The January MOJO finally made it to Canadian shores last week and reading the sidebar on Billy Preston, there was mention of his 1973 song "Do You Love Me", which led to the "inspiration By" credit on Melody.

Well, thanks to youtube I checked it out and Yikes!!! it's a whole lot more than "inspiration" for Melody. Does this mean Ron Wood wrote Hey Negrita?

Thoughts?

sure Ronnie Wood wrote Hey Negrita - that's on the public record.
he's talked openly about it

Yep, Melody is a rip off, apart from the lyrics. Even Keith's guitar sound is the same

Someone on this board said that Preston was furious when Mick and Keith didn't give him songwriting credits, but I haven't found anything about that anywhere.

It is strange that Billy didn't make sure he was credited before they recorded it

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with sssoul
sure Ronnie Wood wrote Hey Negrita - that's on the public record.
he's talked openly about it

Yep, but I'm pretty sure Mick wrote the lyrics.

It was me who said that...I can't find the quote either...I do remember
when i heard it back in the day, Thinking what a ungrateful person Preston was
for complaining about not getting credit for writing..(I was younger then and looked at the Stones as Gods
and they could do no wrong)...

I thought to myself that he was paid for playing and was making good money touring with the band..
He wanted more...In the 75 tour he was really more upfront, almost like a member of the Stones..

He then lost that job on the next tour...

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DandelionPowderman

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with sssoul
sure Ronnie Wood wrote Hey Negrita - that's on the public record.
he's talked openly about it

Yep, but I'm pretty sure Mick wrote the lyrics.

Ronnie's said that leaving room for the Mick to contribute lyrics is one of the keys
to getting a number on a Stones album, so i reckon you're right. i reckon he contributed lyrics to Melody as well.

Of course the two songs are similar, but the main reason is that Preston is doing basically the same thing on both.

I think "inspiration by" is the correct credit in these cases.

Musically, only the progession of chords of the chorus of DYLM is the same of Melody's verse, but Melody's chorus is completely diffrenet and - most imposrtant, Melody's melody and lyrics are completely different.

Speaking of similarities, I was listening for the first time in years Manassas' Down the Road and surely City Junkies was more than "inspired by" Let's Spend the night together ...

No big deal. I am convinced that plagiarism should be free in music!

C

I did find a site called HISTORY GUY..And it talks about Billy being a "member" of the Stones
until a fall out over money in 1977.

www.historyguy.com/biofiles/preston_billy.html

I too really didn't like when Preston played his songs at the Stones concert..

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liddas
Of course the two songs are similar, but the main reason is that Preston is doing basically the same thing on both.

I think "inspiration by" is the correct credit in these cases.

Musically, only the progession of chords of the chorus of DYLM is the same of Melody's verse, but Melody's chorus is completely diffrenet and - most imposrtant, Melody's melody and lyrics are completely different.

Speaking of similarities, I was listening for the first time in years Manassas' Down the Road and surely City Junkies was more than "inspired by" Let's Spend the night together ...

No big deal. I am convinced that plagiarism should be free in music!

C

IMO, yes and no. Without the chords there wouldn't be a Melody (The similar chords is actually in Melody's chorus). The bridge in Melody is different ("I took her out dancing, she drank away my cash..."), and it goes for the ending with all the screaming from Mick and Billy as well.

"Inspired by Billy Preston's Do You Love Me" would have been the right credit, perhaps?

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DandelionPowderman

IMO, yes and no. Without the chords there wouldn't be a Melody (The similar chords is actually in Melody's chorus). The bridge in Melody is different ("I took her out dancing, she drank away my cash..."), and it goes for the ending with all the screaming from Mick and Billy as well.

"Inspired by Billy Preston's Do You Love Me" would have been the right credit, perhaps?

Chorus, you are right! Memory plays games. The chord progression is quite common though. Something similar in the finale of the Crowes Remedy, if I am not wrong.

On the other hand, the melody of the choruses of two songs - even if the chord progesstion is quite the same, is completely different.

And the remaining part of the two songs is way different - melody, lyrics AND chords.

But to make the whole discussion a little more interesting, these two songs are a great example of why the current crediting system is - as a matter of fact - stupid in pop music. Not always the hook is incorporated in the melody (miss you yes, satisfaction no) and the timbre - the most defining characteristc of pop music - is not considered at all.

As a matter of fact, Melody is not a copy of DYLM, but the songs "sound" extremely similar.


C

Wow, what an interesting find! Now we know, why Bill Wyman
always announced this song as "written by Billy Preston" (at
his Rhythm Kings-gigs).
Maybe Preston got the meager "inspired by"-credit as some kind
of horsetrading, as Jagger wrote some (uncredited) lyrics for BP's
1974 The Kids & Me-album.

N

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NeddieFlanders
Wow, what an interesting find! Now we know, why Bill Wyman
always announced this song as "written by Billy Preston" (at
his Rhythm Kings-gigs).
Maybe Preston got the meager "inspired by"-credit as some kind
of horsetrading, as Jagger wrote some (uncredited) lyrics for BP's
1974 The Kids & Me-album.

N

I didn't know that. Sounds reasonable.

>I didn't know that. Sounds reasonable.

Jagger said that he wrote lyrics for Preston's upcoming album
in an interview done in Summer 1973. The interview in question
is available on this release (track 2):
[www.amazon.co.uk]

N

Billy also reportedly had a lot to do with Miss You.

I always thought Keith was the main reason others never got full name credit on a song. I may be wrong, but Keith has been the purist in the sense that Jagger/Richards meant Jagger/Richards...period. Keith doesn't even like it when Mick used a Stones song in his solo set. Keith may be the reason why Taylor/Preston never got actual songwritin credit. Again, I may be wrong, but that's always been my impression.

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stupidguy2
I always thought Keith was the main reason others never got full name credit on a song. I may be wrong, but Keith has been the purist in the sense that Jagger/Richards meant Jagger/Richards...period. Keith doesn't even like it when Mick used a Stones song in his solo set. Keith may be the reason why Taylor/Preston never got actual songwritin credit. Again, I may be wrong, but that's always been my impression.

What do you base that impression on?

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liddas

Chorus, you are right! Memory plays games. The chord progression is quite common though. Something similar in the finale of the Crowes Remedy, if I am not wrong.

On the other hand, the melody of the choruses of two songs - even if the chord progesstion is quite the same, is completely different.

And the remaining part of the two songs is way different - melody, lyrics AND chords.

But to make the whole discussion a little more interesting, these two songs are a great example of why the current crediting system is - as a matter of fact - stupid in pop music. Not always the hook is incorporated in the melody (miss you yes, satisfaction no) and the timbre - the most defining characteristc of pop music - is not considered at all.

As a matter of fact, Melody is not a copy of DYLM, but the songs "sound" extremely similar.


C

Interesting point about Remedy -the breakdown section after the solo.
Re: Melody - It's a lot like the use of sampling (not the lame ones where they take a hook outright, but the ones where they build a new track out of three or four bits of other songs) in hip hop.
Although I think now the original artists get writing credit.
I also think Melody takes DYLM's groove to the next level.