A weem-o-way, a weem-o-way

I thought this was an interesting article. I know a lot of music historically has been ripped off of the original authors, esp. African Americans, whether we are talking the Lion Sleeps Tonight or blues or rock ‘n’ roll that was re-recorded by white artists. It’s good to see it being addressed, thanks to an investigative exposé by Rolling Stone. I find it to be a fascinating bit of music history:

Women win battle in ‘Lion Sleeps’ case
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) — Three impoverished South African women, whose father wrote the song known as The Lion Sleeps Tonight, have won a six-year battle for royalties in a case that could affect other musicians. The story surrounding the song that never seems to go out of date amounts to a rags-to-riches tale, replete with racial overtones.

No one is saying how many millions will go to the daughters of the late composer Solomon Linda, who died in poverty from kidney disease in 1962 at age 53. But the family’s settlement last month with New York-based Abilene Music gives Linda’s heirs 25% of past and future royalties and has broad implications.

Linda composed his now-famous song in 1939 in one of the squalid hostels that housed black migrant workers in Johannesburg. According to family lore, he wrote the song in minutes, inspired by his childhood tasks of chasing prowling lions from the cattle he herded. He called the song Mbube, Zulu for lion.

It was sung, in true Zulu tradition, a cappella. Linda’s innovation was to add his falsetto voice, an overlay of haunting “eeeeeees,” to the baritone and bass main line. To this day, this style is called Mbube in South Africa. The song sold more than 100,000 copies over a decade, probably making it Africa’s first big pop hit.

In the 1950s, at a time when apartheid laws robbed blacks of negotiating rights, Linda sold worldwide copyright to Gallo Records of South Africa for 10 shillings — less than $1.70.

The song became one of the best known songs in the world as The Lion Sleeps Tonight, attributed to George Weiss, Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore. American singer Pete Seeger adapted a version that he called “Wimoweh,” making it a folk music staple.

Owen Dean, South Africa’s leading copyright lawyer, argued successfully for Linda’s family that under the British Imperial Copyright Act of 1911, which was in force in South Africa at the time Linda composed his song, all rights revert to the heirs, who are entitled to renegotiate royalties. “Now the way has been shown,” Dean told The Associated Press. “Others in similar circumstances can fight such injustice, and I have no doubt that there are other people in this position.” The 1911 act affects all countries that were part of the British Empire at that time — a third of the world.

It remains to be seen how the settlement with Abilene, which holds the copyright to the popular songs that grew from Linda’s composition, will affect his family. Abilene couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Kevin Chang, a Jamaican reggae expert, said the case means that “musicians living in poverty, and other artists, may finally be rewarded for their work.” Chang believes the decision could be applied to an ongoing British court case in which Carlton Barrett of Bob Marley and the Wailers is suing Marley’s estate for royalties, arguing songs he co-authored are being credited only to Marley.

Websites list hundreds of versions of the Lion, including many top of the pops over the years. Folk, swing, minstrel, big band, reggae and R&B versions have been sung over the years. The New Zealand Army had it as a favorite tune for a while. The song’s captivating rhythm poured from the soundtrack in Disney’s blockbuster musical The Lion King— one of at least 15 movies in which it’s been featured.

“The musical was netting millions of dollars and Solomon Linda’s daughters were trying to survive as domestic servants, not earning enough to feed their families,” Dean told the AP. Along the way, the song is said to have earned some US$15-million in royalties – but not for Linda. The musician died in 1962 with less than R100 in his bank account. His widow couldn’t afford a headstone for his grave.

*******************************************************
Also, read this longer, riveting take on the same story from the SouthAfrica.Info page, and here is one example of the song’s varied appeal:

“The Lion Sleeps Tonight (live)” – R.E.M.

What a great tune, another one that you can’t be unhappy while listening to. It makes me feel like I should be heading off to summer camp in a hot car with sticky, sweaty vinyl seats, singing at the top of my voice with the windows down.

Contest reminder: DO it

Hey guys, if you were going to try your hand at limericking for the Brandi Carlile CD, today is the last day to do so. Please submit a limerick to me about “the current state of music,” however you define that, and at the end of today I will pick a winner (but you are ALL winners inside). Gotten some good submissions so far, both by commenting and through email (either is OK) – including one with use of the word “ergo” which is pretty much the most under-used excellent little word ever.

“A Short List of Records My Father Threatened to Break Over My Head If I Played Them One More Time”

One of the most enjoyable books I’ve ever come across is A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel. I tore through it, often laughing OUT LOUD in inopportune public places (you know, when you are reading something funny and you kind of guffaw and then catch yourself, stifle the laugh, and look around to see if anyone is watching?).

It’s hard to explain what it is about, because it is really just what the subtitle says: “Growing Up Small In Mooreland, Indiana.” It’s an autobiographical collection of impressions, moments, memories, funny stories, dares, characters, struggles, and ephemera from the childhood of a unique & hilarious girl (nicknamed Zippy) as she goes about her days in the late ’60s/early ’70s in a very small town. Sounds like a totally touchy-feely Babysitters’ Club premise for a book, right? But it is intelligent, well-written (she really captures the voice and the perception of herself at 7 or 8), emphatically NOT-schmaltzy, and funny as all get out. And also shreddingly poignant at times when you least expect it.

I am currently ripping through her follow-up novel, She Got Up Off The Couch: And Other Heroic Acts from Mooreland, Indiana, and laughing just as much. I recommend both very highly – after I read Zippy, I bought like 7 copies and gave them out like manna from Heaven to my friends and family. Here is an excerpt from She Got Up Off The Couch.

I love lists, especially lists about music:

A Short List of Records My Father Threatened to Break Over My Head If I Played Them One More Time

1. “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover,” by Paul Simon.
You need only to listen to this song once to realize it is the greatest work of genius since “Beep Beep (The Little Nash Rambler)”; by The Playmates. Also it provides a person with the bonus of rewriting the chorus 700 times a day. For instance, a girl might say, “I’m ridin’ my bike, Mike,” or “I’m goin’ to my sister’s, Mister.” She could also string together many sentences, as in, “I’m feelin’ sad, Dad. Maybe you could get me some candy, Randy. Don’t be such a slob, Bob, just listen to me.”

2. “Beep Beep (The Little Nash Rambler),” by The Playmates.
A morality tale about a little car, a Cadillac, and a transmission problem. This song brilliantly gains momentum, and is sung faster and faster right up to the hysterical ending. Could be sung in the truck so frantically the father in question would sometimes have to stick his head out the window while praying aloud.

3. “Someone Saved My Life Tonight,” by Elton John.
I understand only one line of this song: “And butterflies are free to fly, fly away.” The rest is completely lost on me. I assumed the British did not speak English, which was a puzzle as they were sometimes referred to as the English. Not understanding the lyrics required me to listen to the song hundreds, perhaps thousands of times, filling in with nonsense words, which my sister said made me look oxygen deprived and sad.

4. “Somewhere They Can’t Find Me,” by Simon & Garfunkel.
In addition to “50 Ways To Leave your Lover,” this was probably my most obvious theme song. It could have been written for me. The singer has done something terrible and now his only option is to sneak away: “Before they come to get me I’ll be gone, somewhere they can’t find me.” Oh, indeed. How very, very true.

5. “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” by the Osmonds, featuring Donny Osmond.
A lie, as anyone who knew my brother could attest. But if it was sung by Donny Osmond I could try to believe. I wanted to believe. This was a favorite to play not at top volume in my bedroom, but downstairs on the stereo that was shaped, improbably, like a Colonial desk. I liked to sing along with Donny (we had the same voice) while simultaneously pretending to draft a version of the Bill of Rights, using a fake quill pen. (In truth, a turkey feather.) This was a combination of activities my father found interesting, blasphemous, and wrong.

6. “Along Comes Mary,” by The Association.
A wordy song. A wordy, psychedelic song, the meaning of which has never been determined by humans. Tailor-made for me. From the beginning, the song’s just one long puzzle. “Every time I think that I’m the one who’s lonely someone calls on me.” Who? (Mary, my sister would explain through clenched teeth. Yes, but Mary who?) What follows is so unusual it doesn’t bear repeating, although I most assuredly could.

7. “I Started A Joke,” by The Bee Gees.
Again, a world-class head-scratcher. He started a joke, and it started the whole world crying. I sensed astonishing depth in the Bee Gees’ lyrics, and also were they all boys? Including the one with the Bugs Bunny teeth? Was she truly never funny and that’s why the world wept? I knew people like that. Later in the song one of them, a Bee or a Gee, begins to cry and gets the whole world laughing, so everything turns out fine in the end. (An additional work of genius is “The Lights Went Out In Massachusetts.” Massachusetts: A state? A prison? Dad was silent on the issue.)

*************************************************
Buy A Girl Named Zippy here and She Got Up Off The Couch here, or visit your local library. (Ooh! I feel so Reading Rainbow! LeVar Burton would be proud – These are books you might enjoy, but you don’t have to take MY word for it!).

Unreleased Black Crowes album at Aquarium Drunkard

Aquarium Drunkard, as usual, rocks my face off. He’s got a “lost” Black Crowes album, The Band, from 1997 up on his site. Some good, good stuff. He says:

“The Black Crowes’ lost album The Band (aka Meet The Band) recorded in Atlanta in 1997, was to be the follow-up to Three Snakes & One Charm. Mixed and sequenced, it was shelved and Crowes released By Your Side in it’s stead. One listen and it is evident The Band is twice the Crowes experience By Your Side is. Crowes fans take note: I consider this album practically in the same realm of quality as Southern Harmony and Amorica.”

These have been floating around since 2002, but if you don’t have these tracks head on over there to download:
“Never Forget This Song”
“Smile”
“Paint An 8″
“Another Roadside Tragedy”
“If It Ever Stops Raining”
“My Heart’s Killing Me”
“Predictable”
“OK By Me”
“Wyoming & Me”
“Lifevest”
“Only A Fool” (I love this song!)

Oh, also, he has a jubilant Replacements post in which he uses the phrase “burst into rock & roll flames,” which I think is a pretty apt description.

Have fun!

Let’s Shack up

Nice little tune I want to share with you guys. Actually, it’s a racy little song, wrapped up in elegant retro brass and pleasant singsong harmonies. So you’d never know unless you really listen, which makes it all the more devious.

The band is called Shack, and they are from Liverpool. Formed by brothers Mick & John Head from the ashes of indie-pop cult-favorite the Pale Fountains, Shack has had a long & rocky 20 years of making music, including a studio fire in 1991 that burned their master tapes for their sophomore album Waterpistol. According to NME, their fourth studio album (The Corner Of Miles And Gil) is due May 15 on Noel Gallagher’s Sour Mash label.

Called a “deep guitar-soul classic – all kaleidoscopic melody and jazzy, dreamscape trumpets,” I dig the sound. First single ‘Tie Me Down’ is all about restraint techniques in a sexual relationship, which is always a nice departure from the socially accepted and publicly-discussed norms (ha!). Shack supported Oasis in February 2006 at several of their arena shows. Be their MySpace friend and check out their other site as well if you are hankering to learn more. And if you are in London, they are having a free gig next week (29 March), details in the News section of their site.

“Tie Me Down” – Shack

“And Dad’s in the Navy, so use the granny knots next time.”
Funniest lyric ever?

“I wrote this today. It probably sucks.”

We can all admit that there’s just something exciting and memorable about The First Time.

Here is an mp3 of the first performance of “Come Pick Me Up” by Ryan Adams on Valentine’s Day 2000 (how appropriate) in Seattle. Thanks to Jon for posting it.

This initial unveiling is acoustic & emotional, pre-harmonica, and with different lyrics throughout.

Missing are the lyrics:
When you’re walking downtown
Do you wish I was there?
Do you wish it was me?

With the windows clear
And the mannequins’ eyes
Do they all look like mine?

Glad he added those later because they are crystalline and scathing in their imagery, a few of my favorites (in a long line).

Come Pick Me Up (acoustic/first performance) – Ryan Adams

And another BONUS for you dear reader, since we are on topic: A tune called “The Battle” written by Ryan Adams and Whiskeytown co-conspirator Caitlin Cary for her album While You Weren’t Looking (2002).

This was featured on a limited-issue bonus disc. Man, they harmonize in a such a sublime way together, don’t they? Thanks to Tongue-Tied Lightning for the track.

The Battle – Caitlin Cary and Ryan Adams

Word.

The only important thing these days is rhythm and melody, rhythm and melody

Hey – that’s catchy!!

Dance Hall Hips posted this Postal Service remix of Feist’s Mushaboom, which I know, practically every blog I’ve been to lately seems to be talking about in one way or another, but it’s dang catchy and I thought I’d share. I like the way the beat skitters along. You’ll dig it.

Mushaboom (Postal Service remix) – Feist

The great Elizabethtown road trip

So I finally got around to watching Elizabethtown. I had been hearing about this ever since, oh, last August, all about how Ryan Adams had a bunch of music in it, blah, blah, blah. And then I remembered in a flash of glee that my Uncle Dave used to be the big impressive principal at E-Town High School (as those of us in-the-know call it), so I was doubly excited.

Turns out my anticipation was for no good reason. The movie is tolerable, its salvation largely being the soundtrack, and also because Cameron Crowe just *knows* how to make a movie. I mean, all the elements are there – adversity of mythic proportions, family illness, quirky relatives, and even a perky love interest who shows no end to the depth of her random comments and bed-a-bility. What’s not to like? Well, the low point for me in the movie = Susan Sarandon tap dancing. Well, most of it was really speedy tap-dancing because it was on fast forward. Holy Moses. Did I mention it was at a memorial service? There was some poignant sighing in the crowd, some tears for the exuberant display of LIFE in the face of DEATH — aaaaand we’re done. No.

While most of the movie was drivel, and even a little annoying (his sister in the film was unworthy of the name Heather because she bugged the crap out of me), the best part of the movie was absolutely the last 20 minutes where lead guy sets out on a roadtrip with many CD mixes made by aforementioned perky love interest girl to accompany his every vista and curve in the road. Also included with the CDs is a heavy-handed and, let’s face it, unrealistic handmade “roadmap”/scrapbook that I kept thinking she would have NO time to make, what with the rigors of flight attending, talking to lead guy on the phone at all hours of the night, painting her toenails, apparently knitting her own hats, and just generally being adorable (which is hard work, let me tell you).

But what this roadtrip was really about for me was the glimpse it offered into the always fascinating musical mind of Cameron Crowe, who undoubtedly is THE best soundtracker in the known world. One reviewer referred to it as “Crowe’s gold-standard back catalog tastes,” and that is exactly what he has. I want to be his friend so we can ride around in his car and listen to his iPod on random. That would be fun.

The best part about the last 20 minutes was not just hearing Crowe’s mixes and feeling the flow, but also seeing what images he chose to juxtapose alongside those songs. It tapped into my unfulfilled dormant desire to have an epic road trip with The Perfect Soundtrack to accompany all the amazing things I was seeing. Like I’ve said before, I wish my life had a soundtrack. This is pretty close. Here are a few gems I enjoyed, either played or mentioned in that poetic and sprawling segment:

That’s Life – James Brown
(first song of the journey – I love how it starts out with the trademark James Brown “Hey!” and then a little “Unh!” and a “One more for the road!“)

Don’t I Hold You – Wheat
(“Some music just needs air. Roll down your windows.”)

Words – Ryan Adams
(right after lead guy drives across the Mississippi and there is a mention of Jeff Buckley. Also notable is the use of ‘English Girls Approximately’ at the Farmer’s Market – I absolutely LOVE that song and was stoked to hear it in a movie)

Sugar Blue – Jeff Finlin
(singin’ about stuff like the “raven’s song that breaks the night” – lovely and rough-sounding)

Salvador Sanchez – Mark Kozelek/Sun Kil Moon
(scrawled in the scrapbook list of songs, but I don’t think it was played in the movie itself?)

Now where are my car keys?

Odds & ends

1) Traversing along on his musical journey across the 50 States, the Trees Lounge blog has a TON of tunes about everyone’s favorite island paradise, Hawaii, just in time for Spring Break. Do the hula with Brian Wilson, The Breeders, Ray Charles, The Cramps, and The Red Elvises singing their Hawaiian Dancing Song. Oh, it’s in Russian (I think). Cheeseball Vegas deluxe = fabulous.

2) The new Josh Rouse is available NOW on eMusic (in advance – it’s actually released next Tuesday) and it’s great. I really dig “Summertime” (can’t wait to listen to this in the sunshine), “His Majesty Rides,” and the harmonies on “It Looks Like Love” are one step away from celestial. Definitely one to buy.

3) Radiohead & Thom Yorke (solo) are scoring films now, contributing music to the new Richard Linklater movie. And Yorke has a solo album coming out.

4) This is pretty cool: Said The Gramophone has invited modern artist Katy Horan to create images inspired by her favorite music. This is her impression of Ryan Adams’ lovely rolling twangy ode to the restlessness of the soul, “Let It Ride.” I think she captures it.

5) Speaking of Señor Ryan Adams, I was stoked to find the New Year’s Eve show he did with Phil Lesh in San Francisco is up on the Live Music Archive in its entirety. Select beauts are
“Peaceful Valley“ and “Stella Blue.”

6) If you are perchance an uber-nerd like me, you might like this awesome, awesome PBS series about famous world dynasties. I got the DVD set as a Christmas gift from my hubby, and I was telling him last night that I think it is one of THE best gifts I’ve ever gotten. Yeah, wow. Hip, I know.

We watched the one on the Medici Family last night, all about Florence, where I studied abroad and lived for the best 4 months of my life. It was amazing to me to see all this history come to “life” on these recreations on the streets where I literally lived and walked on a daily basis. I was yelling at the TV, “I totally walked by there on my way to school each day!” It made my heart thump a bit faster. The 5 disc collection includes The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization, The Roman Empire in the First Century, Egypt’s Golden Empire, Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire, and The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance. I am just a big history dork, apparently. But this stuff gets me excited. Uh, yah.

7) This just in: Rivers Cuomo to wed Kyoko Ito. Mmmm, makes me want to sing a little El Scorcho. I guess he was serious when he sang, “God damn you half-Japanese girls . . . do it to me every time…” (one of my favorite Weezer songs).

8) Finally, I know this made the rounds a few weeks ago, but I never took the time to watch it: Natalie Portman as Badass Rapper on Saturday Night Live: “Leave you screamin, pay for my dry cleanin!” – instant classic! Side note: what’s up with the bridge from the Viking (Samberg)? Fabulous. Let’s all wear Viking hats (that was my high school mascot so it reminds me of homecoming, et al).

As for Natalie, this is a far cry from her heartfelt portrayal of a dancing elephant with Elmo on Sesame Street.

Yeah, that was great.

Sharpen your pencils: It’s time for a contest!

So, brain-dead me forgot that Brandi Carlile‘s promo folks were going to send me a copy of her stunning debut solo CD. I just got so dang riled up at the show that I went ahead and plunked down my scrilla and bought me a copy (which I have been enjoying ever since and wowing all of my friends, who say, “Who IS that?!“).

But it is to your distinct benefit, because now I have an extra copy, and you have a chance to win this excellent CD.

Your mission is simple: Write me a limerick in the comments (or email me) about the state of music today (however you want to interpret that) by this Friday. Whichever one I like best will get the CD in their mailbox, once I can dig out of the snowdrifts currently surrounding my house. Make me laugh, think, cry, shudder. Dig?

PS – I know this is Brandi Carlile Central around here lately on the Fuel blog. You love it.

Now get to writing!