The Subject: Mind Dusters & Family (Again) At 15:46:55 on 05/21/07, Signed RW (drw0127@aol.com) wrote:
Can't help but think that this topic's already been beaten to death
many times, but just in case there is some remaining interest in seeing these two remarkable releases made available again, and also
in seeing the artist responsible for them actually be compensated, I
inquired of a pair of label execs at Hip-O Select, the specialty arm
of Universal Music (Bill Levenson and Andy McKaie, both major music
fans, and to my knowledge, also honest and honorable individuals)
about the possibilty of a limited CD reissue. Bill was fairly certain
that U.Music Group no longer controled the rights to these records.
If that is in fact the case, then who does control those rights? And
more importantly, what would it require for those rights to wind up belonging to Kenny himself? My friend James Talley waged a more than
ten year campaign with Capitol Records, for whom he'd recorded in the
mid to late seventies, for the rights to his own long out of print
titles, which the company had no intention of ever re-issuing, but were still very reluctant (to put it mildly) to surrender the rights,
even on a temporary lease basis. For years and years, he dealt with
innumerable label presidents and regime changes, always remaining
passionate about his music, but always also maintaining his cool, to
his credit. His dedication finally did pay off, and James did wind
up with the rights to his own music. So, the question is, and maybe
only Kenny himself knows the answer here (then again, perhaps not),
where are the rights to these records, and how can he obtain them, if
he does want them? Question two, if not Hip-O Select, which is very
much like Rhino Handmade, releasing titles in runs of usually no more
than 3,000 to 5,000 copies, sometimes as few as 1,500, then what about a re-issue specialty label, like Collector's Choice or Water?
Obviously, these releases are pretty much ancient history, and far
removed from what Kenny's about today, but they were (and are) much loved by those of us who loved them then, and they remain accurate
snapshots from that time of the artist who created them. So, any thoughts?
