More pub for JBG

Check out Terry Perkins' St. Louis Beacon article on JOHNNIE BE GOOD.
Here's the link:

Thanks to fundraiser attendees!

Pujols 5 was the site of a recent fundraiser for the documentary. Thanks to my neighbors, friends from middle school and college, local music lovers, and supporters of the project for attending. I appreciate you helping with JOHNNIE BE GOOD.

Ex-Procol Harum organist speaks up for sidemen

I've begun an interesting online conversation with Matthew Fisher. The name might not ring a bell, but chances are you've heard his distinctive Hamnond organ on the classic "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum. Fisher won a ground-breaking lawsuit in 2009 for song-writing credit and royalties, successfully arguing that his organ arrangement was key to the success of the song and deserved a share of royalties.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/30/procol.harum.royalties/index.html

I contacted Fisher because I think there are parallels between his lawsuit and the unsuccessful lawsuit that Johnnie Johnson brought against Chuck Berry about song-writing credit. I hope to interview Fisher, who lives in the UK. Here's some of what he had to say:

"I've long considered the "writer takes all" scenario to be out of step with
contemporary pop music. I would divide the history of popular music roughly
into three eras. Era 1 was when the song was really what counted. This is
back in the days of Music Hall, before Edison invented the phonograph and
songs were being written by people like Stephen Foster. A song like "I'm
Forever Blowing Bubbles" could really be sung by anyone and everyone - with
or without instrumental accompaniment - and it was still all about the song."

"Then we get into Era 2, which was all about the combination of "The Singer
and the Song". Artists like Al Jolson, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Peggy
Lee, etc would make a song their own. It was a symbiotic relationship: the
artist made the song and the song made the artist."

"Finally we have Era 3, in which the importance of the song varies from
record to record. In some cases the song is almost incidental and it's
really all about the production or the musicians' instrumental
contributions. However, the dominance of the music industry by the music
publishers ensures that the writer (and the publisher!)still get all the
gravy - whether deserving or not."

Fisher is one of two interviews I'd like to get from the UK. The other is Fred Rothwell, a Chuck Berry expert who wrote an excellent book "LONG DISTANCE INFORMATION: CHUCK BERRY'S RECORDED LEGACY, detailing each Berry recording session. Working on a plan.

The journey be good....
Art Holliday
Director/ JOHNNIE BE GOOD