The part played by Mr J Greenberg-copy of an open letter

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recoop
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The part played by Mr J Greenberg-copy of an open letter

Post by recoop » Tue Dec 19, 2017 2:00 pm

An Open Letter to Shep Gordon, Alice Cooper and whoever else is interested,


It recently came to my attention that there is a movie being made called “The Dali and the Cooper”---about the “Incredible true story of Alice Cooper’s encounter with Salvador Dalí in NY in 1973.” David Suchet is going to play Salvador Dali, Noel Fielding is going to play Alice Cooper and Paul Kaye as Shep Gordon (Alice’s co-manager at the time). This is great news, however my father, Joe Greenberg, who was also the manager of Alice Cooper during that time (Co-Founder of Alive Entertainment and business partners with Shep Gordon) is not mentioned anywhere. This is extremely hurtful for many reasons and I would love to set the record straight.

A few years ago, Shep Gordon was the subject of a Documentary called “Supermensch.” The film was produced by Mike Myers (actor) and Shep was described as “The Hollywood insider who spent his life making other people famous.” If you watched the “Documentary” you would think that Shep alone managed Alice Cooper and helped him achieve superstardom. The only time that my father was mentioned at all was after the closing credits---Shep put up a credit “Thanking Joe Greenberg.” So if you stayed in the theater long enough you would see it, however most people don’t stay at a movie after the credits are off the screen. I don’t think a true “Supermensch” would take all the credit for doing something when they had a partner. However, here is the truth.

My dad and Shep were best friends and roommates at The University of Buffalo. My dad left Buffalo in 1966, began making money by selling college kids vacation trips to Puerto Rico and by allegedly selling marijuana. He even sent Shep marijuana to sell to his friends. In 1967 they both moved out to Hollywood not all certain what they wanted to do with their lives. They accidentally stumbled upon the Holywood Landmark Hotel, checked in and set up shop. One night at a store, they met Cindy Smith Dunaway a very charismatic and beautiful woman who told them that her brother (Neal Smith) was in a band called Alice Cooper and the band needed representation. My dad informed her that he was in the music business (he wasn’t) and that he and his roommate Shep would manage the band. They really had no idea what they were doing but had nothing to lose. It was the 60’s, and anything was possible.

My dad and Shep raised money to support the band by selling marijuana, partnering a headshop, selling bootlegs and whatever else they could…. and they actually struck gold with the group. Together they got them signed by Frank Zappa and Warner Bros. Entertainment and Alice Cooper went from walking the entire audience at a free Show in Venice, CA to selling out Stadiums around the world. My dad has a million stories about those days. Some of these include how he had to personally beg Bill Graham to work with the band, to crashing music festivals like the Newport Rock Festival that they weren’t booked at, to losing the snake in a Hotel. Also my dad arranged the meeting with Salvador Dali who produced the Alice Cooper Hologram. When my dad and Shep managed the band they had their biggest commercial success. This took place from 1967-1974 and included their classic Hits “School’s Out”, “No More Mr. Nice Guy”, “I’m 18”, “Elected”, “Under My Wheels,” “Billion Dollar Babies” and many others while developing an incredible live show that morphed into a new genre of music called “Shock Rock.”

The partnership ended amicably in 1974. Drugs and addiction were affecting the band (who also broke up) as well as my father. It was an amazing ride but it was time for him to get off. However those were some of his most treasured memories and proudest accomplishments. He loved the band and being in the music business. He loved being part of making history. His 12 Gold and Platinum Records still hang on his wall and he loves when people ask about them.

Unfortunately, history is now being re-written and my father is being left out of all of it. He was left out of the “Behind The Music” Special on VH1, edited out of their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Speech when they specifically thanked him and completely left out of “Supemensch.” He couldn’t wait to watch each of these events only to be left extremely disappointed. So now there is a movie being developed about Alice Cooper and Salvador Dali and my dad was at each and every one of their interactions, yet no one has contacted him. Please do the right thing and include him in the story that he helped you live.

Kind Regards,
Adam Greenberg PKA Adam Hunter
You are an individual, just like everybody else.

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Re: The part played by Mr J Greenberg-copy of an open letter

Post by Toronto Bob » Tue Dec 19, 2017 8:19 pm

that whole carving people out of the history of the ACG seems to be a habit. Too bad - because it seems that Joey Greenberg was as big a part of the early history as Shep.

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Re: The part played by Mr J Greenberg-copy of an open letter

Post by padre_sliprat » Tue Dec 19, 2017 9:35 pm

From an interview with Shep Gordon (link below):

Q: What things would you change about the film?

A: I felt that I was given too much credit in the early days of Alice [Cooper], which is why I’ve been crediting Joe Greenberg, who was my partner. I come across like I did everything. I truly had people who helped me everywhere, and he was the most significant. We managed Alice together. But Mike (Myers) only had 90 minutes and it’s his story, much more than it’s my story. It’s his story of my life — the parts he knows.

https://www.metro.us/entertainment/inte ... B5VaBvRgU6
"He's old, the snake's got gray hair..."

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Re: The part played by Mr J Greenberg-copy of an open letter

Post by Si » Tue Dec 19, 2017 11:01 pm

padre_sliprat wrote:From an interview with Shep Gordon (link below):

Q: What things would you change about the film?

A: I felt that I was given too much credit in the early days of Alice [Cooper], which is why I’ve been crediting Joe Greenberg, who was my partner. I come across like I did everything. I truly had people who helped me everywhere, and he was the most significant. We managed Alice together. But Mike (Myers) only had 90 minutes and it’s his story, much more than it’s my story. It’s his story of my life — the parts he knows.

https://www.metro.us/entertainment/inte ... B5VaBvRgU6
That`s a good quote and I think correct. Shep doesn`t have as much power over these things as people seem to think, especially the forthcoming Dali TV show, which I expect he has almost no control over. They aren`t Shep's personal projects.

Never the less it's always good to set the record straight as well, as Dennis does in his book, and Adam does here. People should know that without Joe Greenberg we probably wouldn`t be here 50 years later, just as much as without Shep, or Ezrin, or each individual band member and early friends like Cindy Smith, Charlie Carnel and Dick Christian. It took all of them to create the success of Alice Cooper and removing any one of them from the mix could have resulted in a very different shory.

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Re: The part played by Mr J Greenberg-copy of an open letter

Post by padre_sliprat » Wed Dec 20, 2017 3:10 am

Si wrote:
padre_sliprat wrote:From an interview with Shep Gordon (link below):

Q: What things would you change about the film?

A: I felt that I was given too much credit in the early days of Alice [Cooper], which is why I’ve been crediting Joe Greenberg, who was my partner. I come across like I did everything. I truly had people who helped me everywhere, and he was the most significant. We managed Alice together. But Mike (Myers) only had 90 minutes and it’s his story, much more than it’s my story. It’s his story of my life — the parts he knows.

https://www.metro.us/entertainment/inte ... B5VaBvRgU6
That`s a good quote and I think correct. Shep doesn`t have as much power over these things as people seem to think, especially the forthcoming Dali TV show, which I expect he has almost no control over. They aren`t Shep's personal projects.

Never the less it's always good to set the record straight as well, as Dennis does in his book, and Adam does here. People should know that without Joe Greenberg we probably wouldn`t be here 50 years later, just as much as without Shep, or Ezrin, or each individual band member and early friends like Cindy Smith, Charlie Carnel and Dick Christian. It took all of them to create the success of Alice Cooper and removing any one of them from the mix could have resulted in a very different shory.
I wanted to play devil's advocate, if you will, by posting the above link - and like you, Si, I thought it was well put.

Vince Furnier seems to possess that which was destined to take him to the top of the pop music world. He proved himself twice, maybe more - in the original group and as a solo artist. Yes, it took the right team of people to support him in every case, but it's as if they were all meant to come together. I once heard someone say, "There had to be an Alice Cooper." Who knows?
"He's old, the snake's got gray hair..."

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Re: The part played by Mr J Greenberg-copy of an open letter

Post by killer wolf » Wed Dec 20, 2017 8:13 am

I'd say it's time Adam sat down w/ a tape recorder and got some of those stories down for posterity. sounds like he has some amazing tales to relate about that time.
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Re: The part played by Mr J Greenberg-copy of an open letter

Post by A_MichaelUK » Wed Dec 20, 2017 4:25 pm

From Si:
"Shep doesn`t have as much power over these things as people seem to think, especially the forthcoming Dali TV show,"

Exactly and also, it's part of a series (which I think has already been mentioned previously) called "Urban Myths", so it isn't like they are aiming for total accuracy.

>Never the less it's always good to set the record straight as well, as Dennis does in his book, and Adam does here.

Of course and also, when I worked on "Super Duper Alice Cooper", I didn't have to lobby too hard to ensure that Joe (with whom I've been in touch on and off) was interviewed for it. He was a very important figure in the band's career.

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Re: The part played by Mr J Greenberg-copy of an open letter

Post by bmbcali » Tue Jan 02, 2018 8:07 pm

Adam, the long-time fans know about your Dad's contributions. However, I think we would like to hear about everyone's involvement with the Alice Cooper group! Please have your Dad sit down and tape record his stories. Then the work can begin to find a publisher, editor, etc., to put a book out. I'm sure a publisher will want to know how this book will differ from the one by Shep, Dennis, Dick Wagner, etc. The fans would like to see such a book!

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