Jump to content

The heavy guide to getting ahead in music: scholarship named after Led Zeppelin's legendary manager


sam_webmaster

Recommended Posts

  • Administrators

The heavy guide to getting ahead in music: scholarship named after Led Zeppelin's legendary manager

To those who dared to stand in his way, Peter Grant, the legendary manager of Led Zeppelin, conducted his business with a mixture of verbal aggression, physical intimidation and judicious use of a baseball bat.

Now the next generation of managers can study Grant's "hands-on" technique when a business degree course is launched in honour of the man who struck fear into the hearts of any promoter who tried to rip off his charges.

A 300lb, 6ft 5in former bouncer and professional wrestler, the bearded giant is credited with turning Led Zeppelin into rock's biggest attraction in the Seventies. Grant's exploits, whether facing down gun-toting promoters, beating up security guards or smashing up bootleggers' tapes with his trusty bat, ensured his place in rock mythology alongside the notoriously hell-raising Zeppelin.

Despite his violent reputation, the south Londoner, who died from a heart attack in 1995 at 60, and was by then a diabetic cocaine addict, earned the eternal gratitude of the bands he managed.

He secured Zeppelin the most lucrative record deal then signed by a band and guaranteed Robert Plant's rockers an unheard of 90 per cent of concert ticket receipts after, literally, twisting the arms of often mafia-connected promoters. Grant enhanced the band's mystique and earning power by refusing to let them release singles or appear on television.

Posthumous recognition of his achievements arrives in September with the launch of the Peter Grant Memorial Scholarship, which will cover £16,000 of course fees for a new BA (Hons) degree in music management offered by the Bristol Institute of Modern Music. Grant's daughter, Helen Grant, said: "My father would have been both touched and honoured that this scholarship has been created in his name.

"He was a great inspiration to many people in the business; not only on the management front, but also in the way he looked after his artists – in his own, infamous way. A charismatic personality coupled with great humour means he is never far away. This is a long overdue accolade."

The degree will include modules on "live-event management", "working with musicians" and how to deal with rapacious record companies.

Peter Grant: Hits and myths

* Grant took umbrage when a security guard manhandled his 11 year-old son backstage at a Led Zeppelin show in Oakland, California. Grant and drummer John Bonham took the guard into a trailer and viciously beat him. The band ordered the promoter, Bill Graham, to sign a document absolving them of guilt. Grant was arrested at the band's hotel and settled a civil case out of court for an undisclosed sum.

* After "the boys" trashed a Seattle hotel room, Grant performed the ritual of paying for the damage in cash. The hotel manager said: "I'd love to be able to do that – just wreck a hotel room and get away with it." Grant took out $5,000 in dollar bills and said: "Here, have one on me." The manager smashed up the room of his choice.

* A promoter tried to rip off the legendary rock'n'roller Little Richard, which was a mistake. Grant savagely beat the promoter backstage until police arrived, then meted out similar treatment to the six officers sent to restrain him.

* When a Zeppelin gig in Memphis in 1970 threatened to turn into a riot, the promoter stuck a gun in Grant's ribs, ordering him to stop the show. Grant laughed and said: "You can't shoot me, ya c***. They've just given us the f***ing keys to the city." The band completed their set.

* When Led Zep played at the Knebworth festival in 1979, the promoter claimed only 104,000 ticket-holders were in the audience. Grant disputed the low figure using aerial pictures of taken from a helicopter. He sent the images to a monitoring laboratory in New York, which confirmed that 218,000 people attended. The row forced the promoter into liquidation.

* Grant would seek out bootleggers at shows, assaulting any he found making illicit recordings and smashing their tape recorders. An "undercover" visit to a record store resulted in a broken arm for the owner after he produced unlicensed Led Zeppelin records.

Pg-12-peter-grant-getty.jpg

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/the-heavy-guide-to-getting-ahead-in-music-scholarship-named-after-led-zeppelins-legendary-manager-7734773.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

* After "the boys" trashed a Seattle hotel room, Grant performed the ritual of paying for the damage in cash. The hotel manager said: "I'd love to be able to do that – just wreck a hotel room and get away with it." Grant took out $5,000 in dollar bills and said: "Here, have one on me." The manager smashed up the room of his choice.

That has always been my favorite Peter Grant story! It really shows how caring a man that he could be not only to those around him but to virtual strangers too.

A scholarship! What a great honor and show of respect for the man that helped those around him so immensely throughout his lifetime--an honor very well deserved. I'm sure his entire family must be extremely proud.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is a great honour to the greatest manager of all-time!

Was he still using cocaine at the time of his heart attack death in '95? Or was that just making reference to his use back in the 70's/80's?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is a great honour to the greatest manager of all-time!

Was he still using cocaine at the time of his heart attack death in '95? Or was that just making reference to his use back in the 70's/80's?

The sentence construction was a little clumsy but yes, I think the writer was referring to his drug use during his days managing Led Zeppelin.

Someone should track down that Edgewater Inn manager from Seattle and get his first-person account of being able to trash a hotel room thanks to Peter Grant's largess. Sam Webmaster or Steve A. Jones perhaps?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators

Five Lessons From Music's Most Feared Manager, Led Zeppelin's Peter Grant

By Claire Suddath

British music industry school Bristol Institute of Modern Music (BIMM) is launching a three-year music management course and offering a £16,000 ($25,593) scholarship named after the late Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant. Grant—who also managed the likes of Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Jimmy Page’s earlier band, the Yardbirds—cut unprecedented bargains with record companies and tour promoters that altered the industry landscape and helped win musicians a bigger share of the profits. And his occasional use of violence to get his way made him one of the most feared businessmen in rock ‘n’ roll.

After drummer John Bonham’s death in 1980, Led Zeppelin disbanded and Grant effectively retired. He suffered from years of drug abuse and diabetes and died of a heart attack at age 60 in 1995. But Grant still remains one of the best-known band managers out there, a hard-rock Brian Epstein. “We often talk about turning points in rock music—Elvis, the Beatles, and the like—but the music business itself had similar sorts of turning points, similar awakenings, and in this area Peter Grant was a superstar of management,” says Cliff Jones, the former frontman of Britpop band Gay Dad who’s now the head of music business at BIMM. “We’ve decided to honor him and to work with his estate on this award so that others can gain the knowledge and professionalism that he learned over his career.” Here are five lessons the music industry could learn from Peter Grant.

1. Music comes first

Most stories about rock music’s most intimidating manager—the way he talked Atlantic Records into offering Led Zeppelin an absurdly lucrative record deal before it had even heard the band play, his demand that they receive 90 percent of all concert revenue, his fanatical pursuit of bootleggers—boil down to one simple fact: Grant loved his band and he loved their music. In 1974 he even headed the group’s Swan Song Records to give Zeppelin (and others signed to the label) more control over their art. He repeatedly sacrificed short-term publicity boosts for long-term appeal. In the end, his tactics worked: Led Zeppelin became one of the most successful rock ‘n’ roll acts in history.

2. What’s good for other bands isn’t necessarily good for yours

Led Zeppelin famously eschewed singles (thinking the full album was more important) and TV performances. While promoting the 1976 concert film The Song Remains the Same, Grant explained his television aversion this way: “You just cannot capture the magic of Zeppelin … on a 25-inch screen at home.”

He knew TV had its benefits (it had undoubtedly helped launch the careers of Elvis Presley and the Beatles), but Led Zeppelin had a fuller, harder, more electrified sound that didn’t translate well on 1970s-era TV screens. Because fans couldn’t see Zeppelin in their living rooms, they sought out concert tickets—which earned the band more revenue than a television appearance ever would.

3. No file sharing

Grant was so against bootlegging he often visited record stores in person and demanded that illegal copies of Zeppelin’s records and concerts be handed over or destroyed. Some of this fervor can be seen on The Song Remains the Same, when he berates a man for selling unauthorized posters at a stadium show. Of course, just as artists fail to stop album leaks today, so did Grant fail to stop illegal recordings. Led Zeppelin’s live performances were still some of the most popular bootlegs at the time.

Grant died in 1995, just a few years before illegal file sharing took off, but from his almost fanatical pursuit of bootleggers in the 1970s it’s pretty clear that if he’d ever experienced Napster or Megaupload, he would have punched its founders in the face. (Don’t believe us? See item five).

4. Go the extra mile

Grant was one of the first managers to tour extensively with his bands. He kept an eye on expenses and fought tirelessly to get his musicians the money they felt they deserved—even when it required him to employ a helicopter.

In 1979, Knebworth festival promoters reportedly claimed that only 100,000 tickets had been sold to the event. Grant believed the crowd to be much larger, so he reportedly hired a helicopter to take aerial photographs of the crowd so he could have them analyzed to see how many people were there. Grant was right; The crowd turned out to be more than double what Knebworth claimed. Led Zeppelin got their money.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-05-15/five-lessons-from-musics-most-feared-manager-led-zeppelins-peter-grant

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The sentence construction was a little clumsy but yes, I think the writer was referring to his drug use during his days managing Led Zeppelin.

Someone should track down that Edgewater Inn manager from Seattle and get his first-person account of being able to trash a hotel room thanks to Peter Grant's largess. Sam Webmaster or Steve A. Jones perhaps?

Didn't one of the Beatles(?) recommend the Inn,having stayed there?Cole?

Ask them! http://www.edgewaterhotel.com/ :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...