David Geffen is So Vain

[jon]

Most of the Music News stories right now, including the one on KJR legend Norm Gregory's site, say that David Geffen has finally been confirmed, by Carly Simon herself, as the man who is "so vain, you probably think this song is about you, don't you?" ("You're So Vain" by Carly Simon).

Some of the published news stories dispute the confirmation. And Carly has been playing "hint games" as to his (Mr. Vain) identity almost from the day she released the original "No Secrets" album in 1972.

Geffen founded two record labels and a film company. His total net worth is about $5 billion Canadian.

[mightymouth]

Damn, all these years my money has been on Cleaver

[Howaboutthat]

Damn, all these years my money has been on Cleaver

That's what I'd figured, except I believed that he wrote it too in a Picasso-esque moment.

[hagopian]

I always thought this was about Warren Beatty - and apparently he did too.

*Mr. Beatty - Milton Armitage on Dobie Gillis.

So many years ago - and Mr. Beatty still cuts a swash figure in Hollywood.

Loved playing the song (...." son of a gun.....").....and it truly is a timeless piece of tuneage.

Thalia Menninger = Tuesday Weld.

My how the decades have slipped away.

Mr. Geffen is considered on the of the heavies in the music business of that era - and there were stories of how he could out "Napolean" anyone.

EGO, Man.

[Glen Livingstone]

Most of the Music News stories right now, including the one on KJR legend Norm Gregory's site, say that David Geffen has finally been confirmed, by Carly Simon herself, as the man who is "so vain, you probably think this song is about you, don't you?" ("You're So Vain" by Carly Simon).

Not true.

There's no doubt that "You're So Vain" is one of the classic songs of the seventies due in no small part to the ongoing mystery surrounding the song's subject.

The reason it's suddenly in the news again is because last month Carly Simon launched a contest on her website offering fans and filmmakers alike the opportunity to create a video for the 1972 hit.

Simon has also recorded an acoustic version of the song which was released earlier this year.

37 years after it's release Miss Simon has never divulged who "You're So Vain" is supposedly about.

I think that this story has more to do with Simon getting some publicity for the lawsuit she filed back in October of last year with her former record label Hear Music, Starbucks ill-fated involvement in the music business.

She's claiming that poor sales for the album "This Kind of Love" - which was supposed to be Ms. Simon’s final album - was a result of Starbucks mismanagement.

In April 2009, a week after Starbucks decided to get out of the music business, Alan Mintz, who used to oversee artists and repertory for Hear Music attended the album's release party. Along with some other executives, he was fired by Starbucks soon after and - no longer being supported by the Seattle-based purveyors of roasted beans - Miss Simon's album began its long slide into oblivion.

Supposedly Simon has some financial problems and at age 64 finds herself a position where she has to keep working.

Back in the 1970s Simon gave permission to Heinz use her song "Anticipation" in a television commercial for ketchup so if she's that hard up for cash maybe she should consider licensing out "You're So Vain" to Glenn Beck or some other suitable candidate.

[jon]

Despite the time stamp, I was unable to find this article when I did my original read of articles on the subject. It does, however, sum up the other articles in what sounds to me like a more balanced presentation.

Carly Simon reveals 'You're So Vain' clue
By Ninette Sosa, CNNRadio
February 26, 2010 8:40 p.m. EST

(CNN) -- Has Carly Simon finally told the world the subject of "You're So Vain"?

In a new version of the 1972 hit song from her album "Never Been Gone," the singer whispers a name during an instrumental break. Played backward, the name is revealed to be "David."

Simon, 64, gave an interview to Uncut magazine about the backward whispering, which prompted the U.K. tabloid The Sun to report that "David" is record executive David Geffen.

But Simon's publicist disputed the theory.

"The man's first name is David," she told CNNRadio, "but it could be one of many Davids."

The Sun's theory revolves around the idea that Simon recorded the song to express displeasure at Geffen's signing of a rival, Joni Mitchell, for his record label, Asylum Records. Simon wasn't on Asylum, but her label, Elektra, merged with it in 1972, the year her album "No Secrets," containing "You're So Vain," was released. Geffen was put in charge of Elektra/Asylum.

Simon is on record as being uncomfortable with Geffen. In Jac Holzman's oral history of the label, "Follow the Music," she said, "[The merger] was devastating. It was like I was a child of divorce -- my father was leaving me and now I had David Geffen as a stepfather."

Simon has long played possum (to paraphrase one of her album titles) about the identity of the "You're So Vain" character, who travels by Lear Jet to witness an eclipse and, cuttingly, "probably think[s] this song is about you."

At one point she said he was a composite; other times she has maintained he has certain letters in his name. NBC executive Dick Ebersol paid $50,000 at a charity auction for the revelation and a live performance of the song.

Rumors have focused on Warren Beatty, Mick Jagger and Kris Kristofferson, among others. Beatty has said he believes it's about him.

In a 2002 interview with CNN.com, Simon said that "You're So Vain" wasn't the only song about the man, whomever it might be. "There are always clues in other songs. The guy has repeatedly appeared in my songs," she said.

Entertainment Weekly's Simon Vozick-Levinson described the new theories as "speculative." "There's not that much evidence that the David she's talking about is that David. ... David is a very common first name and there's any number of people she could be talking about."

The interest is timely and promotional, of course: Simon recently announced a contest on her Web site, CarlySimon.com, inviting fans and filmmakers to create a music video using the original or new version of her song. She will screen all entries herself, select a winner and meet the filmmaker, whose winning entry will also be premiered at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival.

Whatever the answer is, Simon has been tickled that a song's puzzle -- now almost 38 years old -- could still have such a hold on the public.

As she told CNN.com in 2002, "It amuses me that I'm still being asked."

CNN's Todd Leopold contributed to this story.