Niven: "I was there for him (Axl), taking him from Hollywood streets to Wembley Arena. He repaid me by believing Goldstein’s lies because he wanted to."

Stunning new Alan Niven interview by Andrew DiCecco at vwmusicrocks.com

https://vwmusicrocks.com/an-interview-with-former-guns-n-roses-manager-alan-niven/

A piece of it:

How responsive was Axl to your feedback and suggestions, and how did you navigate the relationship?

Alan:
His first insult was to thank me in the liner notes after his fuckin’ dogs. He didn’t bother to show for the dinner with [Peter] Paterno and the rest of the band where they offered to extend my original contract for another whole three years. That was when I knew I’d be fucked over by them. They did offer to raise my commission rate to 20%, but I turned down the increase. I did not want my company being paid more than a band member, although I had to pay for offices and staff. I never charged back a dime in expenses, as I had the conventional right to do so. The only time Axl ever said thank you was from the stage of the Hammersmith Odeon – so even that was more about him than me. See me being gracious. He wasn’t a nice person back then. He may have changed. To me, he’s kinda like the Tonya Harding of rock ‘n’ roll – capable of being sublime but best known for other reasons.

I was there for him, taking him from Hollywood streets to Wembley Arena. He repaid me by believing Goldstein’s lies because he wanted to.

Andrew:
And what were Goldstein’s lies?

Alan:
Whatever he told him to put distance between us.

I had a telephone conversation with Axl in which he asked why he had trouble getting people to do what he wanted. I told him he was prickly, difficult to get near, and that his tantrums scared people. A couple of days later, when I was at the Meadowlands, he called the production phone and told me he could not work with me anymore. I suggested we have dinner on my return to L.A. and talk about it. He agreed, but I never spoke to him ever again.

A few weeks previous, I had held a dinner at Le Dome for his birthday. Earlier in the day, I had delivered him a white Ovation guitar. He failed to show. Zutaut arrived with Goldstein; they had been with Axl. Before seating himself, [Zutaut] leaned over me and whispered in my ear, “Goldstein is not your friend.” A few days later, Axl said he wouldn’t do Rock In Rio if I went. No big deal. I thought. He’d had me banned from the Aerosmith tour for its first three weeks because I refused to cancel it. My job was to get them all there. Their job was to produce excitement on the stage.

I had signed a contract with five individuals collectively known as Guns N’ Roses. I did not sign a contract to exclusively represent his whim. My responsibility was to the whole.

Goldstein is a liar, and a fake – a schmoozer, a glad-hander – Barry Fey once described him as an overpaid security guy. He was without loyalty and appreciation – he was a security guy when I gave him a shot at tour managing. He decided he was there to indulge Axl. Ingratiate himself. Screw the others – as happened. He presided over the dissolution and implosion of what I helped create. He helped engineer Axl’s grab of the name. To this day, Axl takes 50% of the gate, thus cutting Izzy out. Ego and greed. The corrosion of affluence on a soul that comes from impoverished childhood.

Yeah, we have this one in the other section:

https://www.a-4-d.com/t7461-2022-09-01-vinyl-writer-music-interview-with-alan-niven

sorry i didnt know
if you like please delete my post

ludurigan wrote:sorry i didnt know
if you like please delete my post

No worries. I won't delete this one, I'll just lock it for now and you can use the other thread for comments, if you want