Popular songs not popular with the artists who recorded them

[Tusk]

Lots of artists have said that their bigger hits have sometimes been a song they didn't like or were going to leave off their albums. In some of those cases, it was at the behest of the Label or Mgmt, they put out the songs anyway, and they became huge hits for the bands....

Phillip Phillips is the most recent example... he said how much he didn't like/feel comfortable with "Home", but look where it's taken him? To be fair, "Home" wasn't written by Phillips, but the point still stands that an artist's hit song might not be his favorite.

So yes, "Undone" appears the most popular, at least, tweeted about, song on LU, I'm not saying she shouldn't put it out, as like you say, "The Customer is Always Right" in the business world.

It's only become an issue because "Undone" never got to see the light of day as a single. If Interscope decided to use it as Haley's first single instead of "Free" (no royalties for Haley makes this a suspicious choice , although the reason, more likely, is "Free" was the first song Haley recorded), she would have been happy to perform it at all the radio stops and this would be all a moot point, even maybe having a hit with it, well enough to get another single or album... But of course that's way off in Fantasy Island, unfortunately

(BTW... I have no answer to why Gangnam Style is popular ... I have, for the most part, ignored this particular societal "Pet Rock" and only know 'of' it)

[buzzenator]

I recently watched Martin Scorsese's 2 hour documentary on George Harrison's life. It was excellent and I learned so much about the Beatles and George that previously had not been revealed.

George's 1970 album, All Things Must Pass, which included his mega-hit single "My Sweet Lord", was according to Phil Spector not picked by anyone to be the single, except Phil. If I remember correctly, George was not that crazy about it. It may have that redundancy that some here point out about "Undone"...however, one can't argue with one of the all-time classic hits from George Harrison. Not that I am comparing the two songs, I'm simply pointing out that even the greatest artists overlook a winner at times.

All the Eric Clapton comments and reflections were just great, along with many other artists in that documentary. The one person missing that I thought should have been on screen talking about George...Bob Dylan.

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Tusk: I have to confess, I'm of the same mind as Haley...

Haley'sMind...formerly known as Haley'sTusk...and before that, just Tusk

[yanni5]

I'm simply pointing out that even the greatest artists overlook a winner at times.

Good point Buzz. I read once that Robert Plant doesn't like Stairway to Heaven, and that's arguably one of Zep's most popular songs.

[midnightblues]

I didnt read the documentry so I hope I don't repeat the same thing Clapton left the Yardbirds beacuse he Hated to sing ( For your love)

[Tusk]

George's 1970 album, All Things Must Pass, which included his mega-hit single "My Sweet Lord", was according to Phil Spector not picked by anyone to be the single, except Phil.

Or maybe George was 'subconsciously' aware of the song's 'similarty' to the Chiffon's "He's So Fine"...
It's hard for me to believe that as big a producer in music as Phil Specktor was, he didn't hear the similarities, himself..

On February 10, 1971, Bright Tunes Music Corporation filed suit alleging that the current George Harrison hit "My Sweet Lord" was a plagiarism of "He's So Fine". The case did not go to trial until February 1976 when the judge ruled on the liability portion of the suit in favor of Bright Tunes, determining that Harrison was guilty of "subconscious" plagiarism

They got around it by George's one time manager buying Bright Tunes, then selling it to George

The suit to determine damages was scheduled for November 1976 but delayed until February 1981, by which time Allen Klein, Harrison's onetime manager who had been his legal adviser in the first phase of the suit, had become the plaintiff by virtue of purchasing Bright Tunes. The final decision was that Harrison himself would purchase Bright Tunes from Klein for $587,000—the amount Klein had paid for the corporation—and although litigation continued for at least ten more years that decision was upheld

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He's_So_Fine

[buzzenator]

^ One slight variation on the story that's missing:

Harrison was later sued for copyright infringement over the song "My Sweet Lord" due to its similarity to the 1963 Chiffons song "He's So Fine". He denied deliberately plagiarizing the song, but lost the resulting court case in 1976, as the judge ruled that he had subconsciously plagiarized the earlier composition. The dispute over damages became complicated when Harrison's former manager Allen Klein purchased the copyright to "He's So Fine" from the publishing firm Bright Tunes in 1978 for $587,000. In 1981, a district judge decided that Klein had acted improperly, and it was agreed that Harrison would pay back Klein the same $587,000 so Klein would not make a profit from his purchase, and that Harrison would take over ownership of Bright Tunes, making him the owner of the rights to both songs and thus ending the copyright infringement claim. Though the dispute dragged on into the 1990s, the district judge's decision was eventually upheld.

There would be no need to continue the suit after 1981 if Klein was working with Harrison, but instead he had tried to get in the middle of the original lawsuit and pick up the rights to the song to make even more money off Harrison. The judge ruled against Klein, let George purchase the rights to "He's so Fine" and the district court upheld this decision. So, it looks like the original copyright holders got $587,000 for a 1963 song that wasn't worth much in 1971...not bad.

Maybe Haley should sue all the people doing covers of her songs or filming her performances on Youtube for copyright infringement...oh, but this is the age of everything is in the public domain and digital downloading for free...my mistake.

[riley]

^ One slight variation on the story that's missing:

Harrison was later sued for copyright infringement over the song "My Sweet Lord" due to its similarity to the 1963 Chiffons song "He's So Fine". He denied deliberately plagiarizing the song, but lost the resulting court case in 1976, as the judge ruled that he had subconsciously plagiarized the earlier composition. The dispute over damages became complicated when Harrison's former manager Allen Klein purchased the copyright to "He's So Fine" from the publishing firm Bright Tunes in 1978 for $587,000. In 1981, a district judge decided that Klein had acted improperly, and it was agreed that Harrison would pay back Klein the same $587,000 so Klein would not make a profit from his purchase, and that Harrison would take over ownership of Bright Tunes, making him the owner of the rights to both songs and thus ending the copyright infringement claim. Though the dispute dragged on into the 1990s, the district judge's decision was eventually upheld.

There would be no need to continue the suit after 1981 if Klein was working with Harrison, but instead he had tried to get in the middle of the original lawsuit and pick up the rights to the song to make even more money off Harrison. The judge ruled against Klein, let George purchase the rights to "He's so Fine" and the district court upheld this decision. So, it looks like the original copyright holders got $587,000 for a 1963 song that wasn't worth much in 1971...not bad.

Maybe Haley should sue all the people doing covers of her songs or filming her performances on Youtube for copyright infringement...oh, but this is the age of everything is in the public domain and digital downloading for free...my mistake.

Ah times they are a changin'