http://www.spectropop.com
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just another typical small record person
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There are 4 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. re: Donna Loren aloha
From: Pekka Halonen
2. Connie Stevens
From: Jack_Madani@pds.k12.nj.us
3. Brian Wilson In Houston Press
From: RTF_PJM@SHSU.EDU
4. Studio Musician & ReUses
From: Carol Kaye
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Message: 1
Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2000 21:34:07 +0300
From: Pekka Halonen
Subject: re: Donna Loren aloha
Jack Madani wrote:
> Note that it says on this site, "A new, limited edition
> CD entitled "The Best of Donna Loren" was released in the
> fall of 1998 in Europe. A CD version of the original
> "Beach Blanket Bingo" soundtrack will be available in
> record stores and on this website in the fall of 2000."
> Does anyone know anything about that Best Of cd?
You probably mean this CD:
Donna Loren; The Best of (Missing Records MISS 010)
Here's the track listing:
--
Blowing Out The Candles
I'm Gonna Be Alright
Ten Good Reasons
Dream World
Muscle Bustle
I'll Never Change Him
It Only Hurts When You Cry
Cycle Set
I Think, You Think
These Are The Good Times
Fly Boy
New Love
I Am My Ideal
Beach Blanket Bingo
Freeway (instrumental)
So Do The Zonk
Just A Little Girl
I'm In Love With The Ticket Taker At The Bijou Movie
90 Day Guarantee
On The Good Ship Lollipop
If You Love Me... (Really Love Me)
Call Me
Smokey Joe's
Johnny's Got Somethin'
It's Such A Shame
As Long As I'm Holding You
--
Hope that this helps.
Pekka Halonen,
Finland
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Message: 2
Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2000 20:52:28 -0400
From: Jack_Madani@pds.k12.nj.us
Subject: Connie Stevens
I saw in a recent Collector's Choice Music catalog that
they have a cd of "Connie Stevens Sings Hank Williams."
Seems like a goofy combo, but I can't be sure since I
haven't heard it. Hey, it could be as killer as Dean
Martin singing C&W for all I know.
But what REALLY caught my attention was a note in the
catalog entry that ccm.com was going to be eventually
acquiring three or four other Connie Stevens cd's. Any
idea what these might be, and if they might have a high
spectropop content?
jack
n.p. BB Sunflower/Surf's Up twofer. Wow, This Whole
World really is one of the greatest records ever, isn't
it.
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Message: 3
Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2000 16:08:22 -0500
From: RTF_PJM@SHSU.EDU
Subject: Brian Wilson In Houston Press
Please let me know your honest opinion of the article and
if you dig it, let my editor know :)
http://houstonpress.com/issues/2000-07-20/music.html
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Message: 4
Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2000 08:50:21 -0700
From: Carol Kaye
Subject: Studio Musician & ReUses
About us studio Union musicians not getting "re-use"
monies, one person privately wrote that companies out
there are scared to death about getting some Union
musician who is due monies coming at them for re-uses.
But my case has nothing to do with that scenario at all,
read on.
I agree that studio musicians who work for "demo" and
not legitimate Union record dates put everyone into a
predicament - but such is not the case in our work at
all, we did very few percentages of non-union work and
we actually brought all the fledgling record companies
INTO the Union by insisting (once our work got them a
hit recording) that if they wanted us further, they HAVE
to get a Union recording license and hire us through the
UNION -- they all did.
The ONLY company that abused the few dates we did for
demos (at first in the 60s we all did just a few of
those dates) was Motown and we all are sorry we all
worked for Motown in LA now - I know I am for sure.
I have 149 dates in my log for Motown, and probably
70-80 dates for other people that were not Union, this
is out of over 10,000 dates that I worked, so you see we
were practically all Union, with good paperwork, yet we
have to find the abuses of non-payments of re-uses
ourselves by scanning uses of music for movies, TV shows,
commercials on TV ourselves, etc.
I think I only got shafted (not paid) one time out of
all the years and 1,000s of dates I did, and that was
>from a company from Chicago...the rest followed suit,
went Union and that was the start of the great 60s
recording boom here in LA -- this is another problem
totally -- it's too bad that in other parts of the world,
studio musicians had to go non-union to get work, I can
understand and sympathize with that, but I think the way
we did it worked (altho' hardly any of us will speak
about that).
We were staunch Union members, and the Musicians
Union/Federation was made very strong by the prior work
in the movies by Union musicians from the 20s on. By the
end of the 50s, even tho' the Union was split into two
Musicians Unions by studio musicians, they re-joined
into one powerful and helpful Union by 1960.
I wrote about the "Feelin' Alright" hit and all the rest
which were legitimately claimed and paid before re-uses
but now companies are trying to get out of it -- just
like what the commercial ads strike is all about here
too....re-uses are probably no more than 2% of income
for ad companies if that. About 98% of our work was
legitimate Union work late 60s through now, all
perfectly documented, and handled well until recent
times with the hiring of some which we are getting
problems with all of a sudden from our own Union.
My stuff was just absolutely stolen verbatim by HotWire
Records and used...Bert Gerecht is the problem -- I
should have known as Mo Foster warned me about him long
ago but I kept on, trying to deal with him in an honest
way as he seemed nice and I tho't well "maybe he's just
not a good manager of business, putting out accordian
recordings, and so-called bad jazz lps etc."...no, Mo
was right, the guy is a not a good guy at all and is
more than just a "poor manager" of business
affairs....I've gotten approx. $300 for the 1,000s of
CDs he's sold over a 10-year period and he's used my
music in venues I had no idea of.
I've had correspondence from another 2 artists he did
some crookedness with also, so it's not like I wasn't
warned in the last year, and it is alarming to *know*
he's just another typical small record person trying to
get out of paying me. You'd like to believe in people.
He claims because he "gave me a certain amount of CDs
over the years, shipped them to me, and charged me
approx. $12- $14 each for them plus postage, my own
music, that "I owe him" which is his way of squeezing
out crookedly...that hardly any sales happened, etc.
Well it just so happens I've gotten literally 100s of
emails from people around the world stating how WELL my
CDs have sold out there in the 10s of 1,000s in one case,
making him a liar.
It's not just me, but Ray Brown, others on there (this
has nothing to do with the Union, just plain production
monies, no contractural payments etc.)...the Union all
got their money from me and Ray Brown etc. long ago,
they were legitimately produced recordings mainly years
ago.
The ad people are the worst abusers I think tho'...it
took me about 3-4 months of expensive phone calls to get
paid for the 1st uses of "Feelin' Alright" back around
1989 when they started to use it in beer ads, etc. and
found out that someone had written the title on the
Union contract as being "Feelin' Good".....thank God for
my Log and we could all prove we played on that one,
Paul Humphrey etc. But I did all the leg work and paid
expenses out of my own pocket for the long-distance
phone calls etc. for that one.
About that time, I did catch the Ray Charles version of
another hit I played bass on for him, it was an overdub
actually, and could prove it with my Log, I knew it was
me, and I found the overdub date and Ray's company then
paid for the telephone ads even tho' I was listed as
"bongo player" (that's why there's so much joking on my
Message Board about "Carol is is the best bongo player
for Ray Charles", things like that.
Another movie which I had written down the title of as I
was proud of the funky bass lines I put on that movie,
"Across 110th Street", was for J.J. Johnson who ran
Shaft on his "Man And Boy" movie contracts and so our
group of rhythm musicians will NEVER get paid nor get
the credit for that one. Benny Golson so graciously
cleared that mystery up for me by saying "yes I was
there, and you met Gordon Parkes" etc.etc.etc, he
remembered I cut the theme of Shaft (and my name is also
on the sheet music as "bassist), that no, the group in
NYC didn't do the theme, and some of the parts like you
all did out at MGM"....but....J.J. Johnson did not fill
out the contract to include "Shaft"...he did some
shananigans with that contract and when I called him on
it long-distance, he hemmed and hawed about it finally
saying, "my wife doesn't like me talking to you, sorry I
have to go now" -- but I asked him (nicely, I know JJ
but I also know how some did do illegal things with
contracts too to avoid paying the musicians etc.), "did
you ever record ANY of Shaft on the east coast?" -- JJ
answered "no, I recorded ANYTHING I did on Shaft in
LA".......OK, that answered my question. Benny Golson
was correct in his memories and so was I and other of
our studio musician group I spoke with. Still, we'll
never get the Union/Federation to get that
straight......we are "not" on the later Shaft contracts,
but our horn men are (they recorded on our tracks about
a month later out here, same studio, MGM).
Companies would sometimes get away with not paying
late-payment fines (which could be considerable in
monies) to us by changing the original date recorded,
that was done quite a bit and is one of the causes of
why Russ Wapensky is chasing down these sorts of abuses
to get final correct recording dates for certain
recordings back in the 60s -- he told me he found that
our logs, our appointment books were the most-accurate
of dates for our work etc.etc.
Also, he's having trouble with missing contracts (due to
the Union letting in so-called researchers into our
Union records for "research", they'd walk out with the
contracts as souvenirs....some Beach Boys contracts we
found were printed on the backs of pirated album jackets
printed in Japan complete with our social security
numbers!). This is the reason why his book wasn't out
years ago, it's taken Russ Wapensky the last 3-4 years
to get the inconsistencies worked out with his
meticulous research for his book which he's been working
on for 10 years or long now. He's hopeful to get the
book done soon and out in 2001.
And yet, there are very honest producers who do try to
make it right with the Unions, the companies concerned
and they're not getting the help, cooperation and the
attention they deserver for their efforts.
I think in the USA this is a common problem probably
just lately as the manpower decreases in the
Union/Federaton, they simply can't afford to hire enough
help to take care of the business at hand, their income
coming mainly from membership fees and not from all the
work generated like back in the 60s. I must tip my hat
to the people, producers, record company owners etc.,
and I do believe they are still in the majority, the
ones who are trying to do the right thing, do it all
legally and are running up against walls of no help,
indifference, etc.
Best,
Carol Kaye http://www.carolkaye.com/
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