Reeling from all the heavies today, I tuned in to the classical station. A familiar melody pulled me in, but out of context - it was
Renaissance music. Digging into my LPs, found Reflections in a Crystal Wind, Richard & Mimi Farina, A Swallow Song. Bummer, he claimed it as his.
Besides this, I've known 2 musicians (not Paradoxers) who full-on swiped songs and claimed them as their own. I understand a little borrowing and tweaking, but this was total theft.
I'd appreciate a little perspective from the musicians out there.
8 comments:
Musicians have been borrowing from each other from the beginning. Some borrow more then others and the whole sampling thing has taken it too a new level. Some of the biggest rip-offs have been movie theme music ripped directly from the great classical composers. That just seems to be the way of the world and how music evolves. Rik probably has a better take on this if he wants to ring in.
Here is some happy news! PBS aired a new AMERICAN MASTERS last nite. It was on Singer/Songwriters at the Troubadour. 2 hours of pure fun!
Thanks for the heads up. It's reshowing tonight on my station. I'll try to catch it.
Even better .... for those who can access this, it's online:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/troubadours-carole-king-james-taylor-the-rise-of-the-singer-songwriter/watch-the-full-film/1798/
Sherry, you must have a great ear to remember a tune from an old Farina album from all those years ago.
Thanks, dearies -
Turnabout's fair play. A lot of classical composers lifted melodies from their various countries' folk songs.
Sometimes a lift is inadvertant. George Harrison stole Phil Spector's "He's So Fine", used it for "My Sweet Lord", and didn't realize it until Spector sued (and won).
Greg Ham, of Men at Work, used a couple of bars of the melody to the Australian folk song, "Kookaburra" for his flute intro on "Down Under". It turned out not to be a folk song, and the publisher sued and won.
Truth be told, Farina only dabbled in music. His strong suit was poetry. He may not even have been aware that he lifted that melody.
I was playing "The Water Is Wide" last night, and someone on the audience mentioned that it sounded Celtic. It's one of the loveliest melodies in western music, and we have no idea who wrote it.
Same with Shakespeare.
Thanks for your input, one and all -
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