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- 1
- 00:00:05,839 --> 00:00:08,049
- [man] This is Bill's new album.
- 2
- 00:00:08,133 --> 00:00:09,509
- Is it your first album you've done?
- 3
- 00:00:09,592 --> 00:00:12,637
- Yeah, that was my first singing, period,
- anywhere.
- 4
- 00:00:12,721 --> 00:00:13,722
- I didn't sing before.
- 5
- 00:00:13,805 --> 00:00:16,349
- I-- I was into another thing altogether.
- 6
- 00:00:16,433 --> 00:00:17,809
- [David Frost]
- What did you do before you sang?
- 7
- 00:00:17,892 --> 00:00:20,353
- Well, I had been in the Navy
- for nine years,
- 8
- 00:00:20,437 --> 00:00:23,023
- and then I got out
- and I worked in aircraft.
- 9
- 00:00:23,106 --> 00:00:26,067
- I made toilets for 747 aircraft.
- 10
- 00:00:26,151 --> 00:00:27,485
- [audience laughing]
- 11
- 00:00:29,612 --> 00:00:31,698
- One of the reasons I'm here is that...
- 12
- 00:00:32,824 --> 00:00:34,409
- I met Clarence Avant.
- 13
- 00:00:35,326 --> 00:00:37,537
- I have a lot of respect for Clarence.
- 14
- 00:00:38,121 --> 00:00:40,790
- What he's done is a very unusual story.
- 15
- 00:00:41,332 --> 00:00:43,168
- That's why we're sitting here talking.
- 16
- 00:00:43,251 --> 00:00:44,836
- He puts people together.
- 17
- 00:00:45,628 --> 00:00:47,130
- And they do what they do.
- 18
- 00:00:47,922 --> 00:00:50,258
- How do you put together a life...
- 19
- 00:00:52,052 --> 00:00:53,178
- from knowing people?
- 20
- 00:00:55,138 --> 00:00:57,098
- I've never seen him with a tool.
- 21
- 00:00:59,976 --> 00:01:01,102
- His tools...
- 22
- 00:01:01,853 --> 00:01:02,937
- are his...
- 23
- 00:01:05,815 --> 00:01:08,068
- you know, ability to...
- 24
- 00:01:09,069 --> 00:01:10,111
- manipulate people.
- 25
- 00:01:10,195 --> 00:01:12,697
- I don't mean that in a bad way,
- necessarily.
- 26
- 00:01:14,115 --> 00:01:15,742
- And if he needs to do it in a bad way,
- 27
- 00:01:15,825 --> 00:01:17,494
- he's probably good at that, too, you know?
- 28
- 00:01:18,286 --> 00:01:20,288
- ["Use Me" by Bill Withers playing]
- 29
- 00:01:23,500 --> 00:01:24,834
- Meet Clarence Avant.
- 30
- 00:01:24,918 --> 00:01:27,087
- Clarence's name kept coming up.
- 31
- 00:01:27,170 --> 00:01:29,047
- Who is this guy
- that I keep hearing about?
- 32
- 00:01:30,048 --> 00:01:32,967
- ♪ My friends... ♪
- 33
- 00:01:33,718 --> 00:01:35,762
- His name would come up, Clarence Avant.
- 34
- 00:01:35,845 --> 00:01:38,515
- Say Clarence Avant's name,
- and the doors open,
- 35
- 00:01:38,598 --> 00:01:39,974
- and the seas part.
- 36
- 00:01:40,058 --> 00:01:41,976
- Oh, man. He was too fly.
- You understand me?
- 37
- 00:01:42,060 --> 00:01:44,938
- He talked the talk, walked the walk,
- dressed the part. Played it, you know?
- 38
- 00:01:45,021 --> 00:01:48,358
- ♪ Oh, you just keep on using me ♪
- 39
- 00:01:50,944 --> 00:01:53,113
- ♪ Until you use me up...  ♪
- 40
- 00:01:55,657 --> 00:01:57,200
- Clarence knew everyone.
- 41
- 00:01:57,283 --> 00:01:59,160
- -Everybody.
- -Everybody.
- 42
- 00:01:59,244 --> 00:02:01,204
- He's a celebrity's celebrity.
- 43
- 00:02:04,207 --> 00:02:06,042
- ♪ My brother... ♪
- 44
- 00:02:07,836 --> 00:02:09,629
- [man] Writers, with singers,
- 45
- 00:02:09,712 --> 00:02:12,549
- with record companies,
- with business deals...
- 46
- 00:02:12,632 --> 00:02:14,092
- He was just all over the place.
- 47
- 00:02:14,175 --> 00:02:15,552
- He was in the mix.
- 48
- 00:02:15,635 --> 00:02:17,846
- He finds a common ground
- 49
- 00:02:17,929 --> 00:02:19,806
- between people who are different.
- 50
- 00:02:19,889 --> 00:02:21,641
- This mysterious figure...ÂÂ
- 51
- 00:02:22,016 --> 00:02:24,102
- that everybody respected.
- 52
- 00:02:27,021 --> 00:02:30,150
- [Foxx] Like, a person from the street
- to the White House, he was known.
- 53
- 00:02:30,441 --> 00:02:32,360
- [President Obama]
- One of the things he understands
- 54
- 00:02:32,443 --> 00:02:34,487
- is there are different kinds of power.
- 55
- 00:02:35,029 --> 00:02:37,031
- There's the power
- that needs the spotlight,
- 56
- 00:02:37,115 --> 00:02:40,368
- but there's also the power
- that comes from being behind the scenes.
- 57
- 00:02:40,451 --> 00:02:42,162
- He wasn't there, but he was right there.
- 58
- 00:02:43,329 --> 00:02:47,876
- ♪ If you only knew
- You'd wish that you were in my shoes ♪
- 59
- 00:02:47,959 --> 00:02:50,587
- ♪ You just keep on using me... ♪
- 60
- 00:02:51,754 --> 00:02:53,590
- Clarence Avant is a complete original.
- 61
- 00:02:53,673 --> 00:02:55,091
- A badass and a legend.
- 62
- 00:02:55,175 --> 00:02:57,302
- He's a very incisive thinker.
- 63
- 00:02:57,385 --> 00:03:00,180
- A historian and a maker of history.
- 64
- 00:03:00,263 --> 00:03:01,514
- That's who Clarence is.
- 65
- 00:03:01,598 --> 00:03:03,016
- Clarence Avant,
- 66
- 00:03:03,099 --> 00:03:06,060
- from a two-room schoolhouse
- in North Carolina
- 67
- 00:03:06,394 --> 00:03:10,481
- to the boardrooms of Motown,
- and MGM, and everyplace.
- 68
- 00:03:10,815 --> 00:03:13,985
- James Brown told me,
- "White folks just, you know, respect him.
- 69
- 00:03:14,068 --> 00:03:15,820
- They scared of that nigga.
- Scared of him."
- 70
- 00:03:17,697 --> 00:03:22,744
- ♪ Oh, you get in a crowd
- Of high class people... ♪
- 71
- 00:03:22,827 --> 00:03:25,371
- [President Clinton]
- His advice, per word,
- 72
- 00:03:25,455 --> 00:03:28,708
- is probably worth more
- than just about anybody I ever dealt with.
- 73
- 00:03:28,791 --> 00:03:31,586
- You knew if you were making a deal
- with Clarence, there was something there.
- 74
- 00:03:31,669 --> 00:03:34,964
- You always got the truth from Clarence.
- You got it straight. You got it quick.
- 75
- 00:03:35,048 --> 00:03:37,842
- I don't know anybody else like Clarence.
- 76
- 00:03:37,926 --> 00:03:40,303
- Clarence is the final word. [laughs]
- 77
- 00:03:40,386 --> 00:03:42,680
- He became that mentor for us all.
- 78
- 00:03:42,764 --> 00:03:44,474
- He became that godfather.
- 79
- 00:03:44,724 --> 00:03:46,100
- [man] The godfather.
- 80
- 00:03:46,184 --> 00:03:49,479
- Clarence is the godfather.
- 81
- 00:03:49,562 --> 00:03:52,649
- ♪ Oh, you just keep on using me ♪
- 82
- 00:03:55,109 --> 00:03:57,111
- ♪ Until you use me up ♪
- 83
- 00:03:58,238 --> 00:03:59,447
- [applause]
- 84
- 00:04:04,118 --> 00:04:05,995
- I can't make speeches.
- 85
- 00:04:06,287 --> 00:04:08,539
- That's not my-- That's not my life.
- 86
- 00:04:09,123 --> 00:04:10,291
- I make deals.
- 87
- 00:04:20,009 --> 00:04:21,511
- [Avant] This is interesting.
- 88
- 00:04:22,136 --> 00:04:25,765
- Absolutely no fucker's giving me
- a check...
- 89
- 00:04:26,266 --> 00:04:28,685
- for doing this. I might say anything now.
- 90
- 00:04:28,768 --> 00:04:29,936
- [interviewer] That's the goal.
- 91
- 00:04:30,019 --> 00:04:32,939
- Well, no. Then I'm gonna--
- I'mma say I don't know anything.
- 92
- 00:04:33,022 --> 00:04:34,899
- [interviewer laughs]
- 93
- 00:04:35,692 --> 00:04:39,404
- Mm-hm. Fortunately, there's other people
- who will tell us stories as well.
- 94
- 00:04:39,988 --> 00:04:42,031
- You don't know anybody
- who can tell my story.
- 95
- 00:04:44,492 --> 00:04:46,327
- Yeah, well, I don't know about that.
- 96
- 00:04:47,036 --> 00:04:48,997
- Clarence is one of my favorite guys.
- 97
- 00:04:49,497 --> 00:04:51,624
- I think Clarence exemplifies...
- 98
- 00:04:52,750 --> 00:04:53,835
- a certain...
- 99
- 00:04:55,461 --> 00:04:56,379
- ...cool,
- 100
- 00:04:56,462 --> 00:04:59,257
- a certain level of street smarts
- and savvy...
- 101
- 00:04:59,757 --> 00:05:04,887
- that allowed him to move
- into worlds that...
- 102
- 00:05:04,971 --> 00:05:06,556
- nobody had prepared him for
- 103
- 00:05:07,015 --> 00:05:08,850
- and say, "I can figure this out."
- 104
- 00:05:08,933 --> 00:05:12,437
- Do you remember the first time
- someone ever said you're the godfather?
- 105
- 00:05:12,979 --> 00:05:14,856
- People call me that.
- People can call me anything.
- 106
- 00:05:14,939 --> 00:05:17,608
- People have called me a son of a bitch,
- so what? That's part of life.
- 107
- 00:05:19,193 --> 00:05:20,903
- [swing music plays]
- 108
- 00:05:22,739 --> 00:05:24,741
- I was managing a club
- in Newark, New Jersey.
- 109
- 00:05:24,824 --> 00:05:26,075
- Teddy Powell's Lounge.
- 110
- 00:05:26,159 --> 00:05:28,202
- Teddy was a concert promoter.
- 111
- 00:05:28,286 --> 00:05:31,748
- He had Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson,
- people like that.
- 112
- 00:05:32,165 --> 00:05:34,292
- [woman] Teddy Powell was a legend.
- 113
- 00:05:34,375 --> 00:05:36,836
- So these legends--
- He was like a sponge.
- 114
- 00:05:36,919 --> 00:05:39,797
- He absorbed the best of everybody he saw.
- 115
- 00:05:40,465 --> 00:05:42,133
- [Avant] I was in my 20s, I guess.
- 116
- 00:05:43,051 --> 00:05:45,636
- So, Joseph G. Glaser came in one day,
- 117
- 00:05:46,137 --> 00:05:48,848
- and he owned a company
- called Associated Booking.
- 118
- 00:05:49,474 --> 00:05:51,392
- He represented Dinah Washington.
- 119
- 00:05:52,935 --> 00:05:55,063
- And Dinah was rough.
- 120
- 00:05:56,272 --> 00:05:59,359
- So Mr. Glaser heard me argue with her,
- 121
- 00:05:59,442 --> 00:06:01,194
- and he was laughing, so...
- 122
- 00:06:01,819 --> 00:06:03,237
- And he wanted me to be an agent.
- 123
- 00:06:03,321 --> 00:06:06,449
- He said, "You're a great salesman."
- What did I want to be an agent for?
- 124
- 00:06:07,241 --> 00:06:09,035
- You know, Clarence was a guy who...
- 125
- 00:06:10,912 --> 00:06:13,081
- wasn't looking for the job
- he ended up with.
- 126
- 00:06:13,164 --> 00:06:15,375
- I said how the fuck was I gonna be
- a goddamn agent,
- 127
- 00:06:15,458 --> 00:06:17,502
- and writing reports up
- and all that shit, and--
- 128
- 00:06:17,585 --> 00:06:19,170
- You know, that's not my life.
- 129
- 00:06:19,754 --> 00:06:20,797
- Not at all.
- 130
- 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:25,343
- But he, um, he's the guy
- that really made Louis Armstrong.
- 131
- 00:06:26,803 --> 00:06:31,349
- [man] Joe Glaser was
- Louis Armstrong's agent, manager, and...
- 132
- 00:06:31,432 --> 00:06:34,477
- You know, they were together
- for virtually all of Louis' life.
- 133
- 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:38,856
- [Avant] He managed Dave Brubeck,
- Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan,
- 134
- 00:06:38,940 --> 00:06:40,358
- and Billie Holiday.
- 135
- 00:06:41,109 --> 00:06:42,402
- He had a lot of acts.
- 136
- 00:06:43,027 --> 00:06:47,698
- And he talked Clarence into getting
- into show business as a manager.
- 137
- 00:06:48,950 --> 00:06:50,868
- Joe Glaser was tough...
- 138
- 00:06:51,327 --> 00:06:52,453
- He was a tough guy.
- 139
- 00:06:53,788 --> 00:06:55,289
- Joe was connected.
- 140
- 00:06:55,373 --> 00:06:57,166
- They were all Al Capone's folks.
- 141
- 00:06:57,875 --> 00:06:59,252
- [man] Prohibition creates
- 142
- 00:06:59,335 --> 00:07:01,963
- the modern entertainment business
- in America.
- 143
- 00:07:02,046 --> 00:07:03,631
- The underworld creates
- 144
- 00:07:03,714 --> 00:07:07,468
- a network of restaurants, speakeasies,
- places where you can get drinks,
- 145
- 00:07:07,552 --> 00:07:09,178
- and they provide entertainment.
- 146
- 00:07:09,262 --> 00:07:11,013
- So, when Prohibition was repealed,
- 147
- 00:07:11,097 --> 00:07:13,683
- the structure created
- by Prohibition remained.
- 148
- 00:07:13,933 --> 00:07:16,561
- Now we have all this talent,
- and they need management.
- 149
- 00:07:16,686 --> 00:07:20,648
- And so, the gangsters
- who were involved with the speakeasy world
- 150
- 00:07:20,815 --> 00:07:24,068
- are still there, and now
- there's a legitimate business to be run.
- 151
- 00:07:25,987 --> 00:07:28,531
- [mutters] I was too young
- to know about Al Capone.
- 152
- 00:07:28,614 --> 00:07:30,241
- The fuck did I care
- about Al Capone, man?
- 153
- 00:07:30,324 --> 00:07:32,743
- I mean, shit.
- I wasn't worried about nothing like that.
- 154
- 00:07:32,827 --> 00:07:35,204
- No, I don't ask Mr. Glaser questions.
- 155
- 00:07:35,955 --> 00:07:37,248
- I just learned from him.
- 156
- 00:07:37,707 --> 00:07:39,250
- I think we had, at one time,
- 157
- 00:07:39,333 --> 00:07:43,463
- about 70% of all the black talent
- in America to book.
- 158
- 00:07:43,546 --> 00:07:45,965
- They owned everything:
- the booking agencies,
- 159
- 00:07:46,048 --> 00:07:49,886
- the publishing companies,
- record companies, and the clubs.
- 160
- 00:07:50,386 --> 00:07:51,596
- Business people...
- 161
- 00:07:52,555 --> 00:07:54,557
- Not mafia. It's business.
- 162
- 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:55,683
- Oh, please.
- 163
- 00:07:56,434 --> 00:07:57,393
- Please, Clarence.
- 164
- 00:07:57,894 --> 00:07:59,979
- Somebody was holding a guy by his heels
- 165
- 00:08:00,062 --> 00:08:01,731
- -out of the window,
- -[Avant] Remember that.
- 166
- 00:08:01,814 --> 00:08:05,359
- and his overcoat fell all over his head.
- And I said, "What's going on up there?"
- 167
- 00:08:05,443 --> 00:08:08,279
- They said, "Jackie Wilson's trying
- to renegotiate his contract."
- 168
- 00:08:08,362 --> 00:08:10,615
- -True story. Nat Tarnopol.
- -[Jones] It's true.
- 169
- 00:08:11,115 --> 00:08:12,825
- Those were some heavy days, man.
- 170
- 00:08:13,868 --> 00:08:14,702
- True.
- 171
- 00:08:16,579 --> 00:08:19,081
- [Cohen] Yeah, I used to
- walk Joe Glaser home at night.
- 172
- 00:08:19,540 --> 00:08:22,460
- We would talk about people
- who came in the office,
- 173
- 00:08:22,543 --> 00:08:25,087
- how bright they were
- or how dumb they were.
- 174
- 00:08:25,171 --> 00:08:26,547
- Did they belong with us?
- 175
- 00:08:26,714 --> 00:08:29,759
- Um, did-- did we want to be around them?
- 176
- 00:08:30,635 --> 00:08:33,763
- And Clarence was one of the favorite guys.
- 177
- 00:08:35,431 --> 00:08:38,768
- [Geffen] Clarence was an honorable,
- decent, hardworking guy
- 178
- 00:08:38,851 --> 00:08:40,478
- who tried to do the right thing.
- 179
- 00:08:40,561 --> 00:08:45,441
- And, you know, in the agency business,
- with managers and people like that,
- 180
- 00:08:45,525 --> 00:08:47,235
- it's hard to find
- a person quite like that.
- 181
- 00:08:48,152 --> 00:08:50,446
- I think that Joe recognized this
- about Clarence
- 182
- 00:08:50,530 --> 00:08:54,075
- and thought, "This is a guy
- who should be looking out for artists."
- 183
- 00:08:55,243 --> 00:08:58,329
- I think that possibly, culturally,
- the guy was smart enough to think,
- 184
- 00:08:58,412 --> 00:09:00,540
- "You know, if I'm gonna have
- all of these great artists,
- 185
- 00:09:00,623 --> 00:09:02,625
- Louis Armstrong and Sarah Vaughan,
- 186
- 00:09:02,708 --> 00:09:04,669
- wouldn't it be great
- to have an African American,
- 187
- 00:09:04,752 --> 00:09:07,797
- or a black, or a Negro--
- or whatever we were at that time--
- 188
- 00:09:08,047 --> 00:09:11,259
- uh, be, you know, a conduit for them?"
- 189
- 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:16,597
- [Cohen] Clarence became the manager
- of Little Willie John,
- 190
- 00:09:16,681 --> 00:09:18,766
- and later on, Jimmy Smith.
- 191
- 00:09:19,684 --> 00:09:22,770
- [President Clinton] The thing I was always
- most impressed about Clarence with--
- 192
- 00:09:22,853 --> 00:09:26,148
- was that he once represented Jimmy Smith.
- 193
- 00:09:27,567 --> 00:09:31,279
- The greatest jazz organist who ever lived
- by a country mile.
- 194
- 00:09:35,825 --> 00:09:39,161
- Jimmy Smith was a genius with the organ.
- 195
- 00:09:40,955 --> 00:09:42,873
- He was a creative guy,
- 196
- 00:09:43,374 --> 00:09:44,417
- but a character.
- 197
- 00:09:45,251 --> 00:09:46,586
- Very eccentric.
- 198
- 00:09:50,965 --> 00:09:52,592
- [Avant] Quincy and I became friends
- 199
- 00:09:52,675 --> 00:09:55,720
- because after Jimmy made
- that "Walk on the Wild Side,"
- 200
- 00:09:55,803 --> 00:09:57,179
- everybody wanted Jimmy.
- 201
- 00:09:57,763 --> 00:10:01,100
- [Jones] The first time we met,
- I had just convinced Philips Records
- 202
- 00:10:01,183 --> 00:10:02,852
- to start a record label called EmArcy.
- 203
- 00:10:03,352 --> 00:10:06,647
- We gave $100,000 to Dizzy Gillespie,
- 204
- 00:10:06,731 --> 00:10:07,773
- to Art Blakey,
- 205
- 00:10:07,857 --> 00:10:09,692
- to Gerry Mulligan, to Cannonball,
- 206
- 00:10:09,775 --> 00:10:10,818
- to Clark Terry, et cetera.
- 207
- 00:10:10,901 --> 00:10:15,489
- And so Clarence came in,
- and he wanted $450,000 for Jimmy Smith.
- 208
- 00:10:15,573 --> 00:10:17,950
- And I said, "Wait a minute, man.
- You gotta be crazy, man.
- 209
- 00:10:18,034 --> 00:10:19,452
- You're smoking something!"
- 210
- 00:10:20,244 --> 00:10:22,788
- And he went out and got half of that.
- 211
- 00:10:22,872 --> 00:10:23,998
- He didn't get 450,
- 212
- 00:10:24,081 --> 00:10:26,292
- but he got half of that from Creed Taylor.
- 213
- 00:10:26,542 --> 00:10:27,501
- We were on then.
- 214
- 00:10:27,585 --> 00:10:28,919
- [jazz song plays]
- 215
- 00:10:29,003 --> 00:10:30,880
- [interviewer] What was your
- first impression of Clarence?
- 216
- 00:10:30,963 --> 00:10:32,006
- [chuckles]
- 217
- 00:10:32,089 --> 00:10:33,215
- Can't put that on camera.
- 218
- 00:10:34,050 --> 00:10:35,217
- [Jones] No.
- 219
- 00:10:35,301 --> 00:10:38,220
- No, it was love at first sight. It was.
- 220
- 00:10:38,387 --> 00:10:39,472
- And respect.
- 221
- 00:10:40,139 --> 00:10:43,684
- It's a tremendous respect,
- 'cause he has no BS in him.
- 222
- 00:10:44,769 --> 00:10:45,895
- Not a drop.
- 223
- 00:10:46,646 --> 00:10:49,649
- [Foxx] It's having that person
- that you can...
- 224
- 00:10:49,774 --> 00:10:50,775
- really count on.
- 225
- 00:10:50,858 --> 00:10:52,985
- I mean, they really count on each other,
- you know.
- 226
- 00:10:53,069 --> 00:10:54,904
- If you talk to Quincy about, you know,
- Clarence,
- 227
- 00:10:54,987 --> 00:10:57,573
- [as Jones] "Man, shit, man,
- Clarence is a son of a bitch, baby.
- 228
- 00:10:57,948 --> 00:10:59,325
- He's a true gangster, man."
- 229
- 00:10:59,408 --> 00:11:01,577
- Now he used to--
- Quincy'd go off on a tangent.
- 230
- 00:11:01,661 --> 00:11:04,789
- "Yeah, man. Shit. Him, Sinatra, baby,
- that was shit."
- 231
- 00:11:05,665 --> 00:11:07,875
- You could never get him in the corner.
- Mm-mmm.
- 232
- 00:11:09,502 --> 00:11:10,836
- That's part of the game, man.
- 233
- 00:11:11,671 --> 00:11:13,631
- If you don't ask, you don't get.
- 234
- 00:11:15,216 --> 00:11:18,094
- Life is about one thing: numbers.
- Nothing else.
- 235
- 00:11:18,177 --> 00:11:19,637
- What did Tina Turner say?
- 236
- 00:11:20,513 --> 00:11:23,265
- "What's love got to do with it?"
- Not a fucking thing, man.
- 237
- 00:11:23,349 --> 00:11:27,228
- That's why I tell people, life begins
- with a number and it ends with a number.
- 238
- 00:11:27,728 --> 00:11:29,647
- Love ain't got nothing to do with shit.
- 239
- 00:11:29,980 --> 00:11:32,358
- It's all about numbers. Nothing else.
- 240
- 00:11:33,442 --> 00:11:35,444
- [swing music plays]
- 241
- 00:11:42,702 --> 00:11:44,787
- I had a manager,
- 242
- 00:11:44,870 --> 00:11:49,250
- and he had his offices in Carnegie Hall.
- 243
- 00:11:50,042 --> 00:11:53,003
- Every now and then,
- I would just walk to the window
- 244
- 00:11:53,587 --> 00:11:57,425
- and stand there and just watch life go by.
- 245
- 00:11:59,427 --> 00:12:00,886
- And one morning,
- 246
- 00:12:01,470 --> 00:12:06,142
- I looked across the street,
- and there was this man...
- 247
- 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:12,148
- Now mind you,
- this man was dressed to the nines.
- 248
- 00:12:12,231 --> 00:12:13,441
- Do you hear me?
- 249
- 00:12:14,024 --> 00:12:17,695
- And so, he would come,
- and he would stand in the entryway,
- 250
- 00:12:18,154 --> 00:12:19,780
- and he would look north,
- 251
- 00:12:20,406 --> 00:12:22,491
- and he would look south,
- 252
- 00:12:23,242 --> 00:12:25,161
- and then he straightened out
- his shoulders,
- 253
- 00:12:25,953 --> 00:12:27,121
- he took his bag,
- 254
- 00:12:27,204 --> 00:12:31,041
- and he stepped out of that building,
- and down Seventh Avenue he went.
- 255
- 00:12:31,125 --> 00:12:33,210
- And he was this color!
- 256
- 00:12:33,294 --> 00:12:34,295
- Do you hear me?
- 257
- 00:12:34,378 --> 00:12:37,673
- Oh, my God.
- I'd never seen anything quite like it.
- 258
- 00:12:39,759 --> 00:12:42,386
- [George] Every description of Clarence,
- he was one of those guys.
- 259
- 00:12:42,470 --> 00:12:44,180
- He was a man about town,
- 260
- 00:12:44,263 --> 00:12:47,224
- he was all in the clubs,
- he knew all the cool people.
- 261
- 00:12:48,642 --> 00:12:50,311
- I took him to the Copacabana...
- 262
- 00:12:51,771 --> 00:12:52,855
- With Lena.
- 263
- 00:12:53,898 --> 00:12:56,984
- And we went backstage
- to try to get Diana Ross.
- 264
- 00:12:57,777 --> 00:12:59,862
- And they said, "Miss Ross is resting."
- 265
- 00:13:00,613 --> 00:13:03,908
- I said, "Resting my butt, man.
- Lena Horne's out there. Get out here."
- 266
- 00:13:04,575 --> 00:13:07,787
- Clarence had
- a little bit too much lemonade that night.
- 267
- 00:13:07,870 --> 00:13:09,288
- [laughing]
- 268
- 00:13:09,371 --> 00:13:12,291
- He had to get a cab
- to carry me into my apartment,
- 269
- 00:13:12,374 --> 00:13:14,251
- 15 West 72nd Street.
- 270
- 00:13:14,668 --> 00:13:16,378
- I was drunk for two days, man.
- 271
- 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:19,256
- I ain't been drunk since.
- 272
- 00:13:19,423 --> 00:13:21,050
- -[Jones] Oh, please.
- -No, I haven't!
- 273
- 00:13:21,133 --> 00:13:22,885
- -[Jones] Oh, please.
- -That's why I put ice in my wine.
- 274
- 00:13:26,305 --> 00:13:27,973
- [woman] When I was dating Clarence,
- 275
- 00:13:28,474 --> 00:13:29,600
- there were so many,
- 276
- 00:13:29,683 --> 00:13:32,728
- you know, interesting places,
- restaurants, and people.
- 277
- 00:13:32,978 --> 00:13:35,189
- And we would visit, like, Harry Belafonte.
- 278
- 00:13:35,272 --> 00:13:37,191
- It was, I mean,
- it was one thing after another.
- 279
- 00:13:37,274 --> 00:13:41,111
- ♪ I love you, I love you
- Baby, I love you... ♪
- 280
- 00:13:41,195 --> 00:13:43,781
- [George] At one time, Jackie modeled
- for Ebony Fashion Fair.
- 281
- 00:13:44,949 --> 00:13:49,286
- Ebony Fashion Fair
- was a tour that would bring high fashion
- 282
- 00:13:49,370 --> 00:13:50,412
- to black neighborhoods.
- 283
- 00:13:50,496 --> 00:13:52,706
- The Ebony Fashion Fair models
- were, like, the first models
- 284
- 00:13:52,790 --> 00:13:54,667
- that black people really saw
- on the runway.
- 285
- 00:13:54,750 --> 00:13:58,587
- So, for a black guy in 1960-something,
- a Fashion Fair model was, like,
- 286
- 00:13:59,171 --> 00:14:00,256
- a big deal.
- 287
- 00:14:01,048 --> 00:14:03,884
- [Avant] When Jackie met me,
- I got into Birdland free.
- 288
- 00:14:03,968 --> 00:14:08,389
- I got into the best restaurants, you know,
- because you knew certain people,
- 289
- 00:14:08,472 --> 00:14:10,140
- you know, like Mr. Glaser.
- 290
- 00:14:10,224 --> 00:14:11,225
- You know, hey!
- 291
- 00:14:13,519 --> 00:14:15,312
- [Jacqueline]
- He'd always have a car pick me up.
- 292
- 00:14:16,230 --> 00:14:18,190
- And I thought, "Who is this guy?"
- 293
- 00:14:18,274 --> 00:14:21,902
- And then one day,
- I guess he was really trying to get...
- 294
- 00:14:23,153 --> 00:14:23,988
- win me over.
- 295
- 00:14:24,071 --> 00:14:26,699
- And for some reason, he mentioned...
- 296
- 00:14:27,324 --> 00:14:29,535
- how much he had paid
- the Internal Revenue Service.
- 297
- 00:14:29,618 --> 00:14:32,204
- "Okay, so if you paid them that much,
- that must mean that--"ÂÂ
- 298
- 00:14:32,288 --> 00:14:34,248
- Guess he was trying to tell me
- how much he made.
- 299
- 00:14:34,874 --> 00:14:37,126
- Hey, I told you. Life begins
- with a number, and it ends with a number.
- 300
- 00:14:37,209 --> 00:14:39,336
- -[Jacqueline] Thought it was important.
- -Life's about numbers.
- 301
- 00:14:39,420 --> 00:14:40,671
- [snapping in time]
- 302
- 00:14:40,754 --> 00:14:42,464
- [stand-up bass strums]
- 303
- 00:14:42,548 --> 00:14:45,175
- [Avant]
- I had been on a tour with Jimmy Smith
- 304
- 00:14:45,885 --> 00:14:47,469
- and Dizzy Gillespie.
- 305
- 00:14:51,056 --> 00:14:53,559
- That's where Lalo was playing the piano.
- 306
- 00:14:57,938 --> 00:15:01,233
- [Schifrin] Pianist, composer,
- and arranger of Dizzy Gillespie.
- 307
- 00:15:01,817 --> 00:15:04,236
- We were touring around the world.
- 308
- 00:15:08,574 --> 00:15:10,534
- And so, when I get back,
- 309
- 00:15:11,118 --> 00:15:14,288
- Mr. Glaser come into his office.
- "I'm sending you to California."
- 310
- 00:15:14,538 --> 00:15:15,372
- I said, "For what?"
- 311
- 00:15:15,998 --> 00:15:20,252
- "This piano player
- with Dizzy wants to be in the movies."
- 312
- 00:15:20,836 --> 00:15:23,797
- Because when you got into TV
- and television,
- 313
- 00:15:24,590 --> 00:15:26,008
- there was big money.
- 314
- 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:30,554
- And Mr. Glaser thought
- Lalo had what it takes.
- 315
- 00:15:32,222 --> 00:15:34,433
- [Avant] And what am I gonna do
- with a white composer?
- 316
- 00:15:34,808 --> 00:15:37,019
- He said, "The same god damn thing.
- You heard, Negro.
- 317
- 00:15:37,144 --> 00:15:38,938
- Get the fuck outta here and go to work."
- 318
- 00:15:39,897 --> 00:15:42,524
- I really didn't know nothing
- about movies, man,
- 319
- 00:15:42,608 --> 00:15:43,984
- and television, shit.
- 320
- 00:15:44,568 --> 00:15:46,779
- Mr. Glaser said, "Don't worry about that."
- 321
- 00:15:47,529 --> 00:15:50,407
- And I met every head of every studio.
- 322
- 00:15:51,951 --> 00:15:52,910
- He knew everybody,
- 323
- 00:15:52,993 --> 00:15:58,248
- but he knew the head
- of music publishing of MGM.
- 324
- 00:15:58,332 --> 00:16:01,377
- And he-- Right away, he got me a movie.
- Right there.
- 325
- 00:16:02,878 --> 00:16:05,005
- [Cohen] Clarence ran the ship for Lalo.
- 326
- 00:16:05,923 --> 00:16:10,177
- I'm sure that a lot of white people
- were very surprised
- 327
- 00:16:10,260 --> 00:16:12,304
- when Mr. Schifrin showed up
- with his manager.
- 328
- 00:16:12,388 --> 00:16:15,516
- They probably thought he was his valet
- or his driver.
- 329
- 00:16:15,599 --> 00:16:17,309
- [funk music plays]
- 330
- 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:21,689
- [Avant] You know, Lalo did over 100 films.
- 331
- 00:16:21,772 --> 00:16:24,108
- Over 100 fucking films.
- 332
- 00:16:26,902 --> 00:16:29,738
- [Lalo] Bruce Lee,
- he liked my music so much,
- 333
- 00:16:29,822 --> 00:16:32,533
- he offered to teach me martial arts.
- 334
- 00:16:33,117 --> 00:16:35,285
- He made me build a dojo in my house.
- 335
- 00:16:35,953 --> 00:16:37,496
- I became a black belt.
- 336
- 00:16:37,579 --> 00:16:38,414
- [exclaims]
- 337
- 00:16:39,498 --> 00:16:42,459
- Lalo's probably the main guy
- 338
- 00:16:42,876 --> 00:16:45,879
- who set him up in the publishing world,
- 339
- 00:16:45,963 --> 00:16:49,925
- where he learned
- that a copyright is a gold mine.
- 340
- 00:16:50,009 --> 00:16:52,011
- [plays Mission: Impossible theme]
- 341
- 00:16:55,556 --> 00:16:57,141
- [Mission: Impossible theme song plays]
- 342
- 00:17:05,024 --> 00:17:06,358
- [Avant] I had told Quincy,
- 343
- 00:17:07,735 --> 00:17:10,320
- "I'll never get married,
- never live in California."
- 344
- 00:17:11,739 --> 00:17:13,115
- Well, Jackie got pregnant.
- 345
- 00:17:14,408 --> 00:17:18,120
- So I took her out to see my mother
- in Summit, New Jersey,
- 346
- 00:17:18,203 --> 00:17:19,955
- where I'd bought my mother a house.
- 347
- 00:17:20,456 --> 00:17:22,416
- I remember him calling her
- while we were dating,
- 348
- 00:17:22,499 --> 00:17:24,376
- and he would always refer to her
- as Gert.
- 349
- 00:17:24,460 --> 00:17:28,547
- And his mother gave a beautiful tea
- for me at her home.
- 350
- 00:17:29,131 --> 00:17:30,507
- My mother took me in the kitchen,
- 351
- 00:17:30,591 --> 00:17:33,093
- and she was talking to me.
- She said, "Boy, what's wrong with you?"
- 352
- 00:17:33,677 --> 00:17:35,179
- I said, "I ain't ready to get married."
- 353
- 00:17:35,262 --> 00:17:37,056
- She said,
- "You used to ask me about your daddy,
- 354
- 00:17:37,139 --> 00:17:39,391
- and now you talkin' about
- you ain't gonna marry that girl?"
- 355
- 00:17:41,060 --> 00:17:42,144
- We got married.
- 356
- 00:17:44,354 --> 00:17:45,355
- And then...
- 357
- 00:17:46,648 --> 00:17:47,900
- moved to California.
- 358
- 00:17:53,155 --> 00:17:54,448
- [man] When he came to LA,
- 359
- 00:17:54,531 --> 00:17:58,786
- it was like, he was starting his life
- all over again with Jackie.
- 360
- 00:17:58,869 --> 00:18:00,329
- He was changing his life.
- 361
- 00:18:00,412 --> 00:18:03,248
- -["California Soul" playing]
- -♪ California soul... ♪
- 362
- 00:18:04,041 --> 00:18:07,294
- [Avant] I was just looking for a house
- 'cause Mr. Glaser told me to find a house.
- 363
- 00:18:07,377 --> 00:18:09,088
- Baldwin Hills was the shit.
- 364
- 00:18:09,213 --> 00:18:12,091
- Ray Charles and Nancy Wilson lived there.
- 365
- 00:18:12,174 --> 00:18:13,717
- Everybody lived in Baldwin Hills.
- 366
- 00:18:14,218 --> 00:18:16,804
- So one day, Mr. Glaser came out.
- 367
- 00:18:17,679 --> 00:18:19,264
- "Looking for a house?"
- "Yes, sir."
- 368
- 00:18:19,348 --> 00:18:20,933
- "Where?" "Baldwin Hills."
- 369
- 00:18:21,016 --> 00:18:23,727
- "Where the fuck's Baldwin Hills?"
- I said, "That's where Negroes live."
- 370
- 00:18:24,394 --> 00:18:27,898
- Back then, there were no Negroes living
- in Beverly Hills.
- 371
- 00:18:28,190 --> 00:18:30,359
- But he said,
- "You find a house in Beverly."
- 372
- 00:18:30,442 --> 00:18:33,070
- I said, "Sorry, I can't afford it."
- "I didn't ask you that."
- 373
- 00:18:33,737 --> 00:18:34,780
- Found a house.
- 374
- 00:18:34,863 --> 00:18:37,324
- ♪ California soul... ♪
- 375
- 00:18:38,158 --> 00:18:40,744
- Glaser is the one who bought the house.
- 376
- 00:18:40,828 --> 00:18:44,373
- Of course, I borrowed the money from him.
- Didn't have no fuckin' money.
- 377
- 00:18:44,957 --> 00:18:47,376
- I had a few dollars, but not like that.
- 378
- 00:18:47,459 --> 00:18:49,920
- He was dealing with all the studio heads
- 379
- 00:18:50,003 --> 00:18:51,463
- in the old days.
- 380
- 00:18:51,547 --> 00:18:52,881
- [laughing]
- 381
- 00:18:52,965 --> 00:18:54,341
- And got away with it.
- 382
- 00:18:54,508 --> 00:18:57,386
- He's just fearless, man.
- Absolutely fearless.
- 383
- 00:18:57,469 --> 00:18:59,221
- I remember all those guys
- were talking about,
- 384
- 00:18:59,304 --> 00:19:00,639
- "The man's holding me back."
- 385
- 00:19:00,722 --> 00:19:03,809
- He was in there talking to Lew Wasserman,
- the mofo.
- 386
- 00:19:05,310 --> 00:19:07,729
- And meeting with him
- and getting things done.
- 387
- 00:19:09,439 --> 00:19:11,984
- [man] Lew created the agenting system,
- 388
- 00:19:12,067 --> 00:19:14,236
- you know. And ran the studio.
- 389
- 00:19:14,820 --> 00:19:17,030
- And Clarence understood
- the power in connectivity
- 390
- 00:19:17,114 --> 00:19:18,907
- and the power in relationships.
- 391
- 00:19:19,908 --> 00:19:21,410
- [Avant]
- Lew Wasserman was a good friend.
- 392
- 00:19:23,036 --> 00:19:25,455
- I used to meet with him,
- just the two of us, have lunch.
- 393
- 00:19:25,539 --> 00:19:27,624
- Whatever time he had a fund-raiser
- or something,
- 394
- 00:19:27,708 --> 00:19:29,418
- he'd call. "Clarence, I need you."
- 395
- 00:19:30,419 --> 00:19:33,964
- [man] Most of the fund-raisers were held
- at Lew Wasserman's house.
- 396
- 00:19:34,173 --> 00:19:36,842
- And I would always see Clarence
- 397
- 00:19:36,925 --> 00:19:38,218
- at those events.
- 398
- 00:19:38,302 --> 00:19:41,722
- [interviewer] Was he the only black person
- at these events?
- 399
- 00:19:42,097 --> 00:19:45,434
- I'm... saddened to tell you
- 400
- 00:19:45,517 --> 00:19:47,227
- that that may be the case.
- 401
- 00:19:48,020 --> 00:19:51,315
- [woman] Clarence has that something
- where he can connect with...
- 402
- 00:19:52,274 --> 00:19:53,150
- everyone.
- 403
- 00:19:53,650 --> 00:19:54,484
- And he has.
- 404
- 00:19:55,068 --> 00:19:56,862
- He came a long way
- 405
- 00:19:57,696 --> 00:19:58,906
- in a short time.
- 406
- 00:20:00,449 --> 00:20:02,868
- [Avant]
- Lalo worked a lot for David Wolper.
- 407
- 00:20:02,951 --> 00:20:05,621
- David Wolper did documentaries.
- 408
- 00:20:06,496 --> 00:20:10,334
- So... I get a call
- from Mr. Glaser one day.
- 409
- 00:20:10,417 --> 00:20:12,127
- "You gotta go meet Art Modell."
- 410
- 00:20:12,211 --> 00:20:13,670
- "Who the fuck is Art Modell?"
- 411
- 00:20:13,754 --> 00:20:16,256
- "He owns the Cleveland Browns."
- "What do I want to meet him for?"
- 412
- 00:20:16,340 --> 00:20:19,092
- "Well, your friend David Wolper
- wants to do a documentary.
- 413
- 00:20:19,176 --> 00:20:21,303
- And there's a guy who plays
- for the Cleveland Browns
- 414
- 00:20:21,386 --> 00:20:24,348
- named Jim Brown. Doesn't want to be
- in the documentary.
- 415
- 00:20:24,932 --> 00:20:26,350
- You gotta convince him."
- 416
- 00:20:26,934 --> 00:20:29,686
- [George] Jim Brown was a football player.
- He's a running back,
- 417
- 00:20:29,937 --> 00:20:32,272
- who is as big as anybody on the line.
- 418
- 00:20:32,356 --> 00:20:34,107
- And if you watch film of Jim Brown,
- 419
- 00:20:34,191 --> 00:20:36,777
- he's just brutalizing people.
- 420
- 00:20:36,860 --> 00:20:40,280
- [announcer] Number 32, Jimmy Brown,
- makes tissue paper of the Giant line.
- 421
- 00:20:40,364 --> 00:20:42,032
- There's no stopping the great man.
- 422
- 00:20:42,115 --> 00:20:45,702
- He sets the Cleveland team on fire,
- and it's a five-alarm blaze!
- 423
- 00:20:48,413 --> 00:20:51,583
- You have this guy called Clarence Avant...
- 424
- 00:20:53,210 --> 00:20:55,128
- that everybody's talking about,
- 425
- 00:20:55,963 --> 00:20:57,923
- but nobody seems to understand
- 426
- 00:20:58,006 --> 00:21:00,926
- just exactly what his official title was.
- 427
- 00:21:01,009 --> 00:21:03,553
- I couldn't tell you now exactly what he--
- 428
- 00:21:03,637 --> 00:21:05,555
- Was he an agent, a manager, a lawyer?
- 429
- 00:21:06,515 --> 00:21:08,558
- ...what he was. [chuckles]
- 430
- 00:21:08,642 --> 00:21:11,812
- And so, we're talking.
- "You wanna be in the movies?"
- 431
- 00:21:12,562 --> 00:21:13,647
- He just looked at me.
- 432
- 00:21:14,856 --> 00:21:16,858
- "Yeah. You own a record label?"
- 433
- 00:21:17,901 --> 00:21:20,904
- I guess he said,
- "Who the eff is this schmuck?"
- 434
- 00:21:21,321 --> 00:21:25,993
- He had a definitive... personality.
- 435
- 00:21:26,076 --> 00:21:28,120
- You know, he was Clarence,
- 436
- 00:21:28,954 --> 00:21:31,665
- and he wasn't gonna be no different
- than that.
- 437
- 00:21:32,124 --> 00:21:34,084
- And he had his way of operating.
- 438
- 00:21:35,544 --> 00:21:36,670
- And I liked that.
- 439
- 00:21:37,671 --> 00:21:40,340
- [Avant] We put him into movies,
- which he did.
- 440
- 00:21:40,465 --> 00:21:42,926
- One of the big films was The Dirty Dozen.
- 441
- 00:21:43,010 --> 00:21:45,345
- [presenter]
- Jimmy Brown as Napoleon Jefferson.
- 442
- 00:21:45,595 --> 00:21:48,890
- "Jefferson is any man fighting
- for recognition against the odds,"
- 443
- 00:21:48,974 --> 00:21:52,019
- says Brown.
- "I think I understand him pretty well."
- 444
- 00:21:52,853 --> 00:21:54,021
- [George] He was a presence.
- 445
- 00:21:54,104 --> 00:21:56,773
- There was something so credible about him.
- He filled the screen.
- 446
- 00:22:00,527 --> 00:22:02,529
- [Avant] Clarence was a guy
- that you really had to see
- 447
- 00:22:02,612 --> 00:22:04,781
- to put certain kinds of deals together.
- 448
- 00:22:04,865 --> 00:22:07,367
- Woman, what're they looking at?
- 449
- 00:22:08,827 --> 00:22:10,996
- It's the first time
- they've seen a black man before.
- 450
- 00:22:11,705 --> 00:22:14,416
- [Brown] I became the first black actor
- 451
- 00:22:14,499 --> 00:22:16,501
- that had a love scene
- 452
- 00:22:16,585 --> 00:22:19,671
- with a white actress,
- which was Raquel Welch.
- 453
- 00:22:20,380 --> 00:22:22,591
- [George] He does this movie
- with Raquel Welch, 100 Rifles,
- 454
- 00:22:22,674 --> 00:22:26,094
- and there's a picture of Raquel Welch
- with her arms around his big, black chest.
- 455
- 00:22:26,178 --> 00:22:27,846
- People are like, "Whoa!"
- 456
- 00:22:27,929 --> 00:22:29,431
- I got threats.
- 457
- 00:22:30,599 --> 00:22:34,311
- America was not indulging
- with interracial love scenes
- 458
- 00:22:34,394 --> 00:22:36,605
- on their... silver screen.
- 459
- 00:22:38,648 --> 00:22:41,610
- [George] These values
- that America said it believed in...
- 460
- 00:22:42,944 --> 00:22:44,654
- were not being manifested for us.
- 461
- 00:22:45,030 --> 00:22:47,866
- Jim Crow was everywhere,
- racism was everywhere.
- 462
- 00:22:48,992 --> 00:22:50,494
- It's a very heavy time.
- 463
- 00:22:51,495 --> 00:22:53,205
- It's a time of great conflict.
- 464
- 00:22:53,872 --> 00:22:55,082
- [Avant] I never marched.
- 465
- 00:22:56,541 --> 00:22:58,168
- If I got hit, I'd hit back.
- 466
- 00:22:58,668 --> 00:22:59,711
- I'd be dead now.
- 467
- 00:23:02,255 --> 00:23:05,759
- [Brown] There were so many question marks
- at that particular time, racially,
- 468
- 00:23:06,134 --> 00:23:09,012
- and Hollywood had its own power base,
- 469
- 00:23:09,763 --> 00:23:11,431
- and here was...
- 470
- 00:23:12,432 --> 00:23:15,018
- an African-American man in Hollywood
- 471
- 00:23:15,394 --> 00:23:18,271
- that was defying
- what Hollywood was supposed to be.
- 472
- 00:23:19,523 --> 00:23:23,402
- I don't let nothing get in my way
- about anything that I wanna do.
- 473
- 00:23:23,485 --> 00:23:24,653
- That's the way I think.
- 474
- 00:23:25,570 --> 00:23:28,115
- People say, "Where'd you go to college?"
- College?
- 475
- 00:23:28,865 --> 00:23:31,118
- Shit. Ninth grade is as far as I got.
- 476
- 00:23:31,993 --> 00:23:34,413
- I learned a lot
- from a guy called Joe Glaser.
- 477
- 00:23:35,038 --> 00:23:35,872
- A lot.
- 478
- 00:23:38,375 --> 00:23:40,001
- When Mr. Glaser died,
- 479
- 00:23:40,460 --> 00:23:42,838
- I told Jackie, "We have to move."
- 'Cause I owed them money.
- 480
- 00:23:42,921 --> 00:23:46,299
- One month goes by, three months go by,
- the fourth month...
- 481
- 00:23:47,676 --> 00:23:48,969
- Mr. Korshak called.
- 482
- 00:23:50,262 --> 00:23:51,638
- "Clarence." "Yes, sir."
- 483
- 00:23:51,721 --> 00:23:53,390
- "Your loan is forgiven." Hung up.
- 484
- 00:23:55,559 --> 00:23:56,768
- I don't have problems.
- 485
- 00:23:57,519 --> 00:23:58,812
- I have friends.
- 486
- 00:24:03,984 --> 00:24:06,236
- It's almost like he took a situation...
- 487
- 00:24:06,903 --> 00:24:10,407
- and saw there was a lot of power
- in this situation...
- 488
- 00:24:10,657 --> 00:24:11,950
- and decided,
- 489
- 00:24:12,576 --> 00:24:14,202
- "Okay, I landed here,
- 490
- 00:24:14,744 --> 00:24:17,831
- and I'm gonna take everything here
- that's here
- 491
- 00:24:17,914 --> 00:24:20,125
- on this little island
- that I just landed on,
- 492
- 00:24:20,292 --> 00:24:22,586
- and I'm going to use it for good,
- 493
- 00:24:22,669 --> 00:24:24,296
- and I'm gonna use it to lift up my people,
- 494
- 00:24:24,379 --> 00:24:26,131
- and I'm going to use it
- to push down barriers,
- 495
- 00:24:26,214 --> 00:24:29,718
- and I'm gonna use it to open doors,
- and I'm gonna use it for the right thing.
- 496
- 00:24:29,801 --> 00:24:31,428
- I'm gonna use it for justice."
- 497
- 00:24:32,012 --> 00:24:35,265
- He got involved in wanting to be
- an entrepreneur in his own right.
- 498
- 00:24:36,475 --> 00:24:40,896
- [Avant]
- So in 1970, I launched Sussex Records.
- 499
- 00:24:40,979 --> 00:24:42,522
- [funk music plays]
- 500
- 00:24:42,606 --> 00:24:45,775
- [man] Clarence is very proud of the name.
- I don't know if he's mentioned it to you.
- 501
- 00:24:45,859 --> 00:24:48,320
- The two things people want more.
- 502
- 00:24:49,070 --> 00:24:49,905
- Think about it.
- 503
- 00:24:51,573 --> 00:24:54,242
- Success and sex, what else is new?
- 504
- 00:24:57,120 --> 00:24:59,789
- "Success," that means suc-- sex-- sex?
- 505
- 00:24:59,873 --> 00:25:01,333
- [laughs]
- 506
- 00:25:02,542 --> 00:25:03,376
- Shit!
- 507
- 00:25:03,460 --> 00:25:05,212
- [laughing]
- 508
- 00:25:05,795 --> 00:25:07,380
- Success and sex.
- 509
- 00:25:07,464 --> 00:25:09,508
- Sound like something him and Quincy
- was talking about high.
- 510
- 00:25:09,591 --> 00:25:11,593
- [laughing]
- 511
- 00:25:12,010 --> 00:25:13,553
- [chuckling]
- 512
- 00:25:13,887 --> 00:25:15,388
- He goes his own way.
- 513
- 00:25:15,472 --> 00:25:17,516
- He doesn't feel the need...
- 514
- 00:25:17,599 --> 00:25:21,686
- to fold himself into a pretzel
- to be popular.
- 515
- 00:25:21,770 --> 00:25:23,980
- He just, you know...
- 516
- 00:25:24,397 --> 00:25:26,733
- m-- moved to his own drum beat.
- 517
- 00:25:27,526 --> 00:25:30,237
- [George] Over the course of between,
- like, '68 and '71 or '72,
- 518
- 00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:33,365
- Motown basically moved from Detroit to LA.
- 519
- 00:25:34,241 --> 00:25:37,702
- And so, Clarence opening Sussex
- in LA in the early '70s...
- 520
- 00:25:38,370 --> 00:25:39,538
- He's in the moment
- 521
- 00:25:39,621 --> 00:25:43,375
- where LA is becoming the new center
- of black commercial music.
- 522
- 00:25:44,709 --> 00:25:48,922
- [Somer] I was involved with him
- on his formation of Sussex music.
- 523
- 00:25:49,005 --> 00:25:52,926
- At that time, I can't think
- of very many black entrepreneurs
- 524
- 00:25:53,093 --> 00:25:55,595
- in the rock and roll business,
- 525
- 00:25:55,679 --> 00:25:58,390
- let alone on the true business side
- 526
- 00:25:58,473 --> 00:25:59,683
- of the music scene.
- 527
- 00:25:59,766 --> 00:26:01,851
- And Clarence was one of those kinda guys.
- 528
- 00:26:02,143 --> 00:26:04,396
- [Avant] I didn't want anybody to tell me
- who I had to sign,
- 529
- 00:26:04,479 --> 00:26:07,399
- so I-- the first artist
- I signed was Dennis Coffey.
- 530
- 00:26:07,649 --> 00:26:09,859
- -[interviewer] The first 45 I ever bought.
- -Really?
- 531
- 00:26:09,943 --> 00:26:12,487
- I gave you money
- from the first time I had some money.
- 532
- 00:26:12,571 --> 00:26:14,656
- -[chuckles]
- -I spent my allowance on that.
- 533
- 00:26:14,739 --> 00:26:15,949
- -You did?
- -Yes.
- 534
- 00:26:16,032 --> 00:26:17,158
- Bullshit.
- 535
- 00:26:17,242 --> 00:26:19,119
- [laughs]
- 536
- 00:26:19,202 --> 00:26:23,707
- Dennis Coffey,
- the Detroit Guitar Band, and "Scorpio."
- 537
- 00:26:24,916 --> 00:26:26,918
- [funk continues to play]
- 538
- 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:30,547
- [George] And I had no idea...
- 539
- 00:26:32,215 --> 00:26:33,717
- that Dennis Coffey was white.
- 540
- 00:26:39,306 --> 00:26:41,349
- It just was a funky, funky, funky record.
- 541
- 00:26:43,226 --> 00:26:45,437
- [Nicole] "Scorpio" went to number one
- on the black charts,
- 542
- 00:26:46,605 --> 00:26:48,732
- and then the black DJs found out
- 543
- 00:26:48,815 --> 00:26:50,650
- that Dennis Coffey was white...
- 544
- 00:26:52,235 --> 00:26:54,070
- and were very upset,
- and they called my father
- 545
- 00:26:54,154 --> 00:26:56,281
- and said,
- "You didn't tell us he was white.
- 546
- 00:26:56,364 --> 00:26:57,574
- We didn't know he was white."
- 547
- 00:26:57,657 --> 00:27:00,076
- My dad said,
- "Who gives a shit what he is? It's music."
- 548
- 00:27:00,952 --> 00:27:04,664
- [George] It speaks to the fact
- that Sussex wasn't a stereotypical label.
- 549
- 00:27:05,749 --> 00:27:08,376
- [Avant]
- Everybody wanted to be Berry Gordy.
- 550
- 00:27:08,460 --> 00:27:10,420
- But I changed that around.
- 551
- 00:27:11,046 --> 00:27:12,464
- So what I did,
- 552
- 00:27:12,756 --> 00:27:15,592
- instead of going with black acts,
- 553
- 00:27:16,217 --> 00:27:17,677
- I had white acts.
- 554
- 00:27:18,345 --> 00:27:19,262
- Wednesday,
- 555
- 00:27:19,721 --> 00:27:21,723
- Wadsworth Mansion,
- 556
- 00:27:21,806 --> 00:27:23,600
- the Gallery. The Gallery had a record
- 557
- 00:27:23,683 --> 00:27:26,394
- called "It's So Nice to Be with You."
- Number one.
- 558
- 00:27:26,478 --> 00:27:29,856
- ♪ Ah, it's so nice to be with you ♪
- 559
- 00:27:29,939 --> 00:27:33,568
- ♪ I love all the things you say and do ♪
- 560
- 00:27:33,652 --> 00:27:35,654
- [man] There was nobody else
- doing anything like that
- 561
- 00:27:35,737 --> 00:27:36,780
- in those days.
- 562
- 00:27:36,863 --> 00:27:40,575
- A black-owned label
- that had all these different things.
- 563
- 00:27:40,659 --> 00:27:42,160
- That's the unorthodox Clarence,
- 564
- 00:27:42,243 --> 00:27:44,788
- not gonna follow a script,
- not gonna do what he's supposed to do,
- 565
- 00:27:44,871 --> 00:27:46,164
- not gonna do what's expected.
- 566
- 00:27:48,291 --> 00:27:52,754
- [Avant] I met Rodriguez
- by way of Dennis Coffey, and...
- 567
- 00:27:54,172 --> 00:27:56,716
- I liked his music. Liked his sound.
- 568
- 00:27:58,593 --> 00:28:00,595
- [Mitchell]
- He saw the world was a bigger place.
- 569
- 00:28:01,221 --> 00:28:03,890
- He's saying that there are so many voices
- that ought to be heard,
- 570
- 00:28:03,973 --> 00:28:06,267
- I want everybody to hear what I hear
- in these voices.
- 571
- 00:28:06,351 --> 00:28:09,396
- ["Crucify Your Mind" playing]
- 572
- 00:28:09,521 --> 00:28:11,564
- [Avant] He was one of my favorite artists.
- 573
- 00:28:11,648 --> 00:28:12,941
- But you couldn't give it away.
- 574
- 00:28:13,024 --> 00:28:16,027
- It took 40-some years.
- 575
- 00:28:17,153 --> 00:28:19,239
- And it started in South Africa.
- 576
- 00:28:19,823 --> 00:28:23,660
- So, long after Sixto cut his records
- in Detroit for Clarence,
- 577
- 00:28:23,743 --> 00:28:26,121
- and everyone thought
- it was over and done with,
- 578
- 00:28:26,204 --> 00:28:29,290
- he developed this cult following
- in South Africa.
- 579
- 00:28:30,333 --> 00:28:31,960
- [Nicole] South Africa is under apartheid.
- 580
- 00:28:32,043 --> 00:28:33,920
- They ban the album.
- 581
- 00:28:34,003 --> 00:28:35,004
- The government literally--
- 582
- 00:28:35,088 --> 00:28:38,007
- It was against the law
- to sell any of his albums.
- 583
- 00:28:41,010 --> 00:28:42,846
- ♪ Something you call unique... ♪
- 584
- 00:28:42,971 --> 00:28:44,806
- [Traylor]
- The white-run South African government
- 585
- 00:28:44,889 --> 00:28:46,433
- was brutally oppressive.
- 586
- 00:28:47,142 --> 00:28:50,395
- And Rodriguez's music
- was inspiring people to oppose
- 587
- 00:28:50,478 --> 00:28:51,688
- the policy of apartheid.
- 588
- 00:28:51,938 --> 00:28:53,940
- ♪ As the tears rolled down your cheek... ♪
- 589
- 00:28:54,149 --> 00:28:56,651
- There was just
- so much bootlegging going on with that.
- 590
- 00:28:56,735 --> 00:28:58,987
- But for the movie,
- 591
- 00:28:59,571 --> 00:29:00,780
- nobody would've known about it.
- 592
- 00:29:01,698 --> 00:29:04,367
- [Nicole] I watched my dad
- smile through that movie like,
- 593
- 00:29:04,451 --> 00:29:07,412
- "Oh, finally,
- everybody gets to see what I saw.
- 594
- 00:29:07,495 --> 00:29:09,664
- I wasn't crazy
- to take a chance on this guy.
- 595
- 00:29:09,748 --> 00:29:11,958
- I wasn't crazy to put all my money
- in for this guy.
- 596
- 00:29:12,041 --> 00:29:15,128
- I wasn't crazy to mortgage my house.
- I wasn't crazy. Like, I was right!"
- 597
- 00:29:17,464 --> 00:29:19,841
- Rodriguez was, to me,
- he was a brilliant writer.
- 598
- 00:29:20,049 --> 00:29:21,426
- So was Bill Withers.
- 599
- 00:29:23,845 --> 00:29:25,138
- ♪ Mm-hmm ♪
- 600
- 00:29:27,182 --> 00:29:28,683
- ♪ Mm-hmm ♪
- 601
- 00:29:30,602 --> 00:29:31,811
- ♪ Mm-hmm ♪
- 602
- 00:29:35,106 --> 00:29:41,196
- ♪ Grandma's hand clapped in church
- On Sunday morning ♪
- 603
- 00:29:41,780 --> 00:29:47,952
- ♪ Grandma's hands
- Played a tambourine so well ♪
- 604
- 00:29:48,661 --> 00:29:50,079
- [Avant] Bill came to see me.
- 605
- 00:29:51,706 --> 00:29:54,959
- He said, "I've been to all the labels.
- I guess you'll be the last one."
- 606
- 00:29:55,043 --> 00:29:56,878
- I said, "Well, you have to wait and see."
- 607
- 00:29:56,961 --> 00:30:00,673
- I remember getting a taste
- of Clarence's personality when...
- 608
- 00:30:03,134 --> 00:30:05,386
- ...I went up there,
- then they had cassettes,
- 609
- 00:30:06,262 --> 00:30:08,640
- and I played "Grandma's Hands" for him.
- 610
- 00:30:08,723 --> 00:30:11,059
- And he got up and ran around the desk,
- and I thought,
- 611
- 00:30:11,142 --> 00:30:13,770
- "What kinda guy is gonna run..." You know.
- 612
- 00:30:13,853 --> 00:30:15,271
- [Avant] You didn't hear many records
- 613
- 00:30:15,355 --> 00:30:17,857
- of people talking about grandmothers,
- but everybody has one.
- 614
- 00:30:18,191 --> 00:30:21,319
- It just resonated with me, and I said,
- "Wow, this guy has got it!"
- 615
- 00:30:21,402 --> 00:30:23,905
- He said, "Do you have enough songs
- to make an album?"
- 616
- 00:30:23,988 --> 00:30:24,989
- And I said, "Yes."
- 617
- 00:30:26,282 --> 00:30:27,158
- That was it.
- 618
- 00:30:27,659 --> 00:30:29,369
- Oh, Jesus Christ. Bill.
- 619
- 00:30:29,953 --> 00:30:32,831
- [as Bill Withers]
- ♪ Ain't no sunshine when she's gone ♪
- 620
- 00:30:32,914 --> 00:30:34,666
- I mean, come on, man.
- 621
- 00:30:35,166 --> 00:30:36,626
- ["Ain't No Sunshine" plays]
- 622
- 00:30:36,709 --> 00:30:39,754
- ♪ Ain't no sunshine when she's gone ♪
- 623
- 00:30:39,838 --> 00:30:42,882
- ♪ And she's always gone too long ♪
- 624
- 00:30:42,966 --> 00:30:46,386
- ♪ Anytime she goes away... ♪
- 625
- 00:30:46,511 --> 00:30:48,513
- [strumming guitar]
- 626
- 00:30:48,721 --> 00:30:50,890
- -Bill was not a--
- -He wasn't obvious.
- 627
- 00:30:50,974 --> 00:30:53,142
- He wasn't an obvious star whatsoever.
- 628
- 00:30:53,434 --> 00:30:56,104
- And Bill will tell you that himself.
- "I don't know what he saw."
- 629
- 00:30:57,856 --> 00:31:00,525
- [George] Bill Withers is interesting
- because he expands what...
- 630
- 00:31:01,067 --> 00:31:02,318
- commercial black music is,
- 631
- 00:31:02,402 --> 00:31:05,405
- in that Bill looks like a folk artist.
- 632
- 00:31:05,488 --> 00:31:08,032
- ♪ I know, I know, I know, I know... ♪
- 633
- 00:31:08,157 --> 00:31:12,203
- [George] He's sitting there with a,
- you know, acoustic guitar on a chair,
- 634
- 00:31:12,287 --> 00:31:17,292
- but around the frame of him
- was a really great, funky R&B thing.
- 635
- 00:31:17,375 --> 00:31:21,379
- ♪ I know, I know, hey
- I oughtta leave the young thing alone ♪
- 636
- 00:31:21,462 --> 00:31:25,508
- ♪ But ain't no sunshine
- when she's gone... ♪
- 637
- 00:31:25,592 --> 00:31:29,554
- Clarence is like that. He's, you know--
- He's a little to the left, you know,
- 638
- 00:31:29,679 --> 00:31:32,473
- uh, in terms of how
- he sees and does things.
- 639
- 00:31:32,557 --> 00:31:34,517
- And that's what makes him unique.
- 640
- 00:31:34,767 --> 00:31:37,562
- Clarence made
- some great choices musically.
- 641
- 00:31:37,645 --> 00:31:40,356
- "Lean on Me" was not my choice
- for a single.
- 642
- 00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:42,442
- [playing "Lean On Me"]
- 643
- 00:31:44,819 --> 00:31:45,945
- [Withers] I wasn't some kid.
- 644
- 00:31:46,029 --> 00:31:48,114
- I mean, I was 30-something years old,
- 645
- 00:31:48,197 --> 00:31:52,118
- and, you know,
- I had a whole life behind me.
- 646
- 00:31:53,661 --> 00:31:57,040
- And so,
- I will always be indebted to Clarence
- 647
- 00:31:57,123 --> 00:32:00,877
- because he provided the big leap for me.
- 648
- 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:04,714
- From being
- a professional aircraft mechanic
- 649
- 00:32:05,256 --> 00:32:06,841
- over into this world.
- 650
- 00:32:09,052 --> 00:32:14,140
- ♪ Sometimes in our lives ♪
- 651
- 00:32:14,599 --> 00:32:16,684
- ♪ We all have things... ♪
- 652
- 00:32:16,768 --> 00:32:19,520
- The person that's responsible
- for your transition,
- 653
- 00:32:20,229 --> 00:32:22,440
- that's the key to you changing your life.
- 654
- 00:32:22,523 --> 00:32:24,067
- ♪ Lean on me ♪
- 655
- 00:32:25,818 --> 00:32:28,738
- ♪ When you're not strong... ♪
- 656
- 00:32:28,821 --> 00:32:31,741
- Those songs are just so huge.
- 657
- 00:32:31,824 --> 00:32:34,577
- I mean, even today. It's...
- You can't really...
- 658
- 00:32:35,745 --> 00:32:39,040
- spend a lot of time listening to music
- without hearing some Bill Withers.
- 659
- 00:32:39,123 --> 00:32:40,708
- -They've stood the test of time.
- -Yeah.
- 660
- 00:32:40,792 --> 00:32:42,794
- We will never forget "Lean on Me."
- 661
- 00:32:44,128 --> 00:32:47,090
- That's as famous
- as "The Star-Spangled Banner."
- 662
- 00:32:48,341 --> 00:32:50,551
- We still work every day
- at what we do, right?
- 663
- 00:32:50,635 --> 00:32:52,095
- Still trying to do that.
- 664
- 00:32:52,178 --> 00:32:53,221
- [chuckling]
- 665
- 00:32:53,304 --> 00:32:56,516
- After all these years.
- Still trying to find that one classic
- 666
- 00:32:56,599 --> 00:33:00,311
- that will stand the test of time.
- Clarence did it... a few times.
- 667
- 00:33:01,521 --> 00:33:03,898
- [Withers]
- Well, I'm from Slab Fork, West Virginia.
- 668
- 00:33:05,024 --> 00:33:09,070
- What's the odds of two guys
- from Slab Fork, West Virginia,
- 669
- 00:33:09,445 --> 00:33:11,739
- and Climax, North Carolina,
- 670
- 00:33:13,032 --> 00:33:16,744
- making a fuss... in Hollywood?
- 671
- 00:33:20,081 --> 00:33:21,541
- Yeah, I had some hit records.
- 672
- 00:33:21,624 --> 00:33:23,710
- You know. Hey.
- 673
- 00:33:25,253 --> 00:33:28,006
- I think that's the real tribute
- 674
- 00:33:28,089 --> 00:33:30,383
- to Clarence's ear,
- is that he had a feeling
- 675
- 00:33:30,466 --> 00:33:32,969
- for whatever wasn't being done
- at the time.
- 676
- 00:33:33,052 --> 00:33:35,179
- Must've been kind of a lonely place
- for him.
- 677
- 00:33:36,347 --> 00:33:39,058
- For all that kind of brusqueness
- and loudness,
- 678
- 00:33:39,559 --> 00:33:41,185
- it's never a one-way street with him.
- 679
- 00:33:41,269 --> 00:33:42,437
- He's not just talking
- 680
- 00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:45,857
- to be heard, but he's talking to provoke.
- 681
- 00:33:45,940 --> 00:33:48,568
- I wanted to do a tribute
- to Smokey Robinson,
- 682
- 00:33:48,860 --> 00:33:50,737
- and I was talking to Don Cornelius,
- 683
- 00:33:50,820 --> 00:33:53,781
- but Don said,
- "You need to talk to Clarence Avant."
- 684
- 00:33:54,032 --> 00:33:56,117
- He gave me a number, I called Clarence,
- 685
- 00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:57,785
- and he answered the phone.
- 686
- 00:33:58,536 --> 00:33:59,620
- "Hello, who's this?"
- 687
- 00:34:00,121 --> 00:34:01,706
- I said, "This is Danny Bakewell."
- 688
- 00:34:01,998 --> 00:34:04,083
- I said-- He said, "Well, who is that?"
- 689
- 00:34:04,375 --> 00:34:05,334
- And he says-- So I said,
- 690
- 00:34:05,418 --> 00:34:07,795
- "Well, I'm the head
- of the Brotherhood Crusade."
- 691
- 00:34:07,879 --> 00:34:09,464
- And, you know, he said, "Well,
- 692
- 00:34:09,797 --> 00:34:12,133
- what do y'all sing?
- What's the name-- What's your group?"
- 693
- 00:34:12,216 --> 00:34:13,176
- "We don't have a group.
- 694
- 00:34:13,259 --> 00:34:15,261
- This is a civil rights organization,
- we wanna talk."
- 695
- 00:34:15,344 --> 00:34:17,472
- He said, "I don't talk
- to no civil rights organization.
- 696
- 00:34:17,555 --> 00:34:20,308
- I'm sick of these niggas."
- You know? Then he hung up the phone.
- 697
- 00:34:20,391 --> 00:34:23,227
- So I was like, "Now, wha-- Who is this?"
- 698
- 00:34:23,644 --> 00:34:26,189
- So... I called back.
- 699
- 00:34:27,065 --> 00:34:31,110
- And he said, "Man, I told you,
- I don't want to do no civil rights.
- 700
- 00:34:31,194 --> 00:34:32,862
- Okay? I'm trying to make some money."
- 701
- 00:34:32,945 --> 00:34:35,823
- I said, "What I was doing is talking
- about self-help,
- 702
- 00:34:35,907 --> 00:34:37,325
- you know, and mutual aid.
- 703
- 00:34:37,408 --> 00:34:40,453
- We have to do something for ourselves,
- have to stop standing on the sidelines,
- 704
- 00:34:40,536 --> 00:34:43,623
- asking white folks to do something
- for us that we could do for ourselves."
- 705
- 00:34:43,706 --> 00:34:45,708
- He said, "I like that!
- That's what I'm all about!"
- 706
- 00:34:46,959 --> 00:34:51,297
- And as I began to know Clarence,
- I realized that he was a lone stranger
- 707
- 00:34:51,380 --> 00:34:52,757
- in the world he was operating in,
- 708
- 00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:55,676
- because he didn't dance, he didn't sing.
- 709
- 00:34:56,260 --> 00:35:00,890
- You know, he was in the music business,
- but he was so much more than that.
- 710
- 00:35:00,973 --> 00:35:03,893
- Right now, we turn our attention
- to the Soul Train Gang,
- 711
- 00:35:03,976 --> 00:35:06,771
- the Soul Train Line,
- and a master storyteller,
- 712
- 00:35:06,854 --> 00:35:08,064
- Mr. Curtis Mayfield.
- 713
- 00:35:08,147 --> 00:35:10,316
- [Avant] You would have never heard
- 714
- 00:35:10,399 --> 00:35:13,319
- 95 percent of black artists
- 715
- 00:35:13,903 --> 00:35:15,571
- without Soul Train.
- 716
- 00:35:16,489 --> 00:35:18,491
- [funk music playing]
- 717
- 00:35:24,163 --> 00:35:26,290
- [George] Soul Train was the weapon
- of the movement
- 718
- 00:35:26,374 --> 00:35:27,959
- that it didn't know it had,
- which was joy.
- 719
- 00:35:30,253 --> 00:35:31,462
- Before Soul Train,
- 720
- 00:35:31,546 --> 00:35:32,547
- there had never been
- 721
- 00:35:33,089 --> 00:35:36,884
- a weekly program show on national TV
- 722
- 00:35:36,968 --> 00:35:38,928
- that featured black people,
- 723
- 00:35:39,011 --> 00:35:40,471
- for black people,
- 724
- 00:35:40,555 --> 00:35:41,514
- by black people.
- 725
- 00:35:41,597 --> 00:35:43,432
- Not even anything close to it, really.
- 726
- 00:35:45,101 --> 00:35:49,230
- And the amount of white people
- who would experience black culture
- 727
- 00:35:49,647 --> 00:35:51,941
- for the first time in an undiluted way,
- 728
- 00:35:52,024 --> 00:35:55,027
- that was-- Soul Train was that for them.
- And they couldn't get enough of it.
- 729
- 00:35:55,111 --> 00:35:59,157
- Welcome aboard, you're right on time
- for another sweet ride on the Soul Train.
- 730
- 00:35:59,240 --> 00:36:03,953
- The unbelievable Al Green coming at you,
- right after this important message.
- 731
- 00:36:04,036 --> 00:36:05,663
- [man clears throat]
- Haven't you forgotten something?
- 732
- 00:36:05,746 --> 00:36:07,707
- Hey, aren't you Frederick Douglass?
- 733
- 00:36:08,457 --> 00:36:10,668
- Yeah, we studied about you
- in school yesterday.
- 734
- 00:36:10,751 --> 00:36:13,212
- About how you were a slave,
- and how you took your own freedom,
- 735
- 00:36:13,296 --> 00:36:15,214
- and then began to fight for freedom
- and dignity
- 736
- 00:36:15,298 --> 00:36:16,507
- for all our people.
- 737
- 00:36:16,591 --> 00:36:17,800
- Say, but what did I forget?
- 738
- 00:36:17,884 --> 00:36:20,595
- Are you gonna go out into the world
- with your hair looking like that?
- 739
- 00:36:21,137 --> 00:36:22,638
- [George] You have a black TV show
- 740
- 00:36:22,722 --> 00:36:25,850
- that is sponsored primarily
- by a black hair product company.
- 741
- 00:36:26,934 --> 00:36:31,480
- Dick Clark had been the king
- of youth culture and dance TV
- 742
- 00:36:31,564 --> 00:36:34,025
- since he joined American Bandstand
- in the '60s.
- 743
- 00:36:34,150 --> 00:36:35,985
- [swing music playing]
- 744
- 00:36:36,068 --> 00:36:39,655
- Almost every act who would pop,
- in any sense, played Bandstand.
- 745
- 00:36:40,198 --> 00:36:44,243
- Every new dance that became hot
- around the country was on Bandstand.
- 746
- 00:36:44,327 --> 00:36:47,079
- So Bandstand was a big, big force
- in the culture.
- 747
- 00:36:48,247 --> 00:36:51,918
- And Soul Train was--
- really, really threatened that,
- 748
- 00:36:52,001 --> 00:36:55,463
- because it was a new style for America.
- 749
- 00:36:55,546 --> 00:36:58,466
- Soul Train, you know,
- was obviously doing very very well.
- 750
- 00:36:59,008 --> 00:37:00,468
- And Dick Clark had...
- 751
- 00:37:01,010 --> 00:37:04,472
- um, unfortunately created
- 752
- 00:37:04,555 --> 00:37:05,973
- a competing dance show.
- 753
- 00:37:06,057 --> 00:37:07,808
- Hello! Thank you very much!
- 754
- 00:37:07,892 --> 00:37:09,477
- Let me get untangled
- from this cord here.
- 755
- 00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:11,479
- [George] He starts this show
- called Soul Unlimited
- 756
- 00:37:11,562 --> 00:37:14,398
- and gets
- a pseudo-Don Cornelius host on it.
- 757
- 00:37:14,482 --> 00:37:16,484
- Did you like Japan a lot?
- 758
- 00:37:16,776 --> 00:37:18,152
- Yeah, it was pretty good. Yeah.
- 759
- 00:37:18,236 --> 00:37:20,988
- [George] He's on ABC. It was gonna come on
- after American Bandstand.
- 760
- 00:37:21,072 --> 00:37:22,365
- It's gonna have a big preview.
- 761
- 00:37:22,448 --> 00:37:24,450
- Also, its advertisers.
- 762
- 00:37:24,533 --> 00:37:28,371
- [Tony] It came to Dick Clark
- versus Don Cornelius.
- 763
- 00:37:28,788 --> 00:37:31,582
- My father actually was fighting
- for his life.
- 764
- 00:37:31,666 --> 00:37:34,418
- [Avant] Dick Clark approached me,
- 765
- 00:37:34,502 --> 00:37:35,878
- and he wanted me to endorse it.
- 766
- 00:37:35,962 --> 00:37:38,339
- Now remember, I was a consultant at ABC.
- 767
- 00:37:38,422 --> 00:37:39,966
- That's why he came to me.
- 768
- 00:37:40,841 --> 00:37:43,135
- Dick Clark offered me a lot of money
- 769
- 00:37:43,761 --> 00:37:44,595
- to do it.
- 770
- 00:37:45,596 --> 00:37:46,430
- I said no.
- 771
- 00:37:48,516 --> 00:37:49,725
- So, what I did,
- 772
- 00:37:50,309 --> 00:37:51,310
- I went to New York.
- 773
- 00:37:52,561 --> 00:37:55,273
- I said, "If you let Dick Clark go for it,
- 774
- 00:37:55,356 --> 00:37:58,067
- I will put people
- in the street that will--"
- 775
- 00:37:58,150 --> 00:38:00,403
- I didn't know what I was gonna do.
- You say all that shit,
- 776
- 00:38:00,486 --> 00:38:01,696
- the white people got scared.
- 777
- 00:38:01,779 --> 00:38:03,906
- He had the ability to walk in a room,
- 778
- 00:38:05,324 --> 00:38:08,536
- tell people
- exactly what they needed to hear.
- 779
- 00:38:09,245 --> 00:38:11,372
- And if you were smart, you listened.
- 780
- 00:38:11,872 --> 00:38:14,667
- [Avant]
- And the decision was made bluntly.
- 781
- 00:38:15,126 --> 00:38:18,129
- ABC would not move forward
- with Soul Unlimited.
- 782
- 00:38:18,713 --> 00:38:20,339
- So I won that battle.
- 783
- 00:38:21,382 --> 00:38:24,885
- [Tony] Clarence came to my father's aid
- and did his magic.
- 784
- 00:38:25,886 --> 00:38:28,389
- I'm Don Cornelius,
- and as always in parting,
- 785
- 00:38:28,472 --> 00:38:31,767
- we wish you love, peace, and soul!
- 786
- 00:38:34,228 --> 00:38:36,647
- [Avant]
- Yeah, I helped a lot of people, but...
- 787
- 00:38:37,231 --> 00:38:42,153
- my job, so far as I'm concerned,
- is to move us forward, period.
- 788
- 00:38:42,236 --> 00:38:45,031
- That's all he's done.
- That's all he's ever done, anyway.
- 789
- 00:38:45,114 --> 00:38:45,948
- You know, um...
- 790
- 00:38:47,074 --> 00:38:48,617
- just help those who need help.
- 791
- 00:38:49,201 --> 00:38:51,120
- But he's never forgotten, you know...
- 792
- 00:38:52,330 --> 00:38:56,792
- the hardships.
- Never, you know, forgotten the pain.
- 793
- 00:38:57,460 --> 00:39:00,129
- 'Cause equality drives him.
- 794
- 00:39:01,047 --> 00:39:03,007
- But I do think it's from his childhood.
- 795
- 00:39:03,257 --> 00:39:06,594
- [Avant] We were poor, man.
- I'm talking about poor, poor, poor.
- 796
- 00:39:07,219 --> 00:39:10,473
- We had chicken feet soup,
- we were so goddamn poor.
- 797
- 00:39:11,724 --> 00:39:14,310
- Now if Quincy was here, he would say,
- "Well, you're from Climax."
- 798
- 00:39:14,393 --> 00:39:15,269
- That's not true.
- 799
- 00:39:15,353 --> 00:39:18,689
- I was born in Greensboro
- and raised in Climax.
- 800
- 00:39:19,899 --> 00:39:22,943
- [Mitchell] There's no better place
- for Clarence to come from than Climax.
- 801
- 00:39:23,235 --> 00:39:27,156
- Because... [chuckles] his whole career
- has been a series of climaxes
- 802
- 00:39:27,239 --> 00:39:28,199
- that shook the world.
- 803
- 00:39:29,075 --> 00:39:32,661
- [Avant] There were eight children,
- and me being the oldest.
- 804
- 00:39:32,995 --> 00:39:34,455
- Gertrude is my mother.
- 805
- 00:39:35,331 --> 00:39:37,500
- [Nicole] I just have
- all these great memories of her.
- 806
- 00:39:37,917 --> 00:39:41,629
- Yeah, she loved telling me stories
- about her childhood, which wasn't easy.
- 807
- 00:39:41,712 --> 00:39:44,298
- She did domestic work
- since she was six years old.
- 808
- 00:39:44,382 --> 00:39:46,592
- You know, it wasn't--
- Her parents weren't technically slaves,
- 809
- 00:39:46,675 --> 00:39:48,344
- but I mean, they were.
- 810
- 00:39:48,969 --> 00:39:53,641
- And she was fast with her mouth,
- you know, and she didn't take any crap.
- 811
- 00:39:53,724 --> 00:39:56,185
- They're very similar,
- my father and my grandmother.
- 812
- 00:39:57,353 --> 00:40:00,356
- I know some people in the South
- where Clarence grew up.
- 813
- 00:40:00,439 --> 00:40:03,359
- And I got a phone call one day
- from a good friend of mine,
- 814
- 00:40:03,442 --> 00:40:05,986
- and he mentioned the word "sweet potato."
- 815
- 00:40:07,029 --> 00:40:09,657
- And Clarence's nickname is "sweet potato."
- 816
- 00:40:09,740 --> 00:40:12,535
- [Avant] 'Cause I would say,
- "Everybody's got a sandwich except me!"
- 817
- 00:40:12,618 --> 00:40:14,787
- "Well, you ain't got one.
- Get your ass outta here."
- 818
- 00:40:14,870 --> 00:40:17,248
- And I would be so embarrassed
- 819
- 00:40:17,331 --> 00:40:19,667
- because everybody would have--
- And they would tease me.
- 820
- 00:40:19,750 --> 00:40:20,751
- "Sweet potato."
- 821
- 00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:23,671
- That's all I had to carry to school,
- was sweet potato.
- 822
- 00:40:24,797 --> 00:40:28,134
- [Nicole] Growing up, you know,
- being born in 1931 in the South
- 823
- 00:40:28,634 --> 00:40:30,553
- and living under Jim Crow law,
- 824
- 00:40:30,678 --> 00:40:33,431
- he saw a lot of things
- that nobody should see.
- 825
- 00:40:34,932 --> 00:40:37,184
- [Avant] How do I describe racism then?
- 826
- 00:40:38,644 --> 00:40:40,896
- The KKK was all around us.
- 827
- 00:40:41,689 --> 00:40:43,399
- My mother would just tell us,
- 828
- 00:40:43,482 --> 00:40:47,570
- "If you hear a car coming, run and hide,
- 829
- 00:40:47,653 --> 00:40:50,573
- lay down flat."
- You know, just to protect yourself.
- 830
- 00:40:51,657 --> 00:40:54,201
- [interviewer] Was your father
- ever with you during your childhood?
- 831
- 00:40:54,285 --> 00:40:55,911
- [Avant] Nope, I was born out of wedlock.
- 832
- 00:40:57,037 --> 00:40:58,706
- Well, I saw him a few times.
- 833
- 00:40:58,789 --> 00:41:01,417
- He'd never give me shit,
- so he didn't mean anything to me.
- 834
- 00:41:01,500 --> 00:41:04,044
- But I didn't have a father...
- 835
- 00:41:05,087 --> 00:41:06,046
- per se.
- 836
- 00:41:06,922 --> 00:41:07,923
- I had a stepfather.
- 837
- 00:41:09,758 --> 00:41:12,803
- Gert, she was married
- to a gentleman called Eddie Woods.
- 838
- 00:41:13,012 --> 00:41:15,139
- And I certainly didn't get along with him.
- 839
- 00:41:16,223 --> 00:41:17,766
- I knew he was very mean.
- 840
- 00:41:18,350 --> 00:41:21,312
- I knew he was very abusive.
- I knew he was physically abusive.
- 841
- 00:41:21,395 --> 00:41:23,606
- My mother used to get
- the shit beat out of her.
- 842
- 00:41:24,148 --> 00:41:25,399
- And I was tired of it.
- 843
- 00:41:25,900 --> 00:41:28,486
- And I was like 12, 13 years old, I guess.
- 844
- 00:41:28,569 --> 00:41:31,238
- So one day,
- I put some rat poison in his food.
- 845
- 00:41:32,907 --> 00:41:33,741
- So my...
- 846
- 00:41:34,533 --> 00:41:37,578
- brother who is deceased, Weldon...
- Poochie, we called him...
- 847
- 00:41:38,162 --> 00:41:40,164
- Poochie said, "You better not eat that."
- 848
- 00:41:40,956 --> 00:41:42,041
- I had to leave.
- 849
- 00:41:45,544 --> 00:41:48,881
- I went to my Aunt Annie
- in Summit, New Jersey.
- 850
- 00:41:49,757 --> 00:41:53,636
- And I had never been on a train before
- or anything like that.
- 851
- 00:41:54,887 --> 00:41:57,056
- And after going to New Jersey,
- 852
- 00:41:57,556 --> 00:41:59,683
- it was a whole new world
- that I had never even--
- 853
- 00:41:59,767 --> 00:42:01,101
- couldn't even imagine.
- 854
- 00:42:01,519 --> 00:42:03,020
- If he hadn't left the South--
- 855
- 00:42:03,270 --> 00:42:06,106
- and especially, he was in the Carolinas
- in the period he was in--
- 856
- 00:42:06,690 --> 00:42:09,485
- the opportunity for him
- to move forward was very limited.
- 857
- 00:42:09,568 --> 00:42:11,403
- Especially someone
- who didn't have an education,
- 858
- 00:42:11,487 --> 00:42:12,905
- wasn't part of any black elite.
- 859
- 00:42:12,988 --> 00:42:15,824
- The Great Migration had started
- in the '20s, really,
- 860
- 00:42:15,908 --> 00:42:20,371
- and '30s, and '40s, '50s,
- scores of black Americans went north.
- 861
- 00:42:20,913 --> 00:42:25,668
- So Clarence ended up in New Jersey,
- which is where his aunt lived.
- 862
- 00:42:26,168 --> 00:42:28,963
- She was the first of the Avants
- to go north.
- 863
- 00:42:30,631 --> 00:42:34,051
- [Avant] A few years later,
- I got this job at Martindale-Hubbell.
- 864
- 00:42:34,635 --> 00:42:35,970
- It was a law directory.
- 865
- 00:42:36,470 --> 00:42:39,848
- "What did you do at Martindale-Hubbell?"
- What did black people do in those days?
- 866
- 00:42:39,932 --> 00:42:41,600
- There was no such thing
- as black executives,
- 867
- 00:42:41,684 --> 00:42:44,687
- so you just carried books
- or whatever you were doing.
- 868
- 00:42:46,397 --> 00:42:49,775
- I used to watch television
- or read the papers, and...
- 869
- 00:42:50,734 --> 00:42:52,319
- my whole life changed...
- 870
- 00:42:53,445 --> 00:42:56,198
- ...when Emmett Till got killed.
- 871
- 00:42:57,616 --> 00:43:00,286
- The Emmett Till case
- is one of those seminal events
- 872
- 00:43:00,369 --> 00:43:03,831
- in race relations in America
- that really pointed out...
- 873
- 00:43:04,665 --> 00:43:07,835
- the disparity of justice
- when it came to black Americans.
- 874
- 00:43:08,919 --> 00:43:10,879
- Emmett Till was a young kid.
- 875
- 00:43:11,422 --> 00:43:15,551
- Summer vacation, you know, went down south
- with his relatives to Mississippi.
- 876
- 00:43:16,093 --> 00:43:19,054
- The story goes that he saw a woman,
- a white woman,
- 877
- 00:43:19,388 --> 00:43:21,849
- who claims that he whistled at her.
- 878
- 00:43:23,058 --> 00:43:25,853
- And he was found
- the next morning brutally murdered.
- 879
- 00:43:27,938 --> 00:43:30,941
- His mother brings the body
- back to Chicago,
- 880
- 00:43:31,025 --> 00:43:33,235
- and everyone says
- it should be a closed casket,
- 881
- 00:43:33,319 --> 00:43:36,405
- but no, she wants the world to see
- what happened to her son.
- 882
- 00:43:47,333 --> 00:43:51,003
- The photograph of Emmett Till's body is,
- 883
- 00:43:51,086 --> 00:43:53,088
- you know, for kids today, it went viral.
- 884
- 00:43:53,714 --> 00:43:55,716
- [Avant]
- It was the day after he was killed.
- 885
- 00:43:56,925 --> 00:43:58,802
- I started crying and screaming...
- 886
- 00:44:00,054 --> 00:44:01,847
- how badly I hated white people.
- 887
- 00:44:03,432 --> 00:44:05,768
- The gentleman that run the place,
- 888
- 00:44:06,060 --> 00:44:07,561
- his name was Mr. Nofer.
- 889
- 00:44:09,063 --> 00:44:10,272
- He came out...
- 890
- 00:44:10,856 --> 00:44:14,026
- told me to come in his office.
- Everybody knew that I was fired.
- 891
- 00:44:14,985 --> 00:44:18,614
- And he said that they were all terrified
- for him. Terrified.
- 892
- 00:44:19,323 --> 00:44:22,368
- Not only because it was clear
- that he was going to be fired,
- 893
- 00:44:22,743 --> 00:44:26,372
- but, you know, you are a black man,
- even in New York,
- 894
- 00:44:26,455 --> 00:44:28,290
- going off about white people.
- 895
- 00:44:30,042 --> 00:44:31,043
- In America.
- 896
- 00:44:31,627 --> 00:44:33,629
- I went in his office and... [pants]
- 897
- 00:44:33,712 --> 00:44:34,922
- I sat on the couch.
- 898
- 00:44:36,340 --> 00:44:39,343
- He said, "I understand your emotions."
- 899
- 00:44:41,637 --> 00:44:45,224
- So he said, "I'm not gonna fire you,
- but you can't do it again."
- 900
- 00:44:46,642 --> 00:44:49,395
- That clearly changed my life
- 901
- 00:44:49,478 --> 00:44:52,606
- in terms of civil rights,
- or whatever you wanna call it.
- 902
- 00:44:52,690 --> 00:44:53,857
- It just changed me.
- 903
- 00:44:59,029 --> 00:45:02,449
- [news anchor] Memphis is a confused
- and shocked city tonight.
- 904
- 00:45:02,533 --> 00:45:04,743
- No one can believe what has happened.
- 905
- 00:45:04,827 --> 00:45:08,997
- It's been just a little over an hour
- since Dr. Martin Luther King died
- 906
- 00:45:09,081 --> 00:45:10,582
- from an assassin's bullet.
- 907
- 00:45:13,085 --> 00:45:15,295
- Reverend Andrew Young,
- King's top lieutenant,
- 908
- 00:45:15,379 --> 00:45:18,674
- was at the hospital awaiting word
- and described the shooting.
- 909
- 00:45:19,383 --> 00:45:22,594
- As he came out of his room,
- on the edge of the balcony,
- 910
- 00:45:22,678 --> 00:45:25,389
- he was shot.
- And we thought a firecracker had gone on.
- 911
- 00:45:25,472 --> 00:45:27,766
- Most of us were downstairs
- on the lower level.
- 912
- 00:45:28,267 --> 00:45:32,020
- And we immediately ran up and saw
- that he'd been pretty badly wounded
- 913
- 00:45:32,104 --> 00:45:35,858
- and sent for the ambulance,
- and the police, and everybody.
- 914
- 00:45:39,528 --> 00:45:44,158
- [Dr. King] A man dies when he refuses
- to stand up for that which is right.
- 915
- 00:45:44,908 --> 00:45:48,620
- A man dies when he refuses
- to stand up for justice.
- 916
- 00:45:48,704 --> 00:45:49,538
- [woman] Yeah!
- 917
- 00:45:49,621 --> 00:45:55,043
- A man dies when he refuses to take a stand
- for that which is true.
- 918
- 00:45:55,127 --> 00:45:56,962
- In the wake of Dr. King's assassination,
- 919
- 00:45:57,045 --> 00:45:58,380
- we wanted to do something.
- 920
- 00:46:00,048 --> 00:46:02,009
- [man] Clarence had come up with the idea,
- 921
- 00:46:02,092 --> 00:46:05,429
- Clarence and Jesse,
- of putting on a big concert,
- 922
- 00:46:05,512 --> 00:46:08,223
- a five-day kind of music festival.
- 923
- 00:46:08,724 --> 00:46:10,350
- [playing piano]
- 924
- 00:46:15,105 --> 00:46:17,107
- [applause]
- 925
- 00:46:24,573 --> 00:46:29,828
- ♪ Oh, who really cares? ♪
- 926
- 00:46:32,956 --> 00:46:34,875
- ♪ Who's willing to try ♪
- 927
- 00:46:38,420 --> 00:46:41,006
- ♪ Oh, to save the world ♪
- 928
- 00:46:45,135 --> 00:46:46,887
- ♪ To save our sweet world? ♪
- 929
- 00:46:48,180 --> 00:46:50,891
- We happen to have with us, in the studio,
- a very dear friend
- 930
- 00:46:50,974 --> 00:46:54,019
- who is the executive producer
- of that film.
- 931
- 00:46:54,102 --> 00:46:56,480
- He's a man
- who has helped many, many careers
- 932
- 00:46:56,563 --> 00:46:59,358
- during his career, including my career,
- 933
- 00:46:59,441 --> 00:47:01,068
- and I'd like for you
- to welcome him warmly,
- 934
- 00:47:01,151 --> 00:47:03,237
- Soul Train Gang, Mr. Clarence Avant.
- 935
- 00:47:03,320 --> 00:47:04,154
- [applause]
- 936
- 00:47:06,406 --> 00:47:07,616
- All right.
- 937
- 00:47:07,699 --> 00:47:09,618
- -How're you doing, Clarence?
- -A little nervous.
- 938
- 00:47:10,327 --> 00:47:11,912
- -I'm a little nervous.
- -You of all people?
- 939
- 00:47:11,995 --> 00:47:13,831
- -Yeah.
- -Clarence...
- 940
- 00:47:14,164 --> 00:47:17,626
- I'd like to get into how you got involved
- in Save The Children,
- 941
- 00:47:17,709 --> 00:47:20,170
- as its executive producer.
- 942
- 00:47:20,254 --> 00:47:23,298
- We were able to work
- with Reverend Jesse Jackson,
- 943
- 00:47:23,382 --> 00:47:25,133
- come up with an idea
- that this film should be made
- 944
- 00:47:25,217 --> 00:47:26,969
- after looking at all that talent
- out there,
- 945
- 00:47:27,052 --> 00:47:29,763
- and so, in 1972, we filmed it.
- 946
- 00:47:30,347 --> 00:47:32,641
- As a dealmaker,
- he's the best in the business.
- 947
- 00:47:32,724 --> 00:47:36,603
- There's no negotiating dealmaker
- in Hollywood
- 948
- 00:47:36,895 --> 00:47:39,356
- or New York better than Clarence Avant,
- just none.
- 949
- 00:47:40,023 --> 00:47:42,609
- [man] I used to say,
- "Why do ya'll all defer to Clarence?"
- 950
- 00:47:42,693 --> 00:47:47,239
- He said, "Clarence Avant's the only one
- that has the muscle,"
- 951
- 00:47:47,322 --> 00:47:50,242
- was the term they used,
- "to get a lot of these artists."
- 952
- 00:47:50,325 --> 00:47:52,202
- 'Cause you gotta remember,
- in the '70s, now,
- 953
- 00:47:52,286 --> 00:47:55,998
- the mob had a lot of control
- in the music industry.
- 954
- 00:47:56,331 --> 00:47:57,833
- I said, "He knows gangsters?"
- 955
- 00:47:57,916 --> 00:48:00,419
- He knows how to talk to everybody.
- He's not with them,
- 956
- 00:48:00,502 --> 00:48:02,087
- but he knows how to talk to 'em.
- 957
- 00:48:02,880 --> 00:48:06,758
- I was looking for a tall, imposing man.
- 958
- 00:48:07,926 --> 00:48:10,596
- And in those days, everybody was bright,
- 959
- 00:48:11,346 --> 00:48:15,183
- darn near white, and curly-haired.
- They used to call it "good hair."
- 960
- 00:48:15,267 --> 00:48:16,643
- And this very short,
- 961
- 00:48:16,935 --> 00:48:22,482
- dark-skinned brother came in,
- who was very emphatic, you know,
- 962
- 00:48:22,566 --> 00:48:24,276
- like a guy like your uncle at...
- 963
- 00:48:24,359 --> 00:48:25,360
- [stutters]
- 964
- 00:48:25,444 --> 00:48:26,278
- at a reunion.
- 965
- 00:48:26,361 --> 00:48:27,487
- [imitates indistinct speech]
- 966
- 00:48:27,571 --> 00:48:29,698
- One of the things that's unique
- about Save The Children,
- 967
- 00:48:29,781 --> 00:48:33,911
- and one reason the roster is so great,
- is that it was able to bring together
- 968
- 00:48:33,994 --> 00:48:36,914
- the three dominant labels
- in black music at that time,
- 969
- 00:48:36,997 --> 00:48:40,375
- which was Motown, Stax,
- and Atlantic Records.
- 970
- 00:48:40,459 --> 00:48:44,755
- No other event ever brought all
- of that talent together on one stage.
- 971
- 00:48:44,838 --> 00:48:46,506
- [Adolph] The film that resulted
- 972
- 00:48:46,590 --> 00:48:50,052
- featured the best and the brightest
- of black acts of the day.
- 973
- 00:48:50,135 --> 00:48:52,804
- [Rev. Sharpton]
- Jesse wanted to have a black crew.
- 974
- 00:48:53,347 --> 00:48:55,974
- Black this, black that, black that.
- 975
- 00:48:56,308 --> 00:48:58,018
- Clarence told me I was the director.
- 976
- 00:48:58,352 --> 00:49:00,437
- He said, "You the producer,
- and you the director."
- 977
- 00:49:00,520 --> 00:49:02,522
- We want black folks out there
- on them cameras.
- 978
- 00:49:02,606 --> 00:49:05,651
- ♪ Oh, baby, give me one more chance ♪
- 979
- 00:49:05,734 --> 00:49:06,944
- ♪ Show you that I love you ♪
- 980
- 00:49:07,027 --> 00:49:11,073
- -♪ Won't you please let me
- -♪ Back in your heart ♪
- 981
- 00:49:11,156 --> 00:49:14,368
- ♪ Oh, darling, I was blind to let you go ♪
- 982
- 00:49:14,451 --> 00:49:15,786
- ♪ Let you go, baby ♪
- 983
- 00:49:15,869 --> 00:49:20,082
- -♪ Not since I've seen you in his arms ♪
- -♪ I want you back ♪
- 984
- 00:49:20,165 --> 00:49:22,250
- -♪ Yes, I do, now ♪
- -♪ I want you back ♪
- 985
- 00:49:22,334 --> 00:49:24,628
- -♪ Ooh, ooh, baby ♪
- -♪ I want you back ♪
- 986
- 00:49:24,711 --> 00:49:26,421
- -♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
- -♪ I want you back ♪
- 987
- 00:49:26,505 --> 00:49:29,967
- It's also got brilliant,
- brillant documentary footage
- 988
- 00:49:30,050 --> 00:49:32,260
- of Sammy. There's an amazing section
- 989
- 00:49:32,344 --> 00:49:35,389
- where he comes out
- to an all-black crowd in Chicago,
- 990
- 00:49:35,472 --> 00:49:37,057
- and they're booing his ass.
- 991
- 00:49:37,140 --> 00:49:39,142
- [audience booing]
- 992
- 00:49:41,728 --> 00:49:45,524
- If you look at that Save The Children,
- he was clearly nervous.
- 993
- 00:49:45,607 --> 00:49:48,568
- He was nervous
- 'cause they caught him hugging Nixon, man,
- 994
- 00:49:48,860 --> 00:49:50,112
- and they booed him.
- 995
- 00:49:51,279 --> 00:49:54,866
- [George] Clarence convinced the naysayers
- to give Sammy a place on the show,
- 996
- 00:49:54,950 --> 00:49:56,576
- so he could state his case to the crowd.
- 997
- 00:49:56,910 --> 00:50:00,122
- [Davis, Jr.]
- Disagree, if you will, with my politics...
- 998
- 00:50:00,622 --> 00:50:01,665
- [audience clamoring]
- 999
- 00:50:01,748 --> 00:50:02,666
- Good.
- 1000
- 00:50:03,166 --> 00:50:04,001
- Good!
- 1001
- 00:50:04,918 --> 00:50:06,878
- Good, but don't...
- 1002
- 00:50:08,046 --> 00:50:11,675
- I will not allow anyone to take away...
- 1003
- 00:50:12,467 --> 00:50:15,220
- the fact that I am black.
- 1004
- 00:50:15,303 --> 00:50:17,806
- [audience cheers]
- 1005
- 00:50:17,889 --> 00:50:19,266
- And then sings, you know,
- 1006
- 00:50:19,349 --> 00:50:20,726
- "I Gotta Be Me."
- 1007
- 00:50:20,809 --> 00:50:27,524
- ♪ Daring to try, to do it or die ♪
- 1008
- 00:50:28,567 --> 00:50:32,988
- ♪ I gotta be ♪
- 1009
- 00:50:33,405 --> 00:50:39,536
- ♪ Me ♪
- 1010
- 00:50:43,874 --> 00:50:45,876
- -[song stops]
- -[audience cheers]
- 1011
- 00:50:49,713 --> 00:50:51,882
- [George] And people are crying
- at the end of this thing,
- 1012
- 00:50:51,965 --> 00:50:55,260
- and I'm-- You're damn near crying,
- because this is not just a performance.
- 1013
- 00:50:55,343 --> 00:50:56,678
- This is a man who's really saying,
- 1014
- 00:50:56,762 --> 00:50:59,973
- "No, I am one of you, and I--
- Don't judge me this way."
- 1015
- 00:51:02,267 --> 00:51:04,978
- [Nicole]
- My father has this great sense of music.
- 1016
- 00:51:05,270 --> 00:51:07,481
- He understands the vibration of music.
- 1017
- 00:51:08,315 --> 00:51:11,359
- He understands that music changes
- the way you feel.
- 1018
- 00:51:11,443 --> 00:51:14,279
- He understands the power of music.
- 1019
- 00:51:14,362 --> 00:51:15,739
- I used to call him Magic,
- 1020
- 00:51:16,323 --> 00:51:21,787
- because he connects all of these worlds
- and makes them his reality.
- 1021
- 00:51:22,287 --> 00:51:24,915
- He's in the music business.
- He's in the movie bu--
- 1022
- 00:51:24,998 --> 00:51:28,418
- He's in the entertainment business,
- but he's also in politics.
- 1023
- 00:51:29,753 --> 00:51:32,380
- [Avant]
- There was a guy running for Congress.
- 1024
- 00:51:32,464 --> 00:51:35,550
- He would've been the first black guy
- from the South.
- 1025
- 00:51:36,301 --> 00:51:37,803
- I'm Andrew Young.
- 1026
- 00:51:38,637 --> 00:51:42,099
- My preparation for politics
- and my previous experience
- 1027
- 00:51:42,182 --> 00:51:45,102
- was somewhat different
- from that of most of my colleagues.
- 1028
- 00:51:46,019 --> 00:51:48,063
- That's me in St. Augustine, Florida.
- 1029
- 00:51:49,940 --> 00:51:52,984
- Andy really didn't know me,
- and I really didn't know him.
- 1030
- 00:51:53,568 --> 00:51:54,903
- So I call Andy.
- 1031
- 00:51:55,695 --> 00:51:58,615
- He called up and he said,
- "You Andy Young?" I said, "Yeah."
- 1032
- 00:51:59,491 --> 00:52:03,036
- He said, "You running for Congress?"
- I said, "Yeah."
- 1033
- 00:52:03,120 --> 00:52:06,081
- He said, "In Georgia?" I said, "Yeah."
- 1034
- 00:52:06,665 --> 00:52:08,500
- He said, "Nigga, are you crazy?"
- 1035
- 00:52:08,583 --> 00:52:10,210
- [chuckles]
- 1036
- 00:52:11,294 --> 00:52:14,214
- I said, "Well, I don't know.
- I probably am."
- 1037
- 00:52:15,048 --> 00:52:17,092
- He said,
- "Well, if you crazy enough to run,
- 1038
- 00:52:17,175 --> 00:52:18,802
- I'm crazy enough to try to help you.
- 1039
- 00:52:21,346 --> 00:52:22,180
- What do you need?"
- 1040
- 00:52:23,557 --> 00:52:25,058
- I said, "I need everything."
- 1041
- 00:52:26,059 --> 00:52:28,061
- I said, "Suppose I can deliver...
- 1042
- 00:52:28,895 --> 00:52:29,896
- Isaac Hayes...
- 1043
- 00:52:30,772 --> 00:52:31,815
- and the Rare Earth."
- 1044
- 00:52:32,899 --> 00:52:35,777
- He said, "I don't have any money!"
- I said, "I didn't ask you that."
- 1045
- 00:52:35,861 --> 00:52:37,195
- Andy said, next thing he knows,
- 1046
- 00:52:37,279 --> 00:52:40,240
- he's driving down the street,
- there's a big billboard on the street,
- 1047
- 00:52:40,323 --> 00:52:42,868
- saying, "Concert coming for Andy Young,"
- 1048
- 00:52:42,951 --> 00:52:44,452
- and he's got all these artists coming.
- 1049
- 00:52:44,536 --> 00:52:46,371
- I mean, it was just--
- it was just magical.
- 1050
- 00:52:47,622 --> 00:52:50,584
- [Young] So they showed up,
- and in the pouring-down rain.
- 1051
- 00:52:52,252 --> 00:52:53,753
- We had 30,000 people.
- 1052
- 00:52:56,214 --> 00:52:58,675
- And that launched my political campaign.
- 1053
- 00:52:59,259 --> 00:53:01,261
- [funk music playing]
- 1054
- 00:53:05,599 --> 00:53:08,768
- [Young]
- My dedication is not just to blacks.
- 1055
- 00:53:09,102 --> 00:53:11,980
- My dedication is to anybody
- in this society
- 1056
- 00:53:12,480 --> 00:53:16,318
- that has not had an opportunity
- to enjoy all of the rightsÂÂ
- 1057
- 00:53:16,401 --> 00:53:18,111
- and privileges of this society.
- 1058
- 00:53:20,488 --> 00:53:24,284
- The one thing Mr. Glaser said to me...
- 1059
- 00:53:26,203 --> 00:53:28,830
- You have no rights
- unless you have the right to vote.
- 1060
- 00:53:29,414 --> 00:53:33,585
- I believe in, heavily,
- in the political system. Period.
- 1061
- 00:53:34,461 --> 00:53:36,046
- His attraction to politics,
- 1062
- 00:53:36,838 --> 00:53:39,424
- again, is first and foremost
- as somebody who likes people
- 1063
- 00:53:39,507 --> 00:53:41,718
- who have that thing that nobody else has,
- 1064
- 00:53:42,052 --> 00:53:44,930
- and seeing that. And responding to that,
- 1065
- 00:53:45,013 --> 00:53:49,059
- again, that way of just seeking people out
- who you would be surprised he knew about.
- 1066
- 00:53:49,142 --> 00:53:52,395
- He called me and he said,
- "Do you really know this Jimmy Carter?"
- 1067
- 00:53:54,356 --> 00:53:55,315
- I said, "Yeah."
- 1068
- 00:53:57,150 --> 00:53:59,110
- He said, "You not gonna get me
- 1069
- 00:53:59,194 --> 00:54:01,279
- out here supporting
- some Georgia cracker..."
- 1070
- 00:54:01,363 --> 00:54:02,864
- [chuckles]
- 1071
- 00:54:02,948 --> 00:54:05,659
- "...and get embarrassed."
- He said, "I want to help him."
- 1072
- 00:54:06,493 --> 00:54:09,621
- [Avant] I decided to mix it up
- like a scrambled egg and get involved.
- 1073
- 00:54:10,205 --> 00:54:13,041
- You can't go just one way, one color.
- 1074
- 00:54:13,124 --> 00:54:15,418
- You have to look at the whole system,
- 1075
- 00:54:15,502 --> 00:54:18,129
- and I look at the whole spectrum
- 1076
- 00:54:18,713 --> 00:54:20,090
- of this country.
- 1077
- 00:54:21,341 --> 00:54:24,886
- [man] When Jimmy Carter decided
- to run for office,
- 1078
- 00:54:25,387 --> 00:54:28,890
- Clarence pulled most of Hollywood together
- 1079
- 00:54:28,974 --> 00:54:31,184
- to support this peanut farmer
- from Georgia.
- 1080
- 00:54:31,685 --> 00:54:33,019
- So I think he organized
- 1081
- 00:54:33,103 --> 00:54:36,147
- one of the first big fundraisers
- for Jimmy Carter.
- 1082
- 00:54:38,441 --> 00:54:40,443
- [Medina] You go to a Clarence Avant event,
- 1083
- 00:54:40,527 --> 00:54:42,988
- it would be Lew Wasserman,
- 1084
- 00:54:43,071 --> 00:54:44,990
- Quincy Jones, and Barbra Streisand,
- 1085
- 00:54:45,073 --> 00:54:46,032
- and Diana Ross,
- 1086
- 00:54:46,116 --> 00:54:47,033
- and Berry Gordy.
- 1087
- 00:54:47,117 --> 00:54:49,494
- So it was the fact that he had this net.
- 1088
- 00:54:50,829 --> 00:54:53,540
- [Jacqueline]
- They always had people at the house.
- 1089
- 00:54:53,623 --> 00:54:57,127
- We were either going to an event,
- or an event was at our house,
- 1090
- 00:54:57,210 --> 00:54:58,628
- or they were always involved.
- 1091
- 00:54:58,712 --> 00:55:00,463
- Ted Kennedy was always at the house.
- 1092
- 00:55:00,839 --> 00:55:03,758
- [George] He saw very clearly
- that celebrity was power.
- 1093
- 00:55:04,592 --> 00:55:06,094
- [President Obama]
- Look, I think Clarence
- 1094
- 00:55:06,553 --> 00:55:09,973
- is somebody who cared about politics
- 1095
- 00:55:10,056 --> 00:55:13,518
- because he recognized
- that economic progress,
- 1096
- 00:55:13,727 --> 00:55:16,021
- cultural progress, social progress,
- 1097
- 00:55:16,479 --> 00:55:19,774
- political progress are all tied together.
- 1098
- 00:55:27,115 --> 00:55:31,995
- [announcer] Three-one pitch.
- There's a drive into left field!
- 1099
- 00:55:32,078 --> 00:55:34,748
- That ball is going, going, and outta here!
- 1100
- 00:55:36,041 --> 00:55:39,502
- Henry Aaron has just tied Babe Ruth
- 1101
- 00:55:39,586 --> 00:55:42,589
- in the all-time home-run parade!
- 1102
- 00:55:43,757 --> 00:55:46,384
- [Young] Clarence called me up and said,
- "Andy, you know Hank Aaron?"ÂÂ
- 1103
- 00:55:47,052 --> 00:55:49,387
- I said, "Yeah, he lives
- around the corner." He said,
- 1104
- 00:55:49,971 --> 00:55:52,349
- "If he's about to break
- Babe Ruth's record,ÂÂ
- 1105
- 00:55:52,932 --> 00:55:54,851
- he's supposed to make some money."
- 1106
- 00:55:54,934 --> 00:55:56,561
- He said, "I'm not talking
- about his salary,
- 1107
- 00:55:56,644 --> 00:55:59,481
- I'm talking about him having endorsements.
- 1108
- 00:56:00,231 --> 00:56:05,236
- Will you tell him that I'm not crazy
- and I'mma call him?"
- 1109
- 00:56:06,446 --> 00:56:09,407
- I said, "Well, I can't vouch
- for you not being crazy!
- 1110
- 00:56:09,491 --> 00:56:12,452
- But I'll tell him
- that you've been very helpful to me
- 1111
- 00:56:12,535 --> 00:56:13,703
- and he oughta talk to you."
- 1112
- 00:56:15,288 --> 00:56:16,790
- [Aaron] I wasn't getting any offers.
- 1113
- 00:56:17,916 --> 00:56:22,295
- I was somewhat reserved.
- I was somewhat, um...
- 1114
- 00:56:22,379 --> 00:56:25,131
- I thought that everything
- should come to me.
- 1115
- 00:56:25,840 --> 00:56:27,675
- I explained to him, I said, "Hank,
- 1116
- 00:56:28,760 --> 00:56:31,471
- I'm not really a sports fan. But...
- 1117
- 00:56:32,639 --> 00:56:33,890
- I'll try to help you."
- 1118
- 00:56:34,474 --> 00:56:36,893
- I said,
- "You gotta understand numbers, man.
- 1119
- 00:56:37,727 --> 00:56:40,980
- If you haven't made a deal
- before you hit 715,
- 1120
- 00:56:42,232 --> 00:56:43,483
- who the fuck cares?"
- 1121
- 00:56:44,067 --> 00:56:46,361
- That was the magic number
- in baseball forever.
- 1122
- 00:56:47,320 --> 00:56:50,615
- No one's gonna break Babe Ruth's 714.
- Now, Babe Ruth, you have to understand,
- 1123
- 00:56:50,698 --> 00:56:52,117
- has become a mythological figure.
- 1124
- 00:56:52,534 --> 00:56:53,618
- He was the Bambino.
- 1125
- 00:56:53,701 --> 00:56:55,954
- He was larger-than-life.
- Played for the New York Yankees,
- 1126
- 00:56:56,037 --> 00:56:58,039
- which is the greatest baseball franchise
- in history.
- 1127
- 00:56:58,123 --> 00:57:01,960
- He won a lot of championships,
- so there's an investment in him
- 1128
- 00:57:02,043 --> 00:57:04,963
- as this almost-mythical figure embodiment
- of baseball,
- 1129
- 00:57:05,046 --> 00:57:06,923
- embodiment of the American Dream.
- 1130
- 00:57:08,299 --> 00:57:12,262
- So, when this black man
- begins inching closer to his record,
- 1131
- 00:57:13,263 --> 00:57:15,640
- there's, like, a national sense of crisis.
- 1132
- 00:57:17,058 --> 00:57:18,810
- He gets letters, I mean,ÂÂ
- 1133
- 00:57:18,893 --> 00:57:20,979
- flooding into the stadium in Atlanta.
- 1134
- 00:57:21,604 --> 00:57:22,647
- "Nigger, don't do this."
- 1135
- 00:57:22,730 --> 00:57:24,899
- "Nigger, you'll never--
- I'll shoot you on the field."
- 1136
- 00:57:25,650 --> 00:57:27,193
- [Aaron] That was the hardest part.
- 1137
- 00:57:27,694 --> 00:57:29,237
- I wasn't able to enjoy it.
- 1138
- 00:57:30,947 --> 00:57:33,450
- Clarence, on the other hand, was...
- 1139
- 00:57:33,950 --> 00:57:35,326
- the type of person that,
- 1140
- 00:57:35,952 --> 00:57:38,037
- if he wanted something,
- he would go after it.
- 1141
- 00:57:38,121 --> 00:57:40,331
- He wanted me to be part of Coca-Cola.
- 1142
- 00:57:40,665 --> 00:57:43,751
- He wanted Henry Aaron
- to be part of Coca-Cola.
- 1143
- 00:57:45,336 --> 00:57:47,380
- So what he did, he said,
- "I'm gonna go up here
- 1144
- 00:57:47,464 --> 00:57:50,133
- and talk to these SOBs," you know.
- 1145
- 00:57:50,216 --> 00:57:51,801
- [laughs]
- 1146
- 00:57:51,885 --> 00:57:57,056
- He walked up to the president's office
- in Coca-Cola. Now, this is unheard of.
- 1147
- 00:57:58,558 --> 00:58:00,643
- Mr. Austin met with me.
- 1148
- 00:58:01,186 --> 00:58:02,645
- Right to his office,
- 1149
- 00:58:02,729 --> 00:58:04,606
- and looked him in the face--
- 1150
- 00:58:04,689 --> 00:58:07,609
- [interviewer] You look at him
- nose-to-nose. And you don't say hello.
- 1151
- 00:58:08,026 --> 00:58:11,112
- You just go,
- "Niggas drink a lot of Coke."
- 1152
- 00:58:11,279 --> 00:58:12,197
- Yep.
- 1153
- 00:58:13,114 --> 00:58:14,365
- [Aaron] He said, "You got
- 1154
- 00:58:14,449 --> 00:58:17,827
- a nigga drinking Coca-Cola here,
- and he does well,
- 1155
- 00:58:18,286 --> 00:58:19,704
- plays ball in your town.
- 1156
- 00:58:20,246 --> 00:58:22,248
- I want him to be part of your family."
- 1157
- 00:58:22,332 --> 00:58:23,708
- [laughs]
- 1158
- 00:58:24,626 --> 00:58:27,003
- He got the biggest contract for me
- 1159
- 00:58:27,086 --> 00:58:31,049
- that any sports figure had ever had
- back in the days when I was playing.
- 1160
- 00:58:31,508 --> 00:58:33,176
- [announcer] One ball and no strikes,
- 1161
- 00:58:33,259 --> 00:58:35,762
- Aaron waiting,
- the outfield deep and straightaway.
- 1162
- 00:58:35,845 --> 00:58:39,098
- Fastball, it's a high-fly
- to the deep left center field!
- 1163
- 00:58:39,182 --> 00:58:42,977
- Buster goes back to the fence! It is gone!
- 1164
- 00:58:43,061 --> 00:58:45,438
- [crowd cheering]
- 1165
- 00:58:46,272 --> 00:58:49,234
- What a marvelous moment for baseball!
- 1166
- 00:58:49,526 --> 00:58:53,655
- What a marvelous moment for Atlanta
- and the state of Georgia!
- 1167
- 00:58:54,030 --> 00:58:57,951
- A black man is getting a standing ovation
- in the Deep South
- 1168
- 00:58:58,576 --> 00:59:02,830
- for breaking a record
- of an all-time baseball idol!
- 1169
- 00:59:02,914 --> 00:59:05,708
- And it is a great moment for all of us,
- 1170
- 00:59:05,917 --> 00:59:08,002
- and particularly for...
- 1171
- 00:59:09,504 --> 00:59:10,421
- [Young] It was...
- 1172
- 00:59:10,505 --> 00:59:13,925
- his connection to Clarence
- that helped him to know
- 1173
- 00:59:14,008 --> 00:59:16,469
- how to market his value.
- 1174
- 00:59:17,428 --> 00:59:19,222
- That's been a marriage made in heaven
- 1175
- 00:59:19,305 --> 00:59:22,684
- because Hank has probably given away
- more money
- 1176
- 00:59:22,767 --> 00:59:25,562
- to poor kids
- through his Chasing the Dream Foundation
- 1177
- 00:59:25,645 --> 00:59:28,606
- than he made in all the years he was
- in baseball.
- 1178
- 00:59:29,232 --> 00:59:32,986
- Henry Aaron would not be Henry Aaron
- if it were not for Clarence Avant.
- 1179
- 00:59:33,486 --> 00:59:36,239
- When you're young,
- you don't know your worth sometimes.
- 1180
- 00:59:36,322 --> 00:59:38,241
- He was telling him,
- "Yo, your worth is this.
- 1181
- 00:59:38,324 --> 00:59:40,785
- This is the money you should
- be looking for out of this position
- 1182
- 00:59:40,868 --> 00:59:42,579
- because they pay your counterpart,
- 1183
- 00:59:42,662 --> 00:59:44,914
- somebody who's white, Asian, or otherwise,
- 1184
- 00:59:44,998 --> 00:59:47,584
- that does the same thing, or less,
- this amount of money."
- 1185
- 00:59:47,667 --> 00:59:49,127
- Getting true value...
- 1186
- 00:59:50,128 --> 00:59:53,715
- is one of those things that,
- as Clarence grows,
- 1187
- 00:59:54,090 --> 00:59:55,675
- this becomes a touchstone.
- 1188
- 00:59:56,593 --> 00:59:59,971
- [Lathan] Clarence put together a tribute
- to Muhammad Ali,
- 1189
- 01:00:00,430 --> 01:00:02,140
- and he got ABC to do it,
- 1190
- 01:00:02,348 --> 01:00:05,268
- and then he demanded that they hire me
- as the director.
- 1191
- 01:00:05,351 --> 01:00:08,187
- And they said,
- "This guy doesn't direct these things!
- 1192
- 01:00:08,271 --> 01:00:11,983
- This is a black show, yeah,
- but we don't need-- I mean, come on!"
- 1193
- 01:00:12,066 --> 01:00:13,526
- So I told this guy,
- 1194
- 01:00:13,610 --> 01:00:15,236
- "You got one week.
- 1195
- 01:00:16,446 --> 01:00:18,531
- I'm using Stan Lathan.
- 1196
- 01:00:19,157 --> 01:00:20,575
- You either in or you out."
- 1197
- 01:00:21,451 --> 01:00:23,161
- He went into somebody's office
- 1198
- 01:00:23,703 --> 01:00:26,914
- and banged on their desk
- or did whatever he had to do
- 1199
- 01:00:26,998 --> 01:00:28,666
- for me to get a call
- from my agent, saying,
- 1200
- 01:00:28,750 --> 01:00:32,879
- "Guess what, man?
- They want you to direct an ABC special!"
- 1201
- 01:00:33,671 --> 01:00:35,840
- I said, "No kidding." laughs]
- 1202
- 01:00:35,923 --> 01:00:37,925
- [crowd clamoring]
- 1203
- 01:00:38,259 --> 01:00:40,470
- [Sarandos] Muhammad Ali,
- the greatest fighter of all time.
- 1204
- 01:00:41,804 --> 01:00:44,098
- And there's Clarence,
- at the end of the career,
- 1205
- 01:00:44,182 --> 01:00:45,975
- kind of giving him that last pop
- 1206
- 01:00:46,476 --> 01:00:50,605
- that helped him solidify his reputation
- as a personality,
- 1207
- 01:00:50,688 --> 01:00:51,564
- not just a fighter.
- 1208
- 01:00:51,648 --> 01:00:53,816
- -It's gonna be a killer!
- -[playing chords on piano]
- 1209
- 01:00:53,941 --> 01:00:54,901
- And a chiller!
- 1210
- 01:00:55,318 --> 01:00:56,444
- And a thriller!
- 1211
- 01:00:56,694 --> 01:00:59,072
- When I get the Gorilla in Manila!
- 1212
- 01:00:59,155 --> 01:01:00,031
- [audience laughs]
- 1213
- 01:01:00,114 --> 01:01:01,115
- Right on.
- 1214
- 01:01:04,369 --> 01:01:05,828
- All right!
- 1215
- 01:01:08,915 --> 01:01:12,502
- [Mitchell] It's so funny that Clarence
- is content to be behind the scenes,
- 1216
- 01:01:12,585 --> 01:01:14,295
- because he just registers
- 1217
- 01:01:14,379 --> 01:01:18,299
- so impressively and so powerfully.
- 1218
- 01:01:18,383 --> 01:01:21,969
- And so, I think that because of that...
- 1219
- 01:01:24,847 --> 01:01:26,474
- hunger, you know,
- 1220
- 01:01:26,557 --> 01:01:29,268
- that people just want to be
- in business with him.
- 1221
- 01:01:30,019 --> 01:01:33,106
- You know, I just-- I don't know
- how I got involved with anything, man.
- 1222
- 01:01:33,189 --> 01:01:34,273
- I just took shots.
- 1223
- 01:01:34,357 --> 01:01:36,526
- So, in my mind, I've been like this, man.
- 1224
- 01:01:37,860 --> 01:01:39,654
- Everything you want to be involved in.
- 1225
- 01:01:40,196 --> 01:01:44,242
- The whole idea... of the '70s,
- when I was growing up,
- 1226
- 01:01:44,325 --> 01:01:48,788
- into the '80s was blacks wanted
- to own and control...
- 1227
- 01:01:49,455 --> 01:01:53,334
- their own institution
- and their own culture.
- 1228
- 01:01:53,418 --> 01:01:56,003
- Clarence becomes an embodiment
- of that because he's a link
- 1229
- 01:01:56,087 --> 01:01:59,841
- between the black business world,
- the idea of black entrepreneurship,
- 1230
- 01:01:59,924 --> 01:02:02,176
- and black people
- controlling their environment.
- 1231
- 01:02:02,260 --> 01:02:05,471
- He's able to work with white institutions
- to get money from them,
- 1232
- 01:02:05,555 --> 01:02:09,016
- and he's tied into black music,
- which is driving a lot of the messaging
- 1233
- 01:02:09,100 --> 01:02:12,645
- around black identity,
- and black confidence, and black power.
- 1234
- 01:02:12,729 --> 01:02:15,022
- ["Strawberry Letter #23" plays]
- 1235
- 01:02:17,859 --> 01:02:22,363
- [Avant] There was only one radio station
- that I knew of that was owned by blacks.
- 1236
- 01:02:23,239 --> 01:02:24,866
- So I decided to...
- 1237
- 01:02:26,033 --> 01:02:30,037
- expand my whatever,
- and I bought a radio station.
- 1238
- 01:02:32,415 --> 01:02:34,792
- A local radio station,
- it was in Inglewood.
- 1239
- 01:02:36,169 --> 01:02:41,215
- When I bought it, I changed its name
- to Avant Garde Broadcasting, KAGB.
- 1240
- 01:02:43,259 --> 01:02:45,344
- When you're in the sales department
- at a radio station,
- 1241
- 01:02:45,428 --> 01:02:46,345
- you're always hustling.
- 1242
- 01:02:46,929 --> 01:02:49,140
- So you're always trying to sell that time,
- 1243
- 01:02:49,223 --> 01:02:50,975
- that 60-second time buy.
- 1244
- 01:02:51,058 --> 01:02:54,729
- So, I mean, you just have to go out there
- and sell sell, sell.
- 1245
- 01:02:57,190 --> 01:03:01,611
- [Hughes] It's still rough on black radio,
- but when Clarence was in the business,
- 1246
- 01:03:01,694 --> 01:03:03,154
- it was even worse
- 1247
- 01:03:03,237 --> 01:03:08,659
- because none of these major advertisers
- would even consider advertising
- 1248
- 01:03:08,743 --> 01:03:09,952
- with a black station.
- 1249
- 01:03:10,036 --> 01:03:12,789
- Even McDonald's hadn't decided
- 1250
- 01:03:12,872 --> 01:03:15,500
- that they were going to get into
- the black people business.
- 1251
- 01:03:17,126 --> 01:03:18,961
- [George] Overtly, Clarence is doing well.
- 1252
- 01:03:20,254 --> 01:03:23,341
- He has Sussex Records, which is
- very successful with Bill Withers.
- 1253
- 01:03:23,424 --> 01:03:25,176
- He has KAGB radio station,
- 1254
- 01:03:25,843 --> 01:03:28,387
- but it seems like he was overextended.
- 1255
- 01:03:28,888 --> 01:03:31,557
- He bought that radio station.
- I hated that damn thing.
- 1256
- 01:03:31,641 --> 01:03:32,892
- I thought it was a dump.
- 1257
- 01:03:32,975 --> 01:03:35,144
- [Avant] Bill Withers did very well,
- 1258
- 01:03:35,353 --> 01:03:38,689
- but, you know, you make money,
- and you sign all these other acts,
- 1259
- 01:03:38,773 --> 01:03:42,944
- and they sell two copies,
- and... it doesn't mean shit.
- 1260
- 01:03:43,694 --> 01:03:45,571
- [George]
- One thing about the independent labels
- 1261
- 01:03:45,655 --> 01:03:50,159
- in the '70s is that you were at the mercy
- of your distributors, which meant
- 1262
- 01:03:50,243 --> 01:03:53,579
- you weren't getting money for 3 months,
- no matter how many records you sold.
- 1263
- 01:03:55,039 --> 01:03:57,708
- And you're still also getting bills
- from pressing plants,
- 1264
- 01:03:57,792 --> 01:04:00,711
- and you're getting bills
- from people who make the labels,
- 1265
- 01:04:01,712 --> 01:04:04,006
- and then you have the fact
- that he had this radio station,
- 1266
- 01:04:04,590 --> 01:04:08,135
- and he's cross-collateralizing his money
- to try and keep both afloat.
- 1267
- 01:04:09,762 --> 01:04:11,430
- [Avant] And all of a sudden...
- 1268
- 01:04:17,061 --> 01:04:17,937
- you broke.
- 1269
- 01:04:19,230 --> 01:04:21,983
- [George]
- One day, the IRS came into his office,
- 1270
- 01:04:22,275 --> 01:04:25,069
- snatched everything
- from the records to the desk,
- 1271
- 01:04:25,945 --> 01:04:26,988
- padlocked the joint,
- 1272
- 01:04:27,697 --> 01:04:29,448
- and said, "You owe us money."ÂÂ
- 1273
- 01:04:29,532 --> 01:04:30,366
- Boom.
- 1274
- 01:04:31,701 --> 01:04:32,577
- It's all gone.
- 1275
- 01:04:33,160 --> 01:04:34,912
- When we lost the radio station,
- 1276
- 01:04:34,996 --> 01:04:37,498
- I think his regret was,
- "I didn't really listen to the people
- 1277
- 01:04:37,582 --> 01:04:38,666
- that were trying to help me,
- 1278
- 01:04:38,749 --> 01:04:41,210
- the people who knew
- how to run the radio station.
- 1279
- 01:04:41,294 --> 01:04:44,046
- And I was too arrogant to listen."
- 1280
- 01:04:44,130 --> 01:04:46,966
- You know, he did say--
- He'll never say that, but he did to me.
- 1281
- 01:04:47,049 --> 01:04:51,637
- I think it was probably
- the first big failure that he faced,
- 1282
- 01:04:51,721 --> 01:04:55,600
- that he didn't see an immediate solution
- on the horizon.
- 1283
- 01:04:56,976 --> 01:05:00,396
- [Avant] Bill and I had fights,
- but that's part of the game, man.
- 1284
- 01:05:01,939 --> 01:05:04,233
- Arguments, not fights.
- I don't fight nobody.
- 1285
- 01:05:05,651 --> 01:05:08,070
- Then there was the business part of it,
- you know?
- 1286
- 01:05:09,906 --> 01:05:12,533
- No hard-- I understand, you dig?
- 1287
- 01:05:14,076 --> 01:05:15,077
- But...
- 1288
- 01:05:15,161 --> 01:05:17,622
- then it became time to move on, you know?
- 1289
- 01:05:18,039 --> 01:05:20,041
- [soft piano playing]
- 1290
- 01:05:22,376 --> 01:05:23,544
- [Avant] I'll never forget it.
- 1291
- 01:05:25,171 --> 01:05:26,297
- Bill was like...
- 1292
- 01:05:30,051 --> 01:05:31,719
- How do I put this?
- 1293
- 01:05:35,264 --> 01:05:37,141
- I got very emotional when he left...
- 1294
- 01:05:40,061 --> 01:05:41,062
- Uh...
- 1295
- 01:05:41,896 --> 01:05:43,022
- I couldn't pay him.
- 1296
- 01:05:45,191 --> 01:05:48,903
- [Jacqueline] With Bill Withers, you know,
- that was a heartbreaker.
- 1297
- 01:05:49,487 --> 01:05:52,198
- My daughter was maybe three
- when she got to know him,
- 1298
- 01:05:52,573 --> 01:05:53,950
- and she loved him.
- 1299
- 01:05:54,825 --> 01:05:56,827
- But he decided to leave Sussex.
- 1300
- 01:05:57,411 --> 01:05:59,205
- I had to explain that to her, too.
- 1301
- 01:06:00,748 --> 01:06:03,209
- [Nicole] It was hard for my dad to let go.
- 1302
- 01:06:04,251 --> 01:06:09,173
- He was getting very upset
- because I think he felt insignificant.
- 1303
- 01:06:11,467 --> 01:06:14,595
- I remember my dad and I used to swim
- all the time.
- 1304
- 01:06:14,929 --> 01:06:17,890
- I'd always get on his back.
- He'd be like the big whale,
- 1305
- 01:06:17,974 --> 01:06:20,101
- and he'd swim me to the deep end,
- and we'd come back,
- 1306
- 01:06:20,184 --> 01:06:21,394
- and then he'd watch me swim
- 1307
- 01:06:21,477 --> 01:06:24,438
- and make sure my backstroke was good.
- You know, we always had a good time.ÂÂ
- 1308
- 01:06:24,522 --> 01:06:26,190
- All of a sudden,
- I remember, just one day...
- 1309
- 01:06:26,273 --> 01:06:27,817
- [snaps fingers] it stopped.
- 1310
- 01:06:30,820 --> 01:06:32,613
- My mom said to me one day,
- 1311
- 01:06:33,114 --> 01:06:35,700
- "You know, City National Bank
- may take our house."
- 1312
- 01:06:36,200 --> 01:06:38,869
- I didn't know what that meant,
- "What are you talking about?"
- 1313
- 01:06:38,953 --> 01:06:43,499
- "Well, you know, we're-- This is closing,
- Sussex is closing, Bill Withers--"
- 1314
- 01:06:43,582 --> 01:06:45,626
- everything just--
- Then we lost the radio station.
- 1315
- 01:06:45,710 --> 01:06:47,128
- Everything crumbled at once.
- 1316
- 01:06:48,004 --> 01:06:49,672
- [Avant] My house was in foreclosure.
- 1317
- 01:06:51,090 --> 01:06:52,925
- I was gonna sell the house,
- 1318
- 01:06:53,009 --> 01:06:54,051
- 'cause I was broke
- 1319
- 01:06:54,135 --> 01:06:57,805
- and I was gonna get the loan
- and then sell it eventually.
- 1320
- 01:06:58,264 --> 01:07:00,433
- And Jackie said, "Why didn't you tell me?"
- And well,
- 1321
- 01:07:01,142 --> 01:07:02,560
- "I didn't wanna tell you."
- 1322
- 01:07:02,643 --> 01:07:03,644
- [chuckles]
- 1323
- 01:07:04,937 --> 01:07:05,771
- [sighs]
- 1324
- 01:07:07,148 --> 01:07:10,943
- Just a matter of time, things,
- I don't know. It's...
- 1325
- 01:07:11,027 --> 01:07:11,861
- Um...
- 1326
- 01:07:13,237 --> 01:07:15,489
- You don't leave.
- [chuckles] You don't leave.
- 1327
- 01:07:15,573 --> 01:07:17,366
- Where are you going, anyway?
- And, you know.
- 1328
- 01:07:17,450 --> 01:07:21,495
- So you're in this together, and you just,
- you know, wait it out. And, um...
- 1329
- 01:07:23,748 --> 01:07:25,124
- But you have to face it.
- 1330
- 01:07:25,207 --> 01:07:27,460
- You can't make believe it didn't happen.
- 1331
- 01:07:29,545 --> 01:07:31,464
- [man] He had a lunch with me,
- 1332
- 01:07:31,756 --> 01:07:33,966
- and he was in financial trouble,
- 1333
- 01:07:34,467 --> 01:07:37,011
- told us he's going to have
- to fold the company,
- 1334
- 01:07:37,094 --> 01:07:40,097
- and we proved
- to be "Here Comes Santa Claus."
- 1335
- 01:07:41,140 --> 01:07:43,017
- And he was forever grateful
- 1336
- 01:07:43,684 --> 01:07:46,020
- because it bailed him out of a hole
- that he...
- 1337
- 01:07:46,103 --> 01:07:48,439
- possibly would lose everything he had.
- 1338
- 01:07:49,273 --> 01:07:52,568
- [Moss] I was very connected to the man,
- 1339
- 01:07:53,027 --> 01:07:55,988
- and I didn't want to see anything
- bad happen to him, you know.
- 1340
- 01:07:56,322 --> 01:07:58,699
- Little help from this friend
- and that friend, and...
- 1341
- 01:07:58,866 --> 01:08:00,910
- in time, we just pulled through.
- 1342
- 01:08:02,036 --> 01:08:04,121
- [Moss] It's a long life
- in this game, you know.
- 1343
- 01:08:05,206 --> 01:08:06,707
- You wanna keep your friends.
- 1344
- 01:08:07,458 --> 01:08:08,334
- Very important.
- 1345
- 01:08:08,417 --> 01:08:10,836
- And to know who your friends are,
- very important.
- 1346
- 01:08:12,254 --> 01:08:14,507
- It's my friend. Shit, I have friends.
- 1347
- 01:08:14,590 --> 01:08:15,591
- [chuckles]
- 1348
- 01:08:16,425 --> 01:08:17,843
- [Adolph] I think Jackie
- 1349
- 01:08:17,927 --> 01:08:19,970
- was the force that said to Clarence,
- 1350
- 01:08:21,055 --> 01:08:23,099
- "When it comes to family, we can do this."
- 1351
- 01:08:27,561 --> 01:08:31,107
- [Geffen] Since I've known Clarence
- for almost 50 years,
- 1352
- 01:08:31,524 --> 01:08:34,360
- I've known all of his kids, you know,
- from the very beginning.
- 1353
- 01:08:34,944 --> 01:08:36,278
- Clarence was a great dad.
- 1354
- 01:08:36,570 --> 01:08:37,571
- He was a great husband.
- 1355
- 01:08:38,614 --> 01:08:40,950
- [Foxx] It feels good to see Clarence
- and his wife.
- 1356
- 01:08:41,492 --> 01:08:43,994
- You know, these young cats, man,
- in this business.
- 1357
- 01:08:44,537 --> 01:08:46,163
- They look so amazing,
- 1358
- 01:08:46,747 --> 01:08:49,542
- and they still look
- like they got wedding cake on their feet.
- 1359
- 01:08:50,334 --> 01:08:53,087
- Like they just walked
- off of a soul wedding cake.
- 1360
- 01:08:53,629 --> 01:08:58,050
- Really, he's been a mentor
- and someone-- and not just in business.
- 1361
- 01:08:58,759 --> 01:08:59,677
- In life.
- 1362
- 01:09:00,386 --> 01:09:03,639
- He actually probably saved my life
- from one of the most...
- 1363
- 01:09:03,722 --> 01:09:05,975
- It would've been
- one of the biggest mistakes I ever made.
- 1364
- 01:09:06,058 --> 01:09:09,270
- I was thinking about
- doing something different in my marriage.
- 1365
- 01:09:09,353 --> 01:09:11,355
- Like... ending it, basically.
- 1366
- 01:09:12,481 --> 01:09:13,983
- And I called Clarence,
- 1367
- 01:09:14,316 --> 01:09:16,068
- and he's like, "What's going on?"
- 1368
- 01:09:16,152 --> 01:09:18,946
- I say, "Hey, man. You know,
- I don't think...
- 1369
- 01:09:20,072 --> 01:09:21,615
- I think I'mma get a divorce."
- 1370
- 01:09:22,241 --> 01:09:24,285
- And he says, "A what?!"
- 1371
- 01:09:25,119 --> 01:09:28,497
- I says, "Divorce." And, you know,
- 1372
- 01:09:28,789 --> 01:09:32,376
- when you talking to another guy,
- you think that he's-- it's guy talk.
- 1373
- 01:09:32,877 --> 01:09:35,045
- "I know what you're going through.
- This, this, and this.
- 1374
- 01:09:35,129 --> 01:09:37,756
- You'll be all right."
- That's what I was expecting.
- 1375
- 01:09:38,549 --> 01:09:39,925
- What I got was...
- 1376
- 01:09:40,926 --> 01:09:45,222
- "God damn it! God damn it, Jon!
- What is wrong with you?!
- 1377
- 01:09:45,723 --> 01:09:46,765
- You're different!
- 1378
- 01:09:47,141 --> 01:09:49,643
- You're not supposed to be
- like those other guys!"
- 1379
- 01:09:50,019 --> 01:09:53,063
- And, I mean, he cussed me up one side
- and down the other.
- 1380
- 01:09:53,731 --> 01:09:55,733
- And he said, "Get your shit together!"
- 1381
- 01:09:55,816 --> 01:09:58,986
- And he started crying on the phone.
- 1382
- 01:09:59,904 --> 01:10:01,572
- And he's like, "I'm hanging up!"
- 1383
- 01:10:01,822 --> 01:10:02,698
- And he hung up.ÂÂ
- 1384
- 01:10:03,657 --> 01:10:06,535
- And... it blew me away
- 1385
- 01:10:06,619 --> 01:10:08,787
- 'cause that was the total opposite...
- 1386
- 01:10:09,288 --> 01:10:10,122
- um...
- 1387
- 01:10:10,998 --> 01:10:12,416
- reaction that I expected,
- 1388
- 01:10:13,250 --> 01:10:15,127
- and he made me think.
- 1389
- 01:10:16,337 --> 01:10:17,713
- And about a week later,
- 1390
- 01:10:17,796 --> 01:10:19,757
- we were at breakfast, and he was like,
- 1391
- 01:10:19,840 --> 01:10:21,217
- "So, how's it going, kid?"
- 1392
- 01:10:21,342 --> 01:10:23,677
- And I'm telling him,
- I was like, "You know,
- 1393
- 01:10:23,886 --> 01:10:25,638
- it just feels
- like it's all falling apart."
- 1394
- 01:10:26,472 --> 01:10:28,641
- And it just... flowed out of me.
- 1395
- 01:10:29,433 --> 01:10:32,686
- And, um, he grabbed my hand,
- and said, "You gonna be all right, kid.
- 1396
- 01:10:32,770 --> 01:10:36,523
- Just take a step back
- and you deal with one thing at a time."
- 1397
- 01:10:37,524 --> 01:10:39,276
- Big Jon's like my son, man.ÂÂ
- 1398
- 01:10:39,818 --> 01:10:41,028
- He's a good guy.
- 1399
- 01:10:41,111 --> 01:10:44,073
- He checked me,
- like a father would check his son.
- 1400
- 01:10:44,156 --> 01:10:48,160
- Saved my marriage, saved my life,
- and humbled me very quickly.
- 1401
- 01:10:49,370 --> 01:10:50,788
- My wife got pregnant,
- 1402
- 01:10:50,871 --> 01:10:54,917
- and then it was a bigger surprise
- that we were having twins.
- 1403
- 01:10:55,501 --> 01:10:57,294
- So, when the kids were born,
- 1404
- 01:10:58,545 --> 01:10:59,380
- he called me.
- 1405
- 01:11:01,340 --> 01:11:03,175
- "The first one I named Clarence.
- 1406
- 01:11:04,051 --> 01:11:06,053
- The second one I named--"
- I said, "Come on, man."
- 1407
- 01:11:06,136 --> 01:11:08,097
- He said, "No, it's too late.
- His name is Clarence."
- 1408
- 01:11:09,765 --> 01:11:12,142
- He showed me a black family structure.
- 1409
- 01:11:12,226 --> 01:11:14,979
- He showed me a black businessman.
- 1410
- 01:11:15,354 --> 01:11:18,190
- He showed me how women
- are supposed to be treated,
- 1411
- 01:11:18,274 --> 01:11:20,567
- how you juggle a career and family.
- 1412
- 01:11:21,944 --> 01:11:25,698
- I think Clarence Avant has one of
- the biggest hearts in the universe.
- 1413
- 01:11:25,781 --> 01:11:29,118
- I think he also goes to great lengths
- to protect his heart,
- 1414
- 01:11:29,201 --> 01:11:31,245
- and I don't think he lets
- a lot of people in.
- 1415
- 01:11:31,328 --> 01:11:35,749
- He has countless acquaintances,
- friends, associates,
- 1416
- 01:11:35,833 --> 01:11:39,795
- but very few people that I think,
- as he would say, he has inside.
- 1417
- 01:11:39,878 --> 01:11:42,214
- But Quincy Jones is one of those people.
- 1418
- 01:11:42,965 --> 01:11:45,342
- [Jones] I know him, man.
- That's why I love him.
- 1419
- 01:11:46,427 --> 01:11:47,886
- I've loved him a long time.
- 1420
- 01:11:47,970 --> 01:11:49,430
- Eternally, man. I love him.
- 1421
- 01:11:49,513 --> 01:11:52,016
- Quincy is very, um...
- 1422
- 01:11:52,808 --> 01:11:55,853
- He loves to share his emotions.
- He's a very intimate person,
- 1423
- 01:11:55,936 --> 01:11:57,354
- and my father is not.ÂÂ
- 1424
- 01:11:57,604 --> 01:11:59,565
- But it's very good for my father.
- 1425
- 01:12:00,566 --> 01:12:02,568
- [interviewer] Ever give Clarence
- relationship advice?
- 1426
- 01:12:02,651 --> 01:12:04,361
- -Relationship advice?
- -[interviewer] Mm-hmm.
- 1427
- 01:12:04,445 --> 01:12:06,572
- No, but I've asked him to stop putting ice
- 1428
- 01:12:06,655 --> 01:12:09,908
- in my Château Pétrus wine.
- 1429
- 01:12:09,992 --> 01:12:11,618
- [laughs]
- 1430
- 01:12:11,702 --> 01:12:12,536
- Yeah, I do.
- 1431
- 01:12:13,120 --> 01:12:14,371
- Just trying to get on my nerves.
- 1432
- 01:12:14,455 --> 01:12:16,332
- -[Avant] I swear to God.
- -It's all he's trying to do.
- 1433
- 01:12:17,249 --> 01:12:18,667
- When you see Clarence and Quincy,
- 1434
- 01:12:18,751 --> 01:12:21,253
- it reminds you
- of whoever you hang out with, your homie.
- 1435
- 01:12:21,628 --> 01:12:24,089
- Like, no matter they age,
- 1436
- 01:12:24,423 --> 01:12:26,050
- they still busting each other's balls.
- 1437
- 01:12:26,133 --> 01:12:28,969
- Oh, wine is just like Pepsi-Cola to me.
- 1438
- 01:12:29,887 --> 01:12:32,181
- -Pepsi-Cola, man?
- -[Avant] You just put ice in it to...
- 1439
- 01:12:32,264 --> 01:12:33,098
- Get outta here, man.
- 1440
- 01:12:33,182 --> 01:12:34,892
- It's like ice water. Same shit.
- 1441
- 01:12:34,975 --> 01:12:36,727
- You have to be
- from Climax to think like that.
- 1442
- 01:12:36,810 --> 01:12:38,520
- [laughing]
- 1443
- 01:12:41,273 --> 01:12:43,484
- [man] 1982...
- 1444
- 01:12:44,151 --> 01:12:46,278
- I was then a young lawyer,
- 1445
- 01:12:46,362 --> 01:12:47,696
- fresh out of law school,
- 1446
- 01:12:47,780 --> 01:12:49,907
- working at CBS Records
- in the law department.
- 1447
- 01:12:50,741 --> 01:12:52,743
- Universal Pictures released a film
- 1448
- 01:12:52,826 --> 01:12:54,787
- called E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,
- 1449
- 01:12:55,371 --> 01:12:57,706
- which became
- one of the most successful films
- 1450
- 01:12:57,790 --> 01:12:58,832
- of all time.
- 1451
- 01:12:59,875 --> 01:13:01,043
- Universal decided
- 1452
- 01:13:01,126 --> 01:13:05,798
- that they would put out
- a storybook box set album,
- 1453
- 01:13:05,881 --> 01:13:08,425
- to be produced by Quincy Jones,
- 1454
- 01:13:09,009 --> 01:13:11,220
- executive produced by Steven Spielberg,
- 1455
- 01:13:11,303 --> 01:13:13,472
- narrated by Michael Jackson.
- 1456
- 01:13:14,473 --> 01:13:18,352
- The only problem was Michael Jackson
- wasn't signed to Universal.
- 1457
- 01:13:18,435 --> 01:13:20,771
- Michael Jackson was signed to CBS.
- 1458
- 01:13:21,522 --> 01:13:23,482
- Michael did something. Quincy knows.
- 1459
- 01:13:24,233 --> 01:13:26,402
- He made a whole CD...
- 1460
- 01:13:27,027 --> 01:13:28,445
- and didn't get permission.
- 1461
- 01:13:28,612 --> 01:13:31,740
- No one had asked permission from CBS,
- 1462
- 01:13:32,533 --> 01:13:35,494
- and then head of CBS was
- a man named Walter Yetnikoff.
- 1463
- 01:13:35,577 --> 01:13:39,790
- He viewed this as an act of betrayal
- and a declaration of war.
- 1464
- 01:13:41,792 --> 01:13:44,002
- He sued Universal,
- 1465
- 01:13:44,086 --> 01:13:48,215
- got a temporary restraining order
- to stop the album, um,
- 1466
- 01:13:48,465 --> 01:13:51,927
- and all of us end up
- in a big conference room.
- 1467
- 01:13:53,137 --> 01:13:56,223
- Universal has its litigators
- at the meeting.
- 1468
- 01:13:56,306 --> 01:13:58,517
- Sony has its litigators at the meeting.
- 1469
- 01:13:58,600 --> 01:14:00,436
- Michael Jackson's representatives
- are there.
- 1470
- 01:14:00,519 --> 01:14:02,646
- Steven Spielberg's representatives,
- 1471
- 01:14:02,729 --> 01:14:04,440
- Quincy Jones' representatives...
- 1472
- 01:14:04,731 --> 01:14:07,276
- And in the middle
- of this big conference room
- 1473
- 01:14:07,359 --> 01:14:08,694
- is Clarence Avant.
- 1474
- 01:14:11,155 --> 01:14:15,242
- And I turn to the general manager
- of CBS Records, and I say,
- 1475
- 01:14:15,325 --> 01:14:17,703
- "This Clarence Avant,
- what is he doing here?
- 1476
- 01:14:17,786 --> 01:14:18,996
- Who does he represent?"
- 1477
- 01:14:19,496 --> 01:14:21,957
- Without missing a beat, he said,
- 1478
- 01:14:22,040 --> 01:14:25,043
- "Clarence?
- Clarence represents everyone here."
- 1479
- 01:14:25,586 --> 01:14:28,630
- So, I met with them.
- 1480
- 01:14:29,631 --> 01:14:30,674
- Worked it out.
- 1481
- 01:14:31,633 --> 01:14:32,885
- The rest is history.
- 1482
- 01:14:32,968 --> 01:14:35,679
- [E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial theme plays]
- 1483
- 01:14:38,932 --> 01:14:43,103
- He was able to maneuver
- and resolve so many issues.
- 1484
- 01:14:43,187 --> 01:14:46,023
- It was crazy!
- I'm like, "How was this guy doing it?"
- 1485
- 01:14:46,106 --> 01:14:48,150
- But he was that go-to guy.
- 1486
- 01:14:49,359 --> 01:14:52,196
- Michael wanted to thank my dad
- for his help with E.T.,
- 1487
- 01:14:52,279 --> 01:14:53,739
- so a few years later,
- 1488
- 01:14:53,822 --> 01:14:56,158
- they asked him to promote the Bad tour.
- 1489
- 01:14:56,575 --> 01:14:58,202
- [Avant] Michael wanted me to do his tour
- 1490
- 01:14:58,911 --> 01:14:59,912
- with just him.
- 1491
- 01:15:00,496 --> 01:15:01,747
- And I turned Michael down.
- 1492
- 01:15:01,830 --> 01:15:03,707
- I said, "I'm not a fucking promoter."
- 1493
- 01:15:04,625 --> 01:15:07,503
- [man] I walked into his office one time,
- and he started saying,
- 1494
- 01:15:07,586 --> 01:15:10,881
- "Man, you know,
- Quincy put me down with Michael.
- 1495
- 01:15:10,964 --> 01:15:12,674
- They want me to do some tour."
- 1496
- 01:15:13,926 --> 01:15:15,260
- I said, "The Bad tour?"
- 1497
- 01:15:16,094 --> 01:15:17,054
- "Yeah, I guess."
- 1498
- 01:15:19,014 --> 01:15:21,225
- "Is that a problem?" [chuckle]
- 1499
- 01:15:21,308 --> 01:15:22,976
- You know, I'm thinking to myself,
- 1500
- 01:15:23,060 --> 01:15:24,520
- "What a great opportunity!"
- 1501
- 01:15:24,603 --> 01:15:27,022
- And he said,
- "I don't know what to do with this."
- 1502
- 01:15:27,105 --> 01:15:29,316
- So, you know, I said, "There's one person
- 1503
- 01:15:29,942 --> 01:15:32,277
- who I know, who I've dealt with,
- 1504
- 01:15:32,903 --> 01:15:39,201
- who actually knows all the ins and outs
- of every building that is important
- 1505
- 01:15:39,284 --> 01:15:41,078
- for this tour in America,
- 1506
- 01:15:41,828 --> 01:15:43,080
- And that's Al Haymon."
- 1507
- 01:15:44,289 --> 01:15:48,043
- So we brought in Al,
- and that completely locked it down.
- 1508
- 01:15:48,627 --> 01:15:49,545
- [news reporter] Inside the arena,
- 1509
- 01:15:49,628 --> 01:15:52,923
- one of the biggest
- and most elaborate stage sets ever built,
- 1510
- 01:15:53,006 --> 01:15:54,675
- erected in just four days.
- 1511
- 01:15:54,758 --> 01:15:56,802
- Ninety thousand packed the park,
- 1512
- 01:15:56,885 --> 01:16:00,097
- ten thousand more
- than for Springsteen, Genesis, or Madonna,
- 1513
- 01:16:00,180 --> 01:16:01,640
- and they weren't disappointed.
- 1514
- 01:16:01,723 --> 01:16:04,768
- ♪ Bringing brighter days ♪
- 1515
- 01:16:04,851 --> 01:16:07,646
- ♪ They're all in line waiting for you ♪
- 1516
- 01:16:07,729 --> 01:16:11,775
- ♪ So know the truth
- You're just another part of me ♪
- 1517
- 01:16:11,858 --> 01:16:14,778
- [Lombard]
- Al could do everything that was required
- 1518
- 01:16:14,861 --> 01:16:17,531
- of the position they had put Clarence in.
- 1519
- 01:16:17,614 --> 01:16:21,076
- Clarence looked upon Al
- as a high-achieving son.
- 1520
- 01:16:22,578 --> 01:16:24,997
- You know, like,
- "This is one of my mentees,
- 1521
- 01:16:25,080 --> 01:16:26,957
- and look at what he does."
- 1522
- 01:16:27,749 --> 01:16:28,792
- [Alex] Everyone was asking,
- 1523
- 01:16:28,875 --> 01:16:32,713
- "Are you gonna be in the record industry
- like your father, follow his footsteps?"
- 1524
- 01:16:32,796 --> 01:16:37,426
- It's... I think Al Haymon taught me,
- those are some... deep, deep shoes.
- 1525
- 01:16:38,552 --> 01:16:41,346
- It's too much. It was too much pressure.
- 1526
- 01:16:43,015 --> 01:16:45,684
- [George] In the wake of
- the fall of Sussex Records,
- 1527
- 01:16:45,892 --> 01:16:47,311
- Clarence dusts himself off...
- 1528
- 01:16:48,353 --> 01:16:49,605
- ...and starts another label.
- 1529
- 01:16:49,938 --> 01:16:51,481
- [Adolph] Taboo, you know, the forbidden.
- 1530
- 01:16:51,565 --> 01:16:54,276
- That which is out of reach,
- that which you shouldn't have.
- 1531
- 01:16:54,359 --> 01:16:56,903
- The unorthodox,
- the unexpected, the surprise.
- 1532
- 01:16:57,112 --> 01:16:57,946
- Classic Clarence.
- 1533
- 01:16:58,030 --> 01:17:01,116
- And as they join us to do
- their latest single on the Tabu label,
- 1534
- 01:17:01,199 --> 01:17:03,994
- an absolute smash
- entitled "Take Your Time,"
- 1535
- 01:17:04,119 --> 01:17:05,912
- let's welcome from Atlanta, Georgia,
- 1536
- 01:17:05,996 --> 01:17:08,248
- the SOS Band.
- 1537
- 01:17:08,332 --> 01:17:10,334
- -[applause]
- -["Take Your Time" plays]
- 1538
- 01:17:16,465 --> 01:17:19,051
- [woman] The first time I ever heard
- the name Clarence Avant,
- 1539
- 01:17:20,344 --> 01:17:22,638
- it was the SOS Band's...
- 1540
- 01:17:22,721 --> 01:17:25,307
- ♪ Baby, we can do it
- Take your time ♪
- 1541
- 01:17:25,390 --> 01:17:28,352
- ♪ Do it right
- We can do it, baby ♪
- 1542
- 01:17:28,435 --> 01:17:30,354
- ♪ Do it tonight ♪
- 1543
- 01:17:30,437 --> 01:17:34,274
- ♪ Baby, we can do it
- Take the time, do it right ♪
- 1544
- 01:17:34,358 --> 01:17:37,778
- ♪ We can do it, baby
- Do it tonight ♪
- 1545
- 01:17:37,861 --> 01:17:39,655
- [George] The '80s brings in technology,
- 1546
- 01:17:40,572 --> 01:17:44,368
- so, literally, the texture
- of the music sonically changes.
- 1547
- 01:17:44,451 --> 01:17:45,786
- The LinnDrum,
- 1548
- 01:17:45,869 --> 01:17:48,830
- 808, all kinds of synthesized keyboards.
- 1549
- 01:17:48,914 --> 01:17:52,834
- All this music that in 1972 was made
- by human beings alone
- 1550
- 01:17:52,918 --> 01:17:55,462
- is now made with computers
- of various kinds.
- 1551
- 01:17:56,588 --> 01:17:59,257
- The producer now didn't need
- a house band.
- 1552
- 01:17:59,341 --> 01:18:01,468
- And it becomes much more, even more so,
- 1553
- 01:18:01,551 --> 01:18:04,012
- about the masterminds of the music.
- 1554
- 01:18:04,096 --> 01:18:07,015
- And it tends to be one- or two-man teams.
- 1555
- 01:18:07,974 --> 01:18:12,187
- [woman] I was managing these guys,
- Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis,
- 1556
- 01:18:12,562 --> 01:18:16,108
- and Clarence was looking
- for someone to produce SOS Band.
- 1557
- 01:18:16,191 --> 01:18:17,901
- I told him, "I've got these guys.
- You know,
- 1558
- 01:18:17,984 --> 01:18:21,071
- they're with The Time, you know,
- but they're producers, you know.
- 1559
- 01:18:21,154 --> 01:18:23,156
- They want to do some other things
- outside of Prince."
- 1560
- 01:18:23,740 --> 01:18:26,451
- He saw that these guys had talent.
- 1561
- 01:18:26,535 --> 01:18:29,538
- He gave them the shot,
- the first real shot.
- 1562
- 01:18:30,122 --> 01:18:32,582
- [man] And so we went in, and he said,
- 1563
- 01:18:32,666 --> 01:18:34,126
- "You'll be producing some songs."
- 1564
- 01:18:35,168 --> 01:18:36,837
- We're like, "Whoa!"ÂÂ
- 1565
- 01:18:36,920 --> 01:18:40,590
- Our then manager/agent,
- he asked her to leave.
- 1566
- 01:18:41,591 --> 01:18:46,012
- And he said, "Now, I got a problem
- with what you're asking for."
- 1567
- 01:18:47,180 --> 01:18:50,517
- We're like, "Oh, no, Mr. Avant.
- Whatever you need,ÂÂ
- 1568
- 01:18:50,600 --> 01:18:54,229
- if we've asked for too much, you know,
- we can do it for less or whatever."
- 1569
- 01:18:54,396 --> 01:18:55,480
- He said, "No.ÂÂ
- 1570
- 01:18:56,398 --> 01:18:57,816
- She didn't ask for enough.
- 1571
- 01:18:58,734 --> 01:19:00,318
- You can't do a record on that.
- 1572
- 01:19:00,402 --> 01:19:02,362
- You need some money for this,
- some money for that,
- 1573
- 01:19:02,446 --> 01:19:05,365
- you need some money for this."
- You know, and we were like...
- 1574
- 01:19:06,241 --> 01:19:08,452
- I-- At that point in my life,
- 1575
- 01:19:09,202 --> 01:19:12,080
- as a black man,
- I had never met an honorable man
- 1576
- 01:19:12,164 --> 01:19:15,083
- who would give you more
- than you asked for...
- 1577
- 01:19:15,917 --> 01:19:18,044
- and enough that you needed.
- 1578
- 01:19:18,128 --> 01:19:20,297
- That told you everything you needed
- to know about him,
- 1579
- 01:19:20,380 --> 01:19:22,132
- -right in that first meeting.
- -Yes.
- 1580
- 01:19:22,215 --> 01:19:24,342
- ♪ People always talking about ♪
- 1581
- 01:19:26,219 --> 01:19:27,846
- ♪ Your reputation ♪
- 1582
- 01:19:31,057 --> 01:19:34,561
- ♪ I don't care about your other girls ♪
- 1583
- 01:19:34,644 --> 01:19:36,480
- ♪ Just be good to me ♪
- 1584
- 01:19:37,773 --> 01:19:39,858
- [Don Cornelius] How does it feel to have
- 1585
- 01:19:39,941 --> 01:19:42,694
- the biggest record on the planet here,
- folks? Anybody wanna--
- 1586
- 01:19:42,778 --> 01:19:44,154
- Great!
- 1587
- 01:19:45,197 --> 01:19:48,241
- We give all the thanks to Allah,
- and Jimmy, and Terry,
- 1588
- 01:19:48,325 --> 01:19:49,993
- which came in the nick of time.
- 1589
- 01:19:50,076 --> 01:19:54,247
- [Avant] And so, Tabu became alive
- after Jimmy and Terry got involved.
- 1590
- 01:19:54,331 --> 01:19:56,583
- If you wanted Jam and Lewis
- to produce you,
- 1591
- 01:19:56,666 --> 01:19:58,710
- they had to do at least five tracks.
- 1592
- 01:19:58,794 --> 01:20:02,047
- You got five songs, five more copyrights.
- 1593
- 01:20:02,130 --> 01:20:04,174
- Clarence spent a lot of time with them,
- 1594
- 01:20:04,466 --> 01:20:07,093
- schooling them,
- teaching them the business.
- 1595
- 01:20:08,804 --> 01:20:10,764
- [Harrell] He had a flurry of hit records.
- 1596
- 01:20:10,847 --> 01:20:12,641
- Uh, he had the SOS Band.
- 1597
- 01:20:12,724 --> 01:20:15,519
- He had Cherrelle.
- What was Cherrelle's song?
- 1598
- 01:20:16,061 --> 01:20:18,772
- ♪ I didn't mean to turn you on ♪
- 1599
- 01:20:18,939 --> 01:20:21,107
- ♪ Didn't mean to turn you on! ♪
- 1600
- 01:20:21,191 --> 01:20:23,819
- [exclaims, laughs]
- 1601
- 01:20:24,402 --> 01:20:25,654
- [Lewis] Then one day,
- 1602
- 01:20:25,862 --> 01:20:28,740
- we brought Alexander O'Neal
- into the studio
- 1603
- 01:20:28,824 --> 01:20:30,325
- and sent Clarence the tracks.
- 1604
- 01:20:30,867 --> 01:20:31,785
- [Jam] He said...
- 1605
- 01:20:32,244 --> 01:20:34,746
- "This motherfucker you sent me,
- what's that motherfucker's name?"
- 1606
- 01:20:35,205 --> 01:20:36,456
- I said, "Alexander O'Neal."
- 1607
- 01:20:36,540 --> 01:20:38,083
- Who is he?
- 1608
- 01:20:38,166 --> 01:20:41,127
- "He Irish or something?"
- And we said, "No, he's black, Clarence."
- 1609
- 01:20:41,211 --> 01:20:43,797
- [stammers] "O'Neal! What kind of name
- is that for a black man? Huh?
- 1610
- 01:20:43,880 --> 01:20:45,382
- Yeah, well, have him come on out."
- 1611
- 01:20:45,465 --> 01:20:47,133
- -Right.
- -You know?
- 1612
- 01:20:47,717 --> 01:20:50,053
- ♪ There's never any question ♪
- 1613
- 01:20:50,178 --> 01:20:51,221
- ♪ Uh-uh ♪
- 1614
- 01:20:51,346 --> 01:20:54,182
- ♪ You will be my Saturday love ♪
- 1615
- 01:20:54,266 --> 01:20:57,227
- [as O'Neal]
- ♪ There's never any question! ♪
- 1616
- 01:20:57,310 --> 01:20:58,436
- I'm like, how did he--
- 1617
- 01:20:58,979 --> 01:21:00,856
- He said "querstion." I love that.
- 1618
- 01:21:01,189 --> 01:21:02,524
- ♪ There's never any...♪
- 1619
- 01:21:02,607 --> 01:21:04,776
- -♪ Question ♪
- -♪ Uh-uh ♪
- 1620
- 01:21:04,901 --> 01:21:08,238
- -♪ You will be my Saturday love!♪
- -♪ You can be my Saturday, Sunday, Mon-- ♪
- 1621
- 01:21:08,321 --> 01:21:09,948
- ♪ Sunday Monday Tuesday... ♪
- 1622
- 01:21:10,031 --> 01:21:10,907
- [Cherrelle] We knew
- 1623
- 01:21:10,991 --> 01:21:15,370
- that all we wanted to do was make
- our godfather happy.
- 1624
- 01:21:16,121 --> 01:21:18,248
- ♪ Never on Sunday ♪
- 1625
- 01:21:18,331 --> 01:21:20,250
- ♪ Monday's too soon ♪
- 1626
- 01:21:20,333 --> 01:21:23,587
- [Harrell] All these records were records
- I was partying hard to.
- 1627
- 01:21:23,670 --> 01:21:26,172
- Dancing my ass off to in the clubs, so...
- 1628
- 01:21:26,965 --> 01:21:31,011
- in my mind, he was partial man,
- partial god in terms of tastemaker.
- 1629
- 01:21:31,469 --> 01:21:33,805
- Clarence managing, uh, uh...
- 1630
- 01:21:33,889 --> 01:21:36,892
- Jimmy and Terry
- helped make the Janet album.
- 1631
- 01:21:40,020 --> 01:21:41,354
- What're you doing? You're working!
- 1632
- 01:21:41,438 --> 01:21:45,191
- Not anymore, Lou.
- I'm gonna be a big star!
- 1633
- 01:21:46,651 --> 01:21:48,987
- [Moss] Janet was signed as a 15-year-old.
- 1634
- 01:21:49,738 --> 01:21:51,740
- She had made a couple of records
- with her father.
- 1635
- 01:21:51,823 --> 01:21:54,784
- ♪ Come give your love to me ♪
- 1636
- 01:21:54,868 --> 01:21:57,662
- [Moss] Nobody knew what to do with her,
- nobody was listening.
- 1637
- 01:21:57,746 --> 01:22:01,875
- And I think what Clarence's real gift was,
- is finding people who had ears.
- 1638
- 01:22:02,334 --> 01:22:04,294
- [Nicole] My father said, "Wait a minute!
- 1639
- 01:22:04,377 --> 01:22:06,630
- I have these two young guys
- from Minneapolis.
- 1640
- 01:22:06,713 --> 01:22:07,839
- They worked on SOS.
- 1641
- 01:22:07,923 --> 01:22:10,675
- They gave me a couple hits.
- They went to number one,
- 1642
- 01:22:10,759 --> 01:22:12,052
- and they're living in LA.
- 1643
- 01:22:12,636 --> 01:22:14,638
- We should just put them together."
- 1644
- 01:22:17,182 --> 01:22:18,183
- [Janet Jackson] Terry!
- 1645
- 01:22:18,892 --> 01:22:20,185
- Break it down!
- 1646
- 01:22:21,394 --> 01:22:22,270
- Right here!
- 1647
- 01:22:25,899 --> 01:22:26,816
- Jimmy Jam!
- 1648
- 01:22:34,366 --> 01:22:37,410
- Very special, one man's name that...
- 1649
- 01:22:38,536 --> 01:22:41,373
- means the world to us.
- He means the world to us.
- 1650
- 01:22:41,456 --> 01:22:43,667
- A gentleman named Mr. Clarence Avant.
- 1651
- 01:22:43,750 --> 01:22:45,627
- [applause]
- 1652
- 01:22:45,710 --> 01:22:48,046
- [Nicole]
- And I remember after the Control album--
- 1653
- 01:22:48,672 --> 01:22:49,839
- [Lewis] Clarence!
- 1654
- 01:22:49,923 --> 01:22:51,132
- The phone was ringing more.
- 1655
- 01:22:51,216 --> 01:22:53,385
- People were always at the house
- on a Sunday.
- 1656
- 01:22:53,468 --> 01:22:56,304
- It didn't matter who it was.
- One day I'd walk in, it's Bobby Brown,
- 1657
- 01:22:56,388 --> 01:22:58,014
- or Whitney Houston.
- Everybody was coming.ÂÂ
- 1658
- 01:22:58,098 --> 01:22:59,891
- Everybody just started flooding the house.
- 1659
- 01:22:59,975 --> 01:23:01,184
- Questions, questions.
- 1660
- 01:23:01,267 --> 01:23:04,020
- "Can you help me with this deal?"
- Or, "Can you--" It just happened.
- 1661
- 01:23:09,025 --> 01:23:10,527
- [Azoff] In 1983,
- 1662
- 01:23:10,819 --> 01:23:15,031
- I went to run a place
- that was then called MCA Records.
- 1663
- 01:23:15,115 --> 01:23:17,242
- I probably had the job maybe a week,
- 1664
- 01:23:17,325 --> 01:23:19,911
- and I get a call from our chairman,
- Lew Wasserman,
- 1665
- 01:23:19,995 --> 01:23:20,996
- and he says,
- 1666
- 01:23:21,079 --> 01:23:23,498
- "Clarence Avant would like to have lunch
- with you."
- 1667
- 01:23:24,082 --> 01:23:26,668
- And I remember we went
- to the Chinese restaurant up at the lot,
- 1668
- 01:23:26,751 --> 01:23:28,461
- and we're sitting there talking,
- and he said,
- 1669
- 01:23:28,545 --> 01:23:29,921
- "Would you like any help
- 1670
- 01:23:31,089 --> 01:23:34,050
- putting MCA
- into the black music business?"
- 1671
- 01:23:34,676 --> 01:23:36,553
- And I said, "Yeah, I really would."
- 1672
- 01:23:36,636 --> 01:23:39,431
- He says, "That's good, 'cause I'm gonna
- tell you what to do anyway."
- 1673
- 01:23:39,514 --> 01:23:41,307
- [all laughing]
- 1674
- 01:23:41,933 --> 01:23:45,145
- And that's what I say about Clarence:
- he was never looking for permission.
- 1675
- 01:23:45,520 --> 01:23:49,274
- Which is still an unusual thing
- in the culture, you know,
- 1676
- 01:23:49,357 --> 01:23:52,068
- the idea of a black voice being heard
- the way it needed to be heard.
- 1677
- 01:23:54,779 --> 01:23:57,157
- [George] One of the things
- that's magical or interesting to me
- 1678
- 01:23:57,240 --> 01:23:58,324
- about Clarence's career
- 1679
- 01:23:58,408 --> 01:24:00,535
- is that there's all this history
- in the '70s
- 1680
- 01:24:00,618 --> 01:24:02,912
- of him having a record company
- and stuff.
- 1681
- 01:24:02,996 --> 01:24:05,540
- When I encounter him as a young writer
- in the '80s,
- 1682
- 01:24:05,623 --> 01:24:07,459
- it feels like he's transitioned
- to another place
- 1683
- 01:24:07,542 --> 01:24:09,794
- in terms of what his role is
- in the industry.
- 1684
- 01:24:11,713 --> 01:24:14,758
- [Rev. Sharpton] Clarence was the guy
- that could place you.
- 1685
- 01:24:14,841 --> 01:24:19,554
- RCA, Polydor, CBS Records, Epic, all that.
- 1686
- 01:24:19,637 --> 01:24:22,807
- And I begin to realize that
- it wasn't simply that he was having
- 1687
- 01:24:22,891 --> 01:24:25,310
- young black executives be vetted
- 1688
- 01:24:25,894 --> 01:24:27,187
- for, like, white executives.
- 1689
- 01:24:28,605 --> 01:24:30,815
- It was that the white executives
- were listening to him.
- 1690
- 01:24:31,524 --> 01:24:34,319
- [Azoff] He staffed
- our entire black music label.
- 1691
- 01:24:34,819 --> 01:24:37,739
- I, right then, figured out,
- he's the godfather.
- 1692
- 01:24:40,408 --> 01:24:42,994
- [Horowitz] All of us would go to him
- from time to time
- 1693
- 01:24:43,078 --> 01:24:45,538
- to ask about how to get someone
- that we wanted,
- 1694
- 01:24:45,622 --> 01:24:48,416
- how to make sure we didn't lose someone
- that we wanted to keep.
- 1695
- 01:24:48,500 --> 01:24:52,128
- Because, you see,
- Clarence knows everybody.
- 1696
- 01:24:54,923 --> 01:24:56,341
- You know, he knows everybody.
- 1697
- 01:24:57,759 --> 01:24:59,594
- [Rev. Sharpton]
- And everybody could trust him.
- 1698
- 01:24:59,677 --> 01:25:02,097
- Say, well, if Clarence said it,
- 1699
- 01:25:02,180 --> 01:25:05,016
- it must be all right,
- 'cause Clarence is not going to get you
- 1700
- 01:25:05,100 --> 01:25:07,227
- out there on something
- that's gonna backfire.
- 1701
- 01:25:07,310 --> 01:25:08,978
- What's extraordinary about him is...
- 1702
- 01:25:09,938 --> 01:25:13,233
- he-- he's got this instinct
- on young people, young executives.
- 1703
- 01:25:13,316 --> 01:25:17,195
- He's been so involved in the careers
- of so many young people,
- 1704
- 01:25:17,278 --> 01:25:19,155
- not just in the entertainment industry,ÂÂ
- 1705
- 01:25:19,239 --> 01:25:20,949
- but just throughout.
- 1706
- 01:25:21,032 --> 01:25:22,033
- He's always a person
- 1707
- 01:25:22,117 --> 01:25:24,536
- that people say, "You should talk
- to Clarence about that."
- 1708
- 01:25:24,619 --> 01:25:28,248
- Every deal I had, every contract I got
- as a record executive,
- 1709
- 01:25:28,915 --> 01:25:30,458
- I would send it to Clarence.
- 1710
- 01:25:30,542 --> 01:25:32,252
- What to ask for, what not to ask for,ÂÂ
- 1711
- 01:25:32,335 --> 01:25:34,462
- what to push back on,
- what not to push back on.
- 1712
- 01:25:34,963 --> 01:25:38,633
- Usually it was about,
- for him, it was... money.
- 1713
- 01:25:39,217 --> 01:25:40,343
- What's the money like?
- 1714
- 01:25:40,426 --> 01:25:43,638
- And was it on par
- with what white executives were getting?
- 1715
- 01:25:43,721 --> 01:25:46,683
- If he thought it was right for you,
- it was about the right thing for you.
- 1716
- 01:25:47,267 --> 01:25:49,686
- I'd gone
- from Berry Gordy's pet assistant--
- 1717
- 01:25:49,769 --> 01:25:53,148
- I took care of his animals--
- up to his assistant, and on and on.
- 1718
- 01:25:53,231 --> 01:25:55,608
- And I'd hit this kind of ceiling
- with the company,
- 1719
- 01:25:55,692 --> 01:25:57,443
- and that's when I heard from Clarence.
- 1720
- 01:25:58,403 --> 01:26:02,407
- He helped me construct a deal
- at Warner Brothers Pictures
- 1721
- 01:26:02,490 --> 01:26:04,993
- that allowed me to develop television
- and film projects,
- 1722
- 01:26:05,076 --> 01:26:07,203
- and ultimately,
- to take some of those things to Quincy,
- 1723
- 01:26:07,287 --> 01:26:08,580
- which we got made.
- 1724
- 01:26:09,789 --> 01:26:12,876
- [Geffen]
- If you wanted to get a job in Hollywood,
- 1725
- 01:26:12,959 --> 01:26:16,796
- in the record business, or as an actor,
- or with the studios,
- 1726
- 01:26:16,880 --> 01:26:19,048
- Clarence was the guy you went to.
- 1727
- 01:26:19,132 --> 01:26:21,259
- And Clarence was the guy
- that saw that you...
- 1728
- 01:26:21,843 --> 01:26:24,012
- were taken care of,
- that you weren't, uh...
- 1729
- 01:26:25,430 --> 01:26:26,431
- shortchanged.
- 1730
- 01:26:26,514 --> 01:26:29,350
- You know, we're in a business
- with a bunch of assholes.
- 1731
- 01:26:29,434 --> 01:26:30,685
- You got five of 'em sitting here.
- 1732
- 01:26:30,768 --> 01:26:32,437
- [all laughing]
- 1733
- 01:26:32,520 --> 01:26:34,981
- You have to understand something:
- when you walk into this town,
- 1734
- 01:26:35,064 --> 01:26:36,649
- you are green.
- 1735
- 01:26:37,358 --> 01:26:40,320
- You have no concept--
- You know the music business,
- 1736
- 01:26:40,737 --> 01:26:42,906
- but you don't know the business of music.
- 1737
- 01:26:43,198 --> 01:26:46,159
- Making your money is the creative side.
- 1738
- 01:26:47,327 --> 01:26:49,996
- Keeping your money is the Clarence side.
- 1739
- 01:26:50,705 --> 01:26:51,956
- I'mma give it to you raw.
- 1740
- 01:26:52,040 --> 01:26:55,043
- Clarence makes sure
- that you don't get fucked.
- 1741
- 01:26:56,127 --> 01:26:58,588
- Straight up,
- there's a lot of fuckin' going on
- 1742
- 01:26:58,671 --> 01:27:00,423
- in the entertainment industry,
- 1743
- 01:27:00,590 --> 01:27:04,928
- and if you are important
- to the overall greater good,
- 1744
- 01:27:05,011 --> 01:27:07,513
- he's gonna step in like Super Black Man.
- 1745
- 01:27:08,056 --> 01:27:09,432
- When we went to meet him,
- 1746
- 01:27:09,515 --> 01:27:10,808
- we also knew that...
- 1747
- 01:27:11,684 --> 01:27:14,062
- you know, he handled Jimmy and Terry.
- 1748
- 01:27:14,938 --> 01:27:17,899
- So, we needed to know him because...
- 1749
- 01:27:17,982 --> 01:27:20,526
- -we wanted to be Jimmy and Terry.
- -[Reid] Yeah.
- 1750
- 01:27:20,610 --> 01:27:22,487
- [Babyface] You know,
- we wanted to follow in their footsteps.
- 1751
- 01:27:22,570 --> 01:27:24,906
- -[Reid] Exactly.
- -[Babyface] And he was the gatekeeper.
- 1752
- 01:27:25,531 --> 01:27:27,659
- [Jam] I remember running into L.A. Reid
- and Babyface.
- 1753
- 01:27:27,742 --> 01:27:28,618
- And I remember
- 1754
- 01:27:28,701 --> 01:27:31,412
- people thought we were in competition
- with each other,
- 1755
- 01:27:31,496 --> 01:27:33,164
- and we'd never even met
- the brothers before.
- 1756
- 01:27:33,248 --> 01:27:34,457
- But we met them, and L.A. said,
- 1757
- 01:27:34,540 --> 01:27:36,417
- "Hey, can you introduce me
- to Clarence Avant?"
- 1758
- 01:27:36,501 --> 01:27:39,254
- And I said, "Yeah. Absolutely, we can."
- 1759
- 01:27:39,337 --> 01:27:41,506
- First, let's just talk about
- hearing about Babyface,
- 1760
- 01:27:41,589 --> 01:27:43,967
- 'cause I was trying to sing.
- I was in college,
- 1761
- 01:27:44,050 --> 01:27:46,970
- and one of my boys called me.
- He said, "Man, give it up." "What?"
- 1762
- 01:27:47,053 --> 01:27:48,471
- "You ain't heard of Babyface, dawg?"
- 1763
- 01:27:48,554 --> 01:27:50,348
- He was terrible.
- "Dawg. Look here, dawg."
- 1764
- 01:27:50,431 --> 01:27:53,935
- I didn't put two and two together.
- Babyface came from The Deele.
- 1765
- 01:27:54,018 --> 01:27:58,690
- ♪ I want to be with you
- Wherever, ever you are ♪
- 1766
- 01:27:58,773 --> 01:28:00,775
- ♪ I only think of you ♪
- 1767
- 01:28:01,401 --> 01:28:03,528
- ♪ On two occasions ♪
- 1768
- 01:28:04,696 --> 01:28:07,490
- ♪ That's day and night ♪
- 1769
- 01:28:07,991 --> 01:28:10,660
- ♪ I go for broke ♪
- 1770
- 01:28:10,743 --> 01:28:12,578
- When I heard that shit--
- 1771
- 01:28:12,662 --> 01:28:14,414
- ♪ I go for broke ♪
- 1772
- 01:28:14,497 --> 01:28:16,165
- When I heard the motherfucker say...
- 1773
- 01:28:16,249 --> 01:28:18,501
- ♪ I go for broke ♪
- 1774
- 01:28:18,584 --> 01:28:20,420
- I was in the mirror every day.
- 1775
- 01:28:20,503 --> 01:28:21,879
- ♪ Bro--♪ [clears throat]
- 1776
- 01:28:21,963 --> 01:28:23,089
- This nigga's yodeling!
- 1777
- 01:28:23,172 --> 01:28:25,508
- This motherfucker's making yodeling hot!
- 1778
- 01:28:25,591 --> 01:28:28,303
- Clarence set up a series of meetings
- 1779
- 01:28:28,386 --> 01:28:30,805
- with all of the top record executives:
- 1780
- 01:28:30,888 --> 01:28:32,890
- Jerry Moss from A&M,
- 1781
- 01:28:33,516 --> 01:28:34,600
- David Geffen,
- 1782
- 01:28:35,059 --> 01:28:37,854
- Joe Smith was at Capitol Records,
- 1783
- 01:28:38,104 --> 01:28:40,440
- and Clarence was the orchestrator.
- 1784
- 01:28:40,523 --> 01:28:45,194
- He was, like, sort of the mediator,
- the orchestrator, pulling it all together.
- 1785
- 01:28:45,278 --> 01:28:49,282
- The next meeting was Clarence set us up
- to go and see Clive Davis.
- 1786
- 01:28:49,866 --> 01:28:53,828
- I said, "You know,
- they're gonna complement, with an E,
- 1787
- 01:28:54,871 --> 01:28:58,249
- the kind of operation that I had...
- 1788
- 01:28:59,208 --> 01:29:01,127
- in the urban field."
- 1789
- 01:29:01,919 --> 01:29:03,880
- Clarence, without question,
- 1790
- 01:29:03,963 --> 01:29:08,176
- was an absolutely essential part
- of how that deal came through.
- 1791
- 01:29:08,843 --> 01:29:11,512
- The one thing that stands out was
- that Clarence said,
- 1792
- 01:29:11,596 --> 01:29:13,431
- "You must own your masters."
- 1793
- 01:29:14,098 --> 01:29:16,392
- They were artists.
- They were just singing.
- 1794
- 01:29:16,976 --> 01:29:20,396
- You know, maybe if that's all
- it was ever gonna do,
- 1795
- 01:29:20,480 --> 01:29:21,689
- they would've lasted...
- 1796
- 01:29:23,024 --> 01:29:23,941
- ten years.
- 1797
- 01:29:24,317 --> 01:29:27,195
- But Clarence said, "No, this how you put
- the company together.ÂÂ
- 1798
- 01:29:27,278 --> 01:29:28,905
- This how you do business.
- 1799
- 01:29:28,988 --> 01:29:30,990
- This how you take all
- of this talent that you have,
- 1800
- 01:29:31,074 --> 01:29:33,368
- open it up,
- and grab other people that are talented,
- 1801
- 01:29:33,451 --> 01:29:35,119
- and now put them out."
- 1802
- 01:29:35,536 --> 01:29:39,207
- [George] If you look at the run of talent
- that L.A. and Face signed to LaFace...
- 1803
- 01:29:39,290 --> 01:29:40,166
- Take TLC,
- 1804
- 01:29:40,249 --> 01:29:42,543
- which reinvented
- the vocal group tradition.
- 1805
- 01:29:42,627 --> 01:29:45,421
- ♪ Don't go chasing waterfalls ♪
- 1806
- 01:29:45,505 --> 01:29:46,547
- [George] Take Toni Braxton.
- 1807
- 01:29:46,631 --> 01:29:50,426
- ♪ Love shoulda brought you home ♪
- 1808
- 01:29:50,510 --> 01:29:51,719
- [George] And you take Outkast,
- 1809
- 01:29:51,803 --> 01:29:53,596
- which became one of
- the most innovative groups
- 1810
- 01:29:53,679 --> 01:29:54,680
- in the history of hip-hop.
- 1811
- 01:29:54,764 --> 01:29:57,016
- ♪ So fresh, so clean
- So fresh and so clean, clean ♪
- 1812
- 01:29:57,100 --> 01:29:59,560
- [George]
- You have a really powerful label.
- 1813
- 01:30:00,395 --> 01:30:02,021
- I mean, one after another,
- 1814
- 01:30:02,105 --> 01:30:03,940
- we became a powerhouse.
- 1815
- 01:30:04,899 --> 01:30:07,735
- [man] He was an advocate for...
- 1816
- 01:30:07,819 --> 01:30:12,824
- all of the creative people, you know,
- the writers, the producers, arrangers.
- 1817
- 01:30:13,491 --> 01:30:17,870
- [George] Motown really expanded the power
- of black music as pop music.
- 1818
- 01:30:17,954 --> 01:30:22,083
- ♪ My girl, ooh... ♪
- 1819
- 01:30:22,166 --> 01:30:25,420
- [Gordy] When I sold Motown, I was thrilled
- 1820
- 01:30:25,503 --> 01:30:28,297
- when Clarence became
- the chairman of the board.
- 1821
- 01:30:29,382 --> 01:30:32,260
- [Avant] Alain Levy, chairman of PolyGram,
- 1822
- 01:30:32,343 --> 01:30:34,053
- said it's a three-year deal.
- 1823
- 01:30:34,637 --> 01:30:37,682
- I think it was either 600--
- $650,000 a year.
- 1824
- 01:30:38,433 --> 01:30:40,143
- with a $250,000 bonus,
- 1825
- 01:30:40,560 --> 01:30:41,561
- two-year option.
- 1826
- 01:30:42,103 --> 01:30:44,439
- I got a piece of paper, said, "Damn!
- 1827
- 01:30:45,273 --> 01:30:48,276
- Second mortgage is gone,
- the first mortgage is gone.
- 1828
- 01:30:48,359 --> 01:30:50,361
- I can pay Herbert and Jerry back.
- 1829
- 01:30:51,320 --> 01:30:52,321
- Free at last."
- 1830
- 01:30:55,283 --> 01:30:56,617
- ♪ Hey, hey, hey... ♪
- 1831
- 01:30:56,742 --> 01:30:59,370
- [Harrell] Alain Levy made me
- the new president of Motown.
- 1832
- 01:30:59,787 --> 01:31:01,205
- It was to bring in new life.
- 1833
- 01:31:02,290 --> 01:31:04,500
- I had Uptown Productions.
- 1834
- 01:31:04,959 --> 01:31:06,502
- [George]
- A lot of new groups out there,
- 1835
- 01:31:06,586 --> 01:31:09,297
- making music that I think could turn
- this company around.
- 1836
- 01:31:09,380 --> 01:31:12,175
- Well! Who are these new groups?
- 1837
- 01:31:12,383 --> 01:31:14,260
- [hip-hop music playing]
- 1838
- 01:31:14,343 --> 01:31:15,803
- ♪ Yo! Check this out! ♪
- 1839
- 01:31:15,887 --> 01:31:19,140
- ♪ I'm funky fresh Dr. Jeckyll
- So cool up in the place ♪
- 1840
- 01:31:19,223 --> 01:31:20,266
- ♪ Uptown, Uptown! ♪
- 1841
- 01:31:20,349 --> 01:31:21,934
- [Avant] I said, "Wait a minute."
- 1842
- 01:31:22,226 --> 01:31:23,895
- I said, "What the fuck is this?"
- 1843
- 01:31:24,812 --> 01:31:28,441
- Levy gave Andre $250,000.
- 1844
- 01:31:28,733 --> 01:31:29,984
- Nobody asked me.
- 1845
- 01:31:30,610 --> 01:31:34,739
- I was trying to transfer some
- of the energy of Uptown into Motown,
- 1846
- 01:31:34,947 --> 01:31:36,532
- so that artists would want to come.
- 1847
- 01:31:36,616 --> 01:31:38,826
- Andre and I...
- 1848
- 01:31:39,952 --> 01:31:41,746
- disagreed on a lot of things.
- 1849
- 01:31:42,997 --> 01:31:43,831
- [snorts]
- 1850
- 01:31:44,332 --> 01:31:45,791
- End of the day, it's a culture clash.
- 1851
- 01:31:45,875 --> 01:31:48,419
- I think we'd call it, in medical terms,
- organ rejection.
- 1852
- 01:31:49,003 --> 01:31:53,049
- They gave you a company that was broken.
- It'd been losing money for 12 years.
- 1853
- 01:31:54,425 --> 01:31:57,678
- They couldn't expect you to turn it around
- in a year or two!
- 1854
- 01:31:58,596 --> 01:32:01,140
- I had only been president for 18 months.
- 1855
- 01:32:01,724 --> 01:32:03,893
- They chose to make me the scapegoat.
- 1856
- 01:32:04,352 --> 01:32:05,311
- Clarence was...
- 1857
- 01:32:06,187 --> 01:32:07,271
- He was my protector.
- 1858
- 01:32:07,355 --> 01:32:10,066
- My dad was... "Okay,
- even if he deserves to be fired,
- 1859
- 01:32:10,149 --> 01:32:12,151
- I have to get him his settlement package.
- 1860
- 01:32:12,235 --> 01:32:13,528
- Because, in fairness,
- 1861
- 01:32:13,903 --> 01:32:15,279
- if he were white,
- 1862
- 01:32:15,363 --> 01:32:16,822
- he would get a severance package.
- 1863
- 01:32:16,906 --> 01:32:18,783
- This guy,
- he needs to get a severance package."
- 1864
- 01:32:18,866 --> 01:32:21,410
- Yeah. I had a few arguments with Levy,
- so what?
- 1865
- 01:32:21,494 --> 01:32:22,995
- He was one of my closest friends there.
- 1866
- 01:32:23,079 --> 01:32:25,665
- I have arguments with everybody. Shit.
- 1867
- 01:32:25,873 --> 01:32:28,459
- I got Clarence Avant backing me up.
- 1868
- 01:32:29,210 --> 01:32:33,881
- So the meeting lasts about three minutes,
- and they said, "All right. No problem.
- 1869
- 01:32:33,965 --> 01:32:35,216
- We'll take care of that."
- 1870
- 01:32:37,301 --> 01:32:41,806
- [man] He will sit at his desk with a pen
- and a piece of paper
- 1871
- 01:32:42,723 --> 01:32:44,642
- and he'll write it out,
- 1872
- 01:32:44,725 --> 01:32:46,435
- "You know what? This will happen to this.
- 1873
- 01:32:46,519 --> 01:32:47,728
- Okay, this was this and this."
- 1874
- 01:32:47,812 --> 01:32:51,482
- And he formulates a map
- of how to resolve it,
- 1875
- 01:32:51,566 --> 01:32:53,734
- and then he puts it into action.
- 1876
- 01:32:55,778 --> 01:32:58,155
- What he was doing, it had to do
- 1877
- 01:32:58,614 --> 01:33:01,784
- with seeing
- that everybody was treated right.
- 1878
- 01:33:01,867 --> 01:33:04,370
- Seeing that things were fair,
- 1879
- 01:33:04,453 --> 01:33:05,830
- that things were just.
- 1880
- 01:33:05,913 --> 01:33:09,208
- He's been the only one like himself.
- 1881
- 01:33:09,292 --> 01:33:11,002
- And, you know, a combination
- 1882
- 01:33:11,294 --> 01:33:15,006
- of Reverend Sharpton, Martin Luther King,
- Malcolm X of the record business.
- 1883
- 01:33:17,091 --> 01:33:18,593
- Sometimes, Reggie, I say to myself,
- 1884
- 01:33:18,676 --> 01:33:21,345
- "How in the fuck did I get involved
- in all this shit?"
- 1885
- 01:33:22,805 --> 01:33:25,224
- [Alex] He does so much and sacrifices,
- 1886
- 01:33:25,308 --> 01:33:27,184
- it's amazing.
- 1887
- 01:33:27,643 --> 01:33:31,314
- People have trusted him for,
- you know, all their lives.
- 1888
- 01:33:31,397 --> 01:33:34,609
- And, I think, for me, it's something
- that was conditioned from him.
- 1889
- 01:33:34,692 --> 01:33:37,987
- The current job that I have
- as an executive at a talent agency...
- 1890
- 01:33:38,321 --> 01:33:40,573
- uh, lends that as well.
- 1891
- 01:33:41,198 --> 01:33:44,660
- [Lewis] Whenever we saw anyone in distress
- after Clarence helped us,
- 1892
- 01:33:44,994 --> 01:33:47,997
- we'd say, "'All right, Clarence.
- You gotta help these guys.
- 1893
- 01:33:48,497 --> 01:33:49,999
- You gotta help these people."
- 1894
- 01:33:50,374 --> 01:33:51,500
- And Clarence would help.
- 1895
- 01:33:52,209 --> 01:33:55,796
- And I'm not just talking about music,
- I'm talking about civil rights.
- 1896
- 01:33:56,213 --> 01:33:59,425
- I'm talking about anything that had to do
- with the rights of people,
- 1897
- 01:33:59,508 --> 01:34:02,637
- creativity, just being able
- to do your own thing,
- 1898
- 01:34:02,720 --> 01:34:04,388
- to voice your opinion.
- 1899
- 01:34:04,764 --> 01:34:07,433
- Clarence gave you a place to do that...
- 1900
- 01:34:08,100 --> 01:34:10,102
- and would protect you while you did it.
- 1901
- 01:34:10,561 --> 01:34:12,104
- ♪ How you living, Biggie Smalls? ♪
- 1902
- 01:34:12,188 --> 01:34:14,440
- ♪ In mansion and Benzes
- Giving ends to my friends... ♪
- 1903
- 01:34:14,523 --> 01:34:16,150
- He was only 24 years old,
- 1904
- 01:34:16,233 --> 01:34:19,528
- was just starting what was expected
- to be a promising career in music.
- 1905
- 01:34:19,612 --> 01:34:22,114
- But tonight,
- it's only what could have been.
- 1906
- 01:34:22,740 --> 01:34:26,202
- The rap star had just left
- the Soul Train Awards Party
- 1907
- 01:34:26,285 --> 01:34:27,370
- and was sitting in his car
- 1908
- 01:34:27,453 --> 01:34:30,289
- when a vehicle drove by,
- and someone opened fire.
- 1909
- 01:34:30,373 --> 01:34:31,791
- [man] When Biggie died,
- 1910
- 01:34:31,874 --> 01:34:34,043
- I saw another side of Clarence.
- 1911
- 01:34:34,126 --> 01:34:37,129
- And he was really, really affected
- by Biggie's death.
- 1912
- 01:34:38,339 --> 01:34:40,925
- [George] After Biggie's taken
- to Cedars-Sinai Hospital.
- 1913
- 01:34:41,008 --> 01:34:43,010
- It strikes everybody at the hospital,
- 1914
- 01:34:43,094 --> 01:34:46,138
- after they get through the grief,
- that they're all in danger.
- 1915
- 01:34:46,430 --> 01:34:48,724
- And particularly, Mr. Sean Combs.
- 1916
- 01:34:49,225 --> 01:34:52,937
- Since Biggie was on his label,
- Puff was the likely next target.
- 1917
- 01:34:53,729 --> 01:34:55,439
- [Combs] Usually, Clarence gets the call
- 1918
- 01:34:55,523 --> 01:34:56,899
- from a position of fear
- 1919
- 01:34:57,692 --> 01:35:02,154
- because...
- I called him like most people call him.
- 1920
- 01:35:02,238 --> 01:35:04,407
- He's the one to call
- when we're in trouble.
- 1921
- 01:35:05,700 --> 01:35:07,827
- [George] Because they worried
- about people at airports
- 1922
- 01:35:07,910 --> 01:35:10,287
- looking for him, they drove to San Diego.
- 1923
- 01:35:10,913 --> 01:35:13,290
- From San Diego,
- a flight was booked to go to Miami.
- 1924
- 01:35:13,916 --> 01:35:17,503
- So again, this was sort of masterminded
- 1925
- 01:35:17,586 --> 01:35:19,880
- by... Clarence Avant.
- 1926
- 01:35:20,464 --> 01:35:21,966
- 'Cause we in the music industry,
- 1927
- 01:35:22,049 --> 01:35:23,968
- everybody's getting caught up
- into something.
- 1928
- 01:35:24,051 --> 01:35:27,346
- You know, we were young, talented people,
- 1929
- 01:35:27,430 --> 01:35:30,766
- never been hit with wealth or power.
- 1930
- 01:35:32,101 --> 01:35:35,187
- You know, I'm sitting here
- because he kept my ass outta jail,
- 1931
- 01:35:35,271 --> 01:35:36,647
- like two, three times.
- 1932
- 01:35:36,731 --> 01:35:39,024
- I'm cured now, though, everybody.ÂÂ
- 1933
- 01:35:39,108 --> 01:35:42,027
- I'm cured. Everything's good, you know.
- 1934
- 01:35:42,111 --> 01:35:45,072
- Y'all can have me over for dinner.
- Everything is good,
- 1935
- 01:35:45,531 --> 01:35:47,408
- thanks to the godfather, Clarence.
- 1936
- 01:35:47,491 --> 01:35:49,368
- I would hear,
- and I dunno if I'm overstepping,
- 1937
- 01:35:49,452 --> 01:35:51,036
- but I would hear about people
- 1938
- 01:35:51,120 --> 01:35:53,456
- that were in very serious situations
- 1939
- 01:35:53,539 --> 01:35:55,624
- when it came to... life.
- 1940
- 01:35:56,292 --> 01:35:57,543
- Just life in general.
- 1941
- 01:35:58,085 --> 01:36:01,589
- And they would say, "The only person
- that can help you with this...
- 1942
- 01:36:02,381 --> 01:36:03,632
- is Clarence Avant."
- 1943
- 01:36:06,427 --> 01:36:07,553
- [Snoop Dogg] When I was...
- 1944
- 01:36:08,387 --> 01:36:10,347
- ...having difficulties
- with Death Row Records
- 1945
- 01:36:10,431 --> 01:36:11,307
- and Suge Knight,
- 1946
- 01:36:11,390 --> 01:36:13,934
- there was a lot of call
- for violence and action.
- 1947
- 01:36:15,561 --> 01:36:18,898
- And the message that I received
- from Clarence was just to be me
- 1948
- 01:36:18,981 --> 01:36:21,525
- and to think about those kids
- that's looking up to me,
- 1949
- 01:36:21,609 --> 01:36:23,736
- and the youth that are inspired by me.
- 1950
- 01:36:23,819 --> 01:36:27,698
- So one action that I create could be
- a million actions that'll be followed.ÂÂ
- 1951
- 01:36:29,074 --> 01:36:30,868
- You know, I was young and...
- 1952
- 01:36:31,577 --> 01:36:34,622
- considered a gangster, or a thug,
- or whatever you wanna call it,
- 1953
- 01:36:34,705 --> 01:36:38,042
- and I didn't really want to hear it,
- but I had to reevaluate the conversation
- 1954
- 01:36:38,125 --> 01:36:41,462
- and say,
- "Well, this man is a legend. An icon.
- 1955
- 01:36:41,545 --> 01:36:43,839
- If he's taking his time
- to deliver this message to me,
- 1956
- 01:36:43,923 --> 01:36:45,257
- he must see something in me."
- 1957
- 01:36:45,341 --> 01:36:48,469
- So it just made me take on
- a stance of peace,
- 1958
- 01:36:48,552 --> 01:36:50,846
- and it'll always be about peace
- and be about love,
- 1959
- 01:36:51,222 --> 01:36:53,307
- and to confront violence with love.
- 1960
- 01:36:54,391 --> 01:36:57,186
- Clarence is the type of person
- that wants everyone to do better
- 1961
- 01:36:57,269 --> 01:36:58,896
- because he understands
- 1962
- 01:36:59,021 --> 01:37:03,025
- that there are strength in numbers,
- and the bigger that we are together,
- 1963
- 01:37:03,317 --> 01:37:06,111
- the bigger we will be as a entire culture.
- 1964
- 01:37:06,195 --> 01:37:07,822
- Never asked us for nothin'.
- 1965
- 01:37:08,405 --> 01:37:09,365
- Never.
- 1966
- 01:37:09,448 --> 01:37:11,534
- As far as monetary and stuff like that,
- 1967
- 01:37:11,617 --> 01:37:13,786
- I just think that he does it
- out of the love,
- 1968
- 01:37:13,869 --> 01:37:16,956
- which makes me do it out of the love
- with a lot of these young guys.
- 1969
- 01:37:17,039 --> 01:37:19,542
- I'll be honest with you,
- I've talked to, you know,
- 1970
- 01:37:19,625 --> 01:37:21,377
- Jimmy, Terry,
- 1971
- 01:37:21,460 --> 01:37:23,754
- L.A., Babyface, a lot of the guys,
- so it was like,
- 1972
- 01:37:23,963 --> 01:37:25,464
- "So, whatever happened
- 1973
- 01:37:25,548 --> 01:37:28,008
- when he did this for you
- and did that for you?
- 1974
- 01:37:28,092 --> 01:37:30,511
- Did-- Was there a cost to it?
- Did you get a bill for it?"ÂÂ
- 1975
- 01:37:30,594 --> 01:37:32,304
- "Nope! Never got a bill for it!"
- 1976
- 01:37:33,055 --> 01:37:34,932
- I don't know how he made a living.
- 1977
- 01:37:35,015 --> 01:37:36,934
- He never seemed to charge anybody.
- 1978
- 01:37:37,059 --> 01:37:39,520
- Well, everybody comes to me for this,
- that, this,
- 1979
- 01:37:39,603 --> 01:37:41,105
- that, you know. And so,
- 1980
- 01:37:41,188 --> 01:37:43,065
- if I like the people, why not?
- 1981
- 01:37:43,691 --> 01:37:45,067
- He had an attitude.
- 1982
- 01:37:46,527 --> 01:37:48,279
- Did you know he had an attitude?
- 1983
- 01:37:48,362 --> 01:37:50,489
- [chuckles]
- 1984
- 01:37:50,573 --> 01:37:52,324
- He does not suffer fools lightly.
- 1985
- 01:37:52,741 --> 01:37:55,160
- As much as he loves a good laugh
- 1986
- 01:37:55,619 --> 01:37:57,413
- and a good story,
- 1987
- 01:37:57,580 --> 01:37:59,707
- he does not suffer fools.
- 1988
- 01:37:59,790 --> 01:38:03,752
- People get upset with my attitude,
- but I don't give a fuck, you know.
- 1989
- 01:38:03,836 --> 01:38:06,589
- He has this facade of being gruff,
- and mean,
- 1990
- 01:38:06,672 --> 01:38:09,550
- and "I don't give a damn!"
- and "Get the fuck outta here!"ÂÂ
- 1991
- 01:38:09,633 --> 01:38:10,718
- And blah, blah, blah.
- 1992
- 01:38:10,801 --> 01:38:12,595
- All of that is just a facade.
- 1993
- 01:38:12,678 --> 01:38:15,139
- In the middle of all that MF-ing...
- 1994
- 01:38:15,598 --> 01:38:17,057
- is an extraordinary,
- 1995
- 01:38:17,725 --> 01:38:19,101
- elegant man.
- 1996
- 01:38:19,184 --> 01:38:21,937
- [Adolph] Part of the magic of Clarence is
- 1997
- 01:38:22,021 --> 01:38:24,398
- there's so much more there
- than what you see.
- 1998
- 01:38:25,024 --> 01:38:28,027
- He doesn't talk in terms of emotion.ÂÂ
- 1999
- 01:38:28,110 --> 01:38:30,654
- If you press him on...
- "What is love, Clarence?"
- 2000
- 01:38:30,738 --> 01:38:32,489
- "Do you love something
- or someone loves you?"
- 2001
- 01:38:32,573 --> 01:38:34,158
- He pushes back on that.
- 2002
- 01:38:34,241 --> 01:38:37,453
- I think some people will see Clarence
- and go, "Who's this gruff guy?
- 2003
- 01:38:37,536 --> 01:38:39,204
- He's talkin' about money all the time."
- 2004
- 01:38:39,705 --> 01:38:42,708
- That seems to be his overt way
- he likes to present himself,ÂÂ
- 2005
- 01:38:42,791 --> 01:38:45,502
- 'cause he always talks about life
- as numbers.
- 2006
- 01:38:45,586 --> 01:38:47,421
- Well, life is about one thing: numbers.
- 2007
- 01:38:47,504 --> 01:38:48,923
- Life is about numbers.
- 2008
- 01:38:49,006 --> 01:38:51,300
- I told you, man.
- Life is about numbers, didn't I?
- 2009
- 01:38:51,383 --> 01:38:52,843
- -[interviewer] Yes, you did.
- -Shit!
- 2010
- 01:38:52,927 --> 01:38:54,637
- You come with one,
- and you end with one.
- 2011
- 01:38:54,720 --> 01:38:57,514
- -When is your birthday?
- -[laughing]
- 2012
- 01:38:58,599 --> 01:39:02,186
- [McKeever] I remember when he collected
- the million dollars for Bill Clinton,
- 2013
- 01:39:02,269 --> 01:39:04,313
- which was unprecedented
- 2014
- 01:39:04,813 --> 01:39:07,024
- in what that was gonna mean
- 2015
- 01:39:07,107 --> 01:39:09,568
- for the consolidation of a voice
- inside that,
- 2016
- 01:39:09,652 --> 01:39:11,403
- and this is how you really are heard.ÂÂ
- 2017
- 01:39:11,487 --> 01:39:12,655
- You know, this is how the--
- 2018
- 01:39:12,738 --> 01:39:16,784
- He was also completely unfiltered
- about this is how this game works.
- 2019
- 01:39:18,827 --> 01:39:21,830
- [Avant] You either join a country club,
- or you remain a goddamn caddy.
- 2020
- 01:39:21,914 --> 01:39:23,165
- I'm not a fuckin' caddy.
- 2021
- 01:39:24,792 --> 01:39:25,626
- Period.
- 2022
- 01:39:26,919 --> 01:39:29,463
- So, Bill Clinton
- and I became very close friends.
- 2023
- 01:39:30,839 --> 01:39:33,175
- [President Clinton] He's real quiet
- at first. He's reserved.
- 2024
- 01:39:33,258 --> 01:39:35,970
- He doesn't exactly
- throw himself at you. Um...
- 2025
- 01:39:36,095 --> 01:39:37,513
- But I just liked him.
- 2026
- 01:39:38,514 --> 01:39:41,475
- And I just kept being with him,
- and I thought, "God, this guy's special."
- 2027
- 01:39:41,558 --> 01:39:44,311
- [Medina]
- He has put Bill Clinton's feet to the fire
- 2028
- 01:39:44,395 --> 01:39:46,105
- in front of an audience...
- 2029
- 01:39:46,188 --> 01:39:49,066
- to the point
- that he will ask the questions
- 2030
- 01:39:49,149 --> 01:39:50,985
- as to why and how
- 2031
- 01:39:51,068 --> 01:39:54,113
- we can be really comfortable
- that, once you get this job,
- 2032
- 01:39:54,196 --> 01:39:56,740
- all the promises that you're making
- to this community,
- 2033
- 01:39:56,824 --> 01:39:58,784
- you're gonna really stand by them.
- You know?
- 2034
- 01:39:58,867 --> 01:40:00,953
- You know, like,
- he would just straight up be like,
- 2035
- 01:40:01,036 --> 01:40:03,664
- "Motherfucker, what're you gonna do
- when you get the job?"
- 2036
- 01:40:03,747 --> 01:40:05,374
- You know, I like that about him.
- 2037
- 01:40:05,457 --> 01:40:07,084
- It's never gratuitous.
- 2038
- 01:40:07,167 --> 01:40:11,964
- But if he has something to say
- that's embellished, let's say, by a...
- 2039
- 01:40:12,047 --> 01:40:14,591
- purple word,
- he doesn't hesitate to use it.
- 2040
- 01:40:15,592 --> 01:40:19,430
- [Avant] I was invited to the White House
- three months after he became president.
- 2041
- 01:40:19,513 --> 01:40:21,140
- The fuck do I care
- about Lincoln's bedroom?
- 2042
- 01:40:21,223 --> 01:40:23,434
- I didn't see Lincoln
- when we went in there,
- 2043
- 01:40:23,517 --> 01:40:25,561
- so it doesn't make any difference to me.
- Fuck it, man.
- 2044
- 01:40:25,644 --> 01:40:28,731
- So we stayed, big deal. That's all.
- Nothing like that don't move me.
- 2045
- 01:40:28,814 --> 01:40:30,024
- Clarence...
- 2046
- 01:40:31,775 --> 01:40:36,030
- hangin' out with Bill Clinton...
- is a long way from Climax.
- 2047
- 01:40:38,407 --> 01:40:39,992
- My favorite story...
- 2048
- 01:40:44,663 --> 01:40:48,250
- is... deeply personal.
- 2049
- 01:40:49,877 --> 01:40:55,507
- When the Republicans were trying
- to run me outta town,
- 2050
- 01:40:56,925 --> 01:40:59,762
- Clarence Avant looked at me and he said,
- 2051
- 01:41:00,512 --> 01:41:01,972
- "Don't even think about it...
- 2052
- 01:41:04,933 --> 01:41:07,436
- Don't even think about it." He said...
- 2053
- 01:41:08,062 --> 01:41:09,897
- He said, "This ain't gonna happen...
- 2054
- 01:41:10,355 --> 01:41:11,565
- unless you give in."
- 2055
- 01:41:13,442 --> 01:41:16,820
- He said, "Don't spend a lot of time
- on this in public. Do your job.
- 2056
- 01:41:17,488 --> 01:41:18,906
- Let people see you working.
- 2057
- 01:41:19,239 --> 01:41:21,241
- It ain't gonna happen."
- [chuckles]
- 2058
- 01:41:21,325 --> 01:41:23,160
- You know, it was so Clarence.
- 2059
- 01:41:23,827 --> 01:41:25,037
- You know, it was like...
- 2060
- 01:41:25,329 --> 01:41:28,499
- now that's maybe selfish of me to say,
- but that's my favorite storyÂÂ
- 2061
- 01:41:28,582 --> 01:41:32,044
- 'cause, you know,
- when it's raining outside,
- 2062
- 01:41:32,419 --> 01:41:35,589
- if a guy comes up with a little umbrella,
- you feel pretty good.
- 2063
- 01:41:36,340 --> 01:41:37,966
- And Clarence, for me,
- 2064
- 01:41:40,177 --> 01:41:42,888
- has always had that umbrella.
- 2065
- 01:41:42,971 --> 01:41:45,349
- Not just for me,
- but for anybody he thought...
- 2066
- 01:41:46,225 --> 01:41:47,559
- needed a handout.
- 2067
- 01:41:47,643 --> 01:41:48,852
- Anybody he thought...
- 2068
- 01:41:49,770 --> 01:41:51,730
- needed somebody to be a wall.
- 2069
- 01:41:52,106 --> 01:41:55,192
- The guy's a rock. In every way.
- 2070
- 01:41:58,153 --> 01:42:00,155
- [Senator Harris]
- So, Clarence is viewed in the party
- 2071
- 01:42:00,239 --> 01:42:02,282
- as being a go-to person
- 2072
- 01:42:02,366 --> 01:42:03,617
- if not, you know,
- 2073
- 01:42:03,700 --> 01:42:07,329
- part of that group of folks
- that are called the king and queenmakers.
- 2074
- 01:42:07,412 --> 01:42:08,580
- He's the kingmaker.
- 2075
- 01:42:08,872 --> 01:42:11,959
- He not only is satisfied with that,
- he realizes that that's where
- 2076
- 01:42:12,042 --> 01:42:15,754
- he can be most effective,
- and frankly, where he's most comfortable.
- 2077
- 01:42:15,838 --> 01:42:17,131
- [hip-hop music playing]
- 2078
- 01:42:20,634 --> 01:42:23,011
- [George]
- He would have parties at his home
- 2079
- 01:42:23,095 --> 01:42:25,848
- that had great musicians
- and great friends there.
- 2080
- 01:42:25,931 --> 01:42:28,142
- And Clarence would be
- at the grill barbecuing.
- 2081
- 01:42:28,225 --> 01:42:30,435
- Jackie would be
- in the kitchen hustling around.
- 2082
- 01:42:30,519 --> 01:42:32,354
- All the kids would be playing together.
- 2083
- 01:42:34,481 --> 01:42:37,609
- You could not be an African-American
- candidate in this country
- 2084
- 01:42:37,693 --> 01:42:39,862
- running for a serious office in anything
- 2085
- 01:42:39,945 --> 01:42:42,531
- and not have consulted with Clarence Avant
- 2086
- 01:42:42,614 --> 01:42:44,533
- on the way that things should be done.
- 2087
- 01:42:44,616 --> 01:42:45,909
- The first fund-raiser I went to,
- 2088
- 01:42:45,993 --> 01:42:49,037
- one of the first things he invited me
- to was-- from--
- 2089
- 01:42:49,121 --> 01:42:50,873
- He wasn't even a senator yet--
- 2090
- 01:42:50,956 --> 01:42:52,249
- was for Barack Obama.
- 2091
- 01:42:53,041 --> 01:42:56,170
- He called me
- about a young man in Chicago...
- 2092
- 01:42:56,253 --> 01:42:58,255
- [laughing]
- 2093
- 01:42:59,423 --> 01:43:00,799
- ...named Barack Obama.
- 2094
- 01:43:01,925 --> 01:43:05,387
- When it came time
- for the convention in Boston--
- 2095
- 01:43:05,470 --> 01:43:09,391
- uh, and I remember Barack called Clarence.
- 2096
- 01:43:10,058 --> 01:43:12,519
- [Avant]
- He said, "Clarence, they want me to speak,
- 2097
- 01:43:12,603 --> 01:43:14,188
- but I'm not even prime time."
- 2098
- 01:43:15,272 --> 01:43:17,524
- Who do you think made
- that fuckin' telephone call?
- 2099
- 01:43:17,608 --> 01:43:20,736
- To somebody in John Kerry's camp.
- I don't know who the fuck it was...
- 2100
- 01:43:20,819 --> 01:43:22,237
- He made that famous speech.
- 2101
- 01:43:22,529 --> 01:43:23,989
- [man] Barack Obama!
- 2102
- 01:43:24,740 --> 01:43:26,617
- [crowd cheering]
- 2103
- 01:43:26,700 --> 01:43:28,952
- [Mathis]
- They moved Barack to prime time,
- 2104
- 01:43:29,036 --> 01:43:31,038
- and then the whole country sees,
- 2105
- 01:43:31,496 --> 01:43:35,125
- "No red state, no blue state.
- These United States." It changed history.
- 2106
- 01:43:35,209 --> 01:43:38,587
- There is not a liberal America
- and a conservative America.
- 2107
- 01:43:38,670 --> 01:43:41,256
- There is the United States of America.
- 2108
- 01:43:42,758 --> 01:43:46,428
- There is not a black America,
- and a white America,
- 2109
- 01:43:46,511 --> 01:43:49,473
- and Latino America, and Asian America.ÂÂ
- 2110
- 01:43:49,556 --> 01:43:51,975
- There's the United States of America.
- 2111
- 01:43:52,059 --> 01:43:54,061
- [soft piano playing]
- 2112
- 01:43:58,190 --> 01:44:00,943
- [Avant] Did I ever think
- I'd see a black president? Hell no.
- 2113
- 01:44:01,902 --> 01:44:03,320
- It wasn't in the card game.
- 2114
- 01:44:04,321 --> 01:44:06,281
- When he said he was gonna run,
- 2115
- 01:44:07,824 --> 01:44:09,284
- I thought he was nuts.
- 2116
- 01:44:10,160 --> 01:44:11,370
- I had a conversation with him
- 2117
- 01:44:11,453 --> 01:44:14,790
- and explained why I thought
- the moment was right,
- 2118
- 01:44:14,873 --> 01:44:18,460
- and I'm not sure that Clarence
- actually thought I could win,
- 2119
- 01:44:18,543 --> 01:44:20,879
- but he was nice and encouraging anyway.
- 2120
- 01:44:22,506 --> 01:44:25,550
- There is that generational issue,
- and Clarence,
- 2121
- 01:44:25,634 --> 01:44:28,345
- like Vernon Jordan and others,
- 2122
- 01:44:28,929 --> 01:44:31,473
- they are really the bridge...
- 2123
- 01:44:32,891 --> 01:44:36,561
- from a time where there was
- almost no opportunity
- 2124
- 01:44:36,645 --> 01:44:39,648
- to a time where doors began to open.
- 2125
- 01:44:40,691 --> 01:44:42,776
- And they led the wayÂÂ
- 2126
- 01:44:43,110 --> 01:44:46,238
- in politics, in business,
- 2127
- 01:44:46,321 --> 01:44:49,157
- in the arts, in saying,
- 2128
- 01:44:49,241 --> 01:44:50,993
- "You know, make room for us."
- 2129
- 01:44:52,244 --> 01:44:54,579
- For most of their lives, oftentimes,
- 2130
- 01:44:55,747 --> 01:45:00,002
- that door was just open a crack,
- and success was tenuous.
- 2131
- 01:45:00,335 --> 01:45:03,588
- And I would never challenge them...
- 2132
- 01:45:04,548 --> 01:45:08,552
- sticking with some of the folks
- who'd brung 'em to the dance.
- 2133
- 01:45:09,928 --> 01:45:12,055
- [Nicole] When they were both running
- against each other,
- 2134
- 01:45:12,139 --> 01:45:15,475
- I remember going to my father,
- and I said, "Listen, I like them both,
- 2135
- 01:45:15,559 --> 01:45:17,728
- and I'm not against Hillary or anything,
- 2136
- 01:45:17,811 --> 01:45:19,604
- but I feel like this...
- 2137
- 01:45:20,230 --> 01:45:23,400
- Something's happening with Obama,
- and I really want to be involved,
- 2138
- 01:45:23,483 --> 01:45:25,027
- they're asking me to do things, and...
- 2139
- 01:45:25,110 --> 01:45:27,029
- But if it's gonna be weird
- with the Clintons...
- 2140
- 01:45:27,112 --> 01:45:28,822
- He was so great.
- He looked at me and he said,
- 2141
- 01:45:29,406 --> 01:45:30,490
- "You're a grown woman.
- 2142
- 01:45:31,116 --> 01:45:32,784
- You can make your own decision."
- 2143
- 01:45:33,201 --> 01:45:35,620
- And I said,
- "I'm really not against anybody."
- 2144
- 01:45:35,704 --> 01:45:36,747
- He said, "No, go."
- 2145
- 01:45:36,830 --> 01:45:39,416
- And then of course, he said,
- "And he's not gonna win."
- 2146
- 01:45:39,916 --> 01:45:41,293
- And I said,
- 2147
- 01:45:41,376 --> 01:45:42,627
- "Dad, he's gonna win."
- 2148
- 01:45:42,711 --> 01:45:45,881
- He said he had--
- No chance in hell, is Obama gonna win.
- 2149
- 01:45:47,132 --> 01:45:48,592
- -Didn't you?
- -Yep!
- 2150
- 01:45:49,634 --> 01:45:54,348
- [President Obama] Nicole, in coming
- on-board very early on my campaign,
- 2151
- 01:45:54,973 --> 01:45:56,058
- in her own way,
- 2152
- 01:45:56,141 --> 01:45:58,268
- she was expressing values
- that had been taught to her
- 2153
- 01:45:58,352 --> 01:46:01,605
- by Clarence and Jackie.
- And part of that is independent thinking
- 2154
- 01:46:01,688 --> 01:46:03,940
- and... making up your own mind, and...
- 2155
- 01:46:04,358 --> 01:46:07,110
- uh, I-- I'd like to think that...
- 2156
- 01:46:07,736 --> 01:46:10,489
- Clarence didn't necessarily mind
- being proven wrong.
- 2157
- 01:46:11,573 --> 01:46:13,033
- Don't think he didn't rub it in.
- 2158
- 01:46:13,116 --> 01:46:14,659
- [crowd chanting] Obama! Obama!
- 2159
- 01:46:14,743 --> 01:46:16,787
- -[President Obama] Thank you.
- -Obama! Obama!
- 2160
- 01:46:16,870 --> 01:46:17,913
- Thank you!
- 2161
- 01:46:17,996 --> 01:46:19,289
- God bless you,
- 2162
- 01:46:19,373 --> 01:46:21,541
- and God bless
- the United States of America.
- 2163
- 01:46:24,002 --> 01:46:25,462
- [Nicole] After the inauguration,
- 2164
- 01:46:25,545 --> 01:46:28,173
- I became an ambassador to the Bahamas.
- 2165
- 01:46:28,715 --> 01:46:32,219
- You know, and then the best part
- for me about the whole ambassadorship
- 2166
- 01:46:32,302 --> 01:46:35,055
- was having my father's longtime friend,
- 2167
- 01:46:35,430 --> 01:46:39,518
- as a Secretary of State, swearing me in.
- She didn't do a lot of ambassadors.
- 2168
- 01:46:41,186 --> 01:46:44,981
- He came to Washington, and I saw this--
- I had never seen it before--
- 2169
- 01:46:45,440 --> 01:46:48,318
- of beaming with such pride.
- 2170
- 01:46:49,277 --> 01:46:53,740
- For him, it was like all this shit
- finally came together to make sense.
- 2171
- 01:46:54,199 --> 01:46:57,202
- I'm sure that he was enormously proud,
- and rightfully so,
- 2172
- 01:46:57,285 --> 01:46:59,246
- because Nicole served our country well.
- 2173
- 01:47:00,122 --> 01:47:03,333
- I did most everything
- I wanted to do in life,
- 2174
- 01:47:03,583 --> 01:47:07,170
- except being Warren Buffett
- or Bill Gates.
- 2175
- 01:47:07,754 --> 01:47:09,381
- [interviewer] Alex, what about you?
- 2176
- 01:47:09,464 --> 01:47:11,633
- You ever feel pressured
- to live up to your father's name?
- 2177
- 01:47:11,716 --> 01:47:14,094
- -Oh, shit.
- -What's that supposed to mean?
- 2178
- 01:47:14,177 --> 01:47:16,138
- -[interviewer] Well..
- -Let Alex answer the question.
- 2179
- 01:47:16,221 --> 01:47:18,515
- -It's a big deal. See?
- -Every day. Every day.
- 2180
- 01:47:18,598 --> 01:47:20,392
- -Oh, I see.
- -[Nicole] See?
- 2181
- 01:47:20,475 --> 01:47:21,309
- Every day.
- 2182
- 01:47:22,227 --> 01:47:23,145
- For sure.
- 2183
- 01:47:24,688 --> 01:47:27,357
- [Nicole] It was harder on Alex
- because of his gender, I think.
- 2184
- 01:47:27,441 --> 01:47:28,567
- For me,
- 2185
- 01:47:28,650 --> 01:47:30,944
- I had a different tape in my head,
- which was,
- 2186
- 01:47:31,027 --> 01:47:32,154
- "I'm saying yes to everything
- 2187
- 01:47:32,237 --> 01:47:34,364
- because I'm Clarence Avant's daughter,
- so I'm doing it.ÂÂ
- 2188
- 01:47:34,448 --> 01:47:36,450
- I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna do this."
- 2189
- 01:47:36,533 --> 01:47:38,994
- But it was always
- because I was his daughter.
- 2190
- 01:47:39,703 --> 01:47:43,665
- [Alex] It was, like, amazing to be raised
- from my mom and my dad.
- 2191
- 01:47:43,748 --> 01:47:46,084
- But, you know, everyone was like,
- 2192
- 01:47:46,168 --> 01:47:47,919
- "I need to holla at your dad!"
- 2193
- 01:47:48,003 --> 01:47:49,796
- So it's kind of...
- sometimes it's kinda crazy
- 2194
- 01:47:49,880 --> 01:47:52,215
- 'cause they take a lot of time. A lot.
- 2195
- 01:47:52,799 --> 01:47:56,428
- They're taking the father-son time away
- or, you know, son-father time away,
- 2196
- 01:47:56,511 --> 01:47:57,721
- sometimes, it feels.
- 2197
- 01:48:01,892 --> 01:48:04,603
- My father-- I'll never forget it
- 'cause this, like, makes me cry.
- 2198
- 01:48:04,686 --> 01:48:06,146
- Uh. Whoo.
- 2199
- 01:48:08,607 --> 01:48:10,734
- [exhales] Um...
- 2200
- 01:48:12,319 --> 01:48:14,488
- It's like, you know, he's like,
- 2201
- 01:48:14,696 --> 01:48:16,823
- "You know,
- I don't know how long I'm gonna be here."
- 2202
- 01:48:20,952 --> 01:48:23,205
- It's weird because sometimes people say,
- 2203
- 01:48:24,706 --> 01:48:27,626
- "Shit, when he goes,
- who're we gonna call?"
- 2204
- 01:48:30,504 --> 01:48:32,714
- And for me, it's like,
- "Who am I gonna call?"
- 2205
- 01:48:35,717 --> 01:48:36,676
- It's tough.
- 2206
- 01:48:38,512 --> 01:48:39,554
- It's tough.
- 2207
- 01:48:46,228 --> 01:48:49,731
- I told him the other day,
- I said, "If you left this planet tomorrow,
- 2208
- 01:48:50,190 --> 01:48:51,942
- you fulfilled your purpose.
- 2209
- 01:48:53,109 --> 01:48:56,530
- It was very clear what your purpose was.
- That's-- It's obvious."
- 2210
- 01:48:57,113 --> 01:48:58,573
- And he never wavered from it.
- 2211
- 01:48:59,199 --> 01:49:01,618
- Never. No matter what business he was in.
- 2212
- 01:49:01,701 --> 01:49:03,620
- Didn't matter if he was promoting a tour,
- 2213
- 01:49:03,703 --> 01:49:06,164
- running a record company,
- running a radio station.
- 2214
- 01:49:06,248 --> 01:49:08,416
- He knew his purpose, head-on,
- 2215
- 01:49:09,000 --> 01:49:11,503
- was black people
- are going to move forward.
- 2216
- 01:49:12,921 --> 01:49:16,424
- [Lewis] He'll take something
- that was impossible and make it possible,
- 2217
- 01:49:16,508 --> 01:49:18,343
- because he'll bring the parties together
- 2218
- 01:49:18,426 --> 01:49:21,972
- and make them understand the concept,
- the overall vision of it.
- 2219
- 01:49:22,556 --> 01:49:25,809
- Then he makes you realize
- your responsibility
- 2220
- 01:49:25,892 --> 01:49:27,352
- to whatever it is,
- 2221
- 01:49:27,435 --> 01:49:30,772
- and then your responsibility
- to give to the next one.
- 2222
- 01:49:30,855 --> 01:49:31,940
- Each one, teach one.
- 2223
- 01:49:32,399 --> 01:49:33,525
- Everybody's giving.
- 2224
- 01:49:34,109 --> 01:49:35,860
- And then the spirit gets bigger
- and bigger,
- 2225
- 01:49:35,944 --> 01:49:38,321
- and the circle gets bigger and bigger.
- 2226
- 01:49:38,405 --> 01:49:41,074
- And you keep touching, and moving,
- and shaking.
- 2227
- 01:49:41,157 --> 01:49:43,952
- And Clarence exposed us to that world.
- 2228
- 01:49:44,828 --> 01:49:47,080
- [Medina]
- Look at, like, that artistic journey
- 2229
- 01:49:47,163 --> 01:49:48,623
- and put anything in between it.
- 2230
- 01:49:48,707 --> 01:49:51,501
- Little Willie John is all the way
- over here,
- 2231
- 01:49:51,668 --> 01:49:54,212
- and Michael Jackson's right there
- in the middle,
- 2232
- 01:49:54,296 --> 01:49:58,258
- and then there's Bobby Brown,
- and then there's Alexander O'Neal,
- 2233
- 01:49:58,341 --> 01:50:01,386
- and then go another layer,
- and then you go from Quincy Jones
- 2234
- 01:50:01,469 --> 01:50:05,682
- to L.A. and Babyface, and Jimmy Jam
- and Terry Lewis, and Teddy Riley,
- 2235
- 01:50:05,765 --> 01:50:07,726
- and the list goes on and on and on.
- 2236
- 01:50:07,809 --> 01:50:09,853
- It's not even like he's a bridge.
- 2237
- 01:50:10,312 --> 01:50:11,396
- He's the way!
- 2238
- 01:50:12,230 --> 01:50:14,441
- You know, we call him the godfather
- as our parent.
- 2239
- 01:50:14,524 --> 01:50:16,276
- You know, we're all children of Clarence.
- 2240
- 01:50:16,359 --> 01:50:18,278
- We're all children of Clarence.
- And it's weird
- 2241
- 01:50:18,361 --> 01:50:21,114
- because sometimes you don't even know
- the other children of Clarence
- 2242
- 01:50:21,197 --> 01:50:23,366
- until you see them do something
- or say something.
- 2243
- 01:50:23,450 --> 01:50:24,909
- You're like, "Wait a minute.
- 2244
- 01:50:24,993 --> 01:50:28,955
- You don't just say that.
- That came from this bloodline."
- 2245
- 01:50:30,624 --> 01:50:32,042
- What the fuck is this?
- 2246
- 01:50:34,127 --> 01:50:35,629
- Now I'm getting nervous.
- 2247
- 01:50:37,297 --> 01:50:40,634
- [interviewer] Do you think it's possible
- for there to be another Clarence Avant?
- 2248
- 01:50:41,301 --> 01:50:42,218
- No.
- 2249
- 01:50:42,302 --> 01:50:44,846
- There could never be another Clarence.
- 2250
- 01:50:44,929 --> 01:50:46,765
- I don't feel comfortable
- answering that question
- 2251
- 01:50:46,848 --> 01:50:48,266
- 'cause it sounds a little crazy.
- 2252
- 01:50:48,350 --> 01:50:49,726
- I don't-- I don't wanna--
- 2253
- 01:50:49,809 --> 01:50:52,062
- That's not something
- I'm not even trying to think about.
- 2254
- 01:50:52,145 --> 01:50:54,564
- You only find one of those people.
- 2255
- 01:50:54,648 --> 01:50:57,233
- You don't find more than one.
- 2256
- 01:50:57,317 --> 01:50:59,194
- There will never be
- another Clarence Avant.
- 2257
- 01:50:59,277 --> 01:51:02,405
- However, his goal is to plant seeds,
- 2258
- 01:51:02,489 --> 01:51:04,616
- so that there can be individuals
- just like him.
- 2259
- 01:51:04,699 --> 01:51:07,744
- We all trying to live by his--
- the example that he set, a'ight?
- 2260
- 01:51:07,827 --> 01:51:10,205
- Which is, you know,
- share what you've learned
- 2261
- 01:51:10,288 --> 01:51:11,623
- with the next generation.
- 2262
- 01:51:11,706 --> 01:51:14,417
- He actually says--
- he has said it to me many times.
- 2263
- 01:51:14,709 --> 01:51:17,879
- He's like, "Baby, you gotta get
- your generation to be active.
- 2264
- 01:51:18,213 --> 01:51:19,047
- I'm tired.
- 2265
- 01:51:19,130 --> 01:51:20,799
- [laughs]
- 2266
- 01:51:20,882 --> 01:51:22,175
- This should be fun.
- 2267
- 01:51:22,300 --> 01:51:23,343
- [interviewer] Oh, yeah.
- 2268
- 01:51:23,843 --> 01:51:26,179
- [crowd clamoring]
- 2269
- 01:51:27,430 --> 01:51:29,432
- ["Lean On Me" plays]
- 2270
- 01:51:30,850 --> 01:51:34,312
- -My main man!
- -Hey, what's up? What's up?
- 2271
- 01:51:34,896 --> 01:51:35,730
- Hi.
- 2272
- 01:51:36,856 --> 01:51:38,817
- -A star is born.
- -That's right!
- 2273
- 01:51:38,900 --> 01:51:40,402
- [Withers] And so today,
- 2274
- 01:51:41,444 --> 01:51:42,278
- my man,
- 2275
- 01:51:42,862 --> 01:51:46,074
- they gonna put your name
- on the Walk of Fame.
- 2276
- 01:51:46,157 --> 01:51:48,159
- [crowd applauds, cheers]
- 2277
- 01:51:49,160 --> 01:51:50,203
- [Avant] Thank you.
- 2278
- 01:51:51,538 --> 01:51:52,539
- Wow!
- 2279
- 01:51:54,290 --> 01:51:57,669
- ♪ Sometimes in our life... ♪
- 2280
- 01:51:58,503 --> 01:52:01,923
- [Babyface]
- Because it isn't always about the money.
- 2281
- 01:52:02,006 --> 01:52:03,341
- Well, he would beg to differ.
- 2282
- 01:52:03,425 --> 01:52:07,846
- Yeah, I know. He would beg to differ,
- but I would argue that
- 2283
- 01:52:07,929 --> 01:52:09,389
- that's part of his game.
- 2284
- 01:52:09,472 --> 01:52:10,640
- 'Cause...
- 2285
- 01:52:10,724 --> 01:52:13,268
- I believe what's most important
- to Clarence Avant
- 2286
- 01:52:13,351 --> 01:52:15,103
- has nothing to do with money.
- 2287
- 01:52:15,186 --> 01:52:18,481
- And he will argue it all day long,
- but I disagree completely.
- 2288
- 01:52:18,565 --> 01:52:20,150
- It has to do with
- 2289
- 01:52:20,233 --> 01:52:23,945
- how much did it help you,
- help your family,
- 2290
- 01:52:24,028 --> 01:52:25,321
- and help your people,
- 2291
- 01:52:25,864 --> 01:52:26,990
- help everyone?
- 2292
- 01:52:27,574 --> 01:52:29,075
- [Foxx] Thank you for doing what you do.
- 2293
- 01:52:29,159 --> 01:52:30,744
- We will take this
- to the next generation
- 2294
- 01:52:30,827 --> 01:52:31,995
- and keep on going.ÂÂ
- 2295
- 01:52:35,707 --> 01:52:39,669
- [Babyface] If he felt like you were
- going out there and doing for others
- 2296
- 01:52:39,753 --> 01:52:41,379
- as he's tried to do for you...
- 2297
- 01:52:42,338 --> 01:52:43,173
- then I think
- 2298
- 01:52:43,256 --> 01:52:46,301
- he would feel much better
- about not getting that.
- 2299
- 01:52:46,384 --> 01:52:49,721
- But if he feels like he did all this,
- and you did nothing...
- 2300
- 01:52:50,305 --> 01:52:52,557
- with it, and you helped no one,
- 2301
- 01:52:53,141 --> 01:52:54,476
- then that was a bad investment.
- 2302
- 01:52:54,559 --> 01:52:57,437
- -Yeah.
- -Of my time and my love.
- 2303
- 01:52:58,480 --> 01:53:01,524
- That's why we'll always have respect
- for Clarence Avant, 'cause in the--
- 2304
- 01:53:01,608 --> 01:53:02,567
- in the end,
- 2305
- 01:53:03,526 --> 01:53:05,570
- he's got family. He's the first family,
- 2306
- 01:53:05,653 --> 01:53:07,947
- and that ain't been about money,
- that's about love.
- 2307
- 01:53:08,031 --> 01:53:09,991
- Let's get that family together.
- 2308
- 01:53:10,992 --> 01:53:12,035
- That's the example.
- 2309
- 01:53:12,327 --> 01:53:16,039
- ♪ Oh, lean on me ♪
- 2310
- 01:53:17,749 --> 01:53:20,668
- Hey, man, I had a good life thus far.
- 2311
- 01:53:21,044 --> 01:53:23,087
- If I wake up tomorrow morning,
- and I'm Warren Buffett,
- 2312
- 01:53:23,171 --> 01:53:24,464
- I'll have a better life.
- 2313
- 01:53:24,547 --> 01:53:26,549
- [vocalizing]
- 2314
- 01:53:31,221 --> 01:53:34,015
- You know, whenever I see Clarence,
- he always gives me a hug,
- 2315
- 01:53:34,098 --> 01:53:35,683
- and cusses me out,
- 2316
- 01:53:35,767 --> 01:53:38,144
- [chuckles]
- and then ask me what I'm doing.
- 2317
- 01:53:38,228 --> 01:53:40,939
- Know what I mean? He's like,
- "Motherfucker, what are you talking about?
- 2318
- 01:53:41,022 --> 01:53:43,107
- You know, I mean,
- that's some bullshit!"
- 2319
- 01:53:43,191 --> 01:53:45,610
- Clarence had that old,
- by the bayou cussing.
- 2320
- 01:53:45,693 --> 01:53:47,529
- "Now, you get your motherfucking ass."
- 2321
- 01:53:47,612 --> 01:53:50,365
- You know, how you got
- that inflection like that.
- 2322
- 01:53:50,448 --> 01:53:52,325
- "You get your motherfucking ass!"
- 2323
- 01:53:52,408 --> 01:53:54,327
- For me, he's called me
- 2324
- 01:53:54,410 --> 01:53:56,996
- every kind of name
- you can probably think of.
- 2325
- 01:53:57,080 --> 01:54:01,835
- Clarence would be on the phone,
- calling the president of a studio an MF.
- 2326
- 01:54:01,918 --> 01:54:03,753
- What the fuck is he doing?
- 2327
- 01:54:03,837 --> 01:54:05,630
- "What the fuck was that?
- What y'all doing?"
- 2328
- 01:54:05,713 --> 01:54:08,383
- You've never been cussed out
- till Clarence cusses you out.
- 2329
- 01:54:08,466 --> 01:54:10,093
- A Clarence curse-out was like...
- 2330
- 01:54:10,677 --> 01:54:12,262
- "Wow, that was great."
- 2331
- 01:54:13,304 --> 01:54:14,889
- Like Stockholm Syndrome.
- 2332
- 01:54:14,973 --> 01:54:16,850
- [laughing]
- 2333
- 01:54:16,933 --> 01:54:19,394
- "All right, motherfucker!
- Let's go get paid!
- 2334
- 01:54:19,727 --> 01:54:21,062
- Let's go get paid!"
- 2335
- 01:54:21,145 --> 01:54:23,314
- Most affectionate "motherfucker"
- anybody could give you.
- 2336
- 01:54:23,398 --> 01:54:24,232
- Yeah.
- 2337
- 01:54:24,315 --> 01:54:25,650
- It's almost like Jekyll and Hyde.
- 2338
- 01:54:25,733 --> 01:54:28,111
- You can't believe that we're talking
- about the same...
- 2339
- 01:54:29,863 --> 01:54:32,198
- eloquent person that we know so well.
- 2340
- 01:54:32,282 --> 01:54:34,909
- You know, I've been called motherfucker
- so much by Clarence,
- 2341
- 01:54:34,993 --> 01:54:37,412
- I thought "motherfucker"
- was my middle... [laughing]
- 2342
- 01:54:37,495 --> 01:54:38,997
- Clarence has never cursed me out,
- 2343
- 01:54:39,080 --> 01:54:41,457
- I am so proud to say.
- 2344
- 01:54:43,918 --> 01:54:47,005
- Now, when y'all through with me,
- how much y'all paying me for all this?
- 2345
- 01:54:47,088 --> 01:54:48,131
- [interviewer laughs]
- 2346
- 01:54:48,214 --> 01:54:49,507
- ♪ To bring the light ♪
- 2347
- 01:54:51,426 --> 01:54:53,428
- [vocalizing]
- 2348
- 01:54:56,723 --> 01:55:00,518
- ♪ To bring the light, yeah ♪
- 2349
- 01:55:06,858 --> 01:55:10,820
- ♪ I'm sorry if this is a bore ♪
- 2350
- 01:55:10,904 --> 01:55:14,616
- ♪ But I wasn't fitting in here before ♪
- 2351
- 01:55:14,699 --> 01:55:16,701
- ♪ So I toast him tonight ♪
- 2352
- 01:55:27,003 --> 01:55:30,256
- ♪ When your trajectory was off ♪
- 2353
- 01:55:35,678 --> 01:55:37,972
- ♪ And couldn't find true north ♪
- 2354
- 01:55:38,431 --> 01:55:39,807
- ♪ Just lost ♪
- 2355
- 01:55:44,354 --> 01:55:48,816
- ♪ He would say,
- "Protect him at all costs" ♪
- 2356
- 01:55:53,988 --> 01:55:57,867
- ♪ Then he would hang up the call ♪
- 2357
- 01:56:00,954 --> 01:56:06,709
- ♪ But we
- We can still hug him now ♪
- 2358
- 01:56:12,131 --> 01:56:15,885
- ♪ After all these years ♪
- 2359
- 01:56:21,015 --> 01:56:24,894
- ♪ 'Cause when the darkness comes ♪
- 2360
- 01:56:30,483 --> 01:56:33,778
- ♪ He's our chandelier ♪
- 2361
- 01:56:36,030 --> 01:56:38,032
- ♪ To bring the light ♪
- 2362
- 01:56:44,998 --> 01:56:48,501
- ♪ To bring the light, yeah ♪
- 2363
- 01:56:54,841 --> 01:56:58,845
- ♪ I'm sorry if this is a bore ♪
- 2364
- 01:56:58,928 --> 01:57:02,640
- ♪ But I wasn't fitting in here before ♪
- 2365
- 01:57:02,724 --> 01:57:04,976
- ♪ So I toast him tonight ♪
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