Music Elvis

Archive for the ‘Elvis Lyrics’ Category

If you were to publicly perform or record “Happy Birthday” or “Danny Boy” you would owe someone some money. Maybe. It’s a little unclear.

According to Wikipedia, the melody of “Happy Birthday to You” was written in Louisville, Kentucky by sisters and teachers; Patty Hill and Mildred J. Hill in 1893.

You could just imagine the very morning they in greeted their classroom to a little tune entitled “Good Morning to All”. Sadly, we don’t know who wrote the lyrics to the song as we know it today, and so, the the heirs of the lyricist missing in action will never see their due!

The version as we know it was copyrighted in 1935 and was purchased by Warner Chappell in 1990 for US$15 million! With the value of “Happy Birthday” estimated at US $5 million, some musician and his/her heirs definitely missed out on a nice check.

While the current copyright status of the song is unclear, Warner claims that unauthorized public performances of the song are technically illegal unless royalties are paid to it.

In contrast, the mystery of the well known song Danny Boy has indeed been solved. Or has it? A very interesting read by Michael Robinson who reveals that the song Danny Boy is one of over 100 songs composed to the same tune.

According to Wikipedia, the root of the tune Danny Boy begins with a song titled Londonderry Air. Should Londonderry Air be the melody that carries over 100 songs, surely we should be giving huge credit to its composer. Unfortunately, this great melody and its original composer is still shrouded in a cloud of mystery.

What is known for certain, is that the lyrics of Danny Boy were originally written for a different tune in 1910 by an English lawyer, Frederick Weatherly. It’s interesting to note that that the songwriter never actually visited Ireland, yet the tune would become a national anthem for the Irish.

Weatherly modified the lyrics to fit Londonderry Air’s melody in 1913. The English lawyer saw fit to give the tune to an Opera singer by the name of Elsie Griffen, and later to a British Shakspearean actress by the name of Ellen Terry. And so Danny Boy was in the midst of becoming a legend.

From Opera, to an actress’ requiem, the song endures the test of time with musical icons of every genre keeping Danny Boy alive including one of the master originators of rock-n-roll, Elvis Presley, the great jazz pianist Bill Evans and the pop culture diva Sinéad O’Connor.

One great thing about this tune, if you were to record it, you wouldn’t owe anyone a dime. It’s one of the great tunes that is in the Public Domain.

One has to wonder if Warner Chappel purchased Happy Birthday for 15 million, how much they would have shelled out for Danny Boy? The lost heirs of the musician who composed Londonderry Air, stand to be very proud of their musical heritage because it is indeed a great song, one which is loved by millions.

Ask someone what kind of music they’re into and nine times out of ten, the response will be: “I like all kinds… except country…”. Most people think country means songs in which women moan about their husbands walking out on them and their forty children, or songs in which fully grown men cry about having their horse stolen.
To the younger generations, country means that weird old music that only parents (or grandparents) listen to, and it’s not hard to see where they’re coming from; as children, we rummage through our parent’s album collections only to discover bizarre record covers with cheesy, old fashioned pictures of men dressed in rhinestone suits with leather cowboy boots; country music was lurking.
The country genre became associated with Billy Ray Cyrus’ awful novelty record “Achy Breaky Heart” and the resultant line-dancing craze, and it also spawned the over-played radio-friendly MOR of Shania Twain and Sheryl Crow. All are great reasons to be put off country music for life.

But in this sea of country music crass, a king was born; Johnny Cash, a man with a deep, disturbing voice, who dresses all in black like a real rock star and tells the most wonderful stories through his songs.
Take a listen to songs like “A Boy Named Sue” and “One Piece At A Time” and you’ll realise that the ridiculous tales country artists come up with are more often than not told with tongue very firmly in cheek. He did serious stuff too, of course. “Ring Of Fire” is one of the greatest love songs ever written, “Folsom Prison Blues” tackles the themes of redemption and regret perfectly and signature tune “The Man In Black” is an inspiring manifesto, pleading for an end to social injustice.
A little bit of research into Cash’s contemporaries leads to such names as Wilson Nelson, Merle Haggard and Hank Williams. Nelson, who it seems hasn’t aged in around thirty years, and Haggard came to prominence during the rise in popularity of outlaw country in the 1970s, a movement that saw a trend towards songs about jail, drinking, drugs and hard working men. Williams meanwhile left a legacy in country music when he died aged 29 after overdosing on Morphine. During the 1950s, Williams was a pioneer of the honky-tonk style, which Elvis Presley later adopted and became a global superstar in the process.

All of the above, including Elvis, are inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame, which was founded in 1962. Located in Nashville – ‘music city USA’, the Country Music Hall of Fame doubles as a museum of all things country, including hand-written lyrics sheets and instruments used by legendary artists including Cash; and there’s plenty of rustic country hotels in Nashville available for anyone wishing to pay the Hall of Fame and its many inductees a visit.

Popular Music Used In Commercials

Stop The Insanity-Hire Someone To Write A Jingle!

Many years ago, in a far away place and time, companies wishing to promote their wares on television would hire songwriters to develop advertising jingles to promote whatever they were selling. But recently, in my mind, some companies have crossed the proverbial line, so to speak, by using classic Beatles’ music to pitch their products.

Am I the only one who is absolutely appalled by the superstore Target’s use of the great Beatles’ hit entitled “Hello Goodbye” (although in the commercial they have changed it to “Hello Good Buy,” how clever). Couldn’t the corporate big wigs just hire Barry Manilow (who wrote the classic McDonalds’ jingle: “You deserve a break today”) to write a sappy jingle?

However, sadly, this trend has been used over and over again in recent years and there does not seem to be an end of it. Moreover, if I hear the Badfinger song “Come And Get It” (in the advertisement for GMC automobiles), I’ll scream!

When Michael Jackson allowed Nike to abuse the legendary hit by the Beatles’ “Revolution,” it seemed that the floodgates were opened, and an advertisement bandwagon was born. But, I am not sure that these companies realize just how many people are offended by their blatant misuse of these classic rock and roll songs.

But, apparently, these starving songwriters (or whoever owns the rights to the music) are being very well compensated for the right to use these classic songs for advertisement purposes. In fact Randy Bachman, formally of the Canadian group the Guess Who and later Bachman-Turner Overdrive, turned down a lucrative offer from a bathroom tissue company to use his song “Takin’ Care Of Business” (how clever) for a television commercial. He did, however, allow the song to be used for an Office Depot commercial, calling the partnership “a perfect marriage.” Bachman also declared, “you make more in one year with that commercial than you do in your entire lifetime of your band in the 70′s with that song.” I guess I am naive, but when did it all become about the money, not the music?

Sadly, this trend is catching on like wildfire, as nowadays you can hear many rock legends allowing their classic music to be used for commercial purposes. Why we have Iggy Pop for Royal Caribbean, Bob Dylan promoting Victoria’s Secret products, Billy Preston teaming up with the Zombies for Fidelity Investments, Led Zeppelin pitching Cadillacs, Aerosmith for Buick, the O’Jays for Coors Beer, Deep Purple promoting Dodge, the Who allowing their music to be used in Cisco commercials, the flower power group the Association pitching Allstate Insurance, why we even have Helen Reddy’s classic anthem hit song “I Am Woman” being utilized in a Burger King commercial. The list goes on and on and when will the insanity end, and are these songs actually helping to sell the products they are endorsing?

It won’t be long before we hear he Donovan song “Mellow Yellow” actually promoting the soft drink called Mellow Yellow. Or, how about the R.E.M. song called “Orange Crush” being used for, you guessed it, the soft drink called Orange Crush. While we’re at it, how about beating down some more Beatles’ classic such as “Ticket To Ride” for the highest bidding airline company, “She Loves You,” for the latest stinky men’s cologne or the song “I Feel Fine,” for an allergy medication? How about the appropriate song “Leaving On A Jet Plane” for United Airlines or Blondie’s hit single “Call Me” for AT & T? We could be hearing the classic Hollies’ tune entitled “Bus Stop” (plug in any major city bus line here) or “Angel Of The Morning” by Marrilee Rush for some feminine product or even “Baby I Love You” by the Ronettes for a diaper commercial. I have a few for Viagra, how about the Three Dog Night ditty called “Easy To Be Hard” or Bad Company’s “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and the Rolling Stones’ hit “Start Me Up?”

While we’re at it, how about the Rolling Stones’ hit “Tumbin’ Dice” (plug in any Indian Casino), the Police hit entitled “Every Breath You Take” for a cold remedy, the iconic Elvis hit “Hound Dog” being used for a dog food commercial? How about the Who’s classic song called “I Can See For Miles” for Lens Crafter, or the Mama’s and the Papa’s 60′s hit “California Dreamin’” for any airline company?

We can take it several steps further with “I’ve Gotta Get A Message To You” by the Bee Gees for a telephone company, the Bobby Fuller hit entitled “I Fought The Law,” (plug in any lawyer’s name) or Don Henley’s hit song called “Dirty Laundry” for Tide laundry soap? One could also make a case for the Chicago single called “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” being used in a Timex commercial or the Doors’ classic song “Light My Fire” being utilized by Kingsford Charcoal?

It’s just a matter of time before we hear the Tom Jones’ song “What’s New Pussycat” in a cat food commercial. Or how about the Raspberries hit “Go All The Way” used for a Trojan commercial? And don’t get me started on sleeping aids like “Sweet Dreams” by the Eurythmics or “Last Night I Didn’t Get To Sleep At All” by the Fifth Dimension. How about the Eagles’ classic entitled “Take It To The Limit” being used to pitch a major credit card? And any local funeral home would be pleased to use the Queen ditty called “Another One Bites The Dust” or “When I Die” by Blood, Sweat & Tears and God forbid, “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” by Bob Dylan. And now that you got me started, how would the hit song by Olivia Newton-John called “Have You Ever Been Mellow” or the Elton John hit called, “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues”; or better yet, “Do You Feel Like We Do,” by Peter Frampton being used for the latest and greatest antidepressant to hit the market? One could use the Johnny Nash tune called “I Can See Clearly Now” for any eyeglass maker or “One Headlight,” by the Wallflowers in an Auto Zone commercial. And one more just for fun, the Neil Diamond classic “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” utilized for an FTD commercial?

The list seems endless and we may hear some of the aforementioned music paired up with their respective products. Some may seem downright silly, but after all, it is all about the money, not the music.