Re: Mick Taylor's Supposed Writing Credits
Posted by:
Rocky Dijon
()
Date: October 13, 2006 23:26
Yes, I was joking and yes, I agree Taylor was an integral part of why those years are their golden years. I also don't dispute that he deserved co-writing credits on many of those songs. I was just pointing out that among the many musicians (or their fans) who feel they were ripped off by the Glimmers, no one has ever done anything about it. When Jagger was sued by Patrick Alley, an obscure reggae artist for stealing his 1979 recording, Just Another Night, Jagger produced proof in the form of demos that he developed his song over a period of months and that it wasn't stolen. Likewise, one or the many disgruntled musicians should have been able to produce proof a composition was theirs. What they could not easily do, and my contention is that this is the case in fact, is prove undisputably their contribution was worthy of a credit. Co-writing credit is more a matter of honor if there is no agreement up-front. If Jagger indeed told Taylor the lack of credit was an oversight he would correct, he could only mean two things. The first was that for the next album, he wouldn't screw him out of royalties again. The second would be a one-time only lump-sum payment that, over the decades, would surely not match what a successful's song's earning potential could bring the writers. What many here have suggested is that there should be a press release stating that back royalties have been paid to the artist and future pressings of the CD will read Jagger/Richards/Taylor (or, in extreme cases that I do not accept as plausible, replace Jagger/Richards with Taylor only or Jagger/Taylor). While the last option may seem fair and just, it is not feasible. I love Taylor's playing with the Stones. I don't give him total credit for the golden years because two of the four classic albums, he had little or no input (Beggars and Let It Bleed). My sarcastic post was largely pointed at claims such as Brian/Ry Cooder/Mick Taylor wrote the classic Honky Tonk Women riff. It may be that one of them did, but it can't be all of them. In the instance of Dr. John's autobiography, he claims he wrote "C*cksucker Blues" during the Exile sessions among other songs, but that song was written and recorded in 1970 and among the songs assigned to ABKCO as publisher in October 1970 when their contract expired. This predates the Exile sessions by nearly a year and over a year before Dr. John was brought in to help with the album at Sunset Sound in December 1971. Again, did all of the above contribute significantly to shaping songs? Yes, I believe they did. Would it have been the right thing to share credit on songs? Yes, it would, but then they wouldn't be the Bad Boys of Rock 'n' Roll. Bad behavior is more than just illegal drugs and groupies and saying bad words to upset people. The other side of the reputation is selfishness and greed. The very things the Glimmers are taken to task for on this and other boards regularly over incidents like this or for ticket prices, etc. We love them for being the Stones but still get upset when they act like the Stones. Had Taylor stuck it out, he might have had more than one co-writing credit, but he would never have broken the Jagger/Richards stranglehold. One-third of the credit was all he could get no matter how hard he worked at it. Wyman got a solo writing credit through once (twice if you count Metamorphosis which doesn't apply) but it would certainly never happen again. If it had, we surely wouldn't be seeing the Stones today. That's the trade-off involved. Understanding that is what helped Ron Wood fare better than Mr. Taylor and last decades longer. No, I don't believe we will see another Jagger/Richards/Wood credit if there are further Stones sessions. All part of the price. We know what they are and why they are good at what they do. Expecting a Dickensian turn of heart is just pointless.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2006-10-13 23:29 by Rocky Dijon.