Westerly Wood
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Yeah, way way before Canned Heat.
Going Up The Country,1928
- Thread starter Westerly Wood
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Yeah, way way before Canned Heat.
Love that music and Elizabeth Cotton my favorite
How cool is that? I had no idea that song was so old, like so many other songs that were "appropriated" by rockers in the '60's.
Westerly Wood
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and i bet this artist never made the money off the song that Canned Heat did. I sure hope his estate/children/grandchildren are being paid still today. there got to be royalties for this kind of thing...
Can't believe how many Led Zep songs were misapproprated (nicer sounding way of saying "stolen") from old Black guys who never saw a dime of royalties.
fronobulax
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The exploitation of early blues performers is well known, sometimes acknowledged and documented, and occasionally there are reparations or other compensation. When you dig into the history it is hard not to see the presence of racism. It also gets interesting because the first person to record a song, may or may not, have a legitimate claim of authorship. Many songs have a history in "folk" music that predates the recordings by a couple of decades. There is also an interesting quirk because of intellectual property laws - there is a distinction between the right to perform someone else's song and the right to use a recording of someone else performing the same song. You can observe this today when a commercial or elevator music uses a popular song but not the performance that made it popular. If that isn't enough copyrights can expire and so even without the exploitation the requirement for compensation may no longer exist.
IIRC the British bands that appropriated American Blues were somewhat better about acknowledging the origins and eventually providing compensation than American bands were.
Regardless it is not a pretty picture.
IIRC the British bands that appropriated American Blues were somewhat better about acknowledging the origins and eventually providing compensation than American bands were.
Regardless it is not a pretty picture.
wileypickett
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Royalties are sometimes complicated by the time factor -- some songs may be Public Domain, or Trad., or it may be unclear who wrote them (the first person to record a song wasn't necessarily the author). Artists can also claim arrangement credits.
But there are many clear thefts.
Some of the original artists did get compensated, but it usually involved lawyers.
Rev. Robert Wilkins, who was still alive when the Stones covered "Prodigal Son" (a/k/a "That's No Way to Get Along") eventually got royalties and a composer credit, as did Mississippi Fred McDowell for "You Got to Move."
Cream paid Skip James for "I'm So Glad," which covered his medical bills and pretty much saved his life.
"Goin' Up the Country," based on Henry Thomas' "Bull Doze Blues," had new lyrics written by Alan Wilson, which should have garnered him a co-writer credit, not sole-writer credit. I'm not sure Thomas left any heirs, or if there was anyone to fight for royalties. (The song may have been PD by the time Canned Heat recorded it anyway.) But in any case, Wilson didn't live long enough to see any royalties himself, being one of the "27 Club." Wilson's family has done very well by it, however.
Led Zeppelin "borrowed" a lot -- they might be the worst offenders -- Robert Johnson, Memphis Minnie, Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon and many others had things appropriated by Zep.
Worst of all, they (or their managers or label) only paid out and gave proper credit kicking and screaming. Lawyers eventually caught up with them; artists were paid, and current versions of the albums credit the appropriate writers.
Except one: Page's "Black Mountain Side" is Bert Jansch's "Down By Black Waterside." Jansch only died a few years ago, so he should have enjoyed royalties on that song for some four+ decades, which would have amounted to a pretty penny indeed. But though Jansch was fully aware of the theft and was urged by friends and record labels to go after Zep, he couldn't be bothered.
Jeez Louise, if you love a song enough to record it; it you expect to be credited and paid for songs you composed -- do the right thing!
But there are many clear thefts.
Some of the original artists did get compensated, but it usually involved lawyers.
Rev. Robert Wilkins, who was still alive when the Stones covered "Prodigal Son" (a/k/a "That's No Way to Get Along") eventually got royalties and a composer credit, as did Mississippi Fred McDowell for "You Got to Move."
Cream paid Skip James for "I'm So Glad," which covered his medical bills and pretty much saved his life.
"Goin' Up the Country," based on Henry Thomas' "Bull Doze Blues," had new lyrics written by Alan Wilson, which should have garnered him a co-writer credit, not sole-writer credit. I'm not sure Thomas left any heirs, or if there was anyone to fight for royalties. (The song may have been PD by the time Canned Heat recorded it anyway.) But in any case, Wilson didn't live long enough to see any royalties himself, being one of the "27 Club." Wilson's family has done very well by it, however.
Led Zeppelin "borrowed" a lot -- they might be the worst offenders -- Robert Johnson, Memphis Minnie, Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon and many others had things appropriated by Zep.
Worst of all, they (or their managers or label) only paid out and gave proper credit kicking and screaming. Lawyers eventually caught up with them; artists were paid, and current versions of the albums credit the appropriate writers.
Except one: Page's "Black Mountain Side" is Bert Jansch's "Down By Black Waterside." Jansch only died a few years ago, so he should have enjoyed royalties on that song for some four+ decades, which would have amounted to a pretty penny indeed. But though Jansch was fully aware of the theft and was urged by friends and record labels to go after Zep, he couldn't be bothered.
Jeez Louise, if you love a song enough to record it; it you expect to be credited and paid for songs you composed -- do the right thing!
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