GOODMAN WON’T
LET IT BE

Fred Goodman—who authored 1997’s Mansion on the Hill, the definitive work on the most transformative and colorful era in music biz history, and 2009’s Fortune's Fool: Edgar Bronfman, Jr., Warner Music, and an Industry in Crisis—tackles a truly infamous subject in his upcoming tome, Allen Klein: The Man Who Bailed Out the Beatles, Made the Stones, and Transformed Rock & Roll (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 6/23).

“Klein was like no one the music industry had seen before,” the publisher’s description explains. “The hard-nosed business manager became infamous for allegedly catalyzing the Beatles' breakup and robbing the Rolling Stones, but the truth is both more complex and more fascinating. As the manager of the Stones and then the Beatles—not to mention Sam Cooke, the Who, Donovan, the Kinks and numerous other performers—he taught young soon-to-be legends how to be businessmen as well as rock stars. In so doing, Klein made millions for his clients and changed music forever. But Klein was as merciless with his clients as he was with anyone else, earning himself an outsize reputation for villainy that has gone unchallenged until now. Through unique, unprecedented access to Klein's archives, veteran music journalist Fred Goodman tells the full story of how the Beatles broke up, how the Stones achieved the greatest commercial success in rock history, and how the music business became what it is today.”

If that doesn’t pique your interest, you’re reading the wrong website. Look for a conversation with Goodman in the near future.