Web Quotableonline.com Frasescelebres.org Greatbookscollection.org

: This article is about the manager, producer and
actor Peter Grant. For the biologist, see Peter R.
Grant.
cleanup
----

Peter Grant, (April 5, 1935 – November 21,
1995) was one of the most influential managers in
rock and roll. He was a manager for The Yardbirds,
Led Zeppelin, and Bad Company, a record executive
for Swan Song Records, and was responsible for
improving pay and conditions for musicians in
dealings with concert promoters.

Grant was born in the south London suburb of South
Norwood, Surrey. He attended Charterhouse public
school until leaving at the age of 13, when he
became a sheet metal factory worker in Croydon.
Grant however was soon attracted to the
entertainment industry and became a stagehand for
the Croydon Empire theatre until leaving in 1953.
He worked briefly as an entertainment manager at a
hotel in Jersey before working as a bouncer and
doorman at London's famous 2 Is Coffee Bar, where
many figures in the British music industry got
their start such as Cliff Richard, Adam Faith,
Tommy Steele, and others. He was spotted by a
professional wrestling|professional wrestler
called Paul Lincoln, who gave Grant the
opportunity to wrestle on television as "Count
Massimo". It kindled his enthusiasm for acting and
Grant was hired by film studios as a bit part
actor, stuntman, and body-double.

Between 1958 and 1963, Grant appeared on a number
of movies including A Night to Remember (as a crew
member on the RMS Titanic|Titanic), The Guns of
Navarone (a British commando), Cleopatra (a palace
guard), and television shows The Saint,
Crackerjack, Dixon of Dock Green, and The Benny
Hill Show. He was also Robert Morley's double on
many of that actor's films. The money he made from
these ventures was invested in his own
entertainment transport business. As the acting
roles dried up, Grant made more money taking
groups such as The Shadows (band)|The Shadows to
gigs.

In 1963, Grant was hired by promoter Don Arden to
act as tour manager for artists such as Bo
Diddley, The Everly Brothers, Little Richard,
Brian Hyland, Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, Gene
Vincent, and The Animals. By 1964, Grant had
started to manage his own acts including The
Nashville Teens, The Flintstones (band)|The
Flintstones, an all-girl group called She Trinity,
The New Vaudeville Band and the early years of
Jeff Beck and Terry Reid. His management was
established in the same 155 Oxford Street office
used by his friend Mickie Most, who previously
used to work with Grant at the 2 Is Coffee Bar.
Both Most and Grant set up the highly successful
RAK Records label which produced a string of
Number 1 hits throughout the 1970s.

It was in late 1966 that Simon Napier-Bell asked
Grant to take over management of The Yardbirds,
who were constantly touring yet struggling
financially. Producer Mickie Most had suggested to
Napier-Bell that his friend Peter Grant would be
an asset to The Yardbirds, but as it eventuated,
his arrival was too late to save the band. The
experience however did give him ideas, which were
put to good use later with Led Zeppelin. Grant's
no-nonsense approach to promoters and persuasive
presence was influential in The Yardbirds making
money from its concerts for the first time. He
also travelled closely with The Yardbirds ensuring
that all costs were kept to a minimum, that
members were also paid on time, and demanded
publicity and artistic control by the band.

Without Peter Grant, it would have been doubtful
Led Zeppelin would have been as successful. He
negotiated a sizable five-year record contract
with Atlantic Records and his business philosophy
would eventually pay off for the label. Grant
strongly believed that bands could make more money
and have more artistic merit by producing albums
rather than churning out singles. Live
performances were more important than television
appearances – if you wanted to see Led
Zeppelin you had to experience one of their
performances. By promoting Led Zeppelin's concerts
he ensured that ticket profits wound up in the
hands of the band rather than in the hands of
promoters and booking agents. Grant's famous
dressing room scene in the film The Song Remains
the Same where he demands an explanation from
concert staff on the sale of illegal photos, was
typical of his no-nonsense dealings with people
who tried to profit at the band's expense.

Grant was also instrumental in setting up Led
Zeppelin's publishing company Superhype, in 1969.
In 1974, Grant was the driving force in
establishing Swan Song Records which gave Led
Zeppelin further financial and artistic control
over its own products. He also managed Bad Company
and Maggie Bell. In 1975, Grant turned down a
lucrative offer to manage Queen (band)|Queen. When
Grant was once questioned on what was the single
most important thing a manager could say, his
response was "know when to say no". In 1977, Grant
was asked by Colonel Tom Parker to manage a
proposed tour of Europe by Elvis Presley. Just as
the negotiations had just begun, Elvis
unfortunately passed away on August 16, 1977.

Marital problems and the death of drummer John
Bonham took its toll on Grant's health and after
the official breakup of Led Zeppelin he virtually
retired from the music business. In 1992, he
appeared in the film Carry On Columbus as a
cardinal. On the afternoon of November 21, 1995
while driving to his home, Horselungs Manor in
Sussex, he suffered a fatal heart attack. His son
Warren was by his side. Grant was buried on
December 4, 1995 at St. Peter and St. Paul's
churchyard, Hellingly, Sussex.

==Filmography==

* A Night to Remember (1958)
* The Guns of Navarone (1961)
* Cleopatra (movie)|Cleopatra (1963)
* Carry On Columbus (1992)

==References==

Welsh, Chris (2002), Peter Grant: The Man Who Led
Zeppelin, London: Omnibus Press. ISBN
0-7119-9195-2.
LedZeppelin