Sea of Tunes
Status | Defunct (1969) |
---|---|
Founded | 1962 |
Founder | Murry Wilson |
Country of origin | United States |
Headquarters location | Los Angeles |
Publication types | Songs |
Sea of Tunes was a
Sale to Irving Almo Music
After the Beach Boys dismissed Murry Wilson as their manager in 1964, he continued to serve as their publisher.[2] In July 1965, he sent a letter to Brian requesting sole ownership of the company per a verbal agreement that they had reached in 1962.[3] According to historian Keith Badman, "Brian allowed Murry to take total control to stop his father's continual hassling on the matter."[4]
In May 1969, Brian told the music press that the group's funds were so depleted that they were considering filing for
In the early 1990s, years after Murry's passing, Brian claimed fraud and sued for the return of his song copyrights.
Mike Love credits
Love v. Wilson | |
---|---|
Court | U.S. District Court |
Decided | December 12, 1994 |
Defendant | Brian Wilson |
Plaintiff(s) | Mike Love |
Court membership | |
Judge(s) sitting | William J. Rea |
Mike Love alleged that he was owed credit to 79 Beach Boys songs.[15] Love explained that Murry had never credited him for many of the songs that he had cowritten with Brian, and therefore, he had not been paid royalties.[11] Love said he "didn't know how badly I had been abused until I was deposed in Brian's pursuit of his claims against Irving Almo and Mitchell Silverburg and Nutt, which was the attorney representing the Beach Boys and Irving Almo. An inherent conflict of interest there."[16] Love hoped that "we don't have to go to trial because it's going to destroy Brian. He's going to be destroyed in depositions, first of all, let alone getting him in court."[16]
The parties were unable to reach a settlement, and Love filed suit against Wilson in 1992.[11] After an eight-week-long trial and eight days of deliberation, Love won the case on December 12, 1994.[11] The jury ruled that Love and Wilson were partners, that Wilson or his agents concealed material facts with the intention of defrauding Love, that they engaged in promissory fraud with respect to publishing credits and royalties and that Love was owed the 35 songs disputed. Love later called it "almost certainly the largest case of fraud in music history".[17] He was subsequently awarded a cowriting credit to 35 songs that were published from 1962 to 1966, as well as $13 million.[11]
Awarded credits[18]
- "Chug-a-Lug"
- "409"
- "Farmer's Daughter"
- "Noble Surfer"
- "Finders Keepers"
- "Catch a Wave"
- "Hawaii"
- "Be True to Your School"
- "Custom Machine"
- "I Get Around"
- "All Summer Long"
- "Wendy"
- "Do You Remember?"
- "Drive-In"
- "Don't Back Down"
- "Little Saint Nick"
- "Santa's Beard"
- "The Man with All the Toys"
- "Merry Christmas, Baby"
- "Good to My Baby"
- "Don't Hurt My Little Sister"
- "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)"
- "Help Me, Rhonda"
- "Dance, Dance, Dance"
- "Kiss Me, Baby"
- "She Knows Me Too Well"
- "In the Back of My Mind"
- "The Girl from New York City"
- "Amusement Parks U.S.A."
- "Salt Lake City"
- "California Girls"
- "Let Him Run Wild"
- "You're So Good to Me"
- "Wouldn't It Be Nice"
- "I Know There's an Answer" / "Hang On to Your Ego"
Other disputed credits
- "
- "The Little Girl I Once Knew" – Love alleged that he was owed credit for the song.[21]
- "Wouldn't It Be Nice" – Love alleged that he was owed credits for additional parts of the song that he was not granted in the 1994 suit. Cowriter Tony Asher denied the claim, stating that Love was not present during the Pet Sounds songwriting sessions.[22]
Bootleg label
In 1997, a label named after the publishing company issued a slew of unauthorized bootleg recordings sourced from Beach Boys archives.[23]
References
Citations
- ^ Badman 2004, p. 23.
- ^ a b Van Matre, Lynn (October 13, 1991). "Child Of Abuse: Beach Boy Brian Wilson Finally Tells His Story, And It Isn't Pretty". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ Badman 2004, p. 95.
- ^ a b Badman 2004, p. 258.
- Disc & Music Echo. p. 7.
- ^ Carlin 2006, p. 145.
- ^ Love 2016, p. 226.
- ^ Gaines 1986, p. 224–225.
- ^ Love 2016, pp. 225–226, 376–377.
- ^ Love 2016, p. 227.
- ^ a b c d e "Beach Boys' Mike Love Wins His Case, Stands to Collect Millions". Los Angeles Times. December 13, 1994. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
- ^ Letovski, Irv (September 19, 1989). "Brian Wilson Sues Music Publisher". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 17, 2011.
- ^ Heller, Karen (October 23, 1991). "A Beach Boy's Blues For Brian Wilson, The Days Of "Fun, Fun, Fun" Have Ebbed. Although He Has A New Book, He's Also Involved In Several Lawsuits. "drugs," He Says, "put A Gash In My Mind."". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
- ^ "Beach Boy Wilson Sues Law Firm Over 1969 Sales". Los Angeles Times. September 18, 1990. Retrieved 2012-10-01.
- ^ Bates, James (October 4, 1994). "COMPANY TOWN : No Harmony in Beach Boy Suit Between Cousins Love and Wilson". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ a b "Good Vibrations? The Beach Boys' Mike Love gets his turn". Goldmine. September 18, 1992.
- ^ Love 2016, p. 373.
- ^ Doe, Andrew G. "Album Archive". Bellagio 10452. Endless Summer Quarterly.
- ^ Hedegaard, Erik (February 17, 2016). "The Ballad of Mike Love". Rolling Stone.
- YouTube
- ISBN 978-1-77090-198-8.
- ^ Carlin 2006, p. 278.
- ^ Wilonsky, Robert (December 23, 1999). "The Forever Frown". Phoenix New Times Music. phoenixnewtimes.com. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
Bibliography
- Badman, Keith (2004). The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band, on Stage and in the Studio. Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0-87930-818-6.
- ISBN 978-1-59486-320-2.
- ISBN 0306806479.
- ISBN 978-0-698-40886-9.