Procol Harum Organist Wins Court Case
Dec 20, 11:44 AM EST


A judge awarded a 40 percent share in the copyright of "A Whiter Shade of Pale," one of the most famous pop songs of all time, to a former organist for Procol Harum.

Lead singer Gary Brooker and lyricist Keith Reid always claimed credit for the hit, which became part of the soundtrack for the hippy "summer of love" of 1967.

But in his ruling, the judge decided that organist Matthew Fisher was entitled to both credit and royalties.

"I have come to the view that Mr. Fisher's interest in the work should be reflected by according him a 40 percent share of the musical copyright," the written judgment said. "His contribution to the overall work was on any view substantial but not, in my judgment, as substantial as that of Mr. Brooker."

The judge said the song's organ solo "is a distinctive and significant contribution to the overall composition and quite obviously the product of skill and labor on the part of the person who created it."

The judge said Fisher, 60, was entitled to royalties from May 2005, when he began court proceedings.

"A Whiter Shade of Pale," famous for its cryptic lyrics — "We skipped the light fandango, turned cartwheels 'cross the floor" — topped the British charts for five weeks in 1967 and was a Top 5 hit in the U.S.

Rolling Stone magazine has ranked it 57th in a list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Brooker says he and Reid wrote the song before Fisher joined the band in March 1967. It was released in May.

Fisher, now a computer programmer living in south London, left the band in 1969. Brooker, 61, still tours with Procol Harum.

In a statement, Brooker and Reid said Fisher's court victory created a dangerous precedent because it meant any musician who had played on any recording in the past 40 years could claim joint authorship.

"It is effectively open season on the songwriter," they said. "It will mean that unless all musicians' parts are written for them, no publisher or songwriter will be able to risk making a recording for fear of a possible claim of songwriting credit."

They intend to file an appeal.

Hi, my name is Johann Sebastian Bach jr jr jr jr jr jr jr jr. I already contacted a Mr Rupert Loewenstein to open a bank account in the Commonwealth.

I just wondered if Bill Wyman,Mick Taylor and to a lesser account Ronnie Wood might be tempted down this path,considering the various claims to writing credits on numerous Stones tracks,any thoughts?

here kitty, kitty...

Beelyboy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> here kitty,
> kitty...[i82.photobucket.com]
> lyboy/catfight_you_wont_win.jpg


LOL!!! I wonder who'd win there.
BTW:

-------> An internet classic.

JumpingKentFlash



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-12-21 11:20 by JumpingKentFlash.

oops, wrong thread

hehe - funny video



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-12-21 14:48 by open-g.

>The judge said the song's organ solo "is a distinctive and significant contribution to the overall composition and quite obviously the product of skill and labor on the part of the person who created it." <

JJHMIck, you mean by your reply to this that this famous melody comes from J-S Bach, right?

I thought I had heard that reference once. Wonder why anyone around in court didn't straightened up the judge on that bit...

... or even Professional Bitter Musician Ry Cooder!

Didn't Brian Jones' family try to claim something like this?

I remember reading about this case a few months ago, if I remember correctly, the Judge is a musician as well.

A song is the song. A famous riff can be a part of that song. But that doesn't mean that the "riff-writer" is the song writer.

Sometimes, a song can become known largely for a famous riff. But if the song was written by one person, and another player comes up with the inspired part or signature riff, which later makes the song a famous hit... the "riff writer" STILL isn't the song writer.

I think that this ruling is wrong. It could turn out to be a can of worms.

jamesfdouglas Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ... or even Professional Bitter Musician Ry
> Cooder!
>
hi james & happy holidays: about that particular commento re: cooder,

in addition to appearing on well over a hundred albums and hit singles from an extremely diverse and fascinating list of performers, many of them very well known, (on hits that would floor you if you knew he was the guitar man on them)...and in addition to over a dozen of his own albums, Ry lives very happily in santa monica with his family, including a wonderful relationship with his son who is also a musician, and has the huge respect of millions; the stones were lucky to get him on three of their albums and 'jamming with edward'...
the stones are an asterisk in his career; he never needed them; dosen't now.
he's brilliant...happy, and involved in the music community in whatever way he wants to express himself...and does in increasingly interesting and expressive ways...he's absolutely brilliant and the world knows it...and has been in this position since the 60's...

the 'professional bitter musician ry cooder' thing just dosen't fly.

I wonder if the Colored Girls are going to sue Lou Reed for Walk on the Wild Side.....

It's that foggy area called arrangement.

The problem with this song is that the organ melody kind of overrides the actual songs melody, ie the vocal track.

Bill's always claimed that JJF was mainly his. If he contested that and won it'd be a nice little supplement to his pension!

"I'll be in my basement room with a needle and a spoon."

ROLLINGSTONE Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bill's always claimed that JJF was mainly his. If
> he contested that and won it'd be a nice little
> supplement to his pension!


That's a good example of what I mean... Even if Bill came up with JJF's signature riff BEFORE THE SONG WAS WRITTEN, it still doesn't necessarily mean that he wrote the song.

schillid Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ROLLINGSTONE Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Bill's always claimed that JJF was mainly his.
> If
> > he contested that and won it'd be a nice little
> > supplement to his pension!
>
>
> That's a good example of what I mean... Even if
> Bill came up with JJF's signature riff BEFORE THE
> SONG WAS WRITTEN, it still doesn't necessarily
> mean that he wrote the song.

No - but to be honest, while a lot of songs are 50% backing and 50% vocal, there are some songs that have a little something else that certainly warrants (where the performer feels they've earned it) something over and above a pure performance royalty.

for instance, listen to 'While my guitar gently weeps'. I realise that EC doesn't need the money, but if he was down on his ass with nothing in the bank and brought a case for entitlement to a cut above performance royalties, would anybody here begrudge it to him?

Or what about the Jools Holland piano break on 'Good Thing' by the Fine Young Cannibals. I realise in both cases these aren't *necessary* for the song, per se, to stand on it's own two feet, but in both cases, they lifted the song above a certain level.

As regards the Procul Harum thing, there are certainly two tunes going on there all the time; the Bach thing is the C, Em/B, Am, G descending bit, but there's also an upper line which is a bit more ornamental and which also carries on thru the song which is what Fisher claimed he brought to the party.

I think he might be right!!!

The point about opening cans of worms is a good one, but then the smart thing to do (as no doubt Morrissey/Marr would tell you) is to have all members of the band given a small writing credit percentage so keep 'em from getting peed off, and then you avoid this sometime down the line...

If you do well enough, and you're good friends with your bandmates, it leads to less strife, and a longer lifespan...

Clapton deserves no writing credit for his guitar playing on that track. That's just soloing/improvising over a pre-recorded backing track.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-12-21 19:25 by His Majesty.

His Majesty Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Clapton deserves no writing credit for his guitar
> playing on that track.

and same goes Jools Holland piano break on 'Good Thing' by the Fine Young Cannibals....

Gets far too subjective and grey.

Blues turn to grey.
Not green.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2006-12-21 22:55 by schillid.

Melbourne Age...Today .....22 December 2006



ROCKMAN