DM's Beatles forums
Beatles forums => Books, Magazines, Articles => Topic started by: jjs on July 05, 2008, 05:24:59 PM
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Hi everyone
I'm looking for any articles and/or info pertaining to Yoko suing Jack Douglas (or vice versa) over royalties for Double Fantasy.
From what I remember, for some reason Yoko didn't pay or refused to pay Jack his due royalties. Later on, she apparently tried to use her media machine to discredit him (like she did with Fred Seaman) however, this failed. She tried to claim Jack stole things from John, and was a nobody trying to exploit Lennon, even though he was a well known and successful record producer, having produced bands like Aerosmith.
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Interview with Jack Douglas here, from Beatlefan:
http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Rec/rec.music.beatles/2005-12/msg00250.html
Interesting for a number of reasons, really. :)
Short NYT article on the outcome of the lawsuit here:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F00E0D91F39F930A35757C0A962948260
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Interview with Jack Douglas here, from Beatlefan:
[url]http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Rec/rec.music.beatles/2005-12/msg00250.html[/url]
Interesting for a number of reasons, really. :)
Short NYT article on the outcome of the lawsuit here:
[url]http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F00E0D91F39F930A35757C0A962948260[/url]
Yes, this was the article I was looking for. Thanks so much.
It makes one wonder, really...
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Cool articles; I've never read these before. Thanks for sharing!
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Very interesting. Thanks Geoff.
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I've never read that before , thanks Geoff for posting it , it's a really interesting read .
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You're welcome, and I wonder if any of the session musicians on Double Fantasy have ever said anything about working with John on that record: theirs would be interesting outsiders' perspectives on John (and Yoko) in 1980 and- perhaps- useful supplements or maybe correctives to the official line John gave in his interviews that year. :)
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You're welcome, and I wonder if any of the session musicians on Double Fantasy have ever said anything about working with John on that record: theirs would be interesting outsiders' perspectives on John (and Yoko) in 1980 and- perhaps- useful supplements or maybe correctives to the official line John gave in his interviews that year. :)
I've often wondered why those musicians have never spoken out more about their time with Lennon in 1980. The good side of me would like to think that they're honouring his memory by not profiting from his death. Of course, the cynical me thinks that Yoko has probably paid them all off to keep her version of the Lennon myth alive!
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I've often wondered why those musicians have never spoken out more about their time with Lennon in 1980. The good side of me would like to think that they're honouring his memory by not profiting from his death. Of course, the cynical me thinks that Yoko has probably paid them all off to keep her version of the Lennon myth alive!
I hadn't thought of that angle, but as a longstanding (and frequently backsliding) member of Cynics Anonymous, I find the thought shall we say intriguing. ;D
On the other hand, with a worshipful rock press safely on board for the myth, I wonder if anybody's even bothered to ask those people some questions. Here's a great example of the sort of thing I mean, which I stumbled upon this morning;
http://www.chrishunt.biz/features26.html
It's not a bad article; it's just entirely conventional and familiar in its approach. :)
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Hmm, quite interesting! I'm in the pay-off camp. Yoko is a savvy business woman, and she makes her living by exploiting her fabricated image of John. I consider Julian, May, and Cynthia's accounts reliable regarding some of her tricks. She also has squashed Paul's ideas on a number of occasions. And let's not forget her lawsuit trying to prevent singer Lennon Murphy from using her own name. She's always been canny about her meal ticket. As long as she's the grieving widow, her income is assured. Sorry to be so cynical about her, but I definitely am.
Thanks for the links, Geoff!
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Another interesting read. Will we ever fully understand Yoko's ways?
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And let's not forget her lawsuit trying to prevent singer Lennon Murphy from using her own name.
(bigeyes1)
I hadn't heard about that one. I think I'm going to tear up that Cynics Anonymous card and just go back to being my old surly self. (smoking1)
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Will we ever fully understand Yoko's ways?
I doubt it myself, but clues abound: ;D
(http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm317/geoffw_2008/yokowitch.jpg)
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Thanks Geoff , i enjoyed reading that artical too.
I'm so glad John got out of the Dakota in the last few months of his life , and had a bloody good adventure .
When i was reading it , i thought there's a great film here ? (smile)
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Interview with Jack Douglas here, from Beatlefan:
[url]http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Rec/rec.music.beatles/2005-12/msg00250.html[/url]
Interesting for a number of reasons, really. :)
Short NYT article on the outcome of the lawsuit here:
[url]http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F00E0D91F39F930A35757C0A962948260[/url]
Wow, really great interview, thanks Geoff!
A few random things that really caught my attention:
1) "John had really small hands, so he really couldn't play lead on guitar ...". What a great little factoid!!
2) "John would double track his voice incessantly ..." . That really caught my eye. In the early to mid-60's John, as much as he hated his voice single tracked, really hated going through the effort it took to double a voice live. So when Geoff Emerick (? or Norman Smith?) invented ADT (automatic double track), John went bezerko on it - he never had to double track again! So, fast forward 15 years, he could have used ADT or it's shiniest new iteration to do his double tracks, but NO ... he was doing it "manually", the old fashioned way! And, according to this Jack Douglas guy getting interviewed, with absolutely amazing skill. John ... he was good.
3) That piano intro to "Watching the Wheels Go By" - made up by John while doodling. IMO, one of the best parts of the song, or of the album. The boy still had IT :)
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yoko surely has her ways of manipulating things. great articles thanks for that.
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I doubt it myself, but clues abound: ;D
([url]http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm317/geoffw_2008/yokowitch.jpg[/url])
^^^^^^^Oh Geoff!!!! That picture is tooooooo funny!!!!!!!
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3) That piano intro to "Watching the Wheels Go By" - made up by John while doodling. IMO, one of the best parts of the song, or of the album. The boy still had IT :)
"Watching The Wheels" and "Nobody Told Me" - unfinished though it is - are my two favorite tracks from John's 1980 sessions. :)
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1) "John had really small hands, so he really couldn't play lead on guitar ...". What a great little factoid!!
That is a cool fact. We had this terrific guitarist in high school-- best I've ever heard live. He had some strange physical peculiarity where his pinkie finger was as big as his third finger -- we called him "Phil the Phingers". He could hit notes that nobody could hit because he had that fantastic reach. He would have had a great career, I'm convinced-- but the drugs got him. *mourns*
I also noticed that thing about double-tracking live-- interesting. It seems that John either reverted, or perhaps always was, very team-oriented in the studio. "Left his ego at the door"-- which one would consider a challenge for John, as he had more personality than the average bear. But-- correct me if I'm wrong-- people always seemed to enjoy working with John, so I think this was a trademark of his working method. Get it done professionally in the studio, and save the biting commentary for "free time".
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In one of my Bowie books harihead David said John was a pleasure to work with during the "Young American" sessions (smile)
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That is a cool fact. We had this terrific guitarist in high school-- best I've ever heard live. He had some strange physical peculiarity where his pinkie finger was as big as his third finger -- we called him "Phil the Phingers". He could hit notes that nobody could hit because he had that fantastic reach. He would have had a great career, I'm convinced-- but the drugs got him. *mourns*
I also noticed that thing about double-tracking live-- interesting. It seems that John either reverted, or perhaps always was, very team-oriented in the studio. "Left his ego at the door"-- which one would consider a challenge for John, as he had more personality than the average bear. But-- correct me if I'm wrong-- people always seemed to enjoy working with John, so I think this was a trademark of his working method. Get it done professionally in the studio, and save the biting commentary for "free time".
I think to do what one is told, as John apparently did in those situations, one has to have complete trust in the producer doing the telling. I'd love to know what degree of vetting John did in picking that guy for Double Fantasy - it sounds like he just sort of thought of him because he bumped into him at Gristede's or something!
I could see someone going either way after having George Martin as the producer of their formative years:
a) "I did really well doing what I was told all those years with George Martin, so I'll just carry on the same way with this bloke!" Or,
b) "Nobody measures up to George Martin, and after being a Beatle in Studio 2 with him for so many years I'm as smart as any other so called producer, nobody does it better - than me" !
From the tea leaves we all get to read about what happened in John's life, it does seem like he took the first approach.
Does the 2nd approach bring anyone to mind, maybe? ;)
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Cute, Alexis! But I personally think it's more a matter of personality rather than a reaction to the past. John was very vata, very artistic, didn't really get numbers or factual stuff. He emphasized the emotional part of his personality. He knew he didn't want to do the picky stuff that a producer has to fiddle with to get a good-sounding record. I think artists get into directing or producing because they have that kind of mind and have an interest in it. If you like working out the details, cool. If you don't-- for heaven's sake, hire somebody else to do it. Life is too short to do something you hate if you can figure out another way of doing it. :)