Friday, March 30, 2012
JERRY LEE LEWIS MARRIES FOR THE 7th TIME!
Jerry is one who believes in marriage and keeps believing! Linking to one of many articles about Jerry's 7th marriage, this one from the Los Angeles Times explains just how close to home Jerry's new bride is!
Thursday, March 29, 2012
(411) BARRY MANN and CYNTHIA WEIL : SOUNTRACK OF OUR LIVES : LINK TO THEIR OFFICIAL SITE
W're linking her to the official site for extraordinary songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, a husband- wife team that started off in New York in the Brill Building.
Their official site really says it all, so just to paraphrase a bit so you'll want to read the whole thing, they started their career "in the 60's at Aldon Music, the legendary music publishing company founded by Don Kirshner and Al Nevins. They were members of a teen writing staff, which included Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield and Carole Bayer Sager. Among their other Brill Building colleagues were the likes of Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Jerry Lieber, Mike Stoller and Phil Spector. .... "Barry and Cynthia, together, have amassed an incredible 112 pop, country and R&B awards from Broadcast Music Inc., recognizing highest performance popularity on American radio and television in a particular year and 115 Millionaire awards, signifying radio performances of a million or more plays."
Known for writing YOU'VE LOST THAT LOVIN FEELING, which brought The Righteous Brothers to Fame, and one of the most covered songs in history, as well as so many others you've sung in the shower.
Their official site really says it all, so just to paraphrase a bit so you'll want to read the whole thing, they started their career "in the 60's at Aldon Music, the legendary music publishing company founded by Don Kirshner and Al Nevins. They were members of a teen writing staff, which included Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield and Carole Bayer Sager. Among their other Brill Building colleagues were the likes of Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Jerry Lieber, Mike Stoller and Phil Spector. .... "Barry and Cynthia, together, have amassed an incredible 112 pop, country and R&B awards from Broadcast Music Inc., recognizing highest performance popularity on American radio and television in a particular year and 115 Millionaire awards, signifying radio performances of a million or more plays."
Known for writing YOU'VE LOST THAT LOVIN FEELING, which brought The Righteous Brothers to Fame, and one of the most covered songs in history, as well as so many others you've sung in the shower.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
NATIONAL ARCHIVES : MARCH 28 1958 : ELVIS IN THE ARMY
ARC Identifier: 299792, Title: "Acknowledgement of service obligation signed by Elvis Presley on March 24, 1958, to indicate that he understands that his total service obligation (both active and reserve) is 6 years, 03/24/1958"
Archives properties. The letter Elvis signed regarding his army enlistment.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
(410) PUBLISHING HOUSES BUY SONGS LIKE STOCKS : THERE'S A DISCLAIMER TO READ BEFORE YOU USE THE BMI SITE TO SEARCH
The song as you remember it, even if you are looking at the plastic record right this minute and are reading from the label, may have been sold since it first appeared for sale in record stores, and the older the record is, the better the chances that it's moved from one publishing house to another, or now has split publishing represented. The reason is that buying songs for a publishing house account are kind of like buying stocks! The buyer knows that some songs are going to pay for years, others for special use, others because a new performer has re-recorded, and some will just settle, but are a part of a body of work.
This is one of the reasons you accept a disclaimer on the BMI website before you search for the owner of an intellectual property, because there are always changes going on. An intellectual property attorney is sometimes needed if there's any question.
"Copyright ©2012 Broadcast Music, Inc. All rights reserved. ( This is the BMI disclaimer)
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained on this website, BMI provides no warranty regarding the accuracy of the information contained herein. The materials in this site are provided “as is” and without any warranties of any kind expressed or implied. All warranties expressed or implied are excluded to the fullest extent permissible by law."
There's more legalese after that. Disclaimers are on other such sites too... we're just using BMI as an example here. The cataloging process is never ending. The changes are never ending. We don't know how they ever really catch up!
This is one of the reasons you accept a disclaimer on the BMI website before you search for the owner of an intellectual property, because there are always changes going on. An intellectual property attorney is sometimes needed if there's any question.
"Copyright ©2012 Broadcast Music, Inc. All rights reserved. ( This is the BMI disclaimer)
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained on this website, BMI provides no warranty regarding the accuracy of the information contained herein. The materials in this site are provided “as is” and without any warranties of any kind expressed or implied. All warranties expressed or implied are excluded to the fullest extent permissible by law."
There's more legalese after that. Disclaimers are on other such sites too... we're just using BMI as an example here. The cataloging process is never ending. The changes are never ending. We don't know how they ever really catch up!
Friday, March 23, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
(409) BMI TYPE DATABASES CAN BE WRONG
The ASCAP and BMI type songwriter databases, which help you find out who owns the intellectual properties to a song, can be wrong.
The reasons why are easy to explain.
When a songwriter sells his or her portion of the earnings on a song or leaves their portion in an inheritance to another person, someone who never wrote a song in their life can appear on the songwriter portion. A original partnership of two can appear to be a team of twelve. IT'S NOT REALLY A SONGWRITER'S DATABASE. It's a song OWNERSHIP database, about accounting.
Sometimes publishers sell part of their rights to a song to another publisher so more than one publisher may be involved.
A songwriter, artist, or publisher, who is registered with ASCAP or BMI is always locatable, should you want to use their song and pay them what you owe.
You simply contact the organization, tell them what song, and they contact the songwriter. Or if the songwriter has sold all their work or moved their work to another database/organization, they may have the address or be willing to forward for you.
The reasons why are easy to explain.
When a songwriter sells his or her portion of the earnings on a song or leaves their portion in an inheritance to another person, someone who never wrote a song in their life can appear on the songwriter portion. A original partnership of two can appear to be a team of twelve. IT'S NOT REALLY A SONGWRITER'S DATABASE. It's a song OWNERSHIP database, about accounting.
Sometimes publishers sell part of their rights to a song to another publisher so more than one publisher may be involved.
A songwriter, artist, or publisher, who is registered with ASCAP or BMI is always locatable, should you want to use their song and pay them what you owe.
You simply contact the organization, tell them what song, and they contact the songwriter. Or if the songwriter has sold all their work or moved their work to another database/organization, they may have the address or be willing to forward for you.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Saturday, March 17, 2012
AN IRISH BLESSING : FRIENDSHIP
May there always be work for your hands to do,
May your purse always hold a coin or two.
May the sun always shine on your windowpane,
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you,
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.
May your purse always hold a coin or two.
May the sun always shine on your windowpane,
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you,
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.
Irish Blessing
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
(408) LOUIS "LOU" HALMY : A WHIZZ IN THE BIZZ
LOU HALMY, a trumpeter born in Budapest Hungary, was one of my favorite people in the music business. He was also one of the most brilliant.
Lou had started out on the East Coast where he worked as a musician for "society" bands like Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra. (They played on"The Woodbury Hour With Bob Hope") and in the "The Big Broadcast of 1938," a movie with Bob Hope, W.C. Fields and Dorothy Lamour - the Great Depression era.
He worked for Bob Ross Music Publishing at the time I worked with him and did a lot of work for Pat Boone at the time too.
When I wrote a song, I would play it on the guitar for Lou. LOU WOULD WHISTLE THE SONG BACK TO ME. Then I knew he "got it." Based on his whistling, he would write the lead sheet and pass it on to one of the "copiers" who wrote the actual music sheet with notations. Lou was considered a professional whistler!
Lou could "authenticate" music. He had that audiographic memory, so he appeared in many court hearings where various people were trying to establish their rights to intellectual properties and other issues. He was an expert.
Lou passed away up in Oregon on March 14, 2005. He had been in the music business for about 75 years and was 94 years old! One of my favorite memories of Lou was him driving the car he had, a tiny MG with the fancy spokes.
PS: Lou had a giant record that sold excellent called "THE HAPPY WHISTLER!" The song was covered by a number of other artists.
Lou had started out on the East Coast where he worked as a musician for "society" bands like Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra. (They played on"The Woodbury Hour With Bob Hope") and in the "The Big Broadcast of 1938," a movie with Bob Hope, W.C. Fields and Dorothy Lamour - the Great Depression era.
He worked for Bob Ross Music Publishing at the time I worked with him and did a lot of work for Pat Boone at the time too.
When I wrote a song, I would play it on the guitar for Lou. LOU WOULD WHISTLE THE SONG BACK TO ME. Then I knew he "got it." Based on his whistling, he would write the lead sheet and pass it on to one of the "copiers" who wrote the actual music sheet with notations. Lou was considered a professional whistler!
Lou could "authenticate" music. He had that audiographic memory, so he appeared in many court hearings where various people were trying to establish their rights to intellectual properties and other issues. He was an expert.
Lou passed away up in Oregon on March 14, 2005. He had been in the music business for about 75 years and was 94 years old! One of my favorite memories of Lou was him driving the car he had, a tiny MG with the fancy spokes.
PS: Lou had a giant record that sold excellent called "THE HAPPY WHISTLER!" The song was covered by a number of other artists.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
FROM OUR ARCHIVES : POST (75) BMI AND OTHER REGISTRIES TO PROTECT THE SONGWRITER
In the early 1960's I decided it was time to officially join either BMI or ASCAP. BMI - Broadcast Music, Inc. and ASCAP- The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, were there to make sure that a songwriter got his or her residuals - payment for work that was recorded by others or used by others in a performance. At the time it seemed that most of the younger guys - my peers - were choosing BMI.
A songwriter can be a member of one or both of these organizations. It's a choice. You can also choose not to join at all. BMI and ASCAP don't have worldwide authority. There are other organizations that do what these two do for their member artists.
These organizations monitor the use or play of a song and provide collection and pay services for "performance royalties" to the publishers and the songwriters. Each and every time a song is played on the radio or the television there are royalties to be paid to the publisher, to the performer, and to the songwriter(s.)
I suspect that with computers involved the accounting might be more accurate. Radio stations have to keep reports of their play lists.
So if you're a serious songwriter and want to make money from your creative output, the thing to do is to register with a publisher.
A songwriter can be a member of one or both of these organizations. It's a choice. You can also choose not to join at all. BMI and ASCAP don't have worldwide authority. There are other organizations that do what these two do for their member artists.
These organizations monitor the use or play of a song and provide collection and pay services for "performance royalties" to the publishers and the songwriters. Each and every time a song is played on the radio or the television there are royalties to be paid to the publisher, to the performer, and to the songwriter(s.)
I suspect that with computers involved the accounting might be more accurate. Radio stations have to keep reports of their play lists.
So if you're a serious songwriter and want to make money from your creative output, the thing to do is to register with a publisher.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
(407) ABOUT THOSE LOUSY LYRIC SITES
Lousy!?
Christine here: One of the things that makes me a little crazy is how bad about crediting songwriters most of the lyric sites on the Internet that I've visited are.
They (the site or the poster) will say a song is Elvis Presley's or Glen Campbell's because that is the artist who most made the song famous, or maybe that's the version that's their personal favorite.
It's easy to believe that Elvis Presley wrote a lot of songs, but he co-wrote one, "All Shook Up."
Glen Campbell did write songs. He also first became famous with songs by Jimmy Webb.
Maybe this is the place to also say that a lot of the lyric sites are Wikis and people, well meaning I'm sure, are writing down lyrics as they hear them, and posting, which accounts for the different lyrics you may find if you search various sites.
As a girl, who was already very much into lyrics as poetry and as stories, I had a song lyric collection myself. I'd hear a song come on the radio, grab my pen and paper and start writing. Sometimes I had to listen for the song to play again for days before I got it all down.
I got "By the Time I Get To Phoenix," and "Witchita Line Man" down accurately due to the pace and pronunciation of the lyrics by the artist, Glen Campbell, but I recently learned I'd been singing very wrong lyrics to a Rolling Stone's song, never mind which one. By getting the lyrics wrong, I got the meaning wrong too.
Since I know how difficult it is to get the information as to who the original song writers of a song were (more about this on the next post), I do understand that the Wiki people and the lyric sites don't want to put that expectation on people, however, I wish they would at least write something like "as sung by..."
Christine here: One of the things that makes me a little crazy is how bad about crediting songwriters most of the lyric sites on the Internet that I've visited are.
They (the site or the poster) will say a song is Elvis Presley's or Glen Campbell's because that is the artist who most made the song famous, or maybe that's the version that's their personal favorite.
It's easy to believe that Elvis Presley wrote a lot of songs, but he co-wrote one, "All Shook Up."
Glen Campbell did write songs. He also first became famous with songs by Jimmy Webb.
Maybe this is the place to also say that a lot of the lyric sites are Wikis and people, well meaning I'm sure, are writing down lyrics as they hear them, and posting, which accounts for the different lyrics you may find if you search various sites.
As a girl, who was already very much into lyrics as poetry and as stories, I had a song lyric collection myself. I'd hear a song come on the radio, grab my pen and paper and start writing. Sometimes I had to listen for the song to play again for days before I got it all down.
I got "By the Time I Get To Phoenix," and "Witchita Line Man" down accurately due to the pace and pronunciation of the lyrics by the artist, Glen Campbell, but I recently learned I'd been singing very wrong lyrics to a Rolling Stone's song, never mind which one. By getting the lyrics wrong, I got the meaning wrong too.
Since I know how difficult it is to get the information as to who the original song writers of a song were (more about this on the next post), I do understand that the Wiki people and the lyric sites don't want to put that expectation on people, however, I wish they would at least write something like "as sung by..."
Sunday, March 4, 2012
(406) YOU CAN'T COPYRIGHT A SONG TITLE
If you explore a music/song database, such as BMI, using the title of one of your favorite songs, you may be surprised to learn that several songs share a title.
That's because titles of songs are NOT copyrightable.
Let's say then that you search by artist, because you associate the artist with the song. That might help you get to the right song with that title you remember. But several artists may be shown associated with that song as well because the truth is the COVER TUNE ERA never really went away.
This is where a YouTube video may help.
If it's a historical music video, at least you can hear the song and confirm that it's the song you associate with an artist, and sometimes the video poster will have a picture of a label and other information.
Yet, we also have to tell you, small record labels didn't always have the labels printed correctly. There are times when the actual label on the record has mispellings or missing information!
That's because titles of songs are NOT copyrightable.
Let's say then that you search by artist, because you associate the artist with the song. That might help you get to the right song with that title you remember. But several artists may be shown associated with that song as well because the truth is the COVER TUNE ERA never really went away.
This is where a YouTube video may help.
If it's a historical music video, at least you can hear the song and confirm that it's the song you associate with an artist, and sometimes the video poster will have a picture of a label and other information.
Yet, we also have to tell you, small record labels didn't always have the labels printed correctly. There are times when the actual label on the record has mispellings or missing information!
Friday, March 2, 2012
LINK TO TED STAUTON'S UNITED ARTISTS : WAIT FOR ME BABY : WES BRYAN LABEL and PAGE
We contributed an image of the United Artists red and black label that my song WAIT FOR ME BABY appeared on to Ted Stauton, and he sent us this page. He was so nice to credit me and provide links to the YouTube site and the blog.
"This Canadian release was produced by Quality Records of Ontario. Image courtesy of American songwriter and recording artist Wes Bryan. "
"This Canadian release was produced by Quality Records of Ontario. Image courtesy of American songwriter and recording artist Wes Bryan. "
