Clive Davis Remembered by A&R Pete Ganbarg: He ‘Had This Crazy Ability to Predict the Future’

Ganbarg, who worked with Davis at Arista Records and later J/RCA, offers a window into Davis' legendary A&R meetings.

Davis at his Pre-Grammy Gala in Los Angeles on Jan. 31.

Daniel Prakopcyk

Pete Ganbarg, a two-time Grammy Award winner, worked with Clive Davis from 1997 to 2001 as senior director of A&R at Arista Records, where he A&R’d Santana’s Supernatural album, which sold more than 30 million copies worldwide and won nine Grammys in 2000. He then reunited with Davis, who died June 22, from 2004 to 2008 as an A&R consultant at J/RCA Records. Here, Ganbarg takes readers inside Davis’ legendary A&R meetings.

Clive treated A&R people almost like protected species. They were the most important people inside of his company because he realized that as an A&R if you can’t do your job right and give the company the tools to work with, then the company can’t do its job.