By September of 1969 , the Beatles were slowly grinding to a halt as the emerging solo careers of the members and internal struggles that had surfaced one year earlier began to take affect. However, they decided for their last album to put their differences aside and make an album "the way they used to". The result was a phenomenal and interesting album simply know as "Abbey Road". In addition to being called the 14th greatest album of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine (and having rock's most iconic road crossing), it featured a solid line up of tracks that included everything from the wonderfully whimsical ("Octopus' Garden") to the beautifully sentimental ("Something"). However, it was "Come Together", the lead song from the album, that ended up putting John Lennon in a lengthy and controversial legal battle with a very intimidating opponent.
Morris Levy was his name, and he was singlehandedly the greediest man that ever existed in the world of music. After a very rough early life, he was able to use money extorted from the Genovese crime family, he opened Birdland, an iconic New York City jazz club. However, he got his start in music when a representative of ASCAP (The American Society of Composers and Publisher) went to the club and told him that he had to pay a monthly fee for all of the songs played there. Thinking it was a scam, Levy threw him out, but later learned from his lawyer that owning the rights to songs can be a very lucrative investment. With that in mind, Levy founded a publishing company (Patricia Music), co-founded a record label (Roulette Records, which he would later take over), and cheaply bought the rights to hundreds of old songs while cheating the composers out of royalties. He even went so far as to list himself as a songwriter on several of hit oldies ("California Sun", "Why do Fools Fall in Love?", ect), and was suspected of pressing pirated albums using his legitimate "Big Seven inc." corporate umbrella. However, the extent of his greediness would be shown when he heard the Beatles song "Come Together".
Musically, "Come Together" was similar to a 1956 Chuck Berry hit "You Can't Catch Me" (owned by Morris Levy), and even had somewhat imilar lyrics. The most prominent example of this was the first line of "Come Together" (Here come old flat top, he come groovin' up slowly), and its similarity to a line in the middle of "You Can't Catch Me" (Here come a flat top, he was moovin' up with me). Even though the Beatles made it much different by slowing down the tempo, increasing the volume of the bass line, and changing most of the lyrics, Morris Levy sued John Lennon for copyright in 1973. This was possibly because John Lennon admitted to using the line from "You Can't Catch Me", and Levy could not resist making a quick buck.
Luckily for Lennon, Levy dropped the case on October 12, 1973, but on one condition. Lennon's next album after "Mind Games" must contain 3 songs owned by Big Seven Inc., with part of the profits going toward Levy. Coincidentally, Lennon was planning on making his next album a collection of oldies that he often would listen to called "Oldies But Mouldies". This was because his 1972 album "Sometime in New York City" flopped (due to the controversy over the anti-sexism song "Woman is the N***er of the World"), and other troubles in his life (tensing marriage, possible deportation, pending lawsuit, ect). Both of these factors would end up providing a perfect atmosphere for the project, but more lawsuits were on the way.
After enlisting the help of famed producer Phil Spector (who worked with him on the albums "Imagine" and "Let it Be"), dozens of other famous musicians, and A&M studios in Los Angeles, Lennon set to work on his new collection of "Oldies but Mouldies". Although he did manage to record the 3 Big Seven songs and 8 of 12 intended songs (including "Be My Baby", "Sweet Little Sixteen", and "You Can't Catch Me"), problems began to persist. Lennon would routinely drown his sorrows in alcohol and get hammered with the rest of his bandmates (and kicked out of places), Spector shot a gun at the ceiling while wearing a surgeon's outfit, and whiskey was poured on the mixing console. However, the most sudden moment was when Spector pointed a gun at Lennon, stole the master tapes from the studio, and would not give them back, effectively halting the album.
By the summer of 1974, Spector still had not given back the master tapes, and John Lennon moved back to New York to sort out his problems record a new album, "Walls and Bridges". In the fall, Capitol was finally able to get back the tapes for $90,000, but there was a major problem. Lennon's drinking had made his voice so bad that only a handful of the tracks were usable (with "Angel Baby" being the only useable Big Seven song). "Walls and Bridges" was released instead, and Levy was not pleased with the album or the snippet of Big Seven song "Ya Ya". When he threatened to sue for breach of agreement, Lennon explained to him what had happened with the Spector tapes, which allowed him to use Levy's farm and mail-order record label (Adam VIII) to finish the album, now retitled "Rock and Roll".
Trouble started again when Levy asked for a copy of the Rock and Roll's rough mix (which included new songs like "Stand by Me", "Peggy Sue", and "Beep-Bop-A-Lula"), but Lennon felt as though there was too much contrast between them and the Spector tapes. When it couldn't be shelved in December of 1974 (spring 1975 release date), Lennon met with his lawyer Howard Seider, and Levy, to see if they could get clearence from Capitol/EMI for a release on Adam VIII, citing a verbal agreement. However, Capitol outright refused, and Levy had no right to use Lennon's name, image or recordings.
By early 1975, Lennon's life had improved drastically. He quit drinking, got together with Yoko, and his songs "Whatever Gets You Through the Night" and "#9 Dream" were big hits. But Levy refused to take no for an answer, and released the rough mix of Rock n' Roll as "ROOTS: John Lennon Sings the Great Rock and Roll Hits" on Adam VIII in February (notable for the very bad cover art). This caused Capitol to rush release the finished Rock n' Roll album with a reduced price, threaten prosecution against any media outlet that advertised the "illegal bootleg" album, and legally force Adam VIII to stop production (resulting in a few late night commercials and only 1270 copies sold). However, one of the Big Seven songs, "Angel Baby", was left off of Rock n' Roll, and Levy was furious. He ended up suing Lennon for a breach of oral agreement, while Lennon countersued for unauthorized use of his name, likeness, and recordings, as well as reputation due to the overall bad quality of "Roots".
The case was presented to US District Court judge Thomas Griesa in January of 1976, with Lennon's attorney's arguing that the master tape used by Levy for Roots was a poor quality unfinished studio dub, and therefore reputation damaging. They furthered their point by showing how the bad 1960s photo of Lennon did not reflect his mid 1970s appearance nor evoke the 1950s spirit of the songs (Lennon even showed up to the trial with short hair). William Schurtman (who later asked him to sign his "Two Virgins" LP), Levy's attorney rebuked by claiming Lennon only got a haircut for the trial, to which Lennon replied "Rubbish. I cut it every 18 months." (causing the whole room to erupt in laughter).
Judge Griesa issued his 29 page opinion on February 20, 1976. In his opinion, while Lennon had indeed promised Levy the right to issue the album on Adam VIII, the agreement was declared void because Lennon had no right to negotiate distribution deals (Capitol Record's job). After hearing the argument's concerning Lennon's countersuit, Lennon had to pay $7000 for breach of oral agreement (covering the cost of Roots). However, Levy had to pay Lennon $110,000 due to loss of income from Rock and Roll's sales that were harmed by Roots, and an additional $42,000 in punitive damages for harming his reputation. In the years following this case, Rock and Roll would go gold, John Lennon would be murdered in New York City on December 8, 1980, and Morris Levy would die of liver cancer on May 21, 1990, while awaiting trial on charges of extortion.
Based on the evidence that was presented, I did not think that John Lennon did anything wrong, but Morris Levy was almost completely to blame. In addition to suing Lennon for modifying a line from a song he intended as a homage to the rock n' roll of yesteryear, he released a rough mix of Lennon's songs without his permission (and plastered it with bad artwork). This case is a perfect way to show that while copyright can be a burden, it can also be a blessing in disguise (all thanks to good old "Rock n' Roll).
FIN.
Uncle John's Unsinkable Bathroom Reader, pages 523 - 530, 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbey_Road
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_Together
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_%27n%27_Roll_(John_Lennon_album)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_%27n%27_Roll_(John_Lennon_album)#Roots
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Levy
http://www.abbeyrd.net/lenlevy.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLPbWExCevg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHuPh0OF8Zk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeWIMYVKbLE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXdo1jGfzsM
