WD45 Posted January 19, 2006 Report Posted January 19, 2006 Hey, I just bought Hank Mobley's Workout. (legally, of course) I have a sneaking suspision that Hank Mobley is not getting the money that I payed for the cd. Boy that's odd..... Do you know if his mama is? Do you know anything about this? What about the players that have deals that paid them only for the session? Does it change the dialogue when the benficiary is a shrewd & opportunistic producer? [Not you, Mr. Nessa. I am talking about Lomax-level deals.] Quote
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted January 19, 2006 Report Posted January 19, 2006 Hey, I just bought Hank Mobley's Workout. (legally, of course) I have a sneaking suspision that Hank Mobley is not getting the money that I payed for the cd. Boy that's odd..... Do you know if his mama is? Do you know anything about this? What about the players that have deals that paid them only for the session? Does it change the dialogue when the benficiary is a shrewd & opportunistic producer? [Not you, Mr. Nessa. I am talking about Lomax-level deals.] Not only Lomax. Francis Wolff visited Europe in the summer of 1970, to produce Hank Mobley’s “The Flip” in Paris, and was interviewed on the BBC’s jazz programme one Sunday night. He explained what happened at Blue Note in the '60s. Blue Note was a company with high standards. (Normal first year sales of their albums were about 7,000. The breakeven point was about 2,500. But only about half the albums the company recorded came out at the time. Clearly, the company was profitable, since the records would sell for years, or decades, but not spectacularly so.) Alfred and Francis wanted to record the musicians they thought were best. To manage that, they needed to offer the musicians something they couldn’t get from other companies; and to do so within very tight budgets. They came up with the idea of a cash payment that would be greater than the standard Musicians Union scale. The kick was that there were to be no royalties. All went well until Jimmy Smith, Donald Byrd and Lou Donaldson got LPs onto the pop album charts. Not having read their contracts, they went to Blue Note and asked for their royalties and were told, and I quote, “fuck off, you don’t get no royalties; you were paid cash!” MG Quote
Jazz Kat Posted January 20, 2006 Author Report Posted January 20, 2006 Hey, I just bought Hank Mobley's Workout. (legally, of course) I have a sneaking suspision that Hank Mobley is not getting the money that I payed for the cd. Boy that's odd..... Do you know if his mama is? Do you know anything about this? All i know, she's giving some white kid saxophone lessons. Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted January 21, 2006 Report Posted January 21, 2006 What about the players that have deals that paid them only for the session? Does it change the dialogue when the benficiary is a shrewd & opportunistic producer? [Not you, Mr. Nessa. I am talking about Lomax-level deals.] Many musicians did/do take cash now as opposed to a royalty deal. I don't have a big problem with this. Maybe the "opportunistic" person was the musician. The "Lomax-level deals" as you put it are a whole 'nuther situation. I do know of a situation where a well musician offered to do a cd date for $5000 and the label owner offered $20,000 without royalties and the guy turned it down. Believe me when I say the "star" messed up big time on this deal. Do you know who designed and built your house? Do you pay them royalties? People are hired to "make something" and sometimes the contract includes royalties and sometimes not. These are business propositions for all involved. Since the post connected to my response involved a BN recording, it is fair to note Bruce Lundvall offered/granted an artist royalty (about 20 years ago) to all "past" BN artists and the label has been paying them. I am in now way a defender of corporations but................ Quote
RDK Posted January 21, 2006 Report Posted January 21, 2006 Since the post connected to my response involved a BN recording, it is fair to note Bruce Lundvall offered/granted an artist royalty (about 20 years ago) to all "past" BN artists and the label has been paying them. I am in now way a defender of corporations but................ Best news I've heard all day. Quote
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted January 21, 2006 Report Posted January 21, 2006 Since the post connected to my response involved a BN recording, it is fair to note Bruce Lundvall offered/granted an artist royalty (about 20 years ago) to all "past" BN artists and the label has been paying them. I am in now way a defender of corporations but................ Best news I've heard all day. Me too - thanks for that very welcome piece of info, Chuck. MG Quote
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted January 21, 2006 Report Posted January 21, 2006 Since the post connected to my response involved a BN recording, it is fair to note Bruce Lundvall offered/granted an artist royalty (about 20 years ago) to all "past" BN artists and the label has been paying them. I am in now way a defender of corporations but................ Best news I've heard all day. Me too - thanks for that very welcome piece of info, Chuck. MG Quote
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted January 21, 2006 Report Posted January 21, 2006 See how impressed I was? MG Quote
Indestructible! Posted January 24, 2006 Report Posted January 24, 2006 All went well until Jimmy Smith, Donald Byrd and Lou Donaldson got LPs onto the pop album charts. Not having read their contracts, they went to Blue Note and asked for their royalties and were told, and I quote, “fuck off, you don’t get no royalties; you were paid cash!” MG Hi MG, I've seen you relate this story here a couple of different times, but would you be willing to let us specifically know who that quote should be attributed to? Cheers, Shane Quote
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted January 25, 2006 Report Posted January 25, 2006 All went well until Jimmy Smith, Donald Byrd and Lou Donaldson got LPs onto the pop album charts. Not having read their contracts, they went to Blue Note and asked for their royalties and were told, and I quote, “fuck off, you don’t get no royalties; you were paid cash!” MG Hi MG, I've seen you relate this story here a couple of different times, but would you be willing to let us specifically know who that quote should be attributed to? Cheers, Shane Francis Wolff told the story when he was interviewed on the BBC's Sunday night jazz programme in the summer of 1970 (he was over in Europe to produce Hank Mobley's "The flip"). He didn't say "I told them" or "Alfred told them"; he said "they were told". So I don't know who the hatchet man was; it might have been an accountant, for all I know. Francis didn't specifically point the fingers at Smith, Byrd & Donaldson as the victims but they were the most likely. They all switched labels pretty quickly; Smith with great speed - "Bashin'" was recorded five weeks after "Midnight special" hit the pop album charts! I've often thought that was what made Donald Byrd start studying law. MG Quote
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