Has Prince done the right thing - and what were The Raconteurs thinking of?
This story in the Guardian - http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/aug/12/prince.bans.dentist.from.cov... - raised the question, in my mind at least, of why artists allow or ban cover versions of their songs.
Yesterday I heard a cover of "Steady as she goes" by The Raconteurs, and it was just a watered-down, insipid version, which added nothing. I had assumed that The Raconteurs couldn't ban this cover version being recorded but if Prince can, why couldn't they? Or did they decide to allow the cover? And if so, why? Like I say, it wasn't bad, but if I had written that song, or "Love will tear us apart" or any number of other songs that have been covered badly, I wouldn't want to allow some lame cover version to be recorded.
So why do some bands allow them and some, well, Prince, not?
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Doesn't Prince
usually allow them - Nothing Compares 2 u for example? I think, reading this quote, that he's done everyone a favour here
"I struggled until I took a chance, mixed my operatic style with pop in Purple Rain, and realised my dreams."
I think that he was more likely to have realised my nightmares with that sort of cod-operatic nonsense. Opera for people who don't like opera, like that 'Time To Say Goodbye' nonsense by Sarah Brightman and anything that G4 and the like have inflicted on the world.
A couple of points
Re the above post, although Prince wrote Nothing Compares 2 U it was actually performed by The time, a band he put together but didn't feature in. So Sinead O'Conner's version wasn't technically a Prince cover.
I maybe mistaken but as I understand it anyone can do a cover of anyone else's song without their permission, the only rule is that if they change the lyrics then they have to ask permission.
I haven't heard this dentist's version of Purple Rain but I very much doubt there is any chance it could match the magesterial beauty of the original which makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up just thinking about it.
Not The Time...
"Nothing Compares 2U" was actually written for a band called The Family, which featured some members of The Revolution, plus additional players.
Covers
As far as I know, songs are either available for 'mechanical licensing', in which case anyone can record a cover and pay the appropriate royalties, or artists can opt out of this and permission has to be sought from the publisher first. Years ago I worked for The Cure, who had opted out in the UK. Requests would come in from people wanting to do covers, and they would nearly all be turned down. In the US, however, the songs were available for mechanical licensing, so anyone could record a cover version, no matter what Robert Smith thought.
Thanks Fraser Lewry
Bon Jovi denied The Darkness permission to record Living On A Prayer.
I was always confused as to how they could do that, so thanks for the info.
I think Prince is only
as big as he is in the UK because of the Sinead O'Connor cover regardless of whether it is a cover of his song or a Time cover. It certainly helped elevate his status. It is an interesting take though as when I saw him at the O2 he did about 4 or 5 covers during his set.
I'm not sure.
He had had about a dozen UK hits (and a couple of number one albums) before Nothing Compares 2 U charted, and all his great records came out before then. By the time Sinead reached number one, Prince's star was on the wane, and it's the earlier Purple Rain, Sign o' the Times, Parade etc that made him a superstar.
And I'd be willing to bet that there are still a substantial number of people who bought Nothing Compares 2 U who don't even know it's a Prince song.
Wasn't
Purple Rain no1 in the film, album and single charts simultaneously, or was that 'just' the US?
There was a period when he was just about as famous as Michael Jackson in the UK and was regularly compared to him - there seemed to be a dividing into camps of which eccentric soul/funk star you supported.
Still, his cover of Chaka Khan's 'I Feel For You' is brilliant...
Don't want to seem like a pedant but.....
I feel for you was written by Prince and covered by Chaka.
I know...
I know...
My favourite Prince strapline on his concert video
"Makes Michael Jackson look nailed to the floor"
Really?
Lovesexy came out two years before and went to number one in the UK album charts. Sign O' the Times and Purple Rain also went top ten before Sinead's bald bonce was ever witnessed bobbing about on Top o' the Pops.
I guess a lot of people might not have known he was a songwriter before Sinead came along though.
Manic Monday.....
Another quality Prince penned song (under the alias of "Christopher") was Manic Monday. Yet another song that some don't realise Prince wrote.
And...
...errr... Martika's Kitchen by Martika. Probably best forgotten that one.
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind...
On Type O Negative's none-more-goth album - Bloody Kisses, there is a doomy, but lyrically faithful cover of the Seals & Croft hit - Summer Breeze.
However, in the accompanying CD sleevenotes the song is presented with alternative lyrics, presumably written by Type O Negative vocalist Peter Steele:
"Her golden hair moving as the wind blows
Full moon on a Friday night
Little candle burning in the window
Lets me know everything's all right
Summer Girl make me feel fine
Always in the corner of my mind
Kenny Hickey lying on the sidewalk
Devil music from the house next door
So I step on over his vomit
Through the screen and across the floor
Sweet days of summer
Her love is in bloom
July is dressed up
And playing her tune
When I come home
From a hard days night
And you're waiting there
I don't have a care
A care in this world
See her smile lead me to the bedroom
Fire burning and there's wine for two
Feel your legs spreading out to take me
Just can't wait to get inside of you."
I've often wondered whether the band wanted to record Steele's dirtier version of the song but were denied permission and so had to settle for a straight cover. Can an artist veto lyrical changes in a cover version of one of their songs?
If...
You change the lyrics or medley it becomes a 'derivative work', and you need to seek the original publisher's permission, which may be denied. Alternatively, Type O Negative could possibly have claimed their cover to be satire or parody, in which case different rules apply, and (I believe) they would have had a better chance of being able to release a version with their own lyrics.
But I am not a lawyer.
Parody, satire?
Limp Bizkit recorded a song that dissed Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. The lyrics were a variation on the NIN song Closer ("I want to f*ck you like an animal" became "You want to f*ck me like an animal" for example). Before Bizkit could release it they had to ask Reznor for permission, which he granted.
Whatever
happened to the Barron Knights?