David Libert – Rock And Roll Warrior – Sunset Blvd Books

by | Sep 10, 2022 | Special Features | 0 comments

This is an engaging, incisive glimpse into a unique music and business career.

David Libert – Rock And Roll Warrior/My Misadventures With Alice Cooper, Prince, George Clinton, Living Colour, The Runaways and More…Sunset Blvd Books (ISBN 978-1-68524-436-1, 272 pages, paperback) ****:

Most rock and roll fans want to be backstage in the wild rock and roll experience. Biographies of rock stars abound with sufficient detail, and commentary. There is a new addition to rock literature, David Libert’s Rock And Roll Warrior. This unassuming autobiography details a linear, chronological narrative that begins with the author’s pop musical career with The Happenings (“See You In September”), before transitioning to larger-scale rock and roll tour management and artist representation. A constant in this evolution is Libert’s love and dedication to music. Whether it’s learning the piano (or being forced to learn by his parents…a common tale), forming a doo-wop inspired band in Paterson, New Jersey or running a world tour for a mega star like Alice Cooper (who seems to be a “regular” guy), Libert adopts a self-effacing attitude in his writing. 

After Libert quits The Happenings, he becomes tour manager for Alice Cooper (following a brief stint with Rare Earth and Exuma). This four years is an immersion into the grandiosity and excesses of big time rock and roll. There are typical salacious hi-jinx with many details, but also logistical insights into the operation of a major international tour. in essence, it is a forum about the business of rock. As with most people, Libert is both seduced and burned out by the adrenalized, hedonistic lifestyle. Shifting to agency presentation, he manages George Clinton/Funkadelic, Suzi Quatro, Brian Auger, Bootsy Collins, Sheila E, Living Colour and Vanilla Fudge.  Along the way, he has several encounters with cultural icons (Aretha Franklin, Bill Graham, Axl Rose, Slash, Annie Leibovitz). Meanwhile, his naïveté and drug-fueled oblivion inevitably land him in jail. Amazingly, Libert preservers and rebuilds his professional and personal life, albeit less glamorous. A warrior and a survivor.

Rock And Roll Warrior/My Misadventures With Alice Cooper, Prince, George Clinton, Living Colour, The Runaways And More…is an accessible well-paced account. The reader gets a bona fide insider’s glimpse into various aspects of the the rock and roll (and some r & b) music business over a multiple decade period. There are several noteworthy anecdotes and amusing trivia (e.g.the name of Alice Cooper’s snake was Eva Marie Snake). The book is also available in hardback and digital. 

—Robbie Gerson 

For more information on this publication:   Rock and Roll Warrior




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