“His joy came from always putting the comfort of other people before himself“
Shep Gordon, about the French Michelin three-star chef Roger Vergé (and seems to be what Gordon modeled himself)
Highly recommend watching the documentary “Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon” (2013, 1h 25m, available on Netflix) to learn about the astounding career of the lovable Shep Gordon, the entertainment industry, how artists and legends are created and the interesting psychology behind building an image. More than anything this is a film about how to live a happy life, by putting other people first and not expecting anything in return. It is also a lesson in how to build brands, how to read your audience in order to orchestrate the most impactful acts of PR and Marketing.
Mike Myers‘ directional debut contains a large array of amusing anecdotes and new perspectives on pop cultural phenomenons that have not been shared before. These nuggets are mixed in between the many stories that make up Gordon’s fascinating career through which he managed clients such as Alice Cooper, Luther Vandross, Blondie, Teddy Pendergrass and Pink Floyd. We learn that Gordon actually fell into music management by chance after moving to LA straight out of college, and befriending Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix. The film traces Shep’s transformation from the 1970’s hedonist to today’s practicing Buddhist yearning for a family of his own.
The Music Manager
Watching the film feels like sitting at a restaurant with a guy who’s got some of the best stories you have heard in your life. It is said that Jimi Hendrix idea that Gordon become a manager and to represent Alice Cooper. Gordon forged his most enduring relationship, with the heavy-metal artist who would later go by the solo moniker of Alice Cooper. Gordon helped turn Cooper into an international sensation, often through the use of brilliant publicity stunts such as wrapping panties around copies of Cooper’s 1972 album “School’s Out”. Gordon has a kind of innate showbiz acumen, and these many stunts established the Gordon’s resourcefulness, sometimes scandal-seeking tactics which leads him to great innovations on his client’s behalf.
A great example of this is when Alice Cooper was going to have his first stadium concert in New York, very few tickets were sold. The main audience was teenagers, and it is very hard to convince a teenager that something is “cool”. However, Gordon came to the realization that teenagers tend to be in opposition to their parents, and typically like what their parents hate, or would like to do what their parents disallow them. It is quite easy to upset the teen parent-generation. Thus, Gordon orchestrated a PR stunt in which he had a truck with a large two-sided billboard with a semi-nude Alice Cooper on the back drive slowly through Times Square, and then have a fake motor breakdown blocking the street. This caused traffic chaos, and lead to massive publicity on radio, newspapers and TV. It caused outrage and hate among the teen parent-generation for everything that Alice Cooper represented, which in turn lead teenagers all over the city to embrace Cooper. Only a few days later the concert was sold out. A pure strike of genius on the part of Gordon, and a perfect example of how to use psychology to make an approach that both build/enhance an image/brand, stage free press & publicity that you can monetize while indirectly making something new “thing/trend” ― a 4D chess move.
We learn about the Hollywood Vampires, a celebrity drinking club formed by Cooper in the 1970s which included, but was not limited to: John Lennon and Ringo Starr of the Beatles, Harry Nilsson, Keith Moon of the Who, and Micky Dolenz of the Monkees. Gordon also managed to make the angelic Canadian songbird Anne Murray into a hip star thanks to a perfectly timed photo-opportunity with John Lennon.
The film is at its best when it is looking at Gordon’s business savviness. He helped invent the Alice Cooper persona, and even placed the ill-fated chicken onstage that launched Cooper’s moneymaking bad reputation. Gordon is also credited as the man who jump-started the wave of celebrity TV chefs.
The Celebrity Chef Manager
The film also addresses Gordon’s personal life, his personal philosophy, his passion for cooking and how it has affected his friendships over the years. Cooking also lead him to friendships with people like the French Michelin three-star chef Roger Vergé and Wolfgang Puck. Which evolved into managing chefs such as Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck, Paul Prudhomme, and Charlie Trotter, which then lead to ushering in the era of celebrity chefs on television.
In 1977, Gordon met French chef Roger Vergé in Cannes at his restaurant Le Moulin de Mougins. Vergé, the father of nouvelle cuisine, had three Michelin stars and regularly embarked on live roadshows across the world. Gordon did not know who he was, but immediately decided he was someone Gordon wanted to learn from. Vergé and Gordon became genuine friends. Gordon attended cooking school and the two traveled extensively together.
Gordon: “What I learned from Mr. Vergé is that you can be successful and happy. I had only seen success and misery. His joy came from always putting the comfort of other people before him.” Vergé’s philosophy of inhaling other people’s pain and suffering, while exhaling loving kindness, closely resembles the Buddhist practice of Tonglen. Gordon, evidently attracted to ideas like that, eventually became a Buddhist (and has cooked for the Dalai Lama).
After a decade of friendship, Gordon became Vergé’s manager. Gordon discovered, that Vergé was regularly forbidden from eating at the venues wherein his seminars took place since he was considered “the help.” He also wasn’t paid, very well or at all. Vergé’s fate was shared by many chefs. Soon Gordon was approached by 35 chefs who asked him to help them during a lunch at Spago (Wolfgang Puck’s flagship). In 1993, Gordon founded Alive Culinary Resources which represented some of the world’s most renowned chefs as “nobody had a clear path how to monetize their talent and expand it“.
Gordon instinctively knew chefs had to sell products, but he also knew they had to be celebrities first. “How do you make a person think of a chef as a celebrity if they never have before?” he asked, “Television.” Thus, Gordon offered up his roster, for free, in exchange for commercial airtime to attempt to sell any product they desired to the newborn Television Food Network.
Soon after launching the careers of the celebrity chefs, Gordon retired to host dinner parties in his Maui home in Hawaii. The dinner parties were legendary, talking business was forbidden, and Gordon brought to life Vergé’s maxim: to put the comfort of other people (his guests) before his own. They were, by all accounts, truly wonderful evenings full of warmth, friendship and fellowship.
A Few Highlights
- Involved in bringing such films as “Koyaanisqatsi” (1982), “El Norte” (1983) and “Kiss of the Spider Woman” (1985) into theaters.
- Pioneered the “For Ladies Only” concerts, that shot Teddy (Theodore DeReese) Pendergrass’ R&B career into the stratosphere.
- Made Anne Murray into a hip star thanks to a perfectly timed photo-opportunity with John Lennon.
- Saved Groucho Marx from financial ruin.
- Shared a cat with Cary Grant.
- Married a Playboy model (though their marriage was annulled soon after).
- Helped invent the Alice Cooper persona.
- Had a relationship with Sharon Stone (who introduced him to the Dalai Lama).
- Cooked for the Dalai Lama.
- Jump-started the wave of celebrity TV chefs.
- Involved in the Cameron Crowe plane crash story fictionalized in the movie “Almost Famous” (2000).
- Hosted numerous dinner parties in Maui with every celebrity imaginable as guests.
- Nursed Mike Myers back to health across 2 months at his home in Maui.
- Effectively adopting his ex, Winona Williams, grandchildren as his own.
Supermensch, in essence, depict the rise of Shep Gordon as one of the most influential and respected personalities in show business, revered for his kindness, charisma as well as fondness for a good time.
Watch the trailer for “Supermensch – The Legend of Shep Gordon” below
Shep Gordon also released a book in 2016 called “They Call Me Supermensch: A Backstage Pass to the Amazing Worlds of Film, Food, and Rock’n’Roll“, which covers his entertaining journey and endeavors in even more detail. If you thoroughly enjoyed the film, then this book is for you.
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