Mahalo for supporting Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Enjoy this free story!
“They Call Me Supermensch: A Backstage Pass to the Amazing Worlds of Film, Food, and Rock ’n’ Roll”
Shep Gordon
HarperCollins, $25.99
In German, “mensch” translates simply as “man,” but in Yiddish the word is a high compliment that denotes a person of exceptional character, integrity and honor. A new autobiography, “They Call Me Supermensch,” by Maui resident and famed talent manager, producer and film agent Shep Gordon, shows that he is a “mensch” in the full Yiddish meaning of the word.
He is also a great storyteller with many great stories to tell.
For instance, Gordon, who has represented some of the biggest names in the entertainment business, tells how he got into management because he needed to account for the money he was making as a drug dealer. His first client was a band with no fans and minimal talent that got signed by a label that didn’t want them to have any hits.
That client was Alice Cooper, then a five-piece band fronted by vocalist Vince Furnier, Cooper’s real name.
No one who knew Gordon when he was a “shy, no self-esteem, Jewish nebbisher (ineffectual) kid with no ambition” growing up on Long Island, N.Y., would have anticipated his success. He went to California in his early 20s with no particular career goals and, by sheer luck, ended up at the Los Angeles motel that was “home” for a list of future stars that included Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Lester and Willie Chambers of the Chambers Brothers. Everything — drug dealing, talent management, a fabulously successful career — took off from there.
Gordon oversaw the eventual metamorphosis of Alice Cooper from quintet to Furnier as solo shock-rock superstar. He represented a constellation of talent that included Bette Davis, Blondie, Salvador Dali, Groucho Marx, Teddy Pendergrass, Luther Vandross and Raquel Welch. His appreciation of, and skill in preparing, food evolved into representing marquee chefs such as Nobu Matsuhisa and Emeril Lagasse as well as a self-made opportunity to cook for the Dalai Lama.
The subject of Mike Myers’ 2013 documentary “Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon,” Gordon writes with the candor that comes with retrospection about his marriages and long-term relationships. He tells about his encounters with people who kept their word — and some who didn’t. Some of the biggest names in the entertainment business are on those lists.
Entertaining as it is, this book is more than a personal memoir. The technology of the entertainment business has changed tremendously since Gordon stumbled into talent management in the late 1960s, and the details of his successes are unique. However, there are principles that haven’t changed in 50 years and never will.
For instance, when someone betrays you, “Don’t get mad. Accomplish your goal.” Take it from a mensch.
71
