MUSIC NEWS - Tom Waits' former manager Herb Cohen has brought a libel lawsuit against British music journalist Barney Hoskyns, and publisher Random House, over allegations of criminal practices in Hoskyns' book 'Lowside Of The Road, A Life Of Tom Waits', published in May of this year.
Cohen, who says that he discovered Waits when the singer was 21, claims he also has managed Frank Zappa, Tim Buckley, Alice Cooper, Linda Ronstadt and others, is suing for $1 million over the book, which apparently says that during his period of managing Waits, 1971 to 1982, Cohen robbed him, and that the artist sued Cohen and his company over fraudulent accounting practices. Cohen denies ever litigating copyright issues with Waits, though he does acknowledge that he settled a lawsuit with the singer/songwriter back in 1983. Media reports indicated that Waits filed that lawsuit because Cohen's company, Third Story Music licensed, two of Waits' songs for commercials without theWait's permission. In the book, Hoskyns also suggests that Cohen stole money from other clients, and Cohen also says these claims are untrue and defamatory.
Comments