Beach Boys Set Up Record Label; Wilson Seeks Distributors
The Beach Boys in 1966.
Los Angeles — Brother Records have been formed by the Beach Boys while domestic and foreign distributions for the new label currently are being sought. The group itself will not cut for their own company which falls under the umbrella Beach Boys Enterprises. They remain tied to Capitol Records. Brian Wilson will be executive producer for the teen-oriented company.
Over at Capitol Records, the west-coast group has just earned gold disk records for their recent single release, “Good Vibrations,” and for their Capitol LP’s, “Little Deuce Coupe,” and “Shut Down, Vol. II.” END.
(Information and news source: Billboard; December 31, 1966).
BEACH BOYS SEVER TIES WITH CAPITOL; GROUP ON OWN RECORD LABEL
LOS ANGELES — The Beach Boys have filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Capitol Records for more than $2 million. Concurrent with the suit the Beach Boys have also severed their seven-year relationship with the recording giant and will record instead on their own record label, Brother Records.
The lawsuit arises from a 1967 audit of a Capitol Records book by the accounting firm of Prager and Fenton which revealed an alleged deficiency in royalty payment of at least $622, 618. 72, and demands payment of $1,418,827.92 in producers fees for Brian Wilson, a member of the Beach Boys group, who performed producer/production services at Capitol’s request.
The group has also initiated a conglomerate of business enterprises emanating from it’s Hollywood offices, including a recording company, a publishing firm, a travel agency, a business management company, a personal management company and a concert production firm. Direction of the various enterprises are divided by Nicholas Grillo and Dick Duryea, the latter acting as a production co-ordinator for the conglomerate.
The Beach Boys, were said to be all smiles after leaving Capitol Records, as pictured here in 1969. (Click on image for larger view).
Further, the new enterprise will take the Beach Boys beyond the confines of the recording business. Already operating under their Financial Concepts, Inc., is a Beach Boys-operated real estate syndicate and a cardiovascular clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, to be operated in conjunction with a group of prominent Florida physicians. But the primary concern of the new Beach Boys company will still be Brother Records, according to a spokesman for the group.
In addition to their new label, the Beach Boys own three music publishing companies as well as American Sound System, the company that leases their $250,000 sound system and American productions, which packages the Beach Boys and other artists’ concert tours.
Simultaneously they are in the process of building their own 16-track recording studio within their own office complex, which will form the basis for their new label, Brother Records.
All artists on Brother Records will participate in the company’s profits, predicated on a formula yet to be devised. Artist will be offered complete financial protection through Financial Concepts, Inc., a management company that will perform complete accounting services and offer financial and investment advise to any/all personnel connected with Brother Records.
Finally, the artists will have their personal appearances, fan clubs, and merchandising organized through American Productions, another Beach Boys subsidiary. END.
(Information and news source: Billboard; April 12, 1969).
The Mamas and the Papas, with Mama Cass Elliot in San Francisco during the Monterey Pop Festival in San Francisco in 1967. (Click on image for larger view).
HOLLYWOOD — The Mamas and Papas will record again, this time for Warlock Records, owned by John Phillips, with financing and distribution by Dunhill Records.
The group was previously a quartet that included Cass Elliot, now a solo artist on Dunhill. Lou Adler will continue to produce all recordings by the trio. John Phillips, Denny Doherty and Michelle Phillips, will also sign and record new artists for their label.
First act the trio signed to the new label is Jamme, a quintet of U.S. and Canadian singers, presently in preparation of finishing their debut LP. Warlock also plans in building a recording studio in Hollywood. The last recording by the Mamas and the Papas were produced in Phillips’ own recording studio in his home in Bel-Air. The Mamas and Papas signed with Adler’s Dunhill Records in September 1965, where they began their successful string of Top 40 hits.
According to Dunhill vice-president Jay Lasker, a lawsuit filed by the company and a counter suit by the group has been settled out of court. END.
(Information and news source: Billboard; April 12, 1969).
1957: The government of Iran officially bans rock and roll after declaring Western rock dancing is “harmful to health.”The ban would stay in place until the 1990s.
1959:Dick Clark announces his first series of four “Caravan Of Stars” concerts over a course of the coming year, for 1960, with his first being headlined by the Skyliners of “Since I Don’t Have You” fame.
1966:Neil Diamond makes his first television appearance on ABC-TV’s American Bandstand, performing his first Bang Records charted hit, “Cherry, Cherry.”
1967:Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones is sentenced to three months in jail and lead singer Mick Jagger to a full year after a raid of Richards’ home in February turned up cannibus residue. After a public outpouring of sympathy, including an essay in the London Times defending the pair (“Who Breaks A Butterfly Upon A Wheel?” July 1, 1967), Richards’ charges are dropped and Jagger’s’ sentenced is reduced to probation.
1967: While on tour with the Hollies, Graham Nash writes a song called, “Marrakash Express,”which will later find itself as a hit with his new band in 1969, Crosby, Stills and Nash.
1969: The Jimi Hendrix Experience perform their last gig together at the Denver Pop Festival.
Graham Nash of the Hollies, in 1967. (Click on image for larger view).
1970:NBC-TV presents the Liza Minnelli special Liza, also starring songwriters Anthony Newley, Jimmy Webb, and Randy Newman.
1973:Deep Purple “Mark II,” the most famous incarnation of the band, comes to an end after tonight’s show in Osaka, Japan,with lead singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover abruptly leaving the group.
1975:Elton John appears onstage with the Doobie Brothers in Oakland, California for an impromptu duet on the Doobie’s hit, “Listen To The Music.”
1976: The Memphis City Council votes to change Elvis’ home street, Highway 51 South, to Elvis Presley Boulevard.
1978: While driving with his girlfriend in the Bahamas, Peter Frampton crashes his car and severely injures himself, breaking his left arm, cracking several ribs, causing a concussion, and cutting short his rise to superstardom as he mends his injuries in a local hospital for months.
1985: New York’s Cooper-Hewitt Museum fetches a record $2,229,000 for John Lennon’s “Roller,” a 1965 Rolls Royce Phantom V painted with groovy psychedelic colors by Apple associates The Fool.
Lionel and Brenda Richie, together, in happier times. (Click on image for larger view).
1988:Brenda Richie, wife of Lionel Richie, is arrested for assault after allegedly striking her husband after finding him in bed with another woman. She is later released on $5,000 bail.
1998:George Harrison shocks the world when he announces that he is undergoing chemotherapy for throat cancer, assuring his fans that he’s fine and that “I’m not going to die on you folks just yet.” Harrison would succumb to the disease three years later.
2000:The casket holding Lynyrd Skynyrd lead singer Ronnie Van Zandt is stolen from it’s mausoleum in Jacksonville, Florida, but vandals left it after they were unable to open it; band member Steve Gaines ashes are spilled from its urn, which was stolen.
Deaths:1969: Shorty Long.
Releases:1959: “A Big Hunk O’ Love,” Elvis Presley. 1963: “(You’re The) Devil In Disguise,” Elvis Presley. 1968: “A Saucerful Of Secrets,” Pink Floyd.
Recordings:1956: “Just Walking In The Rain,” Johnny Ray. 1957: “Peggy Sue,” Buddy Holly. 1966: “Double Trouble,” “I Love Only One Girl,” “It Won’t Be Long,” “Long Legged Girl,” Elvis Presley.
1968: Live studio performances for “68 Comeback Special”; Elvis Presley: Heartbreak Hotel,” “Hound Dog,” “One Night (With You),” “All Shook Up,” “Can’t Help Falling In Love,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Love Me Tender,” and seven more Elvis greats….
1968: “Hurdy Gurdy Man,” Donovan; enters the charts. 1974: “Sundown,” Gordon Lightfoot; hits No. 1 on the charts.
Certifications:None.
And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day….
1957:Jerry Lee Lewis makes his U.S. television debut, performing “Whole Lot Of Shakin’ Goin’ On”on the Steve Allen Show, on NBC-TV, achievingsuperstar status for his appearance on the show.
‘Where The Action Is’ on ABC Television with Paul Revere & The Raiders in 1965. (Click on image for larger view).
1965: Dick Clark’s latest rock and roll variety show, Where The Action Is, premieres on ABC-TV, featuring performances by Jan and Dean, Dee Dee Sharp, and Linda Scott, and also introduces a new house band by the name, Paul Revere & The Raiders. Meanwhile, over on CBS-TV, influential New York DJ Murry The K’s variety special It’s What’s Happening, Baby! features performances by the Supremes, The Ronettes, The Temptations, Martha and The Vandellas, The Righteous Brothers, The Drifters, The Miracles, Tom Jones, The Dave Clark Five, Patti Labelle & The Bluebells, and Gary Lewis & The Playboys.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0X_Hxem1mkw
1968:At NBC studios in Hollywood, Elvis Presley tapes the “gospel medley” portion of his “68 Comeback” special, as well as a controversial “bordello” scene that was never broadcast: NBC television censors had no objections, but the sponsor, Singer Sewing Machines, didn’t want to upset the viewers, objecting instead.
1968: Aretha Franklin is featured on the cover of Time magazine, under a banner headed ‘The Sound Of Soul.’
1973:Helen Reddy begins her own NBC-TV “summer replacement” series called, naturally enough, The Helen Reddy Show.
1973: Following it’s highly successful “Fifties Revival” oldies show the year before, Madison Square Garden holds a British Invasion-themed version, featuring Gerry and The Pacemakers, Herman’s Hermits, The Searchers, and Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders.
Tim Buckley 1947 – 1975.
1975: Tim Buckley gives what is to be his last concert in Dallas, tragically overdosing on heroine and morphine and found dead the following day.
1980:Roy Orbison begins an amazing Eighties comeback by making the country music charts with “That Lovin’ You Feeling Again,” with EmmyLou Harris.
1988:Berry Gordy sells Motown to MCA for $61 million, effectively ending the golden era of independent ownership.
1993:Wilson Pickett pleads guilty to drunk driving in New Jersey after hitting a pedestrian in April of the previous year. He is sentenced to a year in jail and five years probation, a well as a $5,000 fine and 200 hours of community service.
1997:George Harrison secretly undergoes surgery to have a cancerous lump removed from his throat. Although it turns out to be benign, the ex-Beatle will eventually succumb to the disease in 2001.
Deaths:None.
Releases:1969: ‘Crosby, Stills & Nash,’ LP; Crosby, Stills & Nash. 1969: “Sweet Caroline,” Neil Diamond. 1972: “Obscured By Clouds,” Pink Floyd. 1975: “Fame,” David Bowie.
Recordings:1962: “Up On The Roof,” The Drifters. 1966: “There’s So Much World To See,” Elvis Presley. 1968: “Good Night,” The Beatles (White Album).
Charts: 1969: “Love Theme From Romeo And Juliet,” Henry Mancini; hits No. 1 on the charts. 1975: ‘One Of These Nights,’Eagles; LP hits No. 1.
Certifications:1968: “A Beautiful Morning,” Rascals; certified gold by the RIAA.
And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day . . . . J U N E 2 8
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