[Harp-L] A Whiter Shade of....Yikes!

[Conrad Gleich <radconradlleyire@xxxxxxxxx>]

Additional harp content:

      I find this especilly interesting because the
organ solo on this recording is, apearantly, a massive
quote from  J. S. Bach 's "Air on a G string" (sic.)

It is played on chro. harp at this site;

http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/H/how_music_works/p_achille.html

---Conrad       L.A., Ca., USA


> > From: "robert paparozzi" <chromboy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [Harp-L] A Whiter Shade of....Yikes!
> Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2006 18:19:33 -0500
> To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> 
> Yikes, check this out, I think Gary Brooker will be
> turning a"Whiter Shade
> of Pale" when he see's his NEW royalty
> checks!....what do y'all think about
> this??!!
> 
> Harp Content:
> 
> What if George Fields, Tommy Morgan or Delbert
> McClinton claimed partial
> writers credit for contributed such MEMORABLE parts
> on "Moon River", "Rainy
> Days and Mondays" and "Hey
> Baby".................Yikes!!!!
> 
> 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.


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