Clive Davis watched a video montage of his six-decade career flicker across the screen at Virgin Hotels New York on Friday. The packed room fell silent as images of Janis Joplin, Whitney Houston, and Bruce Springsteen filled the frame. Then his son Fred walked on stage, and the conversation that followed was unlike any the 94-year-old music executive had given before.
Key Takeaways:
- Davis recalled his 1973 CBS firing and $1 million vindication check.
- His mother’s advice to embrace all people shaped his career.
- Highlights included Aretha’s Kennedy Center performance and coaching Springsteen.
The father-son session highlighted the inaugural Amplify Music Investment Summit, a joint presentation by the MUSQ Global Music Industry Index ETF (MUSQ) and Mondo.NYC. While the summit explored music as an institutional asset class, this conversation explored something more personal: the emotional core of an industry Clive Davis helped build.
See more: Music Investment Summit Debuts in New York
The conversation touched on the 1973 CBS firing that Fred witnessed as a 13-year-old on the evening news, the mother who taught Clive to embrace all walks of life, and the artists whose performances remain etched in memory decades later.
Fred, a partner at The Raine Group who has advised Spotify, Warner Music, and SoundCloud, guided his father through stories he had lived through but never fully heard. It was the first time Fred had interviewed his father publicly. Clive, now chief creative officer at Sony Music Entertainment, shared memories spanning from his Columbia Records years through his founding of Arista.
Clive Davis on 1973 CBS Firing
“One of the most traumatic days of my childhood, when I was 13, was the day you were unjustifiably let go at CBS,” Fred said. “I saw the coverage on the evening news, on the front page of the New York Times.”
Clive paused. “It was certainly traumatic,” he said. “It lives with me to this day.”
He explained what happened: An executive at Columbia was running a secret invoice system, stealing from the company. When Fred’s bar mitzvah approached, the executive offered to get entertainment at wholesale rates. After being exposed, the executive’s lawyer claimed illegal radio payment schemes across the record industry. A new CBS president, concerned about protecting the network, separated from the record division. Clive was let go.
“The hurt really never goes away,” he said. But after being cleared of all charges, CBS gave him a $1 million check for future mail order rights to Arista Records, the new company he had just formed.
Mother’s Advice Shaped Career Path
Fred asked who had influenced his father’s career most.
“First of which was my mother,” Clive said. As a young student, he excelled academically. But his mother saw something he needed. “She said, ‘You don’t want to be a bookworm. You’ve got to get out there with people. You’ve got to learn all walks of life, all races, all colors. You’re not going to get them purely from reading.'”
That advice became critical when he considered leaving the Rosenman Law Firm for Columbia Records. One senior partner advised against it: “Look at you. You went to Harvard Law School, you’re still wearing your tweed jackets. And the record business, they all wear gold chains around their neck. You won’t fit in, don’t take it.”
Clive took the job anyway. “That was the best thing I ever did,” he said. “I found the passion of music.”
Discovering Whitney Houston at Sweetwater’s
Fred recalled listening to new albums with his father as a teenager, trying to pick the single. Clive described what he looks for: lyric-conscious impact, emotional resonance, a melody you can sing as though you’ve known it all your life. But there’s something beyond analysis. “Something would happen in my body, as cliche as that sounds, when I was in the presence of greatness.”
He walked into Sweetwater’s Club, a small Upper West Side venue, to audition Whitney Houston. “I was totally unprepared for the first song that she sang,” Clive said. The song was “Greatest Love of All,” which he had commissioned for a Muhammad Ali film. “My jaw dropped when I heard Whitney sing that.”
He gave her a key man clause — a rare provision tying her contract to his presence — allowing her to leave the company if he ever left. “If you ever read that I was hesitant with her when I first heard her, totally false,” he said.
Another memory: Bruce Springsteen standing stationary at Max’s Kansas City, a now-closed New York club. When Bruce performed at a rehearsal for a larger venue, something was missing. At rehearsal, Clive walked him across the stage. “I think the movement would tend to personalize as you got closer to each member of the audience.”
Two years later, Clive had founded Arista and was no longer working with Bruce. But Bruce’s manager invited him to the Bottom Line, another now-closed New York club. “From the opening chord with the E Street Band, he became the greatest live performer in history,” Clive said. After the show, he found Bruce backstage. “He looked up and he smiled and all he said was ‘Clive, did I move around enough for you?'”
Memorable Performance at Kennedy Center
Fred asked about memorable performances. Clive chose an Aretha Franklin moment at the Kennedy Center, where she sang “Natural Woman” for honoree Carole King. “She starts out wearing a fur coat. Carole King is in the balcony sitting with Barack and Michelle Obama.”
As Aretha sang, the performance built. “She stands up, continued singing with great fanfare, she throws off that fur coat and she keeps singing. The audience starts standing and there’s Aretha still going higher and going higher. You really felt that Carole King would fall out of the balcony.”
Clive also recalled reviving Carlos Santana’s career with “Smooth.” Santana was 55, hadn’t had a hit in 25 years. After they recorded the song with Rob Thomas, Clive faced skepticism. So he showcased it at his pre-Grammy party. Rob Thomas performed to a sustained standing ovation, leading to radio acceptance weeks later.
The pre-Grammy party itself began in 1975, Arista’s first year. Barry Manilow wanted a party on Grammy night like every other label. Clive scheduled it for the night before instead. “Elton John came, Stevie Wonder came, John Denver came,” he said. Fifty-one years later, no major record company has challenged it with a competing party.
Fred’s final question: What’s your favorite song you’ve worked on? “‘The Greatest Love of All’ is one of my very favorite songs,” Clive said. “It gives you those goose bumps.”
As the conversation ended, the room rose in a standing ovation. The music industry Clive helped shape over six decades is now accessible to everyday investors through MUSQ, which holds companies including Universal Music Group (UMG), Warner Music Group (WMG), Spotify (SPOT), and Live Nation (LYV). But on Friday afternoon, the session was more about a father and son sharing six decades of music history than investment strategy.
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