A SALUTE TO THE HONORABLE-INCOMPARABLE CLIVE DAVIS!

A Harvard Law graduate, Davis speaks with the confidence, intelligence and modesty of a true intellectual. He is one of the lucky few whose love for their job has never died, and he is quick to remind everyone just how lucky he is.

On the other hand, he does not attribute his success to chance, as years of hard work, dedication and unyielding determination paid off in the end. Davis is a self-made man of extraordinary mental strength and stubbornness, who only needs to look into the past to figure out how he got so far in life.

With an undying love for music of all sorts, Davis possesses some of the best ears (and eyes) for talent in the world. The proof of his scouting skill is on his resume: signing names like Pink Floyd and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, becoming a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, being a multiple Grammy winner, as well as being the driving force behind millions of record sales.

Simply put; he has had his finger on pop music's PULSE for four decades and capitalized on an incredible ear for success.

After graduating from Harvard Law School on a scholarship, a young and gung-ho Clive Davis was soon hired by the legal department of CBS's Columbia Records. With hard work and a deep passion for music, he moved up the ranks of the company and, in 1967, became president of CBS Records. That same year, he turned his head toward rock 'n' roll and signed Janis Joplin, Pink Floyd, Bruce Springsteen, and Billy Joel. Soon after, CBS's album sales exploded, thanks to the exploitation of this musical genre.

Allegations spread at Columbia Records only a few years later that Davis was using profits as his personal expense account; instead of dealing with the accusations, CBS simply fired him. To this day, Davis denies the allegations.

In 1974, Davis founded Arista Records, a label that became one of the most successful and diverse in history: Davis' lineup included Whitney Houston, The Grateful Dead, Aretha Franklin, and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs.

For his accomplishments over the years, Davis received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1997. In 2000, Davis once again had business troubles when Arista owners BMG decided to relieve him of his duties, citing his old age and lack of vision.

They did, however, give him a 50% stake in a new label, called J Records. He brought over some artists from Arista, including Alicia Keys and Luther Vandross, and, not surprisingly, J became one of the fastest growing labels in the world.

After J established itself as a veritable musical force in the industry, BMG wooed Davis back into their company in 2003, by buying out his stake in J Records and giving him president and executive powers in the new RCA Records.

He is firmly entrenched in music history, and his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, infamous pre-Grammy parties and CONTINUAL DISCOVERY of NEW TALENT round out this incredible man's feats.

--courtesy of AskMen.com


I knew nothing about records. It was the furthest thing from my mind. I did not have a background in music, period," says Davis.

At the age of 71, Davis remains a hands-on record executive who cultivates new talent, produces new records and creates big hits over and over again. His track record spans nearly four decades of music, from hippies to hip-hop.

It began back in the '60s, when Davis was a lawyer in the music department at CBS. Within just a few years, he had risen to become the head of CBS Records.

Among the big names at CBS in those days were old established ones: Mitch Miller, Andy Williams, Tony Bennett. But in the summer of '67, Davis took a trip to California where he heard an unknown artist performing at the Monterey Pop Festival.

"I went to Monterey Pop. I just went down in the fairgrounds and nobody in that area, just south of San Francisco, was dressed like me. I was in the midst of robes and flowers and every kind of outfit. I was stunned by it," says Davis, laughing.

"The music began, and it was one of those life-changing moments. I saw an artist, Janis Joplin of Port Arthur,TX. She was exhilarating. She was vibrating. And she was like no other artist that I had ever seen before ... It struck me that hard. Maybe the word is epiphany, when you get that special sensation. And I was transfixed ... I knew what I had experienced at this first-ever pop festival, was going to be the sound heard around the world."

Davis signed Janis Joplin and her band to CBS Records and he says that at that contract signing, Joplin made him a surprising offer.

"It was very corporate for her. And we were signing papers. And she asked to see me alone in my office. And she said, 'This is the biggest moment in my life. You are signing. I'm signing with my group. It just seems too formal. We've gotta loosen up. Let's go to bed together,'" recalls Davis.

"Well, I didn't. It didn't go as to 'Let's pick the place.' We didn't get into a -- detailed discussion. I smiled and said, 'That's very special.'"

And was it? "There was no physical intimacy," says Davis.

With Janis Joplin, Davis' rocket ship ride at CBS took off with more legendary artists, including Santana, Sly & The Family Stone and Bruce Springsteen. Soon, this lawyer-turned-music man quickly became one of the most powerful men in the business.
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But then, all of a sudden, it came to an end. Davis was abruptly fired in 1973. CBS claimed that Davis misappropriated money to renovate his apartment and to pay for his son's Bar Mitzvah.

"Both of which turned out later to be false," says Davis. "I knew it was false."

But despite his denials, questions about Davis persisted for some time. It was a very dark period in his career.

"There were certainly wounds that can never be patched over. And, you know, you get tested in life," says Davis. "But I find that over life, it's a very good example that you really cannot just expect life to go up, up, up."

His resurrection began when he was made president of another label that he named Arista. And he created a powerhouse with it: The Grateful Dead, Annie Lennox, Barry Manilow, Aretha Franklin, Kenny G. and Whitney Houston.

Davis first heard Houston sing when she was a teenager and he took her on "The Merv Griffin Show." The rest, of course, is music history.

People talk about Davis' golden ears. But he says it's his gut that helps him decide whether to sign an artist.

"It's your gut. It's the tingle up your spine. It's your ears. Whatever the anatomy part that it is, I found that it is a natural gift," says Davis.

And it was his gut again in 1997 when he agreed to meet with Carlos Santana, whose glory days seemed long past.

"He wanted to see, 'What is this man about? What does Carlos Santana want to do,'" recalls Santana. "That's when I said, 'I would like to...I can't help myself, you know. I said I want to reconnect the molecules with the light, man, you know.'"

Davis says he had just one important question for Carlos: "I said, 'Let me ask you. Are you hungry?' And he said, 'I have two teenager daughters, and they wanna hear me on the radio.'"

The result? An album that sold over 25 million copies worldwide and won Santana eight Grammys -- including one for Clive Davis. The year was 2000, Arista's 25th Anniversary, and it was a banner year for Arista and Davis.
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But Davis' career was about to take another detour. After 25 years. Davis' contract was up, and BMG, Arista's parent company, had decided the time had come to replace him with a younger executive.

"The fact of the matter is that I knew I was not too old," says Davis, laughing. "I think that they felt that they could run the company, and were eager to run the company themselves."

Negotiations followed and BMG finally agreed to finance a new venture with Clive J. Davis - J Records. And he soon proved that, indeed, he was not too old. Within just a year, J Records had four albums in the Top Ten, including Alicia Keys, one for his latest young sensation.

Keys remembers her all-important first meeting with Davis.

"It doesn't feel like yesterday, but it does feel like yesterday. And I remember he said to me, 'So, what do you wanna do? Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years? Where do you wanna be?' And I had never had somebody of his stature ask me those questions," says Keys.

"Nobody ever cared. They could care less. They wanna tell you what they want you to do. And when he asked me that, I knew that it was different than anything else."

And it was. Her debut album sold 10 million copies and won her five Grammys. Her second album recently debuted at No. 1 on the charts.

Then came a different challenge from the aging rock star Rod Stewart. He said his last album, for another label, had been a "horrible failure." Now, he wanted to sing popular romantic songs from time gone by, and he was able to sell that notion to Davis.

"I've got to tell you, it was a huge risk," says Stewart. "For both of us. If it would have dribbled in and sold 30,000 albums, we both would have been the laughing stock. He could have moved on. It would have crippled me, I think."

During a recent meeting at J Records, Rod Stewart surprised the staff -- and Davis surprised him with some astonishing sales figures for his latest album.

"The story of Rod Stewart, the story of Carlos Santana is so inspiring to young musicians because it shows in this trendy business how long a career can last," says Davis. "It shows how you can soar back, regardless of age."
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Of course, the same could be said for Davis, a workaholic who still spends late nights at the concert hall -- and long days at the office. He works with a staff, many of whom are less than half his age.

"It never occurs to me that I'm any older than any of them. What we share, because we travel together, we spend an awful lot of time together, is, a passion for music," says Davis.

Obviously, that passion has served him well. This winter, it was announced that Davis had been named Chairman and CEO of BMG, North America, which puts him back in charge of, among other things, his baby, Arista, which was taken away from him a couple of years back.

"The only reason that I'm still in it is because the hits keep coming. In business terms, you've gotta have hits," says Davis. "You've gotta show what have you done lately. So, I never take anything for granted."
--courtesy of cbsnews.com

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