Answer Question

EDISON CYLINDERS VS. COLUMBIA'S FLAT RECORD

Phonograph- Translates: "writer of sounds," from Gk. phono- "sound" + -graphos "writing,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWLlbk_bI7E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGJR2DZBfF0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q036qGIdVM

• December 6, 1877 Edison finishes work on the first phonograph.

Puts aside focus to work on the electric light. Records sound on a tin foil cylinder

• February 19, 1878 Edison received a U.S. patent for his phonograph.

Patent claims poorly written

• April, 1878 Edison used his phonograph patent to attract investors.

Edison Speaking Phonograph Company- mostly business people from the phone

industry. Gardiner Green Hubbard was appointed president. Hubbard was Alexander Graham Bell’s father in law.

• 1880 with money won during a scientific competition in France for his invention of the telephone- Alexander Graham Bell forms Volta Labs in Washington DC. Because of ties with father in law- they focus on improving Edison's phonograph.

• 1885 Volta labs successfuly develops a greatly improved machine-based on Edison's invention that records and plays back using wax cylinders. Volta approaches Edison to form a business partnership- he balks at the idea and

turns Volta's proposal down.

• May 4, 1886- Volta receives a patent on its own version- greatly improved

version with wax cylinders.

• May 13, 1887- The American Graphophone Co formed to manufacture and sell phonographs developed by Volta Labs. Edison reacts and immediately forms Edison Phonograph Company. He focuses on improving his original machine- and does so- also using wax cylinders. The removable cylinder record consisted of a 6-inch cardboard tube, 1-5/16-inches in diameter, covered with wax.

• This put both companies in a position to do legal battle over patent infringements.

• An intermediary named Jesse H. Lippincott forges a truce on March 29, 1888

between Edison and American Graphophone. It was shaky at best- but in principle

gave each company the right to manufacture each other's products. The joint company was called North American Phonograph Company.

• The machines were both expensive for the time and often unreliable. In the war of sales between both companies- Edison won out, because his company was so well branded. Up to this point- cylinders and recording machines were only used for business purposes, such as dictation.

• July 1890. American Graphophone's best dealer in the US was a company called Columbia Phonograph Company- which eventually became Columbia Records and was later bought by SONY Corp. Columbia realized that recordings could be used to reproduce music, replacing the player-piano. Columbia decided to launch a music division using the Edison solid wax cylinder. Within a few months., The president of Columbia, Edward D. Easton became a director of American Graphophone Company.

• These music recordings had to be cut one at a time. Artists were required to sing a song hundreds of times, and machines that could cut 20 -30 cylinders at a time were loaded for each performance. This made these early recordings all unique.

• By 1891, American Graphophone. broke away from The North American Phonograph Company, leaving the Edison machine as its sole brand to sell and distribute.

• By May 1893, Columbia took over American Graphophone and decided to challenge Edison's patent on the improved machine from 1887, claiming it infringed on the American Graphophone patents from 1886.

• In 1894 Columbia and Edison go to war over the patents. Edison, being the sole creditor of National Phonograph Company into bankruptcy on August 12, to protect his interests.

• December 7, 1896 Both Edison and Columbia were at a legal standoff. The companies ceased legal action against each other and cross-licensed themselves to continue business. Edison granted a license to Columbia to use the Edison solid wax cylinder, tapered phonograph mandrel, and jeweled stylus. Columbia granted a license to Edison to use a gravity weighted floating stylus and incised wax cylinder recordings.

• Also during 1896- A new player emerges:

Emil Berliner. Berliner begins manufacturing and selling the spring motor Gramophone machine which does not play cylinders- but RATHER, flat discs. Easier to store and able to provide 2 songs instead of one with the cylinder- They were a huge hit with consumers. And this marks the beginning of the end of the cylinder format.

His flat records played at 78 revolutions per minute, or 78 rpms.

• In 1897, Columbia abandoned the paper core cylinder and went to solid wax cylinders, on par with Edison. On March 5, Thomas Lambert formed a company in Chicago to manufacture molded celluloid (a primitive plastic) cylinder records. Edison did one better and developed a stronger and better sounding cylinder that could also be molded from one master. These innovations began the ability for the recording industry to mass produce recordings. Edison named the discs "Gold Molded" discs, because gold was used to record the molds. It would take

Edison until 1899 to get these discs to market.

• On November 11, 1902 Edison received a patent for celluloid cylinder records. Rather than put the celluloid cylinders into production, Edison decided to focus on eliminating the competition. A patent infringement lawsuit was filed by Edison against Lambert, who was also developing a celluloid cylinder. However it backfired- in the lawsuit, the court ruled Edison's patent on the celluloid cylinder was invalid and Lambert endured. But, in the end, Edison's mighty legal prowess devastated Lambert's finances and made it unable to market the celluloid cylinder.

• In July 1906 another new player emerged: Albany Indestructible Record Company" They made a durable cylinder that had a cardboard core with a metal ring for extra strength. They quickly gained considerable market share.

• Between 1908- and 1912, Edison developed the Ambersol cylinder record, which came in 2 minute (1 song) and 4 minute (2 song) versions. They had good sound quality but were not nearly as sturdy as cylinders offered by competitors.

• Then, in 1908, Columbia Records pulled a fast one. They decided to start ceasing production altogether on cylinders and to shift their marketing efforts to flat disc units and records. They dumped their extensive inventory of cylinders via the Sears Robuck Mail Order Catalog at bargain basement prices- this put Edison and its titles at an extreme disadvantage. They also purchased Albany Indestructible Record Company and its inventory and dumped that too at less than half of the price Edison was selling his titles for.

• This move made it possible for Columbia to put a big push on consumers with its flat disc records. By 1912- they were out of cylinders completely

•  Starting in 1908, Edison fought back by creating an upgrade for the old 2 minute machines to 4 minute players, on which the 2 song cylinder could be utilized. He even gave consumers a box of 4 minute cylinders if they upgraded or got their friends, relatives and neighbors to upgrade. The Ambersol cylinders would remain the model of recordings Edison manufactured and sold until 1929, when the last models and recordings were sold in America.

• During World War I, from 1914-1917, Edison realized the flat record was here to stay and had become the format of preference for consumers, and reluctantly introduced it into his company. He manufactured flat disc players and disks that were actually superior in sound to the competition. He wanted exclusivity- so he made the discs 1/4" thick and they played at 80 rpms. His machines also required a diamond stylus and all the other machines on the market used a much cheaper steel record needle. That meant, Edison discs could only work on Edison machines and his machines would not play any discs made by other companies.

• By 1921 Edison was the only company still making cylinders.

• By 1923, In effort to compete with the flat record, he dropped prices on the machines and cylinder titles dramatically, but he also cut the dealer profit margin drastically. Dealers started dumping the Edison brand in droves- forcing Edison to do most his sales direct to consumers via mail order.

• By the late 1920s, Edison was an old man- and he had lost interest in the recording business. His son, Charles took over the record division and added several jazz titles in an effort to compete with Columbia and the RCA Victor company.

• By the late 1920s. however, many American homes had radios and got their music via that medium. Record sales began to sag- and by 1929, cylinder sales were essentially non-existent.

• On October 22, 1929. Charles Edison closed the cylinder division and on Dec. 31, 1929, with the crash of the Stock Market, closed the doors to its Phonograph

and Record division entirely.

• The flat record has endured to this day.

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THE ORIGINS OF ASCAP AND BMI

• ASCAP- American Society of Composers Authors & Performers

Non profit performance rights organization.

Formed in 1914 by composer Victor Herbert in NYC Designed to protect songwriters and publishers' copyrighted compositions. Early members were Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern and John Phillip Sousa.

By 2009, ASCAP had 360,000 members- collecting over almost $1 billion in royalties. They license over 13,500 stations in the US alone. In 2001 it began licensing phone careers for the use of music in ringtones.

• In 1919, it entered into an agreement with Performing Rights Society of Great Britain to co-represent each others' members.

• ASCAP insisted that venues featuring live music or an early version of jukeboxes pay a flat license fee to cover the compositions of its members.

• In 1920 with the advent of radio- ASCAP took on a new challenge. Musicians and composers received nothing when their songs were performed on the radio- so ASCAP developed a blanket license for radio stations and networks. The fee was based on a percentage of the station or network's advertising revenue.

By 1939, the amount charged to Broadcasters had increased 400%

• This cased a boycott of ASCAP in 1940. For 9 months no ASCAP artists were played on NBC or CBS. That was over 1.2 million songs. This caused a focus on non-ASCAP performers such as black artists and others normally shunned by the networks.

• Although a non-profit organization, ASCAP has been criticized for its lack of transparency of funds; salaries paid to board members; and the reasoning behind its fee formulas. In 2009, the waged a court case to hold consumers responsible for payment on ring tones. The court threw it out.

• Further court cases continue, included litigation agains• BMI had trouble competing with ASCAP and sought ot You Tube (who already by for licenses); Amazon and iTUNES for the 30 sec streaming allowed before purchase.

• In 1939, Broadcast Music Inc was formed by the National Association of Broadcasters. This was done to compete with ASCAP, and each organization had different members. At this point, ASCAP had the advantage since it had been branded for 25 years. BMI embraced many artists, especially black performers, that ASCAP refused

to let join. During the ASCAP boycott of 1941, the music of minority ethnic groups flourished because BMI embraced them.

• The Justice Dept sued ASCAP for anti-trust violations in 1937, but dropped the case- in 1941, they tried again. The case was settled and a consent degree was agreed to by ASCAP that said it would fairly charge all customers who basically have the same requirements to license. BMI also signed it, even though the case was brought on the behalf of broadcasters in the first place.

• Today both organizations are powerful and represent millions of song titles. ASCAP and BMI today, are nearly equal in the number of members.

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The Musician's Strike of 1942

• Prior to 1942, record companies did not pay royalties. Artists were played a flat fee for a recording session and that was it.

• With the rise of radio and the ongoing revenue generated from records, James Petrillo, president of the American Federations of Musicians issued a statement that labels should indeed share the revenue with the artists

and pay royalties.

• Beginning at midnight July 31, 1941- no member of the musicians union was allowed to record for any record company.

• Strike happened at the height of the big band jazz movement- but did not effect live performances or radio appearances. Most musicians made their money performing anyway- but millions were being lost to the labels since

the flat fee paid at the onset was usually small and records were in high demand.

• Strike effects the early careers of Frank Sinatra (who emerged as a solo artist during the strike) and

the BeBop Jazz movement which dates back to 1942-44.

• In the case of Sinatra- he had started recording in 1939 as the vocalist with the Harry James Band.

His recording of "All Or Nothing" was released and flopped. Three years later, in 1942, after Sinatra

had become a huge radio star on THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS, it is released during the strike

(recordings prior to the strike were not included). It soars to #1 as a Frank Sinatra solo recording.

• Also during the strike- vocalists (not covered by the AFM) record with vocal groups as backing (instead of musicians). Perry Como did this and had several hits, Sinatra and Bing Crosby did it too.

• Ironically - one thing that the strike did was boost the prominence of the singer. During the big band era, the singer was a secondary part of the ensemble, often only performing on a handful of songs. But the strike put the vocalist first and the musicians as background accompaniments.

• In 1943, President Roosevelt sent a memo to James Petrillo asking him to drop the strike as part of the War effort in WWII. He refused. Eventually, the AFM forced the record companies one by one, to increase the royalty payments to musicians. By the end of 1944, the strike had ended.

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CBS vs ASCAP/BMI 1979

Broadcast Music v. Columbia Broadcasting System, 441 U.S. 1 (1979), was an important antitrust case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States. It held that blanket licenses issued by ASCAP and BMI did not necessarily constitute price fixing. The case was part of the court's retreat from applying rigid per se rules in antitrust to a more permissive rule of reason.

441 U.S. 1 (1979)

BROADCAST MUSIC, INC., ET AL.
v.
COLUMBIA BROADCASTING SYSTEM, INC., ET AL.

No. 77-1578.

Supreme Court of United States.

Argued January 15, 1979.

Decided April 17, 1979.[*]

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT.

3

*3 Amalya L. Kearse argued the cause for petitioners in No. 77-1578. With her on the briefs were George A. Davidson and Conley E. Brian, Jr. Jay Topkis argued the cause for petitioners in No. 77-1583. With him on the briefs were Bernard Korman, Simon H. Rifkind, Herman Finkelstein, and Allan Blumstein.

4

*4 MR. JUSTICE WHITE delivered the opinion of the Court.

This case involves an action under the antitrust and copyright laws brought by respondent Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. (CBS), against petitioners, American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), and their members and affiliates.[1] The basic question presented is whether the issuance by ASCAP and BMI to CBS of blanket licenses to copyrighted musical compositions at fees negotiated by them is price fixing per se unlawful under the antitrust laws.

CBS operates one of three national commercial television networks, supplying programs to approximately 200 affiliated stations and telecasting approximately 7,500 network programs per year. Many, but not all, of these programs make use of copyrighted music recorded on the soundtrack. CBS also owns television and radio stations in various cities. It is "`the giant of the world in the use of music rights,'" the "`No. 1 outlet in the history of entertainment.' "[2]

Since 1897, the copyright laws have vested in the owner of a copyrighted musical composition the exclusive right to perform the work publicly for profit,[3] but the legal right is not self-enforcing. In 1914, Victor Herbert and a handful of other composers organized ASCAP because those who performed

5

*5 copyrighted music for profit were so numerous and widespread, and most performances so fleeting, that as a practical matter it was impossible for the many individual copyright owners to negotiate with and license the users and to detect unauthorized uses. "ASCAP was organized as a `clearing-house' for copyright owners and users to solve these problems" associated with the licensing of music. 400 F. Supp. 737, 741 (SDNY 1975). As ASCAP operates today, its 22,000 members grant it nonexclusive rights to license nondramatic performances of their works, and ASCAP issues licenses and distributes royalties to copyright owners in accordance with a schedule reflecting the nature and amount of the use of their music and other factors.

BMI, a nonprofit corporation owned by members of the broadcasting industry,[4] was organized in 1939, is affiliated with or represents some 10,000 publishing companies and 20,000 authors and composers, and operates in much the same manner as ASCAP. Almost every domestic copyrighted composition is in the repertory either of ASCAP, with a total of three million compositions, or of BMI, with one million.

Both organizations operate primarily through blanket licenses, which give the licensees the right to perform any and all of the compositions owned by the members or affiliates as often as the licensees desire for a stated term. Fees for blanket licenses are ordinarily a percentage of total revenues or a flat dollar amount, and do not directly depend on the amount or type of music used. Radio and television broadcasters are the largest users of music, and almost all of them hold blanket licenses from both ASCAP and BMI. Until this litigation, CBS held blanket licenses from both organizations for its television network on a continuous basis since the late 1940's and had never attempted to secure any other form of

6

*6 license from either ASCAP[ or any of its members. Id., at 752-754.

The complaint filed by CBS charged various violations of the Sherman Act[ and the copyright laws. CBS argued that ASCAP and BMI are unlawful monopolies and that the blanket license is illegal price fixing, an unlawful tying arrangement, a concerted refusal to deal, and a misuse of copyrights. The District Court, though denying summary judgment to certain defendants, ruled that the practice did not fall within the per se rule. 337 F. Supp. 394, 398 (SDNY 1972). After an 8-week trial, limited to the issue of liability, the court dismissed the complaint, rejecting again the claim that the blanket license was price fixing and a per se violation of § 1 of the Sherman Act, and holding that since direct negotiation with individual copyright owners is available and feasible there is no undue restraint of trade, illegal tying, misuse of copyrights, or monopolization.

The legality of the blanket license was challenged in suits brought by certain ASCAP members against individual radio stations for copyright infringement. The stations raised as a defense that the blanket license was a form of price fixing illegal under the Sherman Act. The parties

14

*14 stipulated that it would be nearly impossible for each radio station to negotiate with each copyright holder separate licenses for the performance of his works on radio. Against this background, and relying heavily on the 1950 consent judgment, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected claims that ASCAP was a combination in restraint of trade and that the blanket license constituted illegal price fixing.

The strange deal between Elvis Presley & Col. Tom Parker

With the exception of 3 shows in Canada in 1957. ELVIS PRESLEY never performed outside of the USA. Here's why:

1955- singer Elvis Presley breaks out onto the national spotlight.

With him, is his manager, Col. Tom Parker.

Colonel Tom Parker

born Andreas Cornelis ("Dries") van Kuij

June 26, 1909 in Breda, Netherlands

Died January 21, 1997 (aged 87)

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

• He is seen as the "mastermind" behind Presley's meteoric rise to fame and his enduring legacy.

• He had a ruthless devotion to Presley but was even more devoted

to the art of making money. He convinced Presley to pay him 25% of his gross earnings and a decade after he signed with Parker, Presley was convinced to give Parker a full 50% of his earnings.

• Both Elvis and the Col were believed to have a close friendship,

they also had a tumultuous relationship- that involved law suits and

ongoing bickering within the Presley compound.

• Who was Col. Tom Parker and how did he become the svengali

that could control one of the biggest celebrities of all time? Presley said of Parker: "I don't think I would have been very big with another man. Because he's a very smart man."

• Parker was born in 1909 in Breda The Netherlands, as

Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk. As a young boy he worked as a "Barker"

at carnivals, learning the basics of entertainment promotion and marketing.

• At 17, in 1926, he became a cabin boy on a ship and sailed to NYC to "make his fortune." When they arrived- he jumped ship and ran away. He made his way to Chautauqua, NY and worked in a tent show. A year later, however, he returned to Holland.

• While back in Holland, a murder occurred in Breda and it is believed

although never verified that van Kuijk was indeed a suspect. He was never questioned by police because he vanished after the murder.

At 20, he became a ship-stow away and returned to the US.

• van Kuijk came here illegally and never applied for a Dutch passport

because many believe it would have drawn attention to the police search for him. Upon returning again to America, he worked for a few years in the US carnival circuit.

• Shortly after, he joined the US Army in 1929 and took the name Tom Parker, from one of the enlistment officers who had interviewed him.

This was the beginning of Parker's life-long quest to hide his Dutch citizenship.

• He served first at an Army base in Hawaii and later in FLorida, but while in Florida he went AWOL. Eventually he was returned to the Army who jailed him in a solitary confinement cell, before commiting him to a mental hospital.

• Upon his release in 1932, he worked a number of odd jobs, and went on and off of the carnival circuit. IN 1935, he was living in Florida. He married and had a family and in order to feed his family during the depression he turned to pulling con-jobs, cheating hardworking folks out of money. Eventually, his conscience caught up with him, and he decided to go straight.

• In 1938, he began working full time as a concert promoter and started managing a country singer named Gene Austin. Austin had already sold 86 million records since 1924, but was in dire straits having blown much of his fortune during the depression. Parker got on board and immediately turned his career around again.

•  When Austin wanted Parker to move to Nashville, he said no, and the 2 parted company. Many people believe he said no because it would have required him to sign paperwork that might reveal his status as an illegal alien. Oddly enough, in 1940, the US passed an Alien Amensty policy that allowed illegal aliens to become American citizens if they agreed to serve in the Armed Forces if drafted. We were on the verge of WW II- and the US wanted to build the ranks of the troops.

Parker ignored the opportunity, apparently fearing his name may draw attention to Dutch authorities.

• Parker took a job overseeing an animal shelter in Temple Terrence, Florida. While running the animal shelter, he organized some benefit concerts to raise money. It was then he began working in the music business in earnest again.

• By 1945, he became the full time manager of singer Eddy Arnold

earning 25%. He boosted Arnold's career dramatically and by the end of the decade he was constantly touring, had hit records and was booked for a brand new medium call Television. Around the same time, he also began working with Minnie Pearl.

• In 1948, he worked on the Goventorial Campaign for Jimmie Davis. When he won, he made Parker an "honorary" Colonel in the Louisanna State Militia. Parker adapted the name The Colonel and never looked back.

• By the early 1950s he was also managing a new popular country singer named Hank Snow. This eventually caused friction with Eddie Arnold, who fired Parker in 1953. He demanded $50,000 and a piece of Arnold's future tours to settle the contract.

• Parker made Snow a star, and together they formed Hank Snow Enterprises and Jamboree Productions, to promote other up and coming country acts.

• It was in 1955, that Parker heard Presley when recorded a number

of classic blues and country tracks including IT's ALRIGHT MAMA

and BLUE MOON OF KENTUCKY. Parker realized that Presley sounded black but was white, and could be a big star in the genre´ of Rock N Roll music, which was just getting started at that time.

• Presley had cut his tracks at Sun Records in Memphis, under the direction of owner and producer Sam Phillips. The first sessions were on July 4, 1954. Phillips knew Presley could be a big star- so he recommended guitarist Scotty Moore ( who worked for Sun as a session guitarist and played on the Presley tracks) become his manager. The contract expired in one year, and a Memphis DJ named Bob Neal stepped in as manager. But Neal had no management experience and he struggled with Elvis and in Feb 1955, he brought in Tom Parker as a "special advisor", offering him a piece of Presley's bookings and promotions.

Elvis Presley's deal to leave SUN Records for RCA

• During 1955 Neal and Parker worked together, booking Presley through the Hank Snow company to promote him. It was during 1955 that Sun Records prexy Sam Phillips knew his indie label could never do the job needed to make Presley a big star. He suggest to Parker and Neal that they move Presley to a major label, but he wanted

$40,000 to buy his contract out. That was an unheard of sum at the time for an unknown singer.

• Mercury and Columbia Records both showed interest but would not

pay anywhere near $40,000 for the buy out. When Parker went to RCA, which was Hank Snow's label, there was also interest, but

they said no more than $25,000 to get Presley's contract. IN Nov 1955, RCA finally caved and agreed to the $40,000 amound. The money was paid to Phillips and the contract was transferred.

• Hank Snow, realizing it was his status at RCA that facilitated the Presley deal, just assumed he and Parker (as partners in Hank Snow Enterprises) would end up as co-managers. That's not what happened, because Neal would remain manager until March, 1956.

• When the Neal contract expired, Parker convinced Presley to sign exclusively to him for a full 25%. When Hank Snow asked Parker about the status of their contract with Elvis, Parker told him, "You don't have any contract with Elvis Presley. Elvis is signed exclusively to the Colonel."

• In the spring of 1956, RCA released Heartbreak Hotel which took Presley to the top of the charts and made him a bona fide superstar.

He started touring non-stop and landed spots on three popular

national TV shows: The Steve Allen Show, The Dorsey Brothers Show; The Milton Berle Show and The Ed Sullivan Show. By that summer he was a teen sensation, but his highly sexual stage persona caused great alarm to many adults and religious groups.

Lincoln Mercury Boycott

of Ed Sullivan Show re:

Elvis Presley

Elvis Don't Be Cruel - from the waist up –

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLSgqH2BOeg&feature=related

• At First, upon seeing him on Milton Berle and the Dorsey Brothers, Ed Sullivan said Presley's performances were immoral and he would never be on his show. Then when Presley appeared on the Steve Allen Show opposite Sullivan on Sunday nights, Allen trounced Sullivan in the ratings. Suddenly, Sullivan had a change of heart about Elvis Presley.

• Parker negotiated three appearances for a whopping $50,000 fee.

September 9, 1956, October 28, 1956, and then on January 6, 1957.

Parker also made Sullivan apologize publicly for the comments he had made about Presley being immoral, and apparently, Sullivan never forgot that and always held it against Parker.

• The first appearance in Sept 1956, Sullivan was in the hospital recovering from a near-fatal car accident. His replacement was

actor Charles Laughton, and Presley did not perform the first show in the NY theater (where David Letterman is now broadcast). For the Presley segment, they switched to Los Angeles, where Presley was filming Love Me Tender. Elvis' appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show was a major success. Over 60 million people, both young and old, watched the show and many people believe it helped bridge the generation gap for Elvis' acceptance into the mainstream.

• For the first and 2nd appearances- Presley was actually shown full body. It was the third appearance on January 6th. 1957 where he was not shown from the waist down. And that came at the insistence of the show's sponsor, Lincoln Mercury.

• The wife of Lincoln Mercury's president at the time was a devout Southern Baptist. She felt Presley was vulgar, and performed the devil's music. The fact that he was singing a lot of black music, didn't help. It is reported that she put pressure on her husband to pull the Lincoln Mercury ads from the Sullivan show the week that Elvis appeared, and that the waist up only camera shots were the compromise to keep Lincoln Mercury on as the sponsor.

THE BIRTH OF ROCK MERCHANDISE

• In mid 1956, Parker signed a merchandising deal with Hank Saperstein, a Hollywood-based company for $40,000. They produced and sold 78 different ELVIS products from charm bracelets to record players. By the end of 1956, Presley merchandise had brought in $22,000,000.

• Parker did make some mistakes with Presley, including a 4 week

Las Vegas engagement in 1956 where the older Vegas audiences

viewed him as a clown and vulgar. Presley hated the engagement

and called it the worst time of his career. Parker cut it short by 2 weeks

and put him back on tour.

• In the fall of 1956, Parker arranged for Presley to get a screen test with Paramount Pictures. Presley had a strong desire to make movies

but as an actor not as a musician. He never wanted to sing in his movies- Parker realizing the films could promote the music career,

pressured Presley into singing songs in all his pictures. He negotiated

a 7 picture deal, that also allowed him to make 1 picture a year with another studio. The single from his first movie, LOVE ME TENDER,

was released well in advance of the film and sold over 1 million copies,

ensuring the film would be a hit. It was. The same happened with the 2nd film: Jailhouse Rock.

• In Jan 1957, Presley received his draft notice. He was upset because he felt a 2 year stint in the Army would kill the momentum of his career.

Parker knew otherwise. Presley agreed to enter military service, if he could be assigned to Special Services, which would enable him to continue entertaining troops and give him continued celebrity status.

Parker knew this would backfire with the public, and urged Elvis to go in as a normal private with no special treatment. He did, and immediately, his reputation as moral corrupter of youth disappeared.

• Parker planned the Army stint well. He had Presley record enough new material that could be released every few months during the entire 2 month stint. He also made two movies that would be shown while

he was away, serving in Germany. For the fans, it was as if Elvis never left. Parker declined to travel to Europe to see his star, but called him weekly. He also sent over a slew of friends and associates to "keep an eye on Elvis." Parker continually feared Elvis would meet other established managers, who were willing to work for far less than his

25%.

• Elvis returned to civilian life in 1960, to huge crowds who came out to greet him on a train ride from Washington to Memphis.

Parker only booked him for three charity appearances in 1960, and

repeatedly turned down live offers waiting for something big to happen again.

• A few months after his release from the Army, Parker got a call from Frank Sinatra, who now had a popular TV variety show. Sinatra, who had declared Presley and rock 'n' roll a disgrace in the fifties, was keen to have him appear on his show. Parker, not one to forget harsh criticism, stated that the fee would be $125,000 for two songs, a total of eight minutes on screen; Sinatra himself was receiving a lower sum for the whole show. Sinatra agreed and it was Presley's first national television appearance since The Ed Sullivan Show in January 1957, and titled Welcome Home, Elvis.

• After the Sinatra appearance, Parker decided that Presley only needed to make films and records. Touring, was not on the horizon.

He envisioned 3 movies and 3 albums per year from 1962 until the end of the decade. For a while, that was the strategy. Parker signed long term contracts with three film studios, which guaranteed income for both he and Presley.

TROUBLE IN PARADISE

• In 1964, The Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan and dominated the music business globally. Suddenly, Elvis Presley was no longer

rock's biggest star.

• For the remainder of the 1960s, Presley made films that relied heavily on exotic locations and mundane songs, and he was tied into contracts that he could not escape. Parker, not worried if the films were good or bad, only cared about the profits.

Elvis Presley # THE MOVIE Clambake # part 1 of 10 - YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01S6mhbg4us

• By 1966, the income from films and records by Elvis were dramatically reduced. Presley complained the films were horrible and the songs were just as bad. Parker reminded him he signed long term contracts.

THE COMEBACK

• Jan 2, 1967, Parker renegotiated his management contract with Presley and got a whopping 50% of his income. He insisted that Elvis was his only client and the income had dropped and he need this amount to re-invent the star. Presley agreed, if reluctantly.

• He pushed Presley to marry Pricilla, who he had secretly dated since

1960, when she was only 14. He arranged for a splash Vegas wedding in 1967, that put Presley back in the headlines.

• Next, it was decided he would return to live performances, with

an NBC TV special to kick it off. Parker envisioned a Christmas

special with Elvis dressed as Santa and an hour of holiday music done Elvis style. For the first time in their relationship, Presley refused to follow Parker's orders. In the end, he performed in front of a live Studio audience in his traditional black leather jacket and pants. The special was the forerunner of the MTV unplugged program which would come decades later.

ELVIS COMEBACK SPECIAL 1968 HEARTBREAK HOTEL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olqe-JnHzjU

• After the TV special in 1968, Elvis returned to short US tour- and then several extended performances in Las Vegas, including a stint at the International Hotel where he received $125,000 per week- unheard of at that time for any performer. The Beatles had stopped performing live and Elvis was again the big draw he had been in the 1950s.

Many insiders feel his ties to Vegas were because Parker was addicted to gambling. He wanted Elvis close by and with a 50% commission he had plenty of money to gamble.

ELVIS : Waiting for Colonel Parker : Documentary - YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms3xDt_VPEg

• Presley played Vegas for 4 years, and Parker held press conference on September 4, 1972 in Las Vegas to confirm that a new TV special concert, now titled Aloha From Hawaii, would be broadcast on January 14, 1973.[34] The press were told that an audience of 1 billion was expected to tune in to see the "first entertainment special to be broadcast live around the world." The special and the album that followed from the concert were Presley's last big successes.

THE CRASH

• Between 1974 and 1977, Presley fell into an addiction to prescription drugs and gained over 80 lbs. He continued to work as a "weekend Warrior" doing 2 or 3 fly-in dates around the country, but he was

quickly becoming yesterday's news. He also could no longer be controlled by Parker.

• When Presley made some nasty remarks about the Hilton Hotel

while performing there (after he heard an employee he liked had been fired), Parker burst into his dressing room after the show and confronted him. Presley fired Parker, and Parker responded by saying,

"You can't fire me, I quit!" He and Presley traded insults for 2 weeks.

• Parker demanded $2 million in cash to end the management agreement. Presley did not have the money- since his lifestyle

was so extraordinary. A week later, cooler heads prevailed. Presley and Parker apologized to each other and continued their relationship.

• By now, Presley had become a liability to Parker. He slurred his words at shows and forgot lyrics. His weight ballooned. Parker remained Presley's manager without break until Presley's death in 1977. He died slumped over a toilet in his bathroom the result of a heart attack brought on by drug abuse. It was the day before

he was to leave for a tour.

• Within hours of hearing of Presley's death, Parker contacted his father Vernon and insisted he sign an agreement allowing Parker to continue managing Presley's business affairs, "in order to protect his legacy." The elder Presley agreed.

• Before going to Graceland to pay his respects, Parker made an emergency trip to NYC to meet with RCA and merchandise companies to discuss several "memorial" products to be issued. He returned just in time for the funeral, and attended wearing an Hawaiian shirt and a baseball cap.

• The concerts booked after the date of his death, became the subject of lawsuit between the Estate and the promoters. Very few ticket holders returned tickets for refunds, knowing they would be a collector's item. THe Estate wanted the funds held by promoters saying the tickets' income came from the legacy of Presley. A court, however, ruled in favor of the promoters, saying Presley never honored the contract by not performing due to his death.

• Following Presley's death, Parker set up a licensing operation with Factors Etc. Inc, to control Presley merchandise and keep a steady income supporting his estate.[ It was later revealed that Presley owned 22% of the company, Parker owned 56%, and the final 22% was made up of various business associates. In addition, Parker got 50% of Presley's cut- so he made far more than the died rock star.

• For some reason, Parker never allowed Presley to join ASCAP or BMI. And an audit in Jan of 1979, discovered that Presley had missed out on millions of dollars in royalities. To this day, Parker never explained this.

• But after Presley's death (even though he continued to represent his Estate) Parker came under extreme investigation by the trust put in place to represent his affairs- they included his father Vernon Presley,

his daughter Lisa Marie (a minor at the time); his ex-wife Priscilla Presley; his accountant Joe Hanks; and National Bank of Commerce in Memphis.

• In 1979, Vernon dies, leaving the trust with Priscilla, Lisa Marie.

the accountant and the bank in charge. They were willing to let

Parker continue to oversee Presley's affairs, because they were unaware of many of these conflicts of interest and excessive commissions. However, Judge Joseph Evans, aware that Lisa Marie Presley was still a minor, appointed attorney Blanchard E. Tual to investigate Parker's management. Under Tual's investigation, many of Parker's practices came to light. Among them: pressuring Presley to sell off the rights to all his pre-1973 RCA recordings to RCA for a flat

$5.1 million. It is rumored, he was given a kickback by RCA to make this deal happen.

• On August 14, 1981, the judge instructed the Presley Estate to sue Parker for mis-mangement. At the same time,. the IRS wanted a $15 million dollar tax lien settled. The Estate was facing bankruptcy. Parker counter-sued the Estate. They settled out of court in late 1982, with the Estate paying Parker $2 million and Parker turning over any audio recordings, video tapes and images of Presley he had. That was the official end of the business relationship.

• But amazingly, Parker continued his involvement with the Presley Estate. In April of 1982, Graceland was opened to the public. Parker had something they needed. He had 4 warehouses filled with Presley memorbilia, including his famous gold lame´suit. Knowing they needed these items to make a proper Elvis memorial museum at Graceland,

he offered to give it all to the Estate for the measly price of $2 million.

The gold suit was worth that, alone.

• Todd Morgan summarized Parker’s treasures as follows:

“The collection provided a complete moment-by-moment record of Elvis Presley’s entire career, meticulously well-organized and preserved by Colonel and his staff in the form of: scores of scrapbooks of news clippings, magazine articles and ads; filing cabinet after filing cabinet of original contracts, letters, telegrams, invoices, etc., for every movie production, every television appearance and special, every promotion, every personal appearance, and even fan mail going back to 1955; multiple samples of original souvenir and promotional memorabilia through the years, including the original pressing plates and artwork from which it was made; numerous newsreels and interview audiotapes; scores and scores of acetate recordings; original copies of every record Elvis ever released … [and] thousands and thousands of original photographs and negatives spanning Elvis’ career from beginning to end.”

• Although he no longer negotiated deals for the Presley Estate, Parker was welcomed back as part of Elvis Presley Enterprises by the Trust.

He appeared at several Presley events, including the launch of the popular Elvis Presley stamps.

• He died from a stroke on Jan 20th 1987, at the age of 97

Interview with Colonel Tom Parker : Elvis Presley's Manager : 1987 part1 - YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldgJCMI8KBg&feature=related

Little Richards disasterous publishing deal with Specialty

Little Richard, Tutti Frutti - YouTube

• Richard Penniman was born in 1932, and began performing in his home town of Macon Georgia in 1945, at the age of 13. He worked in minstrel shows and carnivals, with his raucous piano style, flamboyant stage persona and booming voice. He named himself Little Richard, since it was common for blues artists to have "Little" in their names:

ie: Little Milton, Little Walter etc.

• He began as a blues and jump-blues singer in 1951 on RCA Records' race label, Camden Records. The records failed to chart and Penniman returned to his part time job, washing dishes in a bus station restaurant.

• By 1954, his performances started gaining attention in the new genre´of rock and roll. He was signed to Specialty Records by Art Rupe, and given Bumps Blackwell as his A&R rep and producer. by now, he had adopted an outrageous look: Wild hair, piled high on his head;

flashy stage clothes; and lots of make up and eye-liner.

• Some black male singers adopted a gay look in order to play white clubs where white women attended. Thinking they were gay, made them appear to be "safe" to the white male patrons. In the case of Little Richard- he was clearly gay or at least bi-sexual, since he always sported a sexy girlfriend in the 1950s.

• In Nov 1955, they cut the immortal TUTTI FRUTTI, and by early 1956, Little Richard was a star. He broke many important barriers.

Including having a mixed racial band in the south. He was once arrested for inciting a riot when he black and white couples broke through the segregated sections of a concert hall and starting dancing together.

• Several white performers charted higher than Penniman with covers of his music, including Elvis and Pat Boone.

• Throughout his professional career Richard was conflicted between his devotion to his church and his desire to be a preacher, and

his love of being a rock n roll entertainer. IN 1957, at the height of his career while flying home from an Australian tour it is believed he witnessed the Sputnik 1 rocket going up from a Russian launch. Thinking the flame meant the end of the world, he began praying to the Lord on the plane. He swore he would give up the music business if the plane landed safely and the world was not destroyed.

• Upon landing he threw thousands of dollars of jewelry into the overboard while on and promptly told his band, his manager and his label he had giving up Rock N Roll for the Rock of Ages. Richard enrolled in the Oakwood Theological College in Huntsville, AL

• In order to fulfill already contracted shows, his manager sent an unknown singer named out as Little Richard with Richard's band.

That unknown singer was James Brown

• In 1962, at the urging of Don Arden (Sharon Osborne's father) Richardwas coaxed back into secular music, where his opening band in the UKan up and coming band called The Beatles.In 1964, he hired a poor, unknown guitarist named James Marshall Hendrix. He renamed him Jimi Hendrix.

• Throughout his 60 year career- he has left music; returned; left again for the ministry and returned again. Now, he feels comfortable doing both, and playing his classic rock hits. In Dec 2012- he will be 80 years old, and continues to perform.

• When it was clear Richard was serious about quitting-

something had to be done about his record contract. At the time

he was the biggest star on the label's roster.

in 1957, he accepted a lump sum of $11,000 and waived all his

royalties from Specialty Records, his label. He also signed to Specialty's publishing division, Venice Music, as a songwriter. Specialty felt the payment covered both sets of royalties- Richard felt it only covered the record royalties.

• In 1984 he sued to get his writers portion back, both Specialty and ATV, who had bought Venice Music, when it bought the Beatles Catalog. Michael Jackson outbid McCartney for ATV. THe following year, 1985, he met with Little Richard offered to GIVE his publishing

back. In the end, because Jackson was partners with SONY MUSIC in the venture, the transfer never happened. Had it happened, it would

have given Richard $4- 5 million per year in income.

Race Records vs. White Artist Covers

• It was common practice at the dawn of Rock N Roll to have white artists cover the music written and recorded by black artists on race records. Radio airplay was often segregated in those days and it was a common practice. Several black artists' recordings were covered by white artists who often sold more records, charted higher and had bigger careers.

• Little Richard's version of Tutti Frutti made it to #17. Pat Boone's version made it to #1.

Pat Boone's Awful Tutti Frutti cover - YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv-LAbMbEn4

- It wan't until Alan Freed, a white DJ from Cleveland who coined the term rock n roll, started playing black versions of the rock hits on his show, that the cross over to white audiences began.

Moondog Alan Freed Part 2/3 - YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4hlkwEFYqs&feature=related

Alan Freed & The Payola

Scandal of the 1950s

• Payola is a combination of the words Pay and Victrola.

It is defined as: the illegal practice of payment or other inducement by record companies for the broadcast of recordings on music radio, in which the song is presented as being part of the normal day's broadcast.

It had been going on for years going back to the 1920s, but only

became a national issue when many religious organizations and parent's

voiced their outrage at the growth of rock n roll..

• Songwriter magazine described it as: It was a period when DJs established flat rate deals with labels and record distributors. A typical deal for a mid-level DJ was $50 a week, per record, to ensure a minimum amount of spins. More influential jocks commanded percentages of grosses for local concerts, lavish trips, free records by the boxful (some even opened their own record stores), plus all the time-honored swag. As Cleveland DJ Joe Finan later described the decade, “It was a blur of booze, broads and bribes.”

• Payola investigation came as an outgrowth of the Congressional investigation into the rigging of TV game shows like Twenty One and $64,000 Question.

• The National Association of Broadcasters cooperated and supported the Congressional agenda to fine DJs who had accepted payola be fined and serve up to 1 year in prison.

• In November 1959, in closed and open sessions before the U.S. House Oversight Committee, 335 disc jockeys from around the country admitted to having received over $263,000 in “consulting fees.” That figure was only the tip of the payola iceberg (before the hearings, Phil Lind, a DJ at Chicago’s WAIT had confessed that he had once taken $22,000 to play a single record). The trial heated up when the two most influential jocks in the country took the stand.

• Both Alan Freed and Dick Clark became the biggest targets of payola.

Freed because he had grown his Career as a DJ into a lucrative rock n roll empire, that included several films, as well as interests in song publishing.

Clark had become a TV star due to his popular dance show, American Bandstand, which featured teenagers dancing to recorded music, and guest appearances by performers.

• Clark at the insistence of ABC TV prior to the hearings, divested himself of any companies that involved music he played on his TV show.

• And though they both denied ever accepting payola, it’s almost impossible to imagine two young, popular jocks not succumbing to a little temptation. Guilty or not, it was Freed who ended up taking the fall for DJs everywhere.

• Why did the committee single him Freed out? Freed was abrasive. He consorted with black R&B musicians. He jive talked, smoked constantly and looked like an insomniac. Clark was squeaky clean, Brylcreemed, handsome and polite. At least on the surface. Once the grilling started, Freed’s friends and allies in broadcasting quickly deserted him. He refused—“on principle”—to sign an affidavit saying that he’d never accepted payola. WABC fired him, and he was charged with 26 counts of commercial bribery. • IN the investigation, Freed admitted to taking money and gifts for

artists he had "helped" but said he never took money to play a record.

The investigation clearly did not believe him. Freed escaped with fines and a suspended jail sentence. He died five years later, broke and virtually forgotten.

• In 1960, Congress amended the Federal Communications Act to outlaw “under-the-table payments and require broadcasters to disclose if airplay for a song has been purchased.” Payola became a misdemeanor, with a penalty of up to $10,000 in fines and one year in prison.

Artist start gaining more control & power

• Sinatra was the first major star to have his own label, Reprise, which

is now one of the key Warner Music Group labels.

• After the formation of APPLE, and the example led by The Beatles in 1967, several other acts started their own labels upon expiration of their existing label deals.

• Among them: ROLLING STONES RECORDS (Stones); THRESHOLD (Moody Blues) TRACK RECORDS (The Who)

etc etc

• These labels often signed Distibution deals with the labels they had been signed with. In some cases- they are able to renegotiate the older masters; in some cases; not.

The Rolling Stones vs. Allen Klein

• Considered on the biggest rock managers of all time, on his desk a plaque based on the 23rd Psalm, which read: 'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for I am the biggest b*****d in the valley.' 

•  He is remembered for fighting for his clients- and getting them much better deals, but in the process he cut side deals for himself that usually put him at odds with the artist down the road.

• He was born in Brooklyn in 1931, but his mother died when he was nine months old and he was raised until age 12 in a Hebrew orphanage.

• He went to school for accounting and also studied law. He saw a need for good accountants and artist representatives when he began doing record company accounting in the 1950s.

• He got into music publishing and management. He started representing clients such as Connie Francis, Bobby Darin and the great Sam Cooke. When the British Invasion started with The Beatles he did work for The Kinks, The Dave Clark Five, and The Animals.

• He gained a reputation early on as an effective sleuth who could root through record companies’ books on behalf of artists and find thousands of dollars in unpaid royalties. In the early 1960s, he performed those miracles of accounting for Bobby Darin and Cooke.

• In 1965 he was hired by the Rolling Stones' first manager, Andrew Loog Oldham to handle the band's business affairs. In 1967, Oldham

sold his management interest to Klein without even informing the band.

“Andrew sold him to us as a gangster figure, someone outside the establishment. We found that rather attractive,”

• Initially the Stones liked Klein- because he quickly strong-armed Decca Records and doubled their royalty rate.

•

• John Lennon saw this, and with the death of Brian Epstein, brought in Klein to manage The Beatles, who were already falling apart. McCartney wanted his father in law, established music lawyer Lee Eastman. A battle ensued (which had a lot to do with the break up)

and in the end, Harrison and Starr sided with Lennon and Klein was in.

even though McCartney never actually signed on. He worked with Apple until 1973 when his contract expired. Years later all 4 Beatles united to sue Klein.

• In 1969, Klein re-negotiated the Beatles contract with EMI, granting them the highest royalties ever paid to an artist at that time; 69 cents per $6–7 album. In exchange, EMI was allowed to repackage earlier Beatles material as compilations, which Brian Epstein had not permitted.

• He negotiated a new deal for the Rolling Stones with Decca, its label at the time, but soon bought the rights to both the band’s recordings and its publishing. The band would later sue for their return, without success. (The Stones settled with Mr. Klein in 1984.) Through Abkco, Mr. Klein retained control of the band’s music before 1971, when the group formed its own record company, Rolling Stones Records.

• Not long afterwards though, Jagger started to doubt Klein's trustworthiness. The Stones decided to fire Klein, and set up their own business structure in 1970. Klein sued, and the legal settlement meant giving Klein the rights to most of their songs recorded before 1971;[1] Keith Richards later described the settlement as "the price of an education."[2] Klein's ABKCO label released the rarest of all Stones albums, Metamorphosis

• After the Stones and the Beatles Klein worked in the business but mostly lived off the lucrative royalties from the many music publishing copyrights and master recordings he had acquired for ABKCO from clients he represented.

• IN 1979 he was convicted of tax fraud and served 2 months in prison for failing to report income from the sale of records that had been accounted as promotional records.

• When The Verve sampled a violin section of an orchestrated version of The Rolling Stones' Last Time song on their hit "Bittersweet Symphony," he sued for ownership and won. In 1997, The Verve's album Urban Hymns peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard charts. A bitter legal battle ensued, resulting in The Verve turning over 100% of the royalties to ABKCO. Klein argued that The Verve had violated the previous licensing agreement by using too much of the sample in their song.

• The song was nominated for a Grammy, The Verve were not listed as the authors: rather Mick Jagger & Keith Richards.

Miick Jagger and Keith Richards were previously credited as songwriters on the track and received all profits from the song

The Rolling Stones have given Richard Ashcroft the royalties and rights from ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ and have also had their writing credits removed.

The Verve’s 1997 single sampled a four-second segment of Andrew Loog Oldham’s orchestral recording from the Stones’ ‘The Last Time’. Permission was gained for use of the recording, but permission for the use of the song was overlooked. The only deal Ashcroft could reach that allowed him to keep ‘Urban Hymns’, the album the song featured on, on shelves was to sign away all of his rights and royalties to the track.

In a statement released after receiving the PRS For Music Outstanding Contribution To British Music award at the Ivor Novello Awards earlier today (May 23), Ashcroft announced that he had now regained all rights and royalty shares from the song.

“It gives me great pleasure to announce as of last month Mick Jagger and Keith Richards agreed to give me their share of the song ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’,” Ashcroft said. “This remarkable and life-affirming turn of events was made possible by a kind and magnanimous gesture from Mick and Keith, who have also agreed that they are happy for the writing credit to exclude their names and all their royalties derived from the song they will now pass to me.”

He continued: “I would like to thank the main players in this, my management Steve Kutner and John Kennedy, the Stones manager Joyce Smyth and Jody Klein (for actually taking the call) lastly a huge unreserved heartfelt thanks and respect to Mick and Keith. Music is power.”

• He died of stroke in 2009.

_______________________________________

- The fight over Creedence Clearwater Revival

• In 1964, John Fogerty and his brother, Tom signed to Fantasy records with a band they had called the GOLLIWOGS. Fantasy had been a small jazz label in San Francisco, but wanted to branch into rock, and signed the band.

• In 1967, they changed the rhythm section of the band with Stu Cook and Doug Clifford. The new quartet was called CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVIAL

• In 1968, the band exploded on to US charts with a number of classic songs through 1973, that included Proud Mary, Down On The Corner, Looking Out My Back Door, Fortunate Son , Who'll Stop The Rain

etc etc.

Run Through The Jungle

Creedence Clearwater

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKyNmIgCklg&feature=fvst

• In a frantic three years, Fogerty wrote six platinum albums, 10 gold singles and made Creedence a rock legend.

• When the band split in 1973, John Fogerty launched a solo album

on Asylum Records, owned by David Geffen. It was then, he discovered, the deal he signed as a teenager, gave all the publishing

rights to Fantasy. They owned the recorded masters, as a label,

and the song rights, as the publisher. He had to give up his songwriter portion to Fantasy to get out of his deal, he did this not realizing the

impact it would have.

• He spent an angry decade in court, trying to beat the deal he had signed with Saul Zantz and Fantasy. He did not. Then, Fogerty simply refused to have anything to do with Fantasy or the legacy of

Creedence Clearwater Revival. He refused to play any of the old songs

• Then, in the late 1970s, he simply retired from music. It even tore apart his relationship with his brother Tom Fogerty, who remained a Fantasy solo artist.

• Fantasy had become a successful film company, with movies such as ONE FLEW OVER THE COO COOS NEST. They started licensing Creedence songs to films like Forest Gump and for commercials. All without Fogerty's approval and without paying him any publishing royalties or licensing fees.

• Then finally in 1985 he made a comeback with a homerun. His joyous ode to baseball, "Centerfield," quickly became a staple in most ballparks and a natural for the baseball-loving movie "Bull Durham."

• His second hit was a song called THE OLD MAN DOWN THE ROAD,

had a similar feel and sound to an older Creedence hit, RUN THROUGH THE JUNGLE. It became a #1 hit and Fantasy sued Fogerty for copyright infringement. They sued him for stealing from himself!

John Fogerty

The Old Man Is Down The Road

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbSGMRZsN4Q&ob=av3e

•  Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc., 510 U.S. 517 (1994), was a U.S. Supreme Court case that elaborated the standards that should factor into a district court's decision to award attorney's fees in copyright litigation. In general, American courts have discretion to award attorney's fees to "prevailing parties" in order to provide a financial incentive to individuals who otherwise could not afford to enforce their rights in court and to deter the bringing of frivolous lawsuits. Fogerty applied these general principles to copyright infringement lawsuits.

• In the late 1980s, after a plea from a Vietnam vet, he agreed to start performing the Creedence hits.

• The rift separated him from his Brother, Tom, who died of cancer claiming Zantz was his best friend. When Creedence was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, Mr. Fogerty refused to perform with Mr. Cook and Mr. Clifford.

• A few years back, the entire Fantasy catalog of recordings and publishing was sold the Concord Music. In an effort to win the support of Fogerty, they signed him as a solo artist and restored his

songwriter's portion of the copyright. He know happily embraces his legacy with Creedence's music.

The Rise of Motown &

the music for Young America

• Berry Gordy was an auto line worker by day and an aspiring songwriter at night. He had written a few songs for Jackie Wilson, a popular R&B singer, and with the money he made, he decided to start his own indie

label.

Sound of Motown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REqoO5FKZDw

• Founded on Jan. 12, 1959, at 2648 W. Grand Blvd in Detroit Michigan, he chose the name MOTOWN, because Detroit was the home of the 3 major car makers and was called The Motor City.

Above the door, he put a sign that said: "Hitsville U.S.A."

• The first artist he signed with Smokey Robinson & The Miracles.

Robinson, was 10 years younger, but the 2 hit it off as friends, and Gordy made Robinson a VP at Motown. The first hit by Robinson & The MIracles was "Shop Around" in 1960. Then in 1961, "Please Mr Postman" by The Marvellettes went to #1

• Between 1960-1975 Motown had a number of chart-topping artists, musicians, and groups produced by Motown defied comprehension: Martha and the Vandellas, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye. All became part of what would come to be known as the Motown Sound.

• So what was the Motown Sound? Great melodies, lots of tambourines and hand clapping, blaring horns, interplay between the lead singer and his or her backup vocalists, driving bass lines and foot-slapping drum parts.

• Gordy set up Motown like a car factory. He had a stable of great writers; great arrangers; musicians; and of course, the artists themselves. They worked as a team and there was a process from the seeds of a song to the finished product.

• Launched at the height of the Civil Rights movement in the early 1960s. Motown represented what a hugely successful black owned business could be. The songs of Motown coincided with the social movement, and served as its soundtrack.

• Among the hits: "You've Really Got a Hold On Me," "Heat Wave," "Dancing in the Street," "Tracks of My Tears," "Where Did Our Love Go," "My Guy," "My Girl," "Baby Love," "Reach Out, I'll Be There," "I Can't Help Myself," "Get Ready," "Stop! In the Name of Love," "The Way You Do the Things You Do,"

• It was a big booming sound, designed to cut through on transistor radios and car radios.

• The team of HOLLAND DOZIER HOLLAND were their main songwriters. They wrote nearly everything the Supremes did

and hits for many of the other Motown acts. In 1967, they left over a royalty dispute.

• As the war, poverty and civil rights became more prevalent, Motown started to move into politically charged music, such as Marvin Gaye's What's Going On.

• By the mid 1970s, Stevie Wonder had emerged as its biggest act.

• IN 1972, Motown left Detroit for Los Angeles, and it is generally believed that its golden age of music, ended then, They ventured into films with the Billie Holliday bio pic LADY SINGS THE BLUES and fashion film called MAHOGANY, both starring Diana Ross.

• The Big Chill soundtrack in the 1980s caused a revival in Motown's classic music.

• Motown stayed current moving into Rap and modern R&B but never replicated the great success of the 60s and 70s.

• As an independent label, the Final years of the Motown label: 1999–2005. Gordy sold out to Universal Motown: 2005-2011 but remained active with the company. Universal Relaunched the label under The Island Def Jam Music Group: 2011-present

The Creation of WEA and

the record company conglomerate

• Known today as The Warner Music Group, it includes Warner BRothers Records; Atlantic Records; Elektra-Asylum Records; and Rhino Records. WMG is the only one of the big four record companies that cannot trace its ancestry to either Columbia Phonograph Company or Berliner Gramophone

• Warner Brothers Records dates back to 1958, launched to make soundtracks of Warner films available on record. Atlantic was started by Ahmet Ertegun in 1947, as an R&B and Jazz label and became the premier rock label of the 60s and 70s; Elecktra was primarily a folk label until the mid 1960s when it started signing rock acts.

• In 1967. Warners was sold to Seven Arts and in 1967 to Kinney National, a funeral home and shoe store company that also owned most of the parking lots in Manhattan. By the 1970s they had been renamed WEA, Warner Elektra Atlantic. In 1991 when AOL merged with TIme Warner, it was renamed the Warner Music Group

• Within WEA were several sub labels such as Reprise, Stax, and Asylum. Combined the conglomerate had wealth of successful acts that included: Warners: Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple, Grateful Dead, James Taylor, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Van Halen, on Atlantic : Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Cream, Crosby Stills & Nash, Yes, Average White Band, Faces, Dr John, King Crimson, Bette Midler, and Foreigner. On Stax: Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Ben E. King, and Aretha Franklin. On Elektra: The Doors, Judy Collins, The Stooges and on Asylum: The Eagles, Jackson Browne, and Joni Mitchell.

• New signings in the late 1970s placed the Warner group in a strong position for the 1980s. A deal with Seymour Stein's Sire Records label (which Warner Bros. Records later took over) brought in several major punk and New Wave acts including The Pretenders, The Ramones and Talking Heads and, most importantly, rising star Madonna; Elektra signed The Cars and Warner Bros. signed Prince, giving WEA several of the biggest-selling acts of the decade.

• In 1975, WEA scored a major coup by signing a distribution agreement with Island Records, which only covered the United States and select other countries. For the next 14 years (initially with Warner Bros. until 1982, then with Atlantic afterward), WEA would distribute such artists as Bob Marley, U2, Robert Palmer, Anthrax, and Tom Waits. This relationship ended when Island was sold to PolyGram in 1989.

• Similar conglomerate followed WEA: Sony bought Columbia Records

and Epic Records and its affiliate labels in 1991 and later merged with BMG, the outgrowth of RCA Records.

1929-1934: American Record Corporation

1934-1991: Columbia/CBS Records

1991-2004: Birth of Sony Music Entertainment

2004-2008: Sony BMG: Joint venture with Bertelsmann

2008-2011: Return to Sony Music Entertainment

2011-present: Leadership changes & restructuring;

Eventually, Universal purchased Polygram, a European conglomerate, and several top US labels such as Geffen and A&M

In late 2011, UNIVERSAL bid 1.9 billion to buy EMI Music, which

holds the Beatles catalog.

Woodstock and

growth of the concert industry

-

WOODSTOCK

• Started as a small music festival in upstate NY about 2.5 hours from NYC.

• Two young New York venture capitalists, John Roberts and Joel Rosenman placed an ad in the New York Times stating simply "Two young men with unlimited capital looking for interesting, legitimate investment opportunities and business propositions." The ad immediately caught the eye of Michael Lang, a self- identified hippie rock promoter who had just organized his first festival with moderate success in Miami. He and his partner, Artie Kornfeld were seeking financing to build a recording studio featuring all the latest technology in the Hudson River Valley town and bohemian enclave of Woodstock (Ulster County), N.Y.

• The town had been known as a haven for artists and writers since the turn of the century, and by the mid­1960's had begun to attract a host of well known musicians such as Bob Dylan and the Band.

• Organizers were able to secure the biggest names in the business for a 3 day festival set for AUG 15-18 1969. When the town of Woodstock refused to give them a permit, they moved to a private dairy farm owned by Max Yasgur in Bethel NY (70 miles away)

Since all the marketing had been put in place, the name remained WOODSTOCK.

• Knowing they would probably not nake money off ticket sales because the expenses were so high, they had the insight to film the event and had received a $400,000 advance from Warner BRothers Film which helped underwrite the event.

• The line up included Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Joan Baez, Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Richie Havens, Canned Heat, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker, Santana, Ten YEars After, Country Joe & THe Fish., John Sebastian, and many others.

Several of the acts were unknown- but after Woodstock they were world famous.

• They did minimal advertising but word of mouth spread the news

and over 500,000 people showed up for a festival that had been planned for 50,000. It shut down the NY State Thruway and

caused emergency food and facilities to be flown in.

• The 3 hour film of the event- was revolutionary and took the legacy of the festival to mythological proportions. It created The Woodstock

Nation- which remains part of our lexicon.

• The Anthesis of Woodstock with the Altamont Festival in Dec 1969 in San Francisco, which featured the Dead, The Airplane and The Rolling Stones. The crowd was unruly and fights broke out, resulting in the death of a Stones fan by the Hells Angeles, who were hired for security.

• The organizers did celebratory festivals in 1994 and 1999, but neither were as successful,

• Woodstock is regarded as the launch of the concert industry - and

launched the industry of music festivals which continues today with

Warped Tour, Coachella, and Burning Man.

LED ZEPPELIN and the

emergence of Super Deals

• Led Zeppelin was a rock band that grew out of the BRitish Invasion

pop act, The Yardbirds. The Yardbirds had several pop hits but were essentially a blues band. Both Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck were members. In 1965, Jimmy Page, who had been a top session guitarist joined. When the Yardbirds fell apart in 1968, with several gigs still booked, Page, decided to re-build the band.

• He recruited John Paul Jones, another top session player on bass.

Together they added 18 year old Robert Plant on vocals and John Bonham on drums. Initially they toured as THE NEW YARDBIRDS to fulfill the obligations.

• They were managed by Peter Grant, a 400 lb ex-wrestler who had been the bouncer of a club.

• The name was suggested by Keith Moon of the Who.

• The began as a rock version of the traditional blues sound, but also incorporated lots of British folk music into their sound. They were one of the first bands to effectively blend acoustic and electric instruments.

• They signed with Atlantic Records and were an instant sensation, especially with their blistering 2 hour live shows.

• The members of Led Zeppelin were musical sponges, often traveling the world –literally traipsing about foreign lands and figuratively exploring the cultural landscape via their record collections – in search of fresh input to trigger their muse. “The very thing Zeppelin was about was that there were absolutely no limits,” explained bassist Jones. “We all had ideas, and we’d use everything we came across, whether it was folk, country music, blues, Indian, Arabic.”

• By 1969, they were one of the biggest bands in the world. Over the next 10 years they would release a wealth of songs that have become Classic Rock radio staples among them: “Whole Lotta Love,” “Heartbreaker” “Ramble On.” “Dazed and Confused,” “Good Times Bad Times” “Communication Breakdown.” "Immigrant Song",

“When the Levee Breaks” " Going To California," “Black Dog”

"Nobody;s Fault But Mine," " Kashmir", "Trampled Underfoot"

and "Stairway to Heaven," one of the most radio played records of all time.

• In Sept 1980 on the verge of a world tour, drummer John Bonham died in his sleep after a night of drinking and partying. Unable to consider a replacement, the band broke up- but the musical legacy

continued.

• Second only to The Beatles, Led Zeppelin has sold 85 million albums.

• Peter "G" Grant (5 April 1935 – 21 November 1995) was an English music manager. Grant managed the popular English bands The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin and Bad Company, among others, and was also a record executive for Swan Song Records. Grant has been described as "one of the shrewdest and most ruthless managers in rock history" He is widely credited with improving pay and conditions for musicians in dealings with concert promoters.

• Worked in a bar and as a bouncer. The bar owner was an ex-Wrestler who felt he should go on to the TV wrestling circuit.

Grant appear on television and gave him the opportunity to wrestle under the titles "Count Massimo" and "Count Bruno Alassio of Milan," using his 6 ft 5 in frame to good effect.

• Between 1958 and 1963, Grant appeared in a number of movies, including A Night to Remember (as a crew member on the Titanic), The Guns of Navarone (as a British commando) and Cleopatra (as a palace guard). He also appeared in television shows such as The Saint, Crackerjack, Dixon of Dock Green, and The Benny Hill Show.

• In 1963, he was hired by Don Arden as a tour manager for acts like

Bo DIddley, Chuck Berry and Little Ricard. After the British invasion in 1964, he started to manage acts like Jeff Beck, Terry Reid ad Stone The Crows. In late 1966 he took over management for The Yardbirds,

but it was too late, the band was falling apart due to financial pressures. They finally folded in the spring of 1968.

• Grant had a hands on approach - and traveled with his acts.

He kept expenses to a minimum and made sure the artists always got paid and were smart with their investments. He was a big proponent of artistic control over the music.

• Billing the new Led Zeppelin as a supergroup, he negotiated a huge 5 year deal with Atlantic, where the band had full artistic control with everything including album covers. He also shifted the music business by making Zeppelin focus on albums rather than singles. Singles, he felt would come naturally out of great albums.

• He placed the band's focus on live performances. He toured them heavily, but secured strong fees and was able to get them to a 90% take at the gate.

• Grant's determination to protect the financial interests of Led Zeppelin was also reflected by the sometimes-extraordinary measures he took to combat the practice of unauthorized live bootleg recordings. He is reported to have personally visited record stores in London that were selling Led Zeppelin bootlegs and demanded all copies be handed over. He also monitored the crowd at Led Zeppelin concerts in order to locate anything which resembled bootleg recording equipment. At one concert at Vancouver in 1971 he saw what he thought was such equipment on the floor of the venue and ensured that it was destroyed, only to later learn that it was a noise pollution unit being operated by city officials to test the volume of the concert.

peter grant you tube

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