Get yer ya-yas out!
It's turning out to be a bad year to be a celebrity...
Mixter
Make that thrice more--former Paul Revere & The Raiders guitarist Drake Levin died of cancer at age 62 yesterday too. Will pay tribute on my blog at my earliest opportunity. Very underrated guitar player in a very underrated band...
Whenever I think of Steve McNair, I think of his toughness in playing through tremendous pain later in his career. That had to have inspired his teammates to play a little harder. Damn shame he's gone at 36.
I haven't heard many nice things about Mr. Klein, so I'll politely pass on commenting about him.
Allow me then, hollandscomet. False, false, false! Allen Klein HOUNDED Sam to be his manager, not the other way around! And even when Sam did agree, he made sure there was never a contract between them because he never trusted Allen Klein.
As for Bobby Darin, I quote in my book his manager saying the meeting between Klein and Darin was all myth, and that all interaction went through him. He called the business relationship "a disaster," and said that Klein did an audit but it didn't turn up much of anything--certainly nowhere near six figures! He also said Allen Klein was the single reason Sam Cooke never got his due.
Erik Greene
Author, "Our Uncle Sam: The Sam Cooke Story From His Family's Perspective"
www.OurUncleSam.com
Welcome, Erik. I checked out your webpage. Anyone who's a Sam Cooke fan should check this book out. Lots of information, told from the Cooke family perspective.
One has to wonder then why Cooke, who had a degree of independence unusual for soul/R&B artists of the day, agreed to any sort of deal with Klein, informal or otherwise. Here's Klein's side of the story, from a Guardian obituary:
His first client was the soul music star Sam Cooke, who was unable to get royalty payments from his record company, RCA. "Sam said, 'Well, what do you think?'," Klein told Cooke's biographer Peter Guralnick. "I said, 'I think they're treating you like a nigger, and that's terrible - you shouldn't let them do it.'" Klein succeeded in releasing the monies owed to Cooke and soon established a corporation to own the rights to Cooke's future recordings.
The corporation referred to above obviously is a source of contention with Cooke's family, who justifiably would feel that they have a right to his posthumous earnings. From an artistic standpoint, though, I have to disagree with you, Erik - Cooke certainly has received his due as one of the most talented and innovative performers of his era.
I don't know why you slammed Holland against the wall. He was saying he hadn't heard much good about Allen Klein - you've just helped to confirm his original remark. If you were looking for me, as I suspect, I sincerely appreciate you telling your side of the story, with the reminder that I was writing about Klein, not your Uncle Sam.
I did write my commentary in English, didn't I?
Brian, I think it was just a case of mistaken identity.
Wow, let me clear up a couple of things. First of all, I didn't hang hollandscomet out to dry. All I meant was I hadn't heard a lot of nice things about Allen Klein either, but unlike holland, I didn't have a problem commenting on them. Apologies for the misunderstanding to the both of you.
Secondly, I was quoting Darin's former manager Steve Blauner about Sam Cooke not getting his due as a result of his dealings with Allen Klein. However, I know for a fact a great deal of his music catalog has been carefully guarded. For example, requests to do a movie on Sam's life using his original music have been denied by ABKCO the hundreds, including a proposed mini-series for ABC. To that extent I agree with Blauner's comment.
Lastly, the corporation Guralnick is referring to was Tracey, Ltd. It was set up by Allen Klein to be a tax shelter for Sam's enterprises--mainly his music catalog and record label. It certainly sheltered Sam Cooke from taxes, because after the fact Sam learned Tracey, Ltd. was owned not by himself, but by Allen Klein! When Sam found out he was irate, to say the least. He planned to travel to New York City the following Monday to fire Klein, but was killed that Thursday.
I hope this clarifies some of my earlier comments.
Erik
Also, I failed to comment on one point. Dr. S, Sam was indeed a shrewd businessman, and mistrusted Klein from the very beginning. However, Sam knew Allen Klein had the clout to get him two things he vitally cherished--another run at NYC's famed Copacabana (Sam failed miserably there in 195
, and a new contract with RCA. To Klein's credit, he delivered on both.
Sam never wanted a long-term relationship with AK--hence the lack of a contractual agreement between the two--and had planned to distance himself from Klein once the Copa booking and new contract were obtained. Remember, we're talking about the dog-eat-dog entertainment world of the mid-60's. Allen Klein just happened to get the last laugh in this business dealing.
Apologies to you as well, Erik, as going back and rereading I see how I may have misinterpreted your earlier remarks. Thank you for the clarification and further information.
If I were a celeb, I'd run for the hills.
I heard on the news this morning that McNair was drunk when he was shot. My thought was Who cares? He was at home, not driving anywhere, so it's a non-issue in my book.
There was an accident here yesterday morning where a "highly intoxicated" man hit a minivan with four people in it. One of the people in the minivan died. Turns out that all four people in the minivan had been drinking. Again, who cares about the passengers? Drinking alcoholic beverages is still legal in this country, all that matters re: legal limits are the drivers of the vehicles involved.
The other big story with McNair is that he left no will. I suppose he figured that at his age he wasn't going anywhere. Things get complicated because two of his children are from relationships he had before he met his wife. Also, in Tennessee, if you leave an estate of over $3 million, the state gets 50% of anything over that amount if you leave no will.
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