Herb Cohen - former record executive and manager for Tom Waits - is sueing writer Barney Hoskyns and publisher Random House for libel. According to Cohen, the claims he 'nicked a lot of money' from Tom Waits and similar allegations in Hoskyns' biography Lowside of the Road, A Life of Tom Waits are false and defamatory. He is looking for over $1 million in damages.
You can read the suit as it is filed over at courthousenews.com (pdf).
Barney Hoskyns has declined to comment for the moment.
11 comments:
"Cohen states claims he 'nicked a lot of money' from Tom Waits and similar allegations that are made in Hoskyns' biography"
?@£?+??%???
You might want to re-type that.
Oh!
Sorry, I re-read it - makes perfect sense. It was the legal use of the term 'states' that threw me, and excessive tiredness. :-)
This case could get messy. I wonder what Tom'll have to say about it.
I misread that sentence as well.
I read "Cohen claims he nicked a lot money from Tom Waits".
Entirely my fault ...
Has anyopne on here actually READ the Hoskyns book yet?
I've got it but am totally
unmotivated to read it - how can you write 500-ish pages about someone without actually talking to them direct?
is it worth the bother?
And if Tom is not happy with folk knowing about him, should we, as fans, read it against his wishes?
I am from Australia, and I wasn't going to get the book, because I already have a couple. But after seeing a book review on one of cable channels by Lenny Bartulin (who admitted he was a Tom Waits fan), I got on the internet and oreder the hardback from the book depository (great site to buy books - no postage world wide). He gave the book a great wrap, saying that even if you weren't a Waits fan, it was fantastic history of contemporary American music. Even thought Waits and his friends didn't contribute to the book, it was great reading and gave great insight into the man. I can't wait for the book to arrive and to read it.
i read the book, just finished it yesterday. its a great read, alot of interesting studio info, musicians on each record etc. stuff like that. I too wonder what Waits will have to say about this. At the end of the book Hoskyns prints out letters he recieved from alot of friends of Toms and they all state why they wouldnt contribute interviews for the book. So it does seem Hoskyns just took alot of info from hear say stories from other previous books on Waits. My prediction is Cohen will win, maybe not the million he is asking, but i bet the book gets revised and the paragraphs about Cohen gets removed. Anyway, if you want to know about each recording session for all his records, read this book, it is really in depth. But there is alot of fluff gossip intertwined in it.....I wasn not aware when i ordered the book that Waits didnt even contribute anything to it, or I too probably wouldnt have bought it. Anyone read any of the other Hoskyns books? Are all his biographies unauthorized? Gossipy?
Herbie's not one to be trifled with. Frank Zappa, Cynthia Plaster Caster, no one escapes unscathed.
FYI - Beck and Tom have teamed up for some interesting discussions on Beck's site "Irrelevant Topics". http://beck.com/irrelevant_topics
For chrissake... all this only for money... first Michael Jackson, now Tom !
The book is OK, the laugh out loud moments are all quotes from Tom and/or his antics (like having his car broken into while he was purchasing a stuffed anaconda)but it is a poor substitute for a serious musical biography. Perhaps the "unauthorized" nature does not allow for publishing sheet music, but hard to discuss a musicians work without this basic tool. Also not a single photo of Kathleen (or the kids) - odd considering all the photos. Reads like a comic book - simple sentences and no specific point of view. Very favorable to the Waits ouevre but offers little useful author insight- an obvious mercenary operation.
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