David Rensin
David Rensin has written thirteen books. Most recently he published ALL FOR A FEW PERFECT WAVES: The Audacious Life and Legend of Rebel Surfer Miki Dora (HarperEntertainment 2008), which is also available in the UK from Random House/Yellow Jersey Press. In March 2009 the softcover version was published with nearly 40 pages of new material.
Rensin also co-authored The Little Stuff Matters Most: 50 Rules from 50 Years of Trying to Make a Living, with the late Hollywood super-manager and legend Bernie Brillstein. In 2003 Rensin saw three of his books hit the stores almost simultaneously. Devil at My Heels, the incredible survival saga of Olympian and World War II hero Louis Zamperini; musician/composer Yanni's NY Times bestselling autobiography, Yanni: In Words, and his own bestseller, THE MAILROOM: Hollywood History from the Bottom Up.
Previously, Rensin co-authored Brillstein's widely-lauded memoir, Where Did I Go Right?, as well as four New York Times bestsellers: actor/comedian Tim Allen's mega-hit Don't Stand Too Close to a Naked Man and its follow-up I'm Not Really Here; comedian Jeff Foxworthy's No Shirt, No Shoes...No Problem; and comedian Chris Rock's Rock This! He also co-authored the bestselling Confessions of a Late Night Talk Show Host: The Autobiography of Larry Sanders with Garry Shandling, and with Bill Zehme created and co-wrote The Bob Book, a bestselling and groundbreaking humorous sociology of men named Bob.
After more than a decade of writing about rock (1969-1980), Rensin became a contributing editor of Playboy in 1981, for which he has interviewed more than two hundred subjects including Bill Gates, Jerry Seinfeld, Cindy Crawford, Billy Crystal, Martin Scorsese, Ben Stiller, Dennis Miller, Bill Maher, Whoopi Goldberg, Sean Penn, Larry King, Julia Roberts, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Shirley MacLaine, Charlton Heston, Jack LaLanne, David Spade, Garry Shandling, and many more. He has also written extensively for Rolling Stone, Esquire, TV Guide, US Weekly, among others
Rensin's next book will be Promises I Made My Mother, which he co-authored with former William Morris Agency Worldwide Head of Television (and current Miss America Organization Chairman) Sam Haskell.
51 articles
List of articles in the library
Freddie King: Ash Grove, Los Angeles
Live Review by David Rensin, The Valley State Daily Sundial, 18 December 1970
No one matches F. King ...
Harry Chapin Takes 'Taxi' Wherever He Can
Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 6 July 1972
"I NEVER REALLY drove a cab," said Harry Chapin, the filmmaker-turned folkstar, "But I do have a hack license in case of emergencies – like ...
Harry Nilsson: Son Of Schmilsson
Review by David Rensin, Phonograph Record, September 1972
WELL, WELL. Harry Nilsson has sure thrown a big pebble into the music puddle. There's not much to say about the things you hear in ...
Review by David Rensin, Phonograph Record, November 1972
THERE ARE TYPICALLY three schools of thought surrounding Captain Beefheart. The first love him and feel he can do no wrong. The second find him ...
Artist & Repertoire: We Buy And Sell Talent
Report by David Rensin, Music World, January 1973
"So you want to be a rock and roll star Well listen now to what I say Just get an electric guitar Take some time and learn how ...
The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt: The Eagles/Linda Ronstadt: Los Angeles
Live Review by David Rensin, Music World, January 1973
PERHAPS IT was the atmosphere of a college campus where the audience is usually reasonably intelligent and not prone to yelling "boogie" or "rock and ...
Captain Beefheart Sings For Women
Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 4 January 1973
NORTH HOLLYWOOD – Striding into the small but copiously equipped Warner Brothers recording studio like a bull dressed for a Chinatown parade, Captain Beefheart extends ...
Dr. Hook And The Medicine Show At The Troubadour
Live Review by David Rensin, Music World, February 1973
A LONG TIME ago, when I first heard 'Sylvia's Mother', a song and image Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show would just as soon one ...
Interview by David Rensin, Crawdaddy!, March 1973
LOS ANGELES – Bonnie Raitt is by nature a purposeful woman. On a personal level, she is attempting to forge a new ethic reaching beyond ...
Blind Men At The Wheel! What Rock Limo Drivers Won't Tell
Report and Interview by David Rensin, Coast, April 1973
LOS ANGELES International Airport, Monday morning. Two resplendent Cadillac limousines glide out of traffic on Century Boulevard and ease to the curb in front of ...
David Blue: A Natural Progression
Interview by David Rensin, Music World, June 1973
THERE IS SOMETHING about David Blue that screams "Handle With Care." Perhaps a quality attributable to a glass figurine that you hold up to the ...
Interview by David Rensin, Crawdaddy!, June 1973
I WANT TO talk on the grass in the sun. Lowell George wants to be interviewed while sitting in the cockpit of a movie prop ...
Neil Young: Unsettling Looseness
Live Review by David Rensin, Music World, June 1973
WRITING ANYTHING about Neil Young is always a labor of love, but the tendency to be both overly critical and sympathetic concerning his artistic fluctuation ...
Review by David Rensin, Phonograph Record, June 1973
THE BACK COVER photo may depict the Eagles as dead losers, but with DESPERADO it is clear that nothing is further from the truth. ...
Colin Blunstone, The Zombies: Colin Blunstone: Back From The Dead
Interview by David Rensin, Creem, August 1973
THE YEAR IS 1969, and somewhere in the heart of America the Archies and Zombies — two groups known to everyone — are triumphantly touring ...
Leon Russell: Ontario Motor Speedway
Live Review by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 30 August 1973
"SURE, WE'D LIKE this to be another Watkins Glen," laughed publicist Gary Stromberg, as the blistering sun crept slowly into the sky over the San ...
Weather Report: Fair Weather Jazz Fans Leave Them Alone
Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 27 September 1973
PASADENA, CALIF. — "Our music demands everything from the listener," says Josef Zawinul seriously. "Either you love it or you don't — there's no middle ...
Elton John at the Hollywood Bowl - July 1973
Live Review by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 11 October 1973
THE HOUSE LIGHTS dimmed and a lonely spot picked out a single figure onstage. ...
Procol Harum at the Hollywood Bowl, September 1973
Live Review by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 25 October 1973
LOUSY sound systems and poor concerts are not a rarity these days, even for big name attractions like Neil Young or America, but when the ...
America: What This Band Needs Is a Hat Trick
Profile and Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 8 November 1973
LOS ANGELES – To the crowd at the Hollywood Bowl, America could do – and did – no wrong. But to America, the concert was ...
J. Geils Band: Long Beach Arena, Long Beach CA
Live Review by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 22 November 1973
"HOPE YOU GUYS have tickets for tonight's show," advised the cop as we hurried for the Arena entrance. We nodded our assent, smiled and kept ...
Jackson Browne: Such a Clever Innocence
Interview by David Rensin, Crawdaddy!, January 1974
I've been out walking,I don't do that much talking These days.These days I seem to think a lot About the things that I forgot to ...
Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 31 January 1974
LOS ANGELES – "I never felt my music was ever really wanted by the Mahavishnu Orchestra," complained drummer Billy Cobham. "I tried having them use ...
Ozark Mountain Daredevils: The Cosmic Corncobs Go North
Profile and Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 28 February 1974
LOS ANGELES – Bolivar, Missouri, has 5000 citizens and more than a hundred churches, Bible schools and theological colleges full of well-scrubbed Christian boys and ...
John McLaughlin, Santana: John McLaughlin and Carlos Santana: Cruisin' With The Guru
Interview by David Rensin, Creem, March 1974
The backseat revelations of Carlos Santana & Mahavishnu John McLaughlin ...
Dave Mason: No More Traffic Jams
Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 14 March 1974
LOS ANGELES – The reporter from the Free Press had one more question for Dave Mason after the interview at his road manager's house in ...
Bachman-Turner Overdrive, The Guess Who: Bachman-Turner Overdrive: 'Let It Ride' In Overdrive
Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 23 May 1974
"WE PLAY all over the States and almost every radio station we run into has 'Let It Ride' being spun next to the Guess Who's ...
The Eagles, Neil Young: Luesta College, San Luis Obispo CA
Live Review by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 23 May 1974
Punch Card Pop ...
Live Review by David Rensin, Zoo World, 23 May 1974
"Bastion Of Ennui" nets record gate. ...
The Eagles Have Stopped Takin' It Easy
Report and Interview by David Rensin, Crawdaddy!, July 1974
With a new lead guitarist, a new producer, a hit and a series of almosts, the Eagles step out on the border... ...
Report and Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 1 August 1974
THE AUDIENCE is expectant, the music strident, the voice rich and full-throated and sensuous. It's San Diego, the first stop on Maria Muldaur's 30-day road ...
Joni Mitchell, Tom Scott: Tom Scott: Joni's Spark
Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 1 August 1974
LOS ANGELES – Mention the name Tom Scott in jazz circles and recognition is immediate: The 25-year-old horn-playing prodigy from Southern California is well known ...
Live Review by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 12 September 1974
Carlos in a Cavern: Jazz, Sort of ...
Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 10 October 1974
LOS ANGELES – Along with many of the stars and hopefuls at Chicago's 1971 Black Expo, Minnie Riperton waited patiently backstage to approach the blind ...
Traffic Lightens Up for American Tour
Report and Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 24 October 1974
NEW YORK – Looking only slightly recovered from a two-day-old case of jet lag, Traffic drummer Jim Capaldi strutted into the Providence Civic Center dressing ...
Edgar Winter: When Edgar Winter Faced The Music His Heavy Metal Went Pop!
Profile and Interview by David Rensin, Zoo World, 24 October 1974
EDGAR WINTER tried to relax with little success, his normally impassive face showing signs of serious discomfort as he attempted to fit his six-foot frame ...
Roger McGuinn: The Post-Flight Is Finally Solo
Report and Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 5 December 1974
LOS ANGELES – A solitary figure in the Troubadour spotlight, Roger McGuinn swayed gently as he sang: "Hey Mr. D. do you want me to ...
Tom Rush's Circle: Joni, James & Cows
Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 2 January 1975
MANFRED, MASSACHUSETTS – James Taylor's nasal drawl crackled insistently across the telephone line from his Martha's Vineyard retreat. "I first heard Tom Rush about ten ...
Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 27 February 1975
LOS ANGELES – "I've never asked anyone to help me or give me a break," declared Billy Preston adamantly. "Whatever I don't have now I ...
Dan Fogelberg: Home Free At Last
Report and Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 13 March 1975
LOS ANGELES - For Dan Fogelberg, 1974 ended on a note of modest triumph. Though 6,500 fans jammed the Shrine Auditorium to help the Eagles ...
Little Feat: Giant Steps Across The Sea
Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 10 April 1975
JACKSON BROWNE said that their founder was "the Orson Welles of rock & roll" and Jimmy Page has called them his "favorite American group." ...
Pink Floyd: Vancouver, BC; Seattle WA; San Francisco CA
Live Review by David Rensin, Sounds, 3 May 1975
Trapped on the Moon ...
Pink Floyd: Los Angeles Sports Arena
Live Review by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 5 June 1975
Space Rock: Floydian Slip ...
Edgar Winter, Johnny Winter: Johnny and Edgar Winter: Two Hazy Shades of Winter
Report and Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 6 November 1975
OAKLAND – "My band's a dictatorship and Edgar's is a democracy," Johnny Winter blurted out through the hotel-room haze after playing the last of three ...
Earth Wind and Fire: Signs Rise for Shining Stars
Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 29 January 1976
LOS ANGELES – "Music is a sacred thing and we take it very seriously," Earth Wind & Fire founder/percussionist Maurice White offers during a rehearsal ...
Tommy Bolin: Teaser Tommy Bolin Gets Deep into Purple
Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 26 February 1976
ON THE COVER of his first solo album, Teaser, Tommy Bolin's face is creased into a laugh that couples angelic delight and demonic perversity. Considering ...
The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson: A Conversation With Brian Wilson
Interview by David Rensin, Oui, December 1976
The poet laureate of surf and sand talks about the tribulations of being a genius, his ongoing struggle with things chemical and his monumental plans ...
Interview by David Rensin, Playboy, October 1980
Ted Nugent on life, love, firearms, the coming holocaust and his own unique lifestyle. ...
Stevie Nicks: 20 Questions: Stevie Nicks
Interview by David Rensin, Playboy, July 1982
Ladies and Gentlemen, the reigning queen of rock – on recklessness, relationships and reincarnation. Contributing Editor David Rensin met with Stevie Nicks (whose album Bella ...
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: 20 Questions: Tom Petty
Interview by David Rensin, Playboy, September 1982
Rock's hottest heartbreaker reveals dark secrets — about record-industry execs, rock-'n'-roll marriages and what's in his pockets. ...
U2: Band of Gold: U2 Rattle and Hum
Report and Interview by David Rensin, Premiere, November 1988
AGAINST A BLOOD-RED backdrop, four silhouetted figures file onstage to the pomp of a prerecorded organ. Dry ice smoke billows, and sparks crackle from lightning ...
back to LIBRARY
