edcbcdecabcfef....et al.

For those of you who are looking at the title and going "What?..." try humming the letter names as musical pitches to the rhythm of "A Whiter Shade of Pale" and you'll probably get the idea. Written by one Matthew Fisher and the source of his claim to have co-written the song with Gary Brooker and Keith Reid.

Fisher sued Brooker and Reid for both a claim to the title and royalties ensuing from such. Fair enough, it is probably the catchiest part of the tune and well deserving of some recognition. The old way of distributing credit to only the melody and lyric writer is well out of date in an era when samples and guitar riffs are the focus point of much popular music.

My question is where do we draw the line between the creation of the song and the filling in of parts? Is not writing the drum part really why the drummer is in the band? Why he receives his session fee/salary/share of the gig money? Sure. But what if it is a fantastic, unique drum part? Steve Gadd on "50 ways to lose your lover"? Neil Peart on just about anything Rush have done? There are a number of their songs that one of the others have written lyrics for that he gets no credit for. How about the Police? Summers and Copeland gave that music it's unique sound. Sure, Sting writes some good tunes but do they sound the same without the other guys? And of course the big question.....Does the guy who played the cowbell on "Don't fear the reaper" deserve a co-writing credit?

I'm sure every musician with a lawyer who didn't have a work for hire contract thrust in front of them for a piece of music they performed is going to be looking at this and going "hmmm...that tambourine part I played in that song really was the most important part of the song. I should be getting a percentage of that." and who's to say that they are wrong. Maybe the cowbell is the best part of "Reaper".

Last thought - as a guitar player, my solos are my trademark (Nigel Tufnel - Rock God) and riffs are frequently created from the most basic of chord progressions. As a songwriter, I create music out of nothing. Which is more important? The song has to come first, yes but does it really matter what chord progression Jan Hammer was soloing over in the Mahavishnu Orchestra?I don't know the answer but I'm pretty sure that courts everywhere will be trying to find out before long - especially as the aging rock musicians of the 60's and 70's look for ways to retire in comfort. Maybe sanity will reign and people will settle without involving the courts. And maybe Matthew Fisher will start playing with Procol Harum again.

Catfishman.