Bumping Into Geniuses: My Life Inside the Rock and Roll Business

I bought this book for my daughter who worked for the author as an intern eight years ago. She says I must read it...it's a fascinating look at the business, well written...last week shesaid "I can't wait to get home to read Bumping into Geniuses...

I will fully admit to being a junkie for these types of memoirs. Any hint into the inside of the music industry, especially during the 'golden years' piques my interest. Danny Goldberg seems to be one of those people that was always in the right place, meeting the right people and making good decisions. Even when being fired or pushed out of a position, he seems to land on his feet facing forward. His accounts of Nirvana's rise and fall, I found fascinating. His account came across sincere and mournful of not being able to do more for the addicted Kurt Cobain. His inside access to the creation of a solo Stevie Nicks, to the need for media attention by Led Zeppelin and his account of a dying Warren Zevon made the book hard to put down at times. I loved every minute of it.

Let me state upfront that I had never heard of Danny Goldberg, but when I read the inner flap of this book, I knew immediately that I wanted to read this. In "Bumping into Geniuses: My Life Inside the Rock and Roll Business" (317 pages), Goldberg retells his humble beginnings in the music biz, starting as basically an administrative clerk at Billboard Magazine (which Danny thought would be a company dealing with highway billboards). When they needed someone to cover live rock shows, Danny the ever-music fan of course volunteered, and hence the start of an incredible 40 year ride in the rock music business. His 3 years doing PR for Led Zeppelin, then at the top of the music world (73-76) bring a ton of great stories and observations. On the band's high music standards: "Bonham was the most obsessive. He would show up for sound checks an hour before the other guys to customize his drum sound to each venue." After the Zeppelin period, Goldberg got involved with launching Stevie Nicks' solo career. "I was mesmerized by her intuitive writing process. She would sit at the piano and zone out for hours and come out with a song". Stevie's debut solo album went on to sell 4 million in just the US. Goldberg eventually also dealt extensively as a Geffen record executive with Kurt Cobain and Nirvana. Upon seeing Nirvana in concert for the first time (before the release of "Nevermind"), Goldberg writes "It was only then that I realized that Kurt Cobain was not just a smart, quirky rock artist but also a true genius. I shiver at the thought of how casually I had taken the signing of them. What a lucky break!". Goldberg's observations on the downward spiral are deeply personal and moving. In the latter years (and latter part of the book), Goldberg becomes a label president several times over, and hence is at his most influential, yet that part of the book is the least interesting, as Goldberg is at his most removed from the artists, and it becomes more about the 'business'. That said, I enjoyed this book from start to (almost) finish, and would readily recommend this to any serious rock music fan out there. One last funny story: Goldberg worked with Springsteen in his early years (before super-stardom). Springsteen was grumbling about finally understanding how to get a hit single (write a song for girls--which he eventually did and "Hungry Heart" became his first Top 40 hit). Writes Goldberg: "Just to hear the Boss utter the word demographic was a shock to my system, but then again why wouldn't he want to appeal to as many people as possible?" Haha!

Having been a witness to the business of the record business, I too have bumped into geniuses. However, Danny (who I have also bumped into during my career at Columbia Records) relates his experiences as a publicist turned manager turned record exec. in a very readable and enjoyable context. It becomes obvious to the reader that Danny is both a professional and a music lover. Whether you were there or not, Mr. Goldberg takes you through his life experiences within the music business and gives you a feel for its heart and soul and the trials and tribulations that accompany an entrepreneur with a heart. I could only wish to write a book like his. You will like it as a fan of rock and roll music or as a fan who has been in the business.

There are at least three reasons why only Danny Goldberg could have written this book about the rock music business of the last four or so decades. First, he's held a front row seat and worn more hats--reporter, publicist, manager, record company executive and political activist---during all of those years than just about anyone else around. His astute insights coming out each of these chapters of his career are in abundant evidence here. Secondly, he has by any calculation "bumped" into more than his fair share of geniuses. The details in this book reveal that more than hard work, good luck, timing, etc. were at play. He has not just a great nose and ear but a keen eye for talent. Finally, only Goldberg could have written a book like this because he's more than just another savvy businessman and promoter with a success story to tell. He's also a clearly gifted observer and writer, who retained a measure of the idealism that first attracted him to the record business and an all-too-rare ability to still distinguish between all of the hype and reality. The end result is a book that actually delivers on what the dust jacket promises--"There is more to this story than Goldberg's career. It's a revealing look at the music industry itself: a business that is neither the romantic vehicle for self-expression that its most naive fans imagine, nor the purely crass money machine depicted by its most cynical critics. It is complex and chaotic--a mixture of art and commerce, idealism and selfishness--and sometimes, rock's most gifted musicians were able to transcend it all. Despite the drugs, lies, and shallow quests for fame and money that stalked the rock industry, it managed to produce the music that Goldberg and countless fans love."