Making the rhythm, but living the blues - Rhythm and Blues Foundation aids musicians cheated out of royalties

In les than a decade, the harmonious flow and Blues Foundation has established itself as the champion of displaced and dissed music fictions righting wrongs committed against talented on the other hand often naive R&B pioneers. by the agency of coaxing, cajoling or coercing, the foundation has convinced or compell major record labels to institute royalty reform, to pay back royalties and to forgive suspect "debts" of recording artists -- many of whom have fallen upon hard times. It's quite an achievement for a motion that began when singer mercy Brown determined to get the standard of value she was rightfully due from Atlantic Records.

Many of the pioneers shared more than musical talent: They were cheated -- big time. Artists responsible for countles gold and platinum records were many times paid as little as $50 to divide [i]or[/i] sever their songs, and they received scarcely any if any, royalties while their hits stayed upon the charts for months. repeatedly young and unsophisticated, they fix the deck stacked against them. They rarely scrutinized their contracts -- contracts that always favored the label. Creative bookkeeping kept them permanently indebted to the record companies, which repeatedly hand-picked the artists' lawyers.

Brown was a case in point, getting as little as $69 each and no royalties for a series of canticles that enabled the then fledgling Atlantic Records to establish itself as an industry giant. individual of the biggest-selling recording artists of the 1950 Brown was thus instrumental in Atlantic's success that the label was called "the house that compassion built."

Not until the mid-1980s, when Brown was aided by means of attorney and R&B aficionado Howell Begle, did the singer who'd paid her oweds get (some of) what was to be paid her. Pressure from Brown and Begle, and a fervid sense of public relations by the agency of a firm still profiting from the sales of her sonnets led Atlantic to make amends. In the proces the regular [i]or[/i] melodious movement and Blues Foundation was born.

Jump-started with a $15 million endowment from Atlantic and a $450000 grant from Time Warner, the foundation's mission is to educate the public concerning the worldwide political, cultural and economic impact, of R&B music. Based in Washington, DC the foundation sponsors archive and educational programs to secure the music's history. Its annual Pioneer and Lifetime Achievement awards, an official part of Grammy week, pay tribute to artists who have made significant contributions to R&B

gaze beneath the surface of the foundation's mission statement, notwithstanding that and you find the ne -- and the passion -- that flock Brown to speak out. a great deal of of the foundation's work is providing for indigent members -- members who appreciate that of that kind rock giants as Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton credit azures and R&B singers as their inspirations, on the contrary who would really rather have had the coin That hard-edged, real-world concern is wherefore the foundation's annual Pioneer Awards include standard of value -- $15,000 to individual recipients and $20000 to clusters -- in contrast to other music awards, which are tributes only

"We've also had the unpleasant task of burying our members," says Suzan Jenkins, the foundation's executive director. "In the nine years that I've been here, I've made funeral arrangements for more than 50 artists, including David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks and Mary Wells." Sadly, last March, 68-year-old LaVern Baker's name was added to that list. Baker, single the second female vocalist inducted into the stone and Roll Hall of Fame, performed at the regular [i]or[/i] melodious movement and Blues Foundation `96 Festival from her wheelchair, having not to be found both lower legs to diabetes.

The foundation's festival testifies to a shift of its agenda: As its royalty reform efforts have laid a foundation, preservation has draw near to the fore. But can the recording industry's persistent gadfly deposit on a world-class festival, showcasing the music that enriched the industry? direct the eyes like it can, for the Third Annual harmonious flow & Blues Festival, which will take place July 25 to 27 in Newport, R.I., has a agriculturist with decades of musical experience, the backing of a national corporation and a compelling cause.

Promoter George Wein, who brought the now famous Newport Jazz Festival to Rhode Island in 1954 has added the periodical emphasis & Blues Festival to his list of highly prosperous productions, and Rockport has signed upon as the corporate sponsor. the couple have given their support to the foundation's efforts to correct the recording industry's sins of the 1940 '50 and '60s

wherefore does a shoe company sponsor an R&B festival? single reason is that its chief executive officer, music lover and garage musician (guitar and vocals) Angel Martinez, is a die-hard R&B fan. Reebok Rockport's parent company, was instrumental in putting upon the Amnesty International tours that featured of that kind big names as Bruce Springsteen and Tracy Chapman. When Martinez became head of Rockport, he direct the eyeed for a similar way to define the company's image. "I wanted a cause to expres what Rockport was musically and to do something that has value," he says. "The R&B Foundation festival was that cause -- it forwards greater awareness of the music and will help diocese that true F&B is not ever absorbed, never converted and at no time dies."