If you haven't kept up with the story, that's okay although I suggest you start at the beginning so you can keep your scorecard up to date. This story has all kinds of sex in all kinds of combinations so if you don't have permission from an adult to read it, get outta here.
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It's only about an hour from L.A. to Santa Barbara, but it only took Amy about fifteen minutes to look over the folder of paperwork Danny gave her. She's that good understanding finances and contracts and shit like that. Me? Well, let's just say I understand it when it is explained to me...slowly.
"I'm pretty pleased the way they set up our partnership. It's straightforward and clear. It's easy to understand. You were right about Danny, he's really something."
"Danny is the best, Amy. Not only do I swear by him but lots of other people do, too. From Dylan to Paul Simon, Billy Joel and even Paul McCartney...if you can't trust anyone else, you go to Danny. Also, Danny and I go back to when we were both first starting out so there's a long bond there. Yeah, I really love him. Do me a favor, Hon, don't explain it to me now but when you do, explain it to me as though I'm an idiot, because with this stuff, I am."
"No, you're not. You're just not hooked into this, I understand that. You just concern yourself with creating your art and Danny and I will give you the freedom to do that. I like Danny and I trust him, too. But I have another bit of information for you. If I asked you how much you were worth, how much I was worth and how much we were worth together, would you have any idea?"
"Not a clue. And I don't really care as long as there's enough to do what I want to do and spread even more around to those who need it more than I."
"That's a pretty cavalier attitude...and very impressive. Once I came into money, I watched it all the time and it nearly drove me crazy."
"That's you, not me. That's why I defer to you to handle this stuff. I know that you can do it and I know that I can't. My brain just doesn't work well with numbers. Just ask my ex-wife."
"So what are we worth?"
"I'll make a wild guess based upon the lottery money I won and the coming Warner's award, I figure I'm good for about $200,000,000. I don't remember how much I put in trusts or how much I invest with, although I do know that I've been pretty hot lately with the precious metals I'm into. As for you? No clue. I know you have all that primo real estate but beyond that, beats me and really doesn't concern me."
"Well, you're off on your assets. According to all this paperwork, you're good for $275,000,000. I'm good for $450,000,000. So together, we're worth nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars!"
I damn near had an accident. "You are fucking kidding me, Amy. That's a hell of a lot of cabbage. And you advised me to go cheap the other day. Shit, Amy, we can't spend as much as we make in interest alone!"
"No shit, Warren Buffett! We'd better start giving more away or the taxman will eat us up. I'm going to have to talk to Danny about this...and I think we should buy up some more real estate."
"There
is
that property I want to buy near where Sagaponack meets East Hampton...ah, fuck it, I can't think about it now or I'll drive into the ocean, I swear. We're about a half an hour out of Santa Barbara, I'm calling Shadow."
"Wait a sec, I have another question. Tell me, what did it feel like when you found out that you won the lottery?"
"I'll be totally honest with this answer. I felt the same way as when you pulled up in front of Stevie and Sally's, got out of your Jaguar and we held hands walking up to their house. I knew that my life had just changed for the better."
"Oh, you lying charmer. You know just the right things to say to me. Now you can call Shadow."
I called and we set up a meeting at The Shoreline Cafe by Ledbetter Beach in an hour. I told him to look for Big Chocolate.
"So who is this Shadow character anyway?"
"Shadow? Shadow is a music legend. Shadow goes back to the early sixties and the Brill Building. He's also one of Danny's buds. Shadow co-wrote and produced some of the most famous recordings of the sixties like "Leader of The Pack," "(Remember) Walking in The Sand"...He discovered the Shangri-Las, Janis Ian, Vanilla Fudge, Laura Nyro, New York Dolls...oh, Jeez, too many to remember. He worked with The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Neil Diamond, just about everyone."
"How did you get to know him?"
"I first met him before I signed a deal. He helped me with my first album. In the seventies, he dropped out of music and disappeared of the face of the earth. Nobody could find him. Everyone figured he was dead. Turns out he was a bad drunk, broke and living in the gutter. I bumped into him in the mid-eighties at Joe Allen's. He was slumped over the end of the bar. I called Danny to tell him and the next thing I know, he's in Betty Ford, drying out. He's been straight ever since. But get this, since everybody in the business thought he was dead, they never paid him any royalties. When he got out of Betty Ford, Danny filed suit against a conglomerate, who owned all his music through acquiring other labels and catalogs. Danny had a study done to show that once an hour, somewhere in the world, some radio station was playing "Leader..." and they won the suit. He got about 50 mil which he promptly distributed to his daughters and to Betty Ford. Shadow is a real special person. These days, he tweaks records before they become hits. His quiet and under the radar but he's there. And I love him because he's real."