BY HOWARD CAMPBELL—
Observer senior writer—-
Freddie McGregor—
When Freddie McGregor covered the Rhythm And Blues song Just Don’t Want to be Lonely in 1986, the first thing he did once it was released the following year, was ensure its composers (Bobby Eli, John Freeman and Vinnie Barrett) got their credit.
Released by Polydor Records, his version was a smash in the United Kingdom, peaking at number nine on the national chart. It was previously done in the early 1970’s by Ronnie Dyson and The Main Ingredient.
With talk of the Miley Cyrus/Flourgon copyright settlement all the rage, McGregor says it is critical Jamaican artistes credit original copyright owners when they cover a song.
“It is important that you are not seen as infringing on someone’s copyright, therefore you must seek clearance if you intend to use someone’s work. You would want them to be respectful to you if it were the other way around,” he explained.
Reuters reported last week that Miley Cyrus agreed to a financial settlement with Flourgon for using a line from the Jamaican deejay’s 1988 song, We Run Things, in her 2013 single We Can’t Stop. In March 2018, Flourgon filed a US$300-million lawsuit against the pop star; Reuters did not disclose the amount of money the parties agreed to.
Since the early 1960’s, Jamaican producers and artistes have covered often obscure American songs, most of which were not massive sellers. The biggest was Millie Small’s My Boy Lollipop which was a tearaway hit in 1964 in the UK and United States; it was a ska take on American singer Barbie Gaye’s song, My Girl Lollipop, released in 1956.
Another big seller was Boris Gardiner’s lovers rock version of country singer Mac Davis’ I Want to Wake up With You which topped the UK national chart in 1986. None of these covers had any major legal snags.
That was not the case with singer J C Lodge’s 1982 turn on Someone Loves You Honey, a song previously recorded by American country singers Johnny Rodriquez and Charlie Pride. Their versions sold little, but Lodge’s copy sold big in The Netherlands and Belgium.
Joe Gibbs, who produced the reggae version, did not give its composers proper credit and paid dearly for this indiscretion.
In recent years, several top Jamaican artistes have had regional success in the United States and Europe by covering hit songs by American and British acts. They include Romain Virgo (Michael Bolton’s Soul Provider and Sam Smith’s Stay With Me); Mikey Spice (Neil Diamond’s I Am I Said) and Tarrus Riley (John Legend’s Stay With You and Michael Jackson’s Human Nature).
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