Albert Goldman: Encyclopedia - Albert Goldman

Albert Goldman

Albert Harry Goldman (April 15, 1927 – March 28, 1994) was an American professor and author.

Born in Dormont, Pennsylvania, Albert Goldman wrote about the culture and personalities of the American music industry both in books and as a contributor to magazines. However, he is best known for his controversial biographies on Elvis Presley and John Lennon.

Albert Goldman's 1981 book titled Elvis, the author repeatedly belittled the late singer over his weight problems, his diet, his choice of performing costumes, and his sexual appetites and peculiarities. Goldman saw himself as a purist, and is quoted as saying: "Commercial to the core, Elvis was the kind of singer dear to the heart of the music business. For him to sing a song was to sell a song. His G clef was a dollar sign." Of the estimated four hundred+ books on Presley, none ever upset his fans as much as Goldman did. In 1990, he published a second book on the circumstances and events of Presley's death.

In his 1988 book on The Lives of John Lennon, Goldman drew the wrath of fans after being repeatedly critical of the dead music icon and alleging that Lennon had a homosexual relationship with The Beatles manager, Brian Epstein. The book contained much unsubstantiated conjecture by Goldman, including the allegation that Lennon solicited underage male prostitutes in Thailand.

Not everything Goldman wrote was negative. In his book on Lenny Bruce, he rated Bruce as one of the greatest comic geniuses ever and in a Life Magazine article, he referred to Elvin Jones as "the world's greatest rhythmic drummer."

He was memorably portrayed by Phil Hartman on Saturday Night Live.

Partial bibliography:

• Ladies and gentlemen - Lenny Bruce!! (1971)
• Freakshow;: The rocksoulbluesjazzsickjewblackhumorsexpoppsych gig and other scenes from the counter-culture (1971)
• Carnival in Rio (1978)
• Grass Roots: Marijuana in America Today (1979)
• Elvis (1981)
• Disco (1988)
• The Lives of John Lennon (1988)
• Elvis: The Last 24 Hours (1990)
• Sound Bites (1992)
• Freakshow : Misadventures in the Counterculture, 1959-1971 (2001) - posthumous collection

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Albert Goldman", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki