Never Say No to a Rock Star

In the Studio with Dylan, Sinatra, Jagger and More...

By: Glenn Berger

Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne

In 1974, at the age of 17, author Glenn Berger served as "schlepper" and apprentice to the legendary recording engineer Phil Ramone at New York City's A&R Studios, and was witness to music history on an almost daily and nightly basis as pop and rock icons such as Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Frank Sinatra, Burt Bacharach, Bette Midler, and James Brown performed their hit-making magic, honed their sound, strutted their stuff, bared their souls, and threw epic tantrums. In this memoir, full of revelatory and previously unknown anecdotal observations of these musical giants, Berger recounts how he quickly learned the ropes to move up from schlepperhood to assistant to the tyrannical Ramone, and eventually, to become a recording engineer superstar himself. Not only is Never Say No to a Rock Star a fascinating, hilarious, and poignant behind-the-scenes look of this musical Mecca, but Berger, now a prominent psychologist, looking back through the prism of his youthful experience and his years working as a counselor and therapist, provides a telling and honest examination of the nature of fame and success and the corollaries between creativity, madness, and self-destruction.

©2016 Glenn Berger (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"With humor and self-deprecation, Berger shares a glimpse of life behind the scenes with artists including the New York Dolls and Solomon Burke." ( Publishers Weekly)

Very entertaining

So this book was a great surprise. I didn’t want to stop listening to it. Well written thought provoking and funny.
I really enjoyed it.

pretty good

pretty good. story and reader pretty good. a little rock world. a little life advice.

Old school rock n roll

enjoyed Glenn's recounting of his youth and adventures with rock stars. nice to see he made it outbof there alive

Totally entertaining

Wonderfully surprised. Although I'm not a fan of 70s rock or have any knowledge about recording, the stories are hilarious or profound. I'd never heard of him but recommend it to anyone who loves music.

Great listen: I didn’t know much about Glenn Berger

I didn’t know about Glenn Berger but this book was a great listen. Lots of inside & behind the scenes stories about the recording world. Lots of big names in the book to stay interested.