Update January 2021: See Neil Young's Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interview | 'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS American Masters Archive
Here is the full PBS | American Masters documentary film "Inventing David Geffen which was recently broadcast.
American Masters: Inventing David Geffen is "an unflinching portrait of Geffen, who narrates his unorthodox rise from working class Brooklyn boy to billionaire entertainment power broker in extensive interviews."
Interviewees include Neil Young. Elliot Roberts. Gary Burden.
As you may recall, David Geffen in the 1980's filed a $3 million lawsuit against Neil Young for violating his contract by recording ‘unrepresentative’ albums. In other words, Neil Young wasn’t making Neil Young music."The truth is I fought with him because I wanted him to do better work,'' Mr. Geffen explained afterward. ''I was taking too much of a fatherly role in his life.'' Only David Geffen could describe a lawsuit against one of his trophy clients as an excess of paternalism. Described by friends, peers and adversaries as “passionate,” “neurotic” and “giftedly non-diplomatic", Geffen has been a highly polarizing figure in the Entertainment industry.
From Documentary Press Tour:
Geffen, who is on tape suggesting "ego" isn't a "pejorative" term in his mind, insists he never saw himself as the smartest person in the room at any point during his career, revealing that he did poorly in school -- “I thought I was dumb,” he said -- and was fired from a number of early jobs coming out of high school. In fact, he said the only reason he had the confidence to go after a gig as a William Morris agent is because he believed it rewarded a different skill set, and one that he had: the ability to “bullshit on the phone.” (Other Geffen facts: He’s never carried a cell phone, has never texted anyone and doesn’t own an ATM card.)
Geffen’s far-reaching influence — as agent and manager, record industry mogul, Hollywood and Broadway producer, and billionaire philanthropist — has helped shape American popular culture for the past four decades.
Watch Inventing David Geffen on PBS. See more from American Masters.
More on How Neil Young Became the First Artist to Get Sued for Not Being Himself.
Its 1:15am EST, I've got a 10am family Xmas brunch, but, damm, this is the best documentary I've seen in years and I'm only 30 minutes in. The first link gets you 20 minutes and an email address gets you the other 90 minutes. Tons of Elliott Roberts stuff in the front end. Maybe most of you know all the gory details of the Geffin-Roberts saga, but this is a book that I won't be putting down until its over in about an hour.
ReplyDeleteHighly recommended for those who only see Geffin as the A-hole who sued Neil
OK. It's 2:32 and it just ended and I gotcha get some sleep before brunch.
ReplyDeleteVery very good documentary. Well written, very well produced. Props to PBS.
And, yes, it was Geffin who came up with the idea that ultimately turned Appetite for Destruction from a lingering declining CD to to a huge hit with a single phone call. Just one of the many very interesting stories. A pretty cool life, to say the least. And like Elton, he made it out of the 80s alive, not by good behaviour, but plain dumb luck... A very deserving member of the rock n roll hall of fame. the moral of the story (shhhhh) - don't be afraid to lie on your resume...
I've seen this twice on TV and it's amazing. NY refers to Geffen as one of his oldest and dearest friends in his book. Cool dudes.
ReplyDelete