This film documentary is a great companion piece to the autobiography "Clive Davis: The Story of My Life", written with collaborator Anthony DeCurtis. The book details more of Davis's personal and family life than what you find here, which is OK, because fans tuning in will probably be more interested in the music. A lot of what you learn here is fascinating. like the singer he signed as his very first client - Janis Joplin. Davis had a warmth and manner about him that managed to captivate most every singer and band he came into contact with, and as a result, came to produce an impressive stable of musicians over the course of his fifty plus year career. What's unusual is that there's virtually no one that casts aspersions on the character or business acumen of Davis, and we do hear from a wide range of musical personalities in the documentary, like Bruce Springsteen, Carlos Santana, Steven Tyler, Simon and Garfunkel, and Barry Manilow. Davis's career is traced from his days at Columbia Records (owned by CBS),Arista Records, and eventually to J Records where he brought his talent for matching performers with material in such a fashion that literally anything he touched turned into a hit. Some segments of the story are expanded, such as the treatments offered on Barry Manilow, who recorded the first single on Arista ('Mandy'),Dionne Warwick, and the one person that he most seemed to favor of all his proteges, Whitney Houston. If you have any interest in spanning the musical decades of a master producer, organizer and hit-maker, you have to tune in to this story. And to think, his career came about almost by accident! Check it out.

This documentary is a detailed look at the career of Clive Davis, an icon in the music industry. He brought Columbia Records into Rock (Janis Joplin, Bruce Springsteen),co-founded Arista records (1st act was Barry Manilow) creating hit records for over 40 years and showing an amazing ability to change with the times. The documentary is primarily chronological, briefly mentioning his childhood and early career, moving quickly to when he became President of Columbia Records - a job he never imagined getting. It is then mostly about the hit acts he found with stories by employees, artists, some critics, competing executives, Davis himself, and much wonderful archive footage. Because there is so much to cover (Janis Joplin to Alicia Keys) the music is in small clips - you don't get full songs. But you know so many of the songs that you fill in the context yourself. His relationship with Whitney Houston (almost a father-daughter connection) occupies a significant part of the film, including her decline and tragic death.

Since Davis participated in the film any criticisms of him are mild. There is almost nothing about his personal life. And while some commentators say that Clive always had suggestions about changing the elements of a song (more drums, more vocal, etc.) there is no explanation of how he does this - I would like to no more about his instincts and how he interprets them. There is also nothing about how the music industry (including radio) changed over his career - he had a unique view being a key player for so long and probably has many interesting insights. But this film still gives quite a look at how one man - a lawyer with no aspirations towards the music business - was such a huge force in popular music for decades.

The guy is a LEGEND. He IS the music industry. This movie gives you a great overview of his life and YOURS.