I really liked the documentary. What did you think?
And then there was me, Elton, and Harry Belafonte backstage. Elton was wearing a woman’s hat. He gave us all big hugs. Everyone loved it. From them on,I tried to book him there. They said, “We don’t want this kind of person. Is it a guy? Is it a girl?” I got this same kind of shit about Donna Summer. Then I had all this stuff about Pete Seeger. They said, “He’s a communist.” I had to fight all this stuff. I said, “I’ll sue you guys.
Sometimes you have to go through someone else. For instance, I did a show with Sly and the Family Stone in Central Park that I taped. My friend was managing Sly at the time. But when it was done, we couldn’t get the rights to my own film even though I paid him to do the show. But the stuff I have in my house is too much. It’s overwhelming. If you come in my house, you kind of step on it. It’s all over the place. I need an archivist to do this, so I went to Carnegie Hall. They have their own archivist. He showed me a list of all the
We went across the street after that to a famous hotel where the Kennedys used to stay. I was staying there and so was Judy Garland with Liza Minnelli and Joey [Luft], her son. It was just great. We sit down after the show in the rain. We congratulate each other. Judy drank vodka and had a couple of pills.
The press were there to interview the Beatles. Kids were outside screaming. They played Forest Hills for two nights after this. They landed in a helicopter. It was great, but it actually wasn’t great since you couldn’t hear a word they said. They were screaming. I heard them go, “What are we doing this for?” The fans didn’t give them a chance to sing. I felt bad about that.I used to try and get backstage since a lot of the gals wanted to meet him, but he wouldn’t see anybody.
It was the same thing with Johnny Depp. I booked him with Jeff Beck. People came just to see Johnny Depp. That’s all they care about. It’s that kind of thing.today. Who the hell gets $1,600 tickets? People like her don’t even need to sing to please the audience. They can show up, get a check, and go home. That’s what’s going to happen. I hope it doesn’t happen since live is where it’s at. Don’t watch television. Live is where it’s at. You want to see people in person.