The road to Harry's bar - Gordon Haskell

Before he unexpectedly broke the all-time records for radio play previously held by The Beatles and Frank Sinatra with his 2001 single 'How Wonderful You Are', Gordon Haskell had worked behind the scenes with many musical greats, while retaining his anonymity.

He played for rowdy drunks on booze cruises; some days would find him at a Hollywood poolside or scurrying to escape an FBI raid on a Miami gambling den. He might be seen living high on the hog in a plush hotel or squatting in a flea-infested derelict house, wearing a gorilla suit to keep warm. He became the friend of milkmen and movie stars, policemen and prostitutes, corporate executives and sleazy publicans, crackpots and gun-toting Mafia men. And he wrote songs about them all. They knew when he told them 'How wonderful you are' that he was singing from the heart to every one of them. They also knew the road to Harry's Bar had been twisting and potholed.

Even after a 2.8 million deal for his lifetime's songwriting work, Haskell is feeling ruts in the road and has been left actually owing money to the very moguls who steered him to the top. Such are the machinations of the industry that he is now unable to write a single song or make another record without every penny going to those who turned his windfall into a debt.

The Road to Harry's Bar is a tribute to all that was once great in the music business, but, more importantly, it is a candid account of the backstabbing, double-dealing and sacrifice Gordon encountered en route to the top of the charts. A must-read for aspiring musicians.