Alice Cooper Shares How George Harrison Wanted To Steal His Manager For The Beatles

The iconic musician Alice Cooper recently opened up about the time when his manager Shep Gordon was asked to work with the Beatles during an appearance of Joe Bonamassa’s Live From Nerdville podcast, and apparently, lead guitarist George Harrison wanted the famous manager for his band, however, couldn’t persuade Gordon.

As many of you know, Shep Gordon is a well-known talent manager, Hollywood film agent, and producer who previously worked with legendary artists including Blondie, Gary Wright, Anne Murray, Pink Floyd, and countless others as well as collaborating with iconic musicians on other business areas such as being partners with former Van Halen vocalist Sammy Hagar on Cabo Wabo Tequila and partnering with Willie Nelson to create Old Whiskey River Bourbon.

Despite working with a-list celebrities and musicians throughout his career, the only staple artist Shep Gordon has been working with is Alice Cooper with whom he was introduced by drummer Neal Smith’s sister Cindy Smith in 1968. Since then, Gordon has been continuously managing Alice Cooper to this day even without a contract.

‘The Godfather of Shock Rock’ recently opened up about the time when his manager Shep Gordon was asked to work with the Beatles by the lead guitarist George Harrison during a recent interview. Apparently, the iconic manager decided to stop working with every client of his out of the blue, except Alice Cooper, and call it quits with every other musician which was an extremely bold move.

However, right after calling everybody and ending deals with every artist he has been working with except for Alice Cooper, Shep Gordon received a phone call from George Harrison who asked him to manage the Beatles. While Cooper tried to persuade Gordon as it was the biggest opportunity in his career, he made a wiser move and stated that he’ll manage the merchandise of the band, not the members especially when they all are arguing over money which was a brilliant idea excepted by Harrison.

Here is what Cooper revealed:

“He was managing Luther Vandross, Blondie, everybody… Gypsy Kings, Groucho Marx, Raquel Welch. He calls me into the office one day and he’s like, ‘Look, everybody’s driving me crazy, except you and Groucho… I want you to be here when I call and resign from everybody.’ I went, ‘Okay.’ I’m sitting there as he goes, ‘Yeah, I think I’ve done enough, I think you can move on…’ We open a bottle of champagne. He says, ‘It’s done – it’s me and you!’ I went, ‘Great!’

Phone rings. He goes, ‘You’re not gonna believe this… it’s George Harrison. Wants me to manage the Beatles.’ I went, ‘Do it! You have to say you managed the Beatles! He said something really wise.

He said, ‘I’m not going to manage you. I’ll take care of your merchandise… but I don’t want to be there when Paul and John and Ringo and George are arguing over money. That ruins the Beatles for me for the rest of my life.’ … And George goes, ‘I totally get that; I totally understand that.’ And so he took care of the merchandise. But you know, the very moment that he resigns from everybody, the Beatles call him!”

You can watch the entire interview below.