Northern Songs: The True Story of the Beatles Song Publishing Empire
by Brian Southall
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Book Summary Information
Author: Brian SouthallEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-11-01
ISBN: 184609996X
Number of pages: 352
Publisher: Omnibus Press
Book Reviews of Northern Songs: The True Story of the Beatles Song Publishing Empire
Book Review: Some reviewers here did not understand the book...
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't believe that some reviewers here claimed to have read the book, gave it 5 stars and then go on to say that Dick James & Charles Silver were thieves, that they played tricks and that Lennon & McCartney should have hold on to their songs and sign an Administration-type deal. No way!
Brian Southall does a great job to put the story in context with the times when the deals occurred. In the 1960s all pop song contracts in the industry were 50-50 deals (Administration deals were unheard of), the publishers were the Record Company Promotion and A&R guys of today and thus felt a right to deserve a 50% cut. The Beatles were nobodys in 1961/1962. Dick James was an honest man. In a way, he made the Beatles happen in 1963 by getting them on TV. He deserved his 50% cut on the songs Please please Me/Ask Me Why and no way that he should give up to his rights just because The Beatles started earning millions.
The book also describes the tax burden that Lennon & McCartney faced which lead to the decision to form Northern Songs and later go public. I think that if any one individual is to blame for the bad advice given to Paul & John is no one but Brian Epstein. There was no justification for making James/Silver half owners of Northern Songs with a 51% controlling interest. Overlooking the Northern Songs split was Brian's biggest mistake (among many others) and Paul & John trusted Brian blindly and that's all there is to say.
I think Brian Epstein should have been more conservative, explored other avenues to alleviate the tax problem (perhaps move the duo's residence out of Britain?) and continue to give songs to James on an album by album basis. Sooner or later he would have realized that he would be able to negotiate better publishing deals for The Beatles as the Group's popularity flourished.
Summary of Northern Songs: The True Story of the Beatles Song Publishing Empire
The story of how Lennon and McCartney lost the most valuable song publishing catalogue in the world. This is a staggering saga of incompetence, duplicity and music industry politics.History & Criticism Books
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