Clive Davis

Columbia/CBS Records years

Davis practiced law in a small firm in New York,^[9] then moved on to the firm of Rosenman, Colin, Kaye, Petschek, and Freund two years later, where partner Ralph Colin had CBS as a client.^[10] Davis was subsequently hired by a former colleague at the firm, Harvey Schein, to become assistant counsel of CBS subsidiary Columbia Records at 28 with a guarantee that he would become general counsel the next year, which he did.^[11] As part of a reorganization of Columbia Records Group, group president Goddard Lieberson appointed Davis as administrative vice president and general manager in 1965.^[12] In 1966, CBS formed the Columbia–CBS Group which reorganized CBS's recorded music operations into CBS Records with Davis heading the new unit.^[13]

In 1967, Davis was appointed president and became interested in the newest generation of folk rock and rock and roll. One of his earliest pop signings was the British folk-rock musician Donovan, who enjoyed a string of successful hit singles and albums released in the U.S. on the Epic Records label. In the same year, Davis hired 23-year-old recording artist Tony Orlando as general manager of Columbia publishing subsidiary April-Blackwood Music; Orlando went on to become vice-president of Columbia/CBS Music and signed Barry Manilow in 1969.^[14] In June 1967, Davis attended the Monterey Pop Festival after his friends and business associate, Lou Adler, convinced him.^[15] He immediately signed Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Columbia went on to sign Laura Nyro; The Electric Flag; Santana; The Chambers Brothers; Bruce Springsteen; Chicago; Billy Joel; Blood, Sweat & Tears; Loggins and Messina; Aerosmith; and Pink Floyd (for rights to release their material outside of Europe).^{[16][17][18][19]}

Among the most commercially successful recordings released during Davis's tenure at Columbia was Lynn Anderson's Rose Garden, in late 1970. Davis insisted that "Rose Garden" be the country singer's next single release. The song crossed over and was a No. 1 hit in 16 countries worldwide. "Rose Garden" remained the biggest-selling album by a female country artist for 27 years.^[20][21] In 1972, Davis signed both Earth, Wind & Fire and Aerosmith to Columbia Records. In 1979 Aerosmith mentioned Davis in the song "No Surprize", in which Steven Tyler sings, "Old Clive Davis said he's surely gonna make us a star, I'm gonna make you a star, just the way you are."^[22] Starting on December 30, 1978,^[23] Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead occasionally changed the lyrics of the Dead standard "Jack Straw" in concert from "we used to play for silver, now we play for life", to "we used to play for acid, now we play for Clive."^[24] A Detroit band, Death, was one of the last bands Davis tried to sign to Columbia Records.^[25] A Rolling Stone article dated July 5, 1973, reported that CBS fired Clive Davis "amid allegations of misuse of funds and providing drugs to artists and disk jockeys" as part of an alleged payola scandal.^[26] Davis, however, denied that his dismissal was connected in any way to drugs or payola.^[27]

Arista years

After Davis was fired from CBS Records in 1973 for allegedly using company funds to bankroll his son's bar mitzvah,^[13][28][26] Columbia Pictures then hired him to be a consultant for the company's Bell Records label. He wrote his memoir and then founded Arista Records in 1974.^[29][30][31] The company was named after New York City's secondary school honor society with the name, of which Davis was a member.^[32] At Arista, Davis signed Barry Manilow, followed by Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Patti Smith, Westlife, Al Jourgensen, The Outlaws, Eric Carmen, Kenny G, the Bay City Rollers, Exposé, Taylor Dayne, Milli Vanilli, Ace of Base, Air Supply, Ray Parker Jr., Raydio, and Alicia Keys, and he brought Carly Simon, Melissa Manchester, Grateful Dead, The Kinks, Jermaine Stewart, Gil Scott-Heron (on whose episode of TV One's Unsung Davis was interviewed) and Lou Reed to the label.^{[16][17][18][19]} He co-founded Arista Nashville in 1989 with Tim DuBois, which became the home to Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Pam Tillis, and Brad Paisley.^[33]

Davis founded LaFace Records with L.A. Reid and Babyface.^[34] LaFace subsequently became the home of TLC, Usher, Outkast, Pink, and Toni Braxton.^[34] Davis assisted Sean "Puffy" Combs with the creation of Bad Boy Records; it became the home of the Notorious B.I.G., Craig Mack, Combs, Mase, 112, and Faith Evans, although Davis later admitted that he never quite understood rap music.^[35][36] In 1998, Davis signed LFO, who became best known for their 1999 hit single "Summer Girls".^[37] During the Arista years, he set up his own production company Clive Davis Entertainment, for a two-year first-look agreement with movie studio TriStar Pictures in 1987.^[38] Davis was made aware of Cissy Houston's daughter Whitney Houston after he saw the Houstons perform at a New York City nightclub. Impressed with what he heard, Davis signed her to Arista. Houston became one of the biggest selling artists in music history under the guidance of Davis at Arista.^[39]

J Records, RCA, Sony years

Davis was fired from Arista in 2000 and started J Records, an independent label with financial backing from Arista parent Bertelsmann Music Group, named with the middle initial of Davis and his four children.^[40] BMG bought a majority stake in J Records in 2002, and Davis became president and CEO of the larger RCA Music Group.^[41] His continued success in breaking new artists was recognized by the music industry A&R site HitQuarters when he was named the "world's No.1 A&R of 2001" based on worldwide chart data for the year.^[42]

In 2004, BMG merged with Sony Music Entertainment to form Sony BMG. With the assets of the former CBS Records (renamed Sony Music Entertainment in 1991) now under Sony's ownership, the joint venture resulted in a return of sorts for Davis to his former employer. Davis remained with RCA Label Group until 2008, when he was named chief creative officer for Sony BMG.^[43] Davis was elevated to chief creative officer of Sony Music Entertainment,^[44] a title he held until his death, as part of a corporate restructuring when Sony BMG became Sony Music Entertainment in late 2008 after BMG had sold its shares to Sony.^[45] Arista Records and J Records, which were both founded by Davis, were dissolved in October 2011 through the restructuring of RCA Records. All artists under those labels were moved to RCA Records.^[46]

Popular culture

Davis was portrayed by Stanley Tucci in Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody, a Sony Pictures biopic about Houston's life and career. Davis also served as a producer on the film.^[62] A 2024 interview with Davis conducted by Ritch Esra and Eric Knight was published on MubuTV.^[63]

Grammy Awards