Hello, my name is Doc Holiday. I just celebrated (well, "celebrated" may not be the correct word here) my 60th year in the "Music Business" or...Should I instead say the "Business of Music"?

I've achieved this anniversary as a recording artist, musician, head of a record label, touring entertainer, song publisher, songwriter, actor, radio DJ and multi-award winning record and video producer.

For many years my peers in the industry have been telling me, "Ya know Doc, ya gotta write a book and tell people about your experiences. Share those stories that went on behind the scenes in the "Music Business." You were there!" “You seen it all happen”!, So now that I've reached my golden age to where my body is breaking down. My health is starting to fail and it seems time for me to actually write all this "stuff" down. I want all this to become part of my personal history. It's how I saw things that really happened in the world's craziest business called "The Music Business!" Pull up a seat...

These collected memories are not so much about my personal life, but in many instances they are, although they do touch on many parts of my career and experiences in the business of music. My tale is about chasing that dream where I've seen so many entertainers and artists try and chase it down and become living legends. My goal is to share the hows and whys that some of those dreams had a way of turning into nightmares. This book is about all those tales that happened and as to what I witnessed in my career. I'm sharing with you the reader what took place behind the scenes as well as those unspoken back room deals. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

It should be known that before I agreed to do this book that I made it perfectly clear to all involved that I was going to tell all of my experiences truthfully. I needed to state exactly the way that they happened. I was not pulling any punches and being brutally honest. My intention was to be allowed to name names, places, events, DJ's, promoters, executives, mobsters, and artists. However some individuals, of course, were everyday people who drifted in and out of my life because of my place and position in the business. They made an impression on me in one way or another. I'm indebted to the great artists and people that made my job of producing and performing easy and some of them I even enjoyed the challenges for me they created. I'm also reflecting upon those few artists that were really below par in the talent department. They too took me out of my comfort zone in another way as a producer where I was forced to use what I knew and what studio tricks I had learned. My challenges with them was to make hit records by using my producer skills I had learned throughout the years. You know, just think for a moment... there have been various artist which were often spoken about in recording studios behind closed doors, whose rise to success has been a mystery because of no or very little talent. Mixing board mastery and studio tracks using modern day computers that had to be used in order to get them to sound good...and we did. It was a win win for everybody, but the unknowing public.

I sense that this book may offend, anger and upset a bunch of people because of the stories that will be told. But hey, if I'm gonna do it...I'm gonna do this the right way! My way is to tell it all. If I can't do it that way then I'm not interested. Hell, I ain't got long to live anyway. So if you wanna come back and bitch about it, so be it. Bitch away! I'm gonna tell things the way that they were and the way they actually happened. My intention is to show the many times, not all, but the many incidences by which the public was manipulated and duped by the music industry. I witnessed many people first hand who went in a direction that the industry wanted them to go in order to gain the fame and fortune associated with "Stardom."

So, without further discussion, it's about time to get started here. I will begin from my earliest memory in the music industry and end with my parting thoughts upon the completed pages of this memoir. Enjoy yourself! You'll read the way so many recordings in my life really took place and as to how they continue to take place every day in this business. I already know that some of my memories may depress some people, but I also feel and hope that most of you will find my recollections interesting and helpful. You are going to see a lot of names that you will recognize and some that you may not. Every one of these individuals played a very important part in my life's story. 

I must simply state one more thing before we get into my story. My daughter asked me this the other day, "Dad, if you had to do this all over again, what would you change?" I thought about it and said, "I'd do it all exactly the same way." "The only things that I would change are that I would take the booze and drugs out of my career path." "Everything else I would do exactly the same." All these experiences that took place came together and fermented 60 years later. They helped to build and shape who I am and who I've become. I guess it took me a long time to figure it all out. This book may  seem to get a little crazy at times, but I guess you had to be there to see what I am sharing to really fully understand it.

As I said to my friends many times, "It was always just another day in paradise." And when people have asked me as to when I was going to retire, my reply was simply "I'm gonna ride this bitch until the wheels fall off." Before we go any further let me leave you with this famous quote,“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench with an insensible appetite for money. It's a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs and...there's also a negative side.”

"So, hold on. This is gonna be one hell of a ride!" - Doc Holiday

Oh by the way, you may see some punctuation or grammar mistakes, that's because I wrote this whole book by speaking into a recorder and I demanded that they put it down exactly that way, no corrections, These are my words!!!