Bumping Into Geniuses: My Life Inside the Rock and Roll Business Paperback – July 7, 2009

An interesting view of the music business from the inside. Goldberg bounced from being a rock writer and critic to becoming a producer and executive. His main aim seems to have always been to produce and encourage real good original music -- while maintaining his integrity and being true to the artists, the audience and himself.The book could have used some rigorous editing in parts but it is definitely worth the time to read. If just to witness his honest battle to maintain his integrity while facing the facts of the way the music business really works.

This is a must have book, in my opinion, for anyone who loves rock music. Especially fans of classic rock and the sounds of the late 60's and 70's. But really, it's a great read for anyone who just loves music. An entertaining, without being "tabloid", piece of writing. Mr. Goldberg takes behind the scenes and introduces us to so many fascinating characters (agents, managers, pr and press people) and gives us an insiders view of the brilliant artists and musicians he's had the pleasure of working with. It's a fun and highly enjoyable read.

"Bumping into Geniuses" is a memoir written by Danny Goldberg, who is a well-known music industry figure (who also is known for his civil libertarian work and for running Air America Radio briefly). He previously wrote a book called "Dispatches from the Culture Wars" (around 2004), which was a very prescient book in terms of touching on (among other issues) the issue of `reaching' the younger generation and getting them politically engaged, as well as our eroding civil liberties - notions that were very out-front in the last Presidential election. Full disclosure: I met Danny once at a Jackson Browne concert (around the time of the first book) and he was very personable considering I just walked up to him to introduce myself, though it was just a couple of quick words I had with him, to tell him I'd read "Dispatches" and I thought it was an important book.For this book, he recounts his experiences in the music business over the last several decades in a bit more detail than the previous book, including his tenures working with Led Zeppelin and their imprint at Atlantic; his later presidencies of labels like Atlantic, Warner Brothers, Mercury and, and of founding/co-founding his own Modern and Artemis labels; as well as many stories about specific artists he either worked with, or outright managed, including Stevie Nicks, Bonnie Raitt, Warren Zevon and Kurt Cobain. I work in the music business, and I thought there is an interesting chapter early in the book wherein he runs down a bit about some of the significant executives in the music business during the 60's thru the 80's - it's very good background for those with an interest in the salad days of the industry, though most casual readers might find some of the details a bit too inside-baseball. The most interesting chapters of the book, in my opinion, are the chapters on Kurt Cobain and Warren Zevon, as he provides a firsthand account of his time with two artists whose lives came to sad ends (and he was there at the end of the story for both of them). He portrays them as having human flaws/quirks but as it also being the source of their enduring music, and it is very interesting to get such an inside perspective (I plan to also read Crystal Zevon's book about Warren shortly, for additional insight).My main issue with the book is that it needed some fact checking, mostly about some timeline items (for example: it says Buckingham and Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac in 1976 - it was actually before that, as their first LP with FM was released in 1975; Patti Smith's "Horses" came out in 1975, not 1974 (if I'm not mistaken); I think he meant to say that Sandy Denny was on Led Zeppelin "IV" not "III"), and a couple of others. (I read the hardcover version, so I'm not sure if anything was corrected in subsequent printings). Aside from some date errors, if you have an interest in the workings of the music business, or are a fan of any of the artists mentioned, the book is worth checking out.

I admit that I was initially only interested in this book due to the final section's retelling of Warren Zevon's last year. From a personal standpoint, Goldberg deserves credit for whatever his role was in getting "The Wind" on the shelves.In a generally solid, if a little vanilla, writing style,the author chronicles his good fortune at arriving at various important intersections where rock and roll made a left turn. It's not always clear what the author's role was; did he direct the traffic, or was he mostly a passenger along the way. Like many people in the entertainment business, and the music business in particular, one tries to walk the line between being subservient to an artist and maintaining whatever personal integrity one can. In the end, the lure of fame (even more than the money)and friendships of convenience win out. Some of the stories are entertaining, and carefully avoid the hyperbole that inhabits many "insider" books. But, then, the author refers to "genius" without really adequately defining it, as if it can really be defined anyway.That was my main trouble with the book. "Genius" is a devalued term, and it's actually a disservice to lead the reader in this direction. Maybe this was by design, but to me there never seemed to be a unified theme. Maybe Goldberg realizes, as do most of us, that a genius might just be someone who puts something over on us for a while. It does a grave disservice to Warren Zevon to only print 4 lines from his song "Genius", but perhaps it puts it all in perspective:"Albert Einstein was a ladies' manWhile he was working on his universal planHe was making out like Charlie SheenHe was a genius"Reading this book made me miss Warren's music all the more.

This book provides a very interesting perspective on the music industry of from its rise in the late 1960's to its fall in the 2000's. I enjoyed it very much and found it extremely educational.

The review of Oct. 8 by shooflymama is NOT a review of the book at all, rather one person's opinion/thoughts on one small portion of Goldberg's life as expressed in the book, and this person's commentary on that one aspect. The opinion of the reviewer, shooflymama, seems to be obviously that of a person with an axe to grind or their own agenda and nothing else, but does not speak to the quality or the readability of the book (they seem to actually recommend reading the book, just not buying it), thus making it not worthy of space in a review section and completely inappropriate. This review seems to paint a far more negative portrait of the reviewer than it does of the author. I will admit that I have not read the book, and only gave it a rating in order to get my review in and point out the inappropriateness of the other one mentioned. I gave it 5 stars simply to help even out the lower rating of the inappropriate review.