Peter Grant tribute pt1

["Saad Arif" <saadarif@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

hey there my badgeholding buddies [as i was so rightfully corrected this =
morning]

     thsi is the first part of the Peter Grant article, i should be able =
to finish it in 3 parts ,sorry for any inconveinence:)

the article starts on a 2 page fold
the right hand page has a huge pic of Robert Plant doing wh he does best =
on stage [possibly from P/P tours ;definetly no zeppelin]
the follwoing title runs across both the pages

let me make this as as vivid as possible

                             rock'n'roll maverick
the article is preceeded by the follwoing prelogue in bold by the editor =
of the mag[i think]:
Peter Grant regined over a pivotal period in pop music, becoming the =
most feared manager of the most succesful band in rock history:Led =
Zeppelin. Mick Brown tells the story of the Godfather of rock.

ok heres the meat:
Peter Grant was always a man who could rise to a crisis and Chuck Berry =
was always a man who could provide one .A notoriously parimonious man, =
when performing Berry always stipulated payment in advance, and in =
cash.On his first tour of Britian in 1964, the fee, converted from =
dollars, was 3 shillings and 6 pence short ."I aint going on...." said =
Berry.As the crowd in the front stalls grew restless, a full blown =
crisis looked like developing.In stepped Peter Grant, Berry's road =
manager, bag man and driver .Grant found the nearest cigarette machine =
and smashed it .The small change was enough to get Chuck Berry up on =
stage.
 Thirteen years later Peter Grant ,by then the manager of LZ ,was =
summoned to the the Plaza Hotel in New York by colonel Tom Parker ,Elvis =
Presley's manager.
Elvis, the colonel explained, had finally decided to perform in Britian =
.It was to Peter Grant that the King of Rock'n'Roll had turned for =
advice .There could be no greater sign that Grant had truly arrived .But =
within four days the King was dead.
 =20
 Shortly after Presley's death ,LZ performed in front of 70,000 people =
at the Pontiac stadium in Michigan .The concert grossed $990,000 of =
which LZ took some $700,000; figures of which the King, in his heyday =
could only have dreamed.LZ had confirmed themselves as the =
richest,loudest and most successful band in the world, and it was Peter =
Grant who had made them so.

   In 1989 the scriptwriter Barrie Keefe visited Grant at home in =
connection with a screenplay he was writing on his life .In =
charateristic rock manager style ,Grant was living in an Elizabethan =
moated house in the rural fastness of Sussex-Horse Lunges Manor-bought =
on the proceeds of the zeppelin years .But his days as a force in rock =
music were long behind him .For the best part of the decade ,Grant had =
lived alone in the house ,among its fading antique furniture and =
wall-hangings,  a figure of accumulating myth and legend ,seldom seen in =
public.

  When Grant died from a heart attack last year[remeber this article is =
from july 1996] at the age of 60, veterans of the rock business queued =
to pay tribute .Robert Plant of LZ described him as "a giant who turned =
the game upside down." Chris Dreja of the Yardbirds spoke of Grant as =
"an irreplaceble guiding light" who had "changed the music industry for =
all time". While Phil May of Pretty Things rememebered him as "one of =
the last people in the record industry to feel that rock'n'roll was =
important .He loved his artists and made you feel that what you were =
doing was worthwhile".

 A huge man, Grant was 1.94m[6ft 5in] and throughout the 1970's weighed =
close to 136 kg. He inspired feelings propotionate to his =
physique;immensely loved by thsoe who knew him well;greatly feared by =
those who didn't.

HEDONISM  AND EXCESS
The story of Peter Grant's rise from a road manager and drover for the =
likes of Chuck Berry  ,Little Richard and Gene Vincent to chairman of =
the money-making machine that was LZ is, in a sense the story of =
rock'n'roll itself.

Grant was the last rock'n'roll maverick ,a man who took on the record =
industry and won, shifting the balance of power from the record =
companies and concert promoters to the performers themselves.

He was also a man in whom all the abiding myths of rock'n'roll converge =
.In any recounting of Grant's life it is not too long before the =
conversation turns to the subjects of guns and groupies ,of hedonistic =
excess, of riches and extravagance beyond imagining.

For a generation of rock managers who followed in his wake ,Peter Grant =
was a figure to inpsire admiration tempered with a modicum of fear."His =
power ,his unquestionable sense of ganghood;sense of loyalty and =
honour-I suppose you could say with family values that he created among =
the groups he worked with made him a legend," says McLaren ,the manager =
whsoe strategies steered the Sex Pistols to infamy in the era of punk.

 For the past 6 years McLaren has been working on a film of Grant's =
life. He sees it as a metaphor for the class struggle that McLaren =
believes is synonymous wiht the basic fabric of rock'n'roll in England =
."Peter was an extraordinary underling," he says."A character who came =
from the backstreets of London and sought to change his life by entering =
the world of rock'n'roll.Grant was the great patriarch," says McLaren =
."He was a kind of Godfather ,in every sense"

Born in 1935 in south London, Grant fell into pop business ,working as a =
tour manager and general factotum for the agent and impresario Don =
Arden. He managed tours for the Animals and Herman's Hermits before =
going in partnership with record producer Mickey Most ,managing the New =
Vaudeville Band and the Yardbirds.

This was an era of pop music when artists were invariably treated with =
thinly veiled contempt ,ripe for exploitation.But Grant's formiddable =
physique equipped him well to make an impression on nightclub managers =
attempting to welch on a deal ."He always made sure the contract was =
honoured,let's put it that way," rememebers Mickey Most.

Grant rapidly attracted stories around him, their truth beyond =
verification. He was said to have disarmed a drunken Gene Vincent when =
he went on rampage in a house in Brighton brandishing a gun; to have =
flattened 6 Italian policemen in Rome in order to protect Little =
Richard.On another occaision a promoter allegedly refused to pay =
Richard's $500 fee and pulled a gun on Grant."You wouldn't be so cheap," =
said Grant ,calmly pocketing the money.

  =20
to be contd.

ok thats it for know,i knwo this aint much but
im workin on an intense history project as well,ill write up more as =
soon as i get somethin done about it=20

thanks
saad