Pop Goes to Court

by Brian Southall

Elvis, Ozzy, George Michael, Metallica, George Harrison, The Smiths... They've all been involved in legal action over the past fifty years or so.Pop Goes To Court recalls some of the most entertaining and bizarre court cases ever to take rock'n'rollers into a courtroom. Bono went all litigious over a disappearing hat, one Beatle filed suit against the other three, and forty years after it was a big hit, Procol Harum's A Whiter Shade Of Pale was suddenly the focus of a bitter legal wrangling over who actually wrote it.Author Brian Southall digs deep into some of the most memorable music disputes ever to merit the sober deliberations of the law, and in doing so, reveals much about our changing views on fame and the value of publicity.

Genres: Music, History

Kindle Edition

First published January 12, 2009

About the author

Brian Southall worked as a journalist with Music Business Weekly, Melody Maker and Disc before joining A&M Records. He moved to EMI Records and EMI Music, where, during a 15 year career, he served in press, promotion, marketing, artist development and corporate communications. From 1989 he was a consultant to Warner Music International, HMV Group and both the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and the International Federation of the phonographic Industry (IFPI). Among other books, he has written are the official history of Abbey Road Studios and the Story of Northern Songs, both published by Omnibus Press.

Reviews

[MELMOTH · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interessante ma un po' pedante...

[Dave Schwensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating read for the dedicated fan wanting to know more about the legalities that could come with being a rock star. It’s not all creativity and fun, or as it has been so eloquently put to sell rocker’s bios: “Sex, drugs and rock’n roll.” In many cases, a strong legal team is needed to clean up messy situations involving greed, shared partnership credits, plagiarism, band membership and use of band names, and even the interpretation of lyrics and hidden song meanings.

The author has done an impressive amount of research into rock star court cases, judgments, appeals and final verdicts. I enjoyed it, but will admit it’s not a book for everyone. The “sensationalism” element has been removed to reveal the hard facts argued by both sides for numerous cases in a court of law. Some carry a wide interest range for fans of classic rock, such as the break-up of The Beatles, George Harrison’s fight over the composition of My Sweet Lord, the long-running battle of family heirs to claim the estate of Jimi Hendrix, and the accusations against Judas Priest in providing a soundtrack for promoted suicide. Some weren’t as newsworthy, like the fight over copyright of the mega-hit Whiter Shade Of Pale, but still interesting to follow to the bitter end.

There are other cases that might only be informative to “deep” fans of rock. This is a reference to “deep cuts” on albums. In other words, a “deep” fan will know every track, while casual fans only know the hits. Some of the rock stars dragged into court were mainly stars in England and Europe and not as well known to music fans in the U.S. This may only be my problem, but I wasn’t as interested in reading about the artists I didn’t know.

This is a very intelligent book written by a very knowledgeable author. For that reason it deserves five stars. But for casual rock fans more interested in sensationalism rather than the cold, hard facts, it would be difficult to hold their attention from cover to cover. For that reason, it scores a four rating. But I will say I’m a fan of this book. Nice job.