starts immediately and never lets up. At first, it's difficult to figure out who are the heroes and villains, which also keeps you reading until all becomes clear.

Another positive is the writing style which isn't overly descriptive, like some novelists who bore you with so many miniscule details you end up skipping over endless paragraphs that disrupt the flow of the story. The action is believable for the most part and speeds up nicely as the book gets closer to the
ending, which isn't really an ending since this is the first book in a three book trilogy.

Some may consider the ending to this first book in the trilogy a bit over the top and far fetched, but what the heck, this is fiction, anything is possible.

I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series. All three have now been published, so it's off to the book store to carry on with this excellent series.

The second part of the trilogy, The Key, was released on April 12, 2012 and the third part, The Tower, was released on April 13, 2013.

You can visit the author's website for a preview of each book here: Simon Toyne

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