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Will Carly Simon’s Lawsuit Hurt Starbucks Music Attractiveness to Artists?

Roger Friedman
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On Friday, Carly Simon sued Starbucks Entertainment for dumping an album she made for them and lying to her about the state of their record label.

Yesterday, when the story broke, Simon ‘ who’s a legend, famous, and beloved ‘ got offers from all over the place from fans in the industry. The artists community of which she has been a part since 1969’ was suitably angered.

After all, isn’t the whole point of Starbucks’ Hear Music to be different than a regular record label, the kind that routinely reneges on promises and screws artists?

You betcha. That’s why Sixties-Seventies stars like Joni Mitchell, Paul McCartney, and James Taylor went to them in the first place.

But now Starbucks and HearMusic come under a new scrutiny. If they’re capable of doing what Warners, Columbia, or RCA could do in killing a CD and disrespecting a star, why not just stick with the vets? It’s always the devil you know.

In Simon’s case, she had a long, magnificent run at Elektra in the 1970s and Arista and in the 1980s through the 90s. In recent years, Columbia has been her label for “Moonlight Serenade” and “Into White,” two fairly successful releases. She probably could have gone back to them for “This Kind of Love.” Or to many other labels, including Blue Note, Manhattan, Verve, Nonesuch, Lost Highway, etc.’ But Simon chose Hear Music because of the marketing plan to feature the new CD in Starbucks all over the world. Their whole marketing identity, their customers, fit with her fan base. When the whole thing fell apart overnight. Simon was left stranded.

The truth is, legacy rock stars don’t really need record labels anymore. Kiss is proving that this week. They’re going to be number 1 with an album released exclusively through Wal Mart. The Eagles have done the same thing. Target regularly collaborates with musicians. Who needs the headaches of unreturned phone calls, and master recordings in the possession of others?

Simon’s new CD, due at the end of this month, will be issued on small indie Iris Records, which her son Ben co-owns. They distribute through Red, which takes a fee to get the CD into stores. Otherwise, the publicity and marketing are left to freelancers. It’s simple and effective. “Never Been Gone” will do very well this way. Ironically, it’s a perfect album to be featured in…Starbucks.

…Today brings a new release also by Vaneese Thomas, daughter of the late R&B legend Rufus Thomas and sister of Memphis soul queen Carla Thomas. “Soul Sessions, Vol. 1″ sees Vaneese, a favorite backing singer in the New York music world, bring her classic R&B voice to bear on some great hits of the past. The recording is rich in old soul feel, and it’s authentic. On Etta James’s “Tell Mama,” Thomas resonates and delivers a la Denise La Salle and Ann Peebles. It is not to be missed. Vaneese will sing on October 29th at the Jerry Wexler memorial service at the DGA Theater, representing the Thomas family. She also performs tonight at Drom on Avenue A at a launch party for “Soul Sessions.” There’s a link ‘for her page on MySpace here.

Sharon Stone: “Real Men Still Smack a Gal on the Ass, Which I Think Is Just Fine”

Roger Friedman
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58614635Sharon Stone has a lot of plans for new projects. Among them: playing Auntie Mame. She wouldn’t say too much about it this past weekend at the Hamptons Film Festival when quizzed by Judy Licht at a public Q&A, but she seems set on it. And with Stone, that means it will happen.

Two other movies are on Stone’s horizons, which I can tell you about: “The Guest Room,” directed by Nancy Savoca; and “Satisfaction,” which is supposed to co-star Chris Evans and Carice van Houten.

At the Q&A, with Licht, the pair sat on the stage of the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor. Facing them in the front row were former mayor Rudy Giuliani and his wife, Judith. When Licht asked Stone what she thought about President Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize, Guiliani’s body language was priceless. As Stone praised Obama, Giuliani sat with his arms folded so tensely it looked like his head was going to pop off. He did not applaud when Stone talked about patriotism. He and Mrs. G. skipped out early before the hour was up.

Otherwise, Stone ‘ who had a mentoring session with some young actors ‘ was gracious and funny, as usual, and self deprecating. She told a long story about waiting eight months to be approved for her signature role in 1992’s “Basic Instinct.”’ She also plugged AmFar, her favorite charity.

“I was so peculiar my parents didn’t know what to do with me,” Stone told Licht about her early days. She was a bright child, who started college when she was 15, she says. A failure at beauty pageants, she was advised to go into modeling as a path toward acting. It worked. Her first role was a tiny one in Woody Allen’s “Stardust Memories.”

She always loved the leading men of legendary Hollywood like William Powell and Spencer Tracy, she told Licht: “They’re chivalrous and funny and not too politically correct. They still smack a gal on the ass, which I just think is swell. They wear a suit, they have a hat, they drive a car, they have a job. They stand up when you come in the room, say please and thank you. All those old fashioned things go a long way with me.”

P.S. If Matthew Weiner is reading this: I’d write a “Mad Men” for Sharon Stone. She’d be perfect to upset Don Draper’s apple cart.

Stars Lining Up for Jerry Wexler Celebration

Roger Friedman
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Jerry Wexler, the man who coined the term “rhythm and blues,” will get a first-class memorial sendoff on Oct. 30 in New York.

Wexler died in August 2008, and it’s been hard getting everyone in the same place for his service. But his kids, Lisa and Paul, have chosen the 30th because so many people will be in town for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame shows.

Wexler, of course, was one of the backbones of Atlantic Records including Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun, and Arif Mardin and Tom Dowd. But it was Wexler who really put the stamp on Atlantic’s R&B empire with Aretha Franklin, Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett and many other landmark acts. He also led the Atlantic incursion into Memphis for Stax Records and then down to Muscle Shoals, Ala. Among Jerry’s many triumphs: Dusty Springfield’s “Dusty in Memphis” album.

The memorial will include performances by Vaneese Thomas (daughter of Rufus), as well as Allen Toussaint, Bettye Lavette, William Bell and Lenny Kaye. Other artists are still to be announced. The band will include some of Atlantic’s legends including Bernard Purdee, Anton Fig and Simon Kirke on drums; Jerry Jemmott and Barbara Cobb on bass; Spooner Oldham and Mike Finnegan on keyboards; Jen Leigh on guitar; and the Uptown Horns.’ The musicians have been assembled with help from producer Jon Tivens, who will be the musical director.

Speakers at the service will include soul legend Sam Moore; jazz writer Gary Giddins; writer David Ritz, with whom Wexler penned his autobiography; WBGO DJ Bob Porter; and Mark Meyerson, who was Wexler’s assistant at Atlantic Records during the mid-1960s. Both Atlantic and Rolling Stone magazine have chipped in to help make the afternoon possible.

On a personal note: I knew Jerry Wexler, and he was just as great a guy as you might think. He was also underrated and a little overshadowed. This event should do him just a little of the justice he deserves.

Don Draper Was Recruited from a Fur Company!

Roger Friedman
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Don Draper was found by Roger Sterling working in a fur company. He was going to night school. This little tidbit comes from Roger Sterling in next week’s episode of “Mad Men.” A clip from Sterling’s (John Slattery) conversation with Bert Cooper (Robert Morse) is up at the “Mad Men” website.

I’m thrilled, because Slattery hasn’t been used too much this season. A two-time Emmy nominee, he was on the back burner. But Roger (no relation to me!) is the wit of the show. He and Joan (Christina Hendricks) are vital to the whole gestalt of’ “Mad Men.” We need more, not less, of them!

Slattery will probably figure in the final one of this season, in which his onscreen daughter should marry. If you recall, the wedding is set for November 23, 1963, the day after John Kennedy is assassinated. Strangely, on AMC’s schedule, the listing for Episode 12 is missing ’11 and 13 are there, but not 12. Does it mean something or is it just a mistake?

Meanwhile, we know that last night’s episode takes place on or around September 15, 1963 because the Drapers’ maid, Carla, is listening to the funeral for the four little girls killed in the tragic Birmingham, Alabama church bombing. Betty Draper, fast becoming the most unlikeable character on television (real or fictional), just doesn’t get it. Carla does. (Actress Deborah Lacey is just great.) But let’s just hope “Mad Men,” however, doesn’t become “I’ll Fly Away.” Important as the civil rights movement is, let’s not get too far from the martinis.

Carly Simon Sues Starbucks Music Label: Real Clouds In Her Coffee

Roger Friedman
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Carly Simon really does have clouds in her coffee now.

The legendary hit singer ” who should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ‘ filed suit on Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court against Starbucks’ Hear Music record label. Simon says that Starbucks failed to tell her that they were closing their label in April 2008 at the same they were releasing her new album, “This Kind of Love.”

Hear Music had made a splash releasing new CDs by Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor (Carly’s ex), John Mellencamp and a few others. Simon’s should have been their latest hit. Instead, she says, they abandoned her.

What’s interesting is that Hear Music was never really gone. Indeed, even though Howard Schultz, the Starbucks owner, fired the label’s execs, he merely transferred the music over to Concord Records. Last week, Hear Music announced a new live album and DVD package with Paul McCartney set for late November. They also have a website indicating that they’ve kept putting out Starbuck-centric releases including a greatest hits package by Paul Simon.

For months, Carly Simon tried communicating with Schultz, only to be rejected. She finally contacted famed attorney David Boies, who filed the suit.

Simon explains to the New York Times today that she is not rich, nor a publishing heiress, as some think. True, her father Richard Simon started Simon & Schuster in the 1040s. But the company was sold before Carly was born, and Richard Simon was pretty much swindled out of his own company and fortune. In other words: she needs the money.

It’s not like Schultz doesn’t know about musicians, by the way. He is the first cousin of Kenny G.

The main contention in the lawsuit: that Starbucks/ Hear Music hid from Simon the fact that they were shutting down. The result was that she was left on the hook to promote an album that was set to be marketed, largely, in the Starbucks chain. It was the main reason she’d signed with them in the first place.

Simon is seeking monetary damages from Starbucks, but also her master recording returned to her. This only makes sense. Hear Music completely fumbled the release of “This Kind of Love.” The least they could now is give it back.

Simon tells the New York Times today that “This Kind of Love” was supposed to be her final album. Maybe. But she’s releasing a CD of reworked greatest hits at the end of this month. The new version of “You’re So Vain” (which contains the line “I had some dreams/they were clouds in my coffee”) is sensational. Hopefully, what’s left of “light FM” stations will play it. And Simon will keep writing new albums’ worth of songs for a long to come.

Michael Jackson’s New Single “This Is It”–Recycled from Early 90s

Roger Friedman
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Michael Jackson’s new single “This Is It” ‘ its existence was first reported here, exclusively.

Now it’s out this morning, and “This Is It” should be called “This WAS It.” The single sounds more or less like Michael’s never-released 2001 charity single, “What More Can I Do” and his 1985 hit, “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You.”

The new single is a mess. It has no actual chorus, and ‘ to make matters worse ‘ it has background vocals added by some of Michael’s brothers. Jackson would never have wanted that.

“This Is It” was produced, or concocted, by John McClain, Jackson’s longtime friend and one of the executors to his estate. McClane tried unsuccessfully to get the Jackson 5 back together in 2002, after Michael’s solo concerts in 2001. At the time, he was assisting in Michael’s management with Trudy Green of HK Management.

Well, the song is not great. For a theme song, and a way to market the “This is It” movie, it’s fine. But there are better songs among the few Michael left behind in the vaults. There’s one, left off of “Bad,” called “Saturday Night Woman,” that’s supposed to be a real, er, thriller. Maybe it will turn up on a CD of unreleased material.

Steven Spielberg Has Secret Screening of Controversial Disney Doc

Roger Friedman
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The word in Hollywood is that Steven Spielberg recently had a secret screening of a controversial new documentary about Disney animation.

We saw “Waking Sleeping Beauty” yesterday at the Hamptons International Film Festival, and all I can say is, I know why Spielberg was curious. He’s in it. So are some of the people he invited over to watch it with him, including Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Don Hahn’s extraordinary film (co-produced with former Disney cartoon chief Peter Schneider) tells the story of Disney’s animation division for its decade of unparalleled modern success: from 1984 to 1994, or, roughly, from “The Little Mermaid” through “The Lion King.” Veteran entertainment journalist Patrick Pacheco has fashioned this story into a compelling narrative.

What’s interesting about all this is that the film details all the fighting in the executive suites at Disney among Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg, the late Frank Wells (an admired peacemaker), and Roy Disney. All of these feuds are still active even though Eisner and Katzenberg are gone, Wells is dead, and Disney is said to be quite ill.

What you don’t want to miss: Disney and Eisner’s catfight at Wells’s memorial service. It’s not to be believed.

Basically Hahn shows how all these guys competed for publicity and attention. It’s all about ego.

Lucikly, Hahn and Schneider discovered that, against Disney rules, animator Randy Cartwright had been making homemade films at Disney for years, chronicling everything. His cameraman? John Lasseter, who would eventually leave, start Pixar, and then to return to conquer Disney. The films are used as a through line for “Waking.”

Hahn stops short in 1994, right before Katzenberg leaves Disney to start Dreamworks with Spielberg and attempts to get revenge on his old boss. That’s for the sequel.

Along the way, we learn a lot about the Disney animators, kicked off the lot in ‘84 so Katzenberg would have more room for his successful run of live action films via Touchstone, like “Down and Out in Beverly Hills” and “Ruthless People.”’ But then “Mermaid” hits, and a series of animated films like “Pocohantas” and “Aladdin” revive the business. Disney builds a whole new building for the animators on their Burbank lot. The animators start to burn out, however, from all the work. And the execs are at war.

Now here’s the weird part of “Waking Sleeping Beauty”: Disney has given its blessing to the film, and says it will be released next spring. They’ve let the filmmakers license Disney footage. The company’s chairman, Robert Iger, is said to be okay with it. This is incredibly insightful of Iger, who might also consider releasing a long suppressed doc called “Sweatbox,” by Trudie Styler (aka Mrs. Sting) about the making of “The Emperor’s New Groove.”

For animation lovers and Disney aficionados, “Waking Sleeping Beauty” is going to be like getting the tablets from on high. But for Hollywood historians, it’s even better: a real document about some of the industry’s biggest egos, and how they fought their wars. Amazing.

Phil Spector Has It in for Tony Bennett, Thinks He’s Galileo

Roger Friedman
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agony ecstacy phil spector 341x182 300x160 Phil Spector Has It in for Tony Bennett, Thinks Hes Galileo

"The Agony and Ecstacy of Phil Spector"

Phil Spector, the mad genius record producer in prison for killing a Hollywood B-movie actress, is, you know, nuts. So nothing like an incoherent documentary about him to make things even nuttier.

Over the weekend, Vikram Jayanti showed his “Agony and Ecstasy of Phil Spector” at the Hamptons Film Festival. Apparently it was shown by the BBC (which produced it) last year at least once. It’s also available for free download on a sanctioned site called veoh.com.

This part seems problematic since the documentary includes full length audio by the Beatles, John Lennon, George Harrison and other artists whom Spector produced. It’s unclear that the music was actually “cleared” for use since Beatles recordings are usually not allowed in movies. And now it’s free on the Internet to underscore Spector’s ramblings. But I’ll have leave that up to lawyers since Jayanti professed no knowledge of the situation.

His film is, indeed, as incoherent as its subject. I’ve rarely seen such bad filmmaking from a professional filmmaker. It does look like Jayanti made some kind of deal with Spector to make him look good in exchange for exclusive interviews. The director denies it, but really, who’s kidding who? At the Q&A after the screening, Jayanti said he believed there was “reasonable doubt” that Spector did not kill Lana Clarkson. I’ve got some land to sell him in New Orleans.

Spector is obsessed with Tony Bennett. He doesn’t like him, and uses him as a refrain in the movie, referring to Bennett’s long ago drug problems. Spector thinks Bennett’s problems are more egregious than his own. Ha! He also compares himself to Galileo, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci. Why not? They never had hit records, so he may be wrong.

Jayanti is well known for the Muhammad Ali film “When We Were Kings.” But in “Agony and Ecstasy,” he either was obsessed with Spector or just lazy. The film is long on odd, with full length versions of Spector’s produced music playing over disjointed videos of his first murder trial in 2007. It’s really weird. There’s little context for anything. Is this a film about Spector’s music, or his first murder trial, or what? Or all of it? And through it, poor Clarkson, a great girl by all accounts, is demonized.

There is a lot of grandiosity at work too. Spector claims credit for all his Brill Building recordings, from “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling” to “Spanish Harlem.” There is zero mention of the writers of the songs — Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller. It’s all Phil, Phil, Phil. He did it all, even the Wall of Sound. (Were there musicians? Not in this story.) Further, Jayanti doesn’t include any reference to Ronnie Bennett and the Ronettes, who made Spector, and just a scant one to Darlene Love.

Spector, of course, is a megalomaniac, and it comes across clearly. There is a particularly fascinating segment about the Beatles in which he attacks Paul McCartney and George Martin. He takes credit for all of John Lennon’s post-Beatles career. There’s also a bit about recording “My Sweet Lord” with George Harrison but no mention of the plagiarism suit that haunted the hit. The record was deemed similar to the Chiffons‘ hit “He’s So Fine,” which was not produced by Spector in the ’60s but certainly came from his world.

So do watch “Agony and the Ecstasy” to see and hear Spector — it’s probably the one and only time, whether accurate or not. And the video archival material of the Righteous Brothers, Ike and Tina Turner, the Ronettes is all beyond gorgeous.

P.S. There’s a much better actual documentary about Spector here.

Paul Anka Gets It His Way on Michael Jackson Single

Roger Friedman
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Michael Jackson’s “new” single, called “This Is It,” isn’t really his. And it’s a PR nightmare.

The song is registered with BMI Music Licensing to Michael Joe Jackson and to Paul Anka. They wrote it together in 1983 and called it “I Never Heard.” It was released in 1991 by a singer named Safire.

Anka has settled for 50% of everything, according to published reports, which is common in these situations. It most recently happened when John Legend nicked the famous song “Stormy” for his “Save Me” single. The writer, Buddy Buie, became Legend’s partner. It’s also happened to Mariah Carey (”Emotions” was a rewrite of Maurice White’s “Best of My Love”) and to many other stars.

It was only before Michael died that he dusted off the old track. It’s unclear whether or not he told producer’John McClain that the song dated back so far. It seems likely he didn’t.

Maybe Michael got “Anka” mixed up with “Branca,” the name of his lawyer. They do rhyme.

The song was constructed and inserted into “This Is It” “very secretly,” says a source. “No one had heard of it.”

And here’s a thought: The new song sounds a lot like one that appeared two years later, on the 1985 “Bad” album, called “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You.” That song, which was a hit, sounds nothing like a Michael Jackson song and is one of his few duets.Years later, a similar melody turned up in “What More Can I Give?”

What a mess! But it’s important to remember a couple of things. Michael’s very longtime sound engineer Bruce Swedien told this column right after Michael died that he didn’t think there were a lot of unreleased songs just lying around. He thought there were possibly 10. Possibly. Michael’s fans should not get their expectations up for lots and lots of posthumous releases a la Jimi Hendrix.

But this does make sense concerning “This Is It.” Michael must have been shocked when he realized, going through old demos, that he’d collaborated on a song that started with the words “This Is It.”

Oy!

Paul Anka, by the way, is a very famous songwriter besides being a performer. He wrote “My Way,” Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show” theme music, “Diana,” “One Man Woman,” “Having My Baby,” and dozens of other hits.

Tony Roberts Comes Back for Great “Royal Family” Opening

Roger Friedman
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Tony Roberts, you know, is a beloved actor from a bunch of Woody Allen films, from “Serpico,” from tons more movie and TV performances and Broadway shows like “Victor/Victoria.” In the latter he lived through Liza Minnelli flubbing her lines.

Last night when he made his entrance on Broadway in the opening performance of “The Royal Family,” Tony got thunderous applause. That’s because it was only this past Sunday, during the matinee, when he became ill and the show had to be halted. Roberts was rushed to the hospital, with a seizure. Talk about drama.

But there he was last night, looking fit, if not as a fiddle, then as a 69 year-old actor who was determined to get back on stage. He’s playing a theatrical agent who must come to terms with his actresses’ talk of retirement. A little ironic, no? But Roberts was pretty pleased with his performance. He got an extra big ovation at the end of the show as well.

“I am relieved,” he told me at the “Royal Family” after party. Seeing the gigantic fur trimmed overcoat he wears in one scene, I told him it was possible that’s what knocked him out on Sunday. “It takes four ladies to help me on with it,” he replied. “It very well could be.”

Everyone from the cast, starting with star Rosemary Harris, heaped kudos on Roberts. At one point Harris had to help him through a line last night ‘ something minor. She said, “Oh he would have gotten it. It was nothing.”

But it was something, because in the audience Roberts had a lot of famous actors pulling for him. Blair Brown, Joel Grey, Frances Sternhagen, Kate Mulgrew, Tovah Felshuh, and Mary Louise Wilson were just a few of the heavyweights who were rooting for Tony, but also maybe identifying a lot with the George S. Kaufman-Edna Ferber 1927 comedy as reinterpreted by director Doug Hughes. This first “Royal Family” on Broadway since 1976 is a total winner, from Harris and Roberts to a stellar cast that turns Jan Maxwell into a sensation as Julie, a Broadway actress who is trying to rein in her crazy theatrical family and get a grip on her own life.

As Julie declares her independence from theater and family at the end of Act 2, I asked Blair Brown, who was sitting next to me, if she’d ever done that. “I did it just this morning.” she joked. Actually, she’s featured on the TV series “Fringe,” so I guess it didn’t work!

The Cavendish family is sort of modeled on the real life Barrymores. But the Bs were never this much fun. The strange thing is that “Royal Family” seems very contemporary for something written 82 years ago. Reg Rogers is outstanding as Tony, the family’s movie star. He might as well be Brad-Leo-Sean Penn the way he romances and drops girls, brawls with the press. The rest of the cast is just as good, but it’s Maxwell who pulls it all together. It’s a shame “Royal Family,” like Jude Law’s “Hamlet,” only runs 12 weeks. You wish they could stay longer so everyone you know could see them!

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