SHAMEometer rating out of 100:
90
90
Now that Allen Klein has passed away, I can write about him without worrying about getting sued. That's the kind of fellow Klein was: a bastard.
Klein was the archetypical sleazy rock manager, right up there with the shady Col. Tom Parker. In a nutshell he swindled The Rolling Stones in the sixties (and owned their landmark recordings after Mick & co. divorced him) and helped to break up The Beatles. "Controversial" and "pugnacious" were words often used to describe Klein who was lampooned by John Belushi in the hilarious mockumentary The Rutles.
"Why don't you like me, Bill?" Klein once asked Stones' bassist, Bill Wyman. 'Because I don't trust you, Allen,' would come the unblinking reply.
True, Klein was a tough negotiator, but he fought for himself ahead of his clients and there lies the tragedy. He could've made his clients as well as himself rich without screwing them and earning their eternal ire (just read McCartney's views in Many Years From Now).
For a full "obituary" check out British writer Ray Connelly's "Monster of Rock."
Klein was the archetypical sleazy rock manager, right up there with the shady Col. Tom Parker. In a nutshell he swindled The Rolling Stones in the sixties (and owned their landmark recordings after Mick & co. divorced him) and helped to break up The Beatles. "Controversial" and "pugnacious" were words often used to describe Klein who was lampooned by John Belushi in the hilarious mockumentary The Rutles.
"Why don't you like me, Bill?" Klein once asked Stones' bassist, Bill Wyman. 'Because I don't trust you, Allen,' would come the unblinking reply.
Did Klein break up the Beatles? No. The Beatles broke up The Beatles, but Klein did a hell of a job alienating one Paul McCartney, and he sold a bill of goods to a gullible John Lennon who took a shine to Klein's tough street-talkin' style. (Lennon would later sue Klein and skewer him in his 1974 song, "Steel and Glass.")
c.1969: Mick Jagger wondering if his then-manager Allen Klein
is thrusting a knife into his back
c.1969: Mick Jagger wondering if his then-manager Allen Kleinis thrusting a knife into his back
True, Klein was a tough negotiator, but he fought for himself ahead of his clients and there lies the tragedy. He could've made his clients as well as himself rich without screwing them and earning their eternal ire (just read McCartney's views in Many Years From Now).
For a full "obituary" check out British writer Ray Connelly's "Monster of Rock."
No comments:
Post a Comment