Feb. 21 – A Music Icon Turns 75

Happy 75th birthday to a man who’s likened himself to the Wizard of Oz, behind the curtain. It’s an apt comparison for David Geffen- his face is not well-known by the public but few have had more influence on the world of music (or entertainment in general ) than he has. You may not even know his name, but I’ll bet you know some of the artists he’s hung out with, have records from his companies in your collection and have seen some of the movies he’s responsible for. Not bad for a college dropout! And it may all have come about because of Jackson Browne.

Geffen was born in New York City to working-class, Jewish immigrants. He was an average student at best; dyslexia slowed down his studies. He attempted college twice , once in Texas then later in California, but dropped out quickly both times. By the time he hit Cali though,he’d realized he loved the world of entertainment, music in particular, and took an entry level job with the prestigious William Morris Agency. He made connections and soon was managing Crosby, Stills and Nash as well as (as it turned out) more importantly, Jackson Browne.

He believed in Browne’s talent but had a hard time selling record companies on the up-and-coming young singer. So, at the suggestion of Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records, he started his own company to put out Jackson Browne albums! Asylum Records quickly thrived with Geffen’s ear and a distribution deal with Atlantic and by the mid-70s had a roster including Browne, The Eagles, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, a friend of David’s who wrote “Free Man In Paris” about him. Surprisingly, he walked away from his corporate baby in 1975 to work with Warner Bros. film division and ironically, teach a Music Business

course at Yale! Music however being his first love, beckoned again and in 1980, he started his second record company, Geffen Records and its subsiduary DGC. He quickly signed Donna Summer at the peak of her popularity and John Lennon whose Double Fantasy was one of the label’s earliest successes. Asia, Olivia Newton John and former Asylum Records colleague Don Henley soon followed and helped Geffen become the hottest new record label of the decade. Eventually he got bored again and left the company to work with Stephen Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg on the wildly successful DreamWorks. That company’s not only put out TV shows and video games but a host of hit movies including Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, Saving Private Ryan and Shrek.

Not surprisingly, this has made Geffen very rich. Forbes puts his personal worth at over $6 billion. He says “anybody who thinks money will make you happy hasn’t got money” though (an assumption many of us would be willing to test, I’m sure!) and thus is one of the great American philanthropists, giving large amounts of money to a range of charities and causes including the UCLA School of Medicine and the LA playhouse named after him. Amazing what a few label’s resistance to putting out “Doctor My Eyes” back in ’71 led to, is it not?