"Why" did Keith Jarrett win his case and is now co-credited as composer of Gaucho?

I finally found the Jarrett album "Belonging" and listened carefully to "'Long As You Know You're Living Yours". AFAICT, no doubt that Steely Dan got influenced by that "groove" or harmonic progression. But there is no specific melody I can make out in the Jarrett piece, let alone that might resemble Gaucho + Becker & Fagen ONLY used this groove in their introduction to the first verse (each chorus) and absolutely not for the "meat" of their beautiful and elaborate song...

I'd love to hear comments on this, particularly from the musicians here, because I'm not one, and I wonder on what musicological grounds such a case can be won in court...

 

I don't agree; it sounds like a blatant rip-off to me. First time I heard it I almost spit out my coffee!

 

I'm with you. Fagen has admitted as much.

 

What I can't believe is that out of 26 freakin' Keith Jarrett records in my collection, none of them are Belonging.

I want to hear this track the Dan stole from.

 

Didn't actually even know about the court case, let alone the co-credits.

 

Go find Belonging immediately!

It's one of his best.

 

Wow...me too. Heh...

 

Okay, I just listened to a short snippet off of Amazon. It is Gaucho. I guess he deserves the songwriting credit.

 

Yes, get Belonging immediately. A classic. My Song is almost as good.

 

Or, we should say "Gaucho" is "Long As You Know You're Living Yours."

 

And they copped the opening of Horace Silver's 'Song for my Father' for 'Rikki Don't Lose that Number'. Only Silver didn't sue. I'd guess he needed the royalties more than Keith.

You can probably find out how courts decide what percentage of a composition has to be 'stolen' in order to award royalties or songwriting credits. Not something that I know off the top.

 

Wait a minute. Where is that plagiarism in the MELODY that starts right from Fagen singing "Just when I..."? Where can I correlate that with the Jarrett piece? What did I miss?...

 

Ahhh, but I do have it on the Rarum collection. Totally Gaucho...

 

If so, be careful... someone may steal it from you.

 

ATR: >And they copped the opening of Horace Silver's 'Song for my Father' for 'Rikki Don't Lose that Number'. Only Silver didn't sue. I'd guess he needed the royalties more than Keith.<

AFAIK, that Song For My Father vs. Rikki is a similar "non-case": they lifted Silver's hook-intro only and absolutely not the melody itself, and not even the chord structure...

 

Right, and as I recall it was a session musician who came up with (or stole, if you like) that piano part for the intro, not Becker or Fagen themselves.

 

BTW, some of you seem to have a problem finding this Jarrett album. Mine is in the "to sell" box (I didn't wildly enjoy it). This is a NM French ECM pressing. I won't ask for much, but I may warn you (esp, USA members) that shipping costs for an LP from here in Canada are killer!! (11/12$CND?...)

 

??

 

It was a definite rip off. You only have to hear 30 seconds of the Jarrett track to know that.

 

I hear a similarity, but neither the melody nor the rhythm are identical. No basis for a case.

 

It happens. The same thing happened with Cat Stevens 'I Love My Dog' (1966) and Yusef Lateef's 'Plum Blossom' (1961). Yusuf Islam, a.k.a. Cat Stevens, has since admitted lifting the melody (in the booklet from the 'Cat Stevens' box set).

I hadn't heard 'Plum Blossom' until last night. I too just about spit out my coffee in surprise!

 

I agree with regard to "Rikki." It's not nearly so blatant as is "Gaucho."

 

When "Gaucho" was released I remember Musician Magazine doing an interview with Becker & Fagen. They asked point blank if Becker was familiar with the Jarrett song, and he said yes a bit sheepishly. They called him out on it and he said, hell..we're the baron-robbers of rock 'n roll!"

 

...A line I would take with a grain of salt, from what I've read on print from and about Walter Becker...

 

"He's So Fine" = "My Sweet Lord"? The result of that lawsuit: "This Song".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Song