Gloria Stavers!

Jimi and Janis (January '71)

GeeGee's Recommendations! (February '69)

"GeeGee recommended LPs this month:  Virgin Islander Scott Fagan's South Atlantic Blues on Atco; Gordon Alexander's Gordon's Buster on Columbia; Albert King's Live Wire/Blues Power on Stax; A Look Inside The Asylum Choir on Smash; Bobby Paris' Cycles on Tetragrammaton; Everly Brothers' Roots on Warners; Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland on Reprise; Mama Cass' Dream A Little Dream on Dunhill; and Rhinoceros on Elektra.  RECORD OF THE MONTH is the one and only Donovan's Hurdy Gurdy Man on Epic.  Got lots of goodies coming up on DON in future issues of 16 and 16 SPEC -- so stay awake!"

 

Tony Barrrow's "John, Paul, George, Ringo & Me" ... and Gloria!

"Who is Gloria Stavers?" Brian Epstein asked as he glanced at the piece of paper I had passed across my desk to him with her name and New York phone number on it.

I told him:  "I'd like you to wine and dine her while you're in New York.  She's an exceedingly influential lady with a lot of power in the teenybopper magazine field."  Epstein was flying to New York immediately after the Beatles' appearance on the Royal Variety Show and the time was right for him to consolidate the groundwork I had recently laid with Gloria Stavers.

Towards the end of 1963, when our planning for The Beatles imminent invasion of the USA was in its early stages, I hoped to make Gloria Stavers my secret weapon by pursuading her to spearhead the battle with a big burst of editorial coverage.  She was editor-in-chief of 16 magazine, arguably America's strongest monthly publication aimed at youthful pop fans.  Unlike many of her competitors, Stavers seemed to take an almost sisterly interest in the stars she promoted on her pages, often personally writing her own interview-based feature articles on the ones who impressed her most.

Stavers was tall, attractive, elegant, dynamic and sophisticated.  She was not the sort of Gloria you would dream of calling Glo.  As we got to know one another, I saw her as the archetypal New York businesswoman of the day; sexy, in total control, accustomed to living splendidly, working hard and getting her own way.  She had zero tolerance for incompetence and carelessness, frequently yelling the "f" word at blundering staff who made grammatical errors or failed to check facts -- in an era when few women swore so colourfully.  The word her French publisher used to describe her to me was formidable.  As I got to know her I discovered that Gloria had a heart of gold that could turn to steel in an instant if she felt threatened or betrayed.  She was a sort of grown-up supergroupie who had her own idols, heroes and heroines -- and enemies -- in the entertainment world.  She became the very close friend of stars she admired, but she quickly dropped those who fell from public favour.