Lawyers for the Beatles sued Friday to prevent the distribution of unreleased recordings purportedly made during Ringo Starr's first performance with the group in 1962.
The dispute between Apple Corps Ltd., the London company formed by the Beatles that helps guard their legacy, and Fuego Entertainment Inc. of Miami Lakes stems from recordings the Fab Four apparently made during a performance at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany.
Eight unreleased tracks are said to be among the recordings, including Paul McCartney singing Hank Williams' "Lovesick Blues" and McCartney and John Lennon singing "Ask Me Why."
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Fuego Entertainment says the recordings were legally made. "Don't claim that these were just bootlegged," said Fuego president Hugo Cancio. "It's not like today, that you just go in with a phone or a blackberry and you record."
The lawsuit contends that the recordings are of poor quality and that circulating them "dilutes and tarnishes the extraordinarily valuable image associated with the Beatles."
Uh, really?? What a stupid argument. So, I'm supposed to believe that someone is going to hear these tapes and say "Oh, my God! Revolver and Abbey Road must actually suck!"
And I don't see how The Beatles could make this argument when they themselves released tracks on the first Anthology disc which could only charitably be called low-fi. ("In Spite Of All The Danger" anyone?)
Give the fans a break. Most of them won't want to buy the thing in the first place.
2 comments:
It would be hard to do worse damage than having the American Idol contestants mangle their songs on national TV.
Plus, this seems a little hollow, since their music has been used to shill everything from sneakers to dog food. I know this is technically not their fault, but it seems long past the time to be worrying about their legacy. As a Beatles nut, I myself would be veryinterested in hearing Paul sing some Hank, Sr.
I agree. Their legacy is now something beyond their control in a lot of ways.
If this is all about money it would seem more than a little crass. What more does Sir Paul need? A platinum crapper?
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