Probably the most important music executive in the history of modern music, the man with the “golden ears” Clive Davis is featured in Clive Davis The Soundtrack Of Our Lives. The documentary, which premiered last month at the Tribeca Film Festival, is best described as a trip that spans several musical eras through 6 decades that has seen Clive Davis go from his lowest points to unimaginable heights in one amazing career.
Derived from the 2013 autobiography, Clive Davis The Soundtrack Of Our Lives, the documentary details each stage of Davis’ career. From when he was hired to be a part of the Columbia Records legal department, his fast rise to Columbia Records president, his sudden firing, forming Arista Records to his eventually forced retirement, only to be hired back to start a major label, J Records, to his eventual rise to Chief Creative Officer for Sony/BMG Music. In between we hear really great, lively stories of his various interactions with many of the biggest artists of time, and his interactions with fellow music luminaries all of whom agree that Davis is the single greatest music executive they’ve worked for, with or was in competition at some point in their own career.
What Davis really specializes in is grooming artists, even established artists who have a reached a point in their career when they needed Davis’ touch to reignite. Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Rod Stewart, Santana have all had their career’s revived once Davis took charge. Then there are the artists he groomed from the very beginning, all of whom remained loyal to Davis. Those names include Barry Manilow, Kenny G, Alicia Keyes, and his greatest find, Whitney Houston.
Aside from his relationship with artists, the documentary also shows his knack for discovering and mentoring up and coming executives, from LA Reid, Sean “Puffy” Combs and others. But it’s his relationship with Whitney Houston in which he becomes most emotional over, as if he wishes he could’ve done more to protect his protégé in the beginning.
Clive Davis The Soundtrack Of Our Lives is a look not only at Clive Davis’ amazing career and it’s more about the music he helped to shape, but a musical revolution he has led for almost 50 years and is still leading the way.+
OTHER TRIBECA FILM REVIEWS COMING SOON:
- Whitney Can I Be Me
- Dare To Be Different
- The Public Image Is Rotten