re: Mark Bego ... Biographer To The Rock And
Roll Stars:
After the passing of keyboardist Jimmy Greenspoon of Three Dog Night a
couple of weeks ago, we ran a heartfelt tribute by Mark Bego who, along with
Jimmy, told the rock star's story by way of the musical biography "One Is The
Loneliest Number".
Here is Mark's original piece as submitted to Forgotten Hits:
Kent:
Hello there. I am sure you heard about the passing
of Jimmy Greenspoon of Three Dog Night, March 11. At a loss to find a way to
immediately channel my grief for the passing of a dear friend, I composed the
following. Hopefully you can run it in Forgotten Hits.
Many thanks,
Mark
Jimmy Greenspoon of Three Dog Night (1948 –
2015)
Jimmy Greenspoon was one of the most
upbeat, talented, energetic, and positive thinking people I have ever met. I had
the rare privilege of writing his autobiography with him, "One is the Loneliest
Number" (1991). Along the way, we became
close friends. I am so saddened to hear of his passing today. He came to
New York City in
the late 1980s, and together we plotted to tell his wild roller coaster ride to
the top of the rock world, his descent into the depths of drug abuse, and his
dramatic stint with rehabilitation. We
hit it off immediately, and we plotted to write what we thought was the ultimate
rock & roll autobiography.
Being with Jimmy was like trying to harness a
tornado. He had such boundless
energy. Once we sold our proposal to a
publisher, I moved into his house in Arizona, and we worked every day for over four
months. Together we created one of the
best and most popular rock & roll books of my career. When I came up with the idea of producing a
radio show, it was Jimmy who stepped up to the plate and wrote me a theme song
called “On the Mark.” When I told him
that I wanted to write a rock & roll cookbook, he was one of the first rock
stars to give me recipes. That was the
kind of friend he was. Whatever was
needed, he was there to help. Jimmy
Greenspoon continues to be an inspiration to so many people—me included. The world has lost a wonderful and talented
keyboard player, and we have all lost a dear friend. Jimmy was truly the heart
of Three Dog Night. His music and his talent lives
on.
Mark
Bego
While I have read a number
of Mark's books over the years, I had NOT read "One Is The Loneliest Number" ...
and, with Jimmy's passing, I was intrigued to do so. However, in searching for
a copy online, I discovered that this book is now out of print. (Even Chuck
Negron's excellent book "Three Dog Nightmare" ... aka "The Story of Chuck's
Exploding Penis" ... a book we have highly recommended many times over the years ... is now out of
print, too.)
Far too often this books
disappear right before our very eyes before new fans discovering their existence
have had a chance to read them. (Sure, used copies can be found ... for $999!!!
... check Amazon! ... but AFFORDABLE copies are pretty scarce and hard to
find.)
And, the fact of the matter
is, that MANY of these books, with a little bit of serious updating, could
easily become viable and desirable, sought-after collectible material again.
(Kind of like "Behind The Music: Remastered" ... where VH1 takes fantastic
documentaries from their archives and then tacks on a new 10-15 minute epilogue,
bringing the audience up to date with (what Paul Harvey used to like to
say) "the rest of the story".
So I got to thinking ...
what about a Bego 2.0 book series? Mark has written SO many books over the
years ... 61 and counting, to be exact ... why not pick some of the most
desirable titles, commission an upgrade to bring these books up to date ... and
make them available to the public again? (I mean, technically Forgotten Hits is
a publisher, right? So who can we partner with to do a "soft launch" ... isn't
that the radio term? ... put some feelers out there and make new and updated
versions of these books available to the public.) With all this new digital,
on-demand printing and publishing available, wouldn't this make for a likely
outlet to do so? Make the books available through our service, Amazon ... and
others LIKE Amazon ... the artists' websites ... etc, etc, etc ... they could be
sold at live shows and places like Half-Priced Books ... and, in this way, brand
new fans could discover their existence at an affordable price.
So I'm throwing it out there
to all the movers and shaker on our list ... we're open to any ideas that might
help to make this happen. Drop me a line with your suggestions and we'll see
where it goes from here. (Hey, I figure that at the very least, I'll be able to
read "One Is The Loneliest Number" for under a thousand bucks!!!)
Kent:
I meant to write to you sooner to thank you for running
my paragraph on my dear friend Jimmy Greenspoon. I have just been stunned by
the news of his passing. I thought there would be at least several more weeks
to do more and say more to him.
The book "One is the Loneliest Number" was such an
important book in by career. Unfortunately, at this point, the book is out of
print, and in the last several weeks I have started to actively looking for a
publisher who would be interested in purchasing it to publish an updated
version. I would love to get an advance that would be of help to Jimmy's widow,
to offset the medical costs that I know they will be hit with for Jimmy's care.
If you have any suggestions, let me know. I would
love to have his book come out again, so that his story will live
on.
Thank you so much for your letter. I like your ideas,
and I will put a list of titles together to send to you. I have been thinking
about the prime ones that are due for updating and I will put some thoughts down
on paper and send them to you.
Many thanks to you Kent.
Cheers,
Mark
After reviewing Mark's list, we've flagged some of the most likely
candidates for updating below ... obviously, we don't need (nor could we
possibly afford) to do a ton of titles at once ... just pick the very best,
mostly "timely" and deserving titles as a starting point ... and see who out
there might be able to help us get this project off the ground. Again, please
drop me an email and we'll see if we can get the ball rolling from there.
Thanks in advance to all who might be willing to support our
efforts!
kk
kk
Kent Kotal
Forgotten Hits
Books by MARK
BEGO
1. The Captain &
Tennille (1977)
OUT OF PRINT
Might
make for an interesting update ... now nearly 40 years out
of date ... especially since the couple announced their split after nearly 40
years of marriage, reportedly with behind-the-scenes motivation tied to medical
reasons that never really came out. (kk)
2. Barry
Manilow (1977) OUT OF PRINT
3. The Doobie Brothers (1980) OUT OF
PRINT
4. Michael! [Jackson] (1984) OUT OF
PRINT except IN PRINT IN
JAPAN
5. On the Road With Michael! [Jackson] (1984) OUT OF
PRINT U.S.
6. Madonna! (1985) UPDATE IN
PRINT
7. Rock Hudson:
Public & Private (1986) OUT
OF PRINT
8. Sade! (1986) OUT OF
PRINT
9. Julian Lennon! (1986) OUT OF
PRINT
I'd be curious to see an update to
this one ... although Julian has been out of the public eye for quite some time
now ... he may have some interesting perspective to share, however, after nearly
thirty years of new reflection (kk)
10. The Best of “Modern Screen” (1986) OUT OF
PRINT
11. Whitney! [Houston] (1986) UPDATE IN
PRINT
12. Cher! (1986) UPDATE IN
PRINT
13. Bette Midler: Outrageously Divine (1987) UPDATE IN
PRINT
14. The Linda Gray Story
(1988) OUT OF PRINT
After the success of the Dallas
reboot ... and the passing of Larry Hagman ... this might make for some
fascinating reading. (kk)
15. TV Rock [The History of Rock & Roll
on Television] (1988) OUT OF PRINT
16. Aretha Franklin: Queen of Soul (1989) UPDATE IN
PRINT
Highly recommended
(kk)
17. Between the Lines [with Debbie Gibson]
(1990) OUT OF PRINT
18. Linda Ronstadt: It’s So Easy (1990) OUT OF
PRINT
Definitely due for an update, with
her current health condition and induction into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
(FINALLY!!!) kk
19. Ice Ice Ice: The Extraordinary Vanilla Ice Story
(1991) OUT OF PRINT
20. One Is
the Loneliest Number [with Jimmy Greenspoon of Three Dog Night] (1991) OUT OF
PRINT
With Jimmy's recent passing ... and
the fact that two factions of Three Dog Night continue to perform around the
globe ... this would make for a very interesting update (kk)
21. Madonna:
Blonde Ambition (1992)
UPDATE IN PRINT
22. I’m A Believer: My Life of Music, Monkees and Madness
[with Micky Dolenz
of The Monkees] (1993) UPDATE IN PRINT
I might have to get the new version of
this one ... Micky's been busier these past ten years that at any other time in
his long-running career! (kk)
23. Country Hunks (1994) OUT OF
PRINT
24. Country Gals (1994) OUT OF
PRINT
25. Dancing In the
Street: Confessions of a Motown Diva
[with Martha Reeves of Martha & The Vandellas]
(1994) OUT OF
PRINT
26. I Fall To Pieces: The Music & The Life of Patsy
Cline (1995) OUT OF PRINT
I would think that there would ALWAYS
be a market for this one! (kk)
27. Bonnie Raitt: Just In the Nick of Time (1995) UPDATE IN
PRINT
28. Rock & Roll Almanac (1996) OUT OF
PRINT
29. Alan Jackson: Gone Country (1996) OUT OF
PRINT
30. Raised on Rock: The Autobiography of Elvis Presley’s Step
Brother [with David Stanley] (1996) OUT OF PRINT
31. George Strait:
The Story of Country’s Living Legend (1997) OUT OF
PRINT
32. Leonardo DiCaprio: Romantic Hero (1998) OUT OF
PRINT
This is another one I think there
will always be a market for ... Leo's grown up in the past 17 years!
(kk)
33. LeAnn Rimes (1998) OUT OF PRINT
34. Jewel (1998) OUT OF
PRINT
35. Matt Damon:
Chasing a Dream (1998) OUT OF
PRINT
36. Will Smith: The Freshest Prince (1998) OUT OF
PRINT
Another guy who's come a long, long
way since 1998. (kk)
37. Vince Gill (2000) OUT OF
PRINT
38. Madonna:
Blonde Ambition Updated
Edition (2000) IN PRINT
39. Aretha Franklin: Queen of Soul Updated Edition (2001) UPDATE IN
PRINT
40. The Marx Brothers (2001) IN
PRINT
41. Cher: If
You Believe (2001) IN PRINT
42. Bette Midler: Still Divine (2002) IN
PRINT
43. Bonnie Raitt: STILL In the Nick of Time
Updated Edition(2003) IN PRINT
44. Julia Roberts: America’s Sweetheart (2003) OUT OF
PRINT
45. Tina Turner: Break Every Rule
(2003) IN PRINT
46. I’m a Believer: My Life
of Music, Monkees & Madness [with Micky Dolenz of The Monkees]
Updated Edition (2004) IN PRINT
47. Joni Mitchell (2005) IN
PRINT
With talk of a Joni biopic in the works,
this should be an interesting one to read (kk)
48. Jackson
Browne: His Life and Music
(2005) OUT OF PRINT
(49) Yolana: Just One More Question [with
Yolana Bard] (2006) IN PRINT
(50) Billy Joel: The Biography
(2007) IN PRINT U.K. /
OUT OF PRINT U.S.
There's been a huge resurgence in Billy's music ... I think this
would be a good one to update
(kk)
(51) Macho Man [with Randy Jones of Village
People] (2008) IN PRINT
(52) Elton John:
The Bitch is Back (2009)
IN PRINT U.K. / OUT OF PRINT
U.S.
(53) One Minute Before Midnight [with Ruth
Mueller] (2009) IN PRINT
(54) Tina Turner: Die Biografie [in German
only] (2009) IN PRINT
(55) Whitney Houston: Die Biografie [in German only]
(2009) IN PRINT
(56) Paperback Writer a Memoir (2010) IN
PRINT
(57) Where the Action Is! [with Freddy
Cannon] (2011) IN PRINT
Another good one ... written with our FH
Buddy Freddy Cannon
(58) Whitney Houston: The Spectacular Rise and Tragic Fall of the
Woman Whose Voice Inspired a Generation (2012) IN
PRINT
(59) Aretha Franklin: The Queen of Soul [Her 70th
Birthday Edition] (2012)
IN
PRINT
(60) Murder at Motor City Records (2012) IN
PRINT
(61) Life with My Father: Glen Campbell [with Debby Campbell]
(2014) IN PRINT
Mark has a few ideas of where he'd like to start, too ... see below
...
Kent:
As you requested, below please find a list of all of my
books, with notations about which ones are available and in print, and which
ones are available for updating.
On the rock & roll list, the ones -- in my mind --
that most need updating are the Jimmy Greenspoon, and the Linda Ronstadt.
(Linda really wrote a shallow and unforthcoming book about herself two years
ago, but she said almost nothing in it!)
Trailing close behind would be my books on Martha
Reeves and Jackson Browne. I would be thrilled if someone would take all four
of these books for updating and for reprint.
Take a look at my list of books, their "in print" and
"out of print" status, and let me know your thoughts.
Cheers,
Mark
PS -- Kent, also ... "thank you" very much for your
interest in my books, and helping to keep these stories alive!
Again, PLEASE contact me if you think you might have an
interest (and the resources) to help us relaunch some of these great titles.
Thank you!
kk
kk
Kent Kotal
Forgotten Hits
