CCR drummer Doug Clifford says band's full Woodstock performance is expected to be released in 2019

This.

 

Brubeck must not have had an attorney review his contract. If the terms were that ambiguous, any business attorney would have discovered it and made sure that the language clearly reflected what the parties had bargained for. If Zaentz truly offered Brubeck a 50% stake in Fantasy, but drafted the language of the contract so that Brubeck actually just received a %50 stake in his recordings, then Brubeck could have sued him for fraud (perhaps that his what he did).

 

Looking forward to a nice DVD of the ENTIRE CCR Woodstock set.

Has the entire Sha Na Na woodstock performance ever been released?

 

If two adult parties acting in their own self-interest, represented by counsel, or not, enter into a contract and there is no duress, fraud may be hard to prove. Many things are said in negotiations that do not make it into the final agreement. Courts are loath to overturn contracts.

Please bear in mind my examples are basically outlines of what occurred. These deals are complex.

To show a harsh outcome just look at the Stones and ABKCO. The Stones publishing in the UK was called Nanker/Phelge. Alan Klein opened a company in the US called Nanker/Phelge Inc., without revealing that to the Stones. When they were in negotiations and read the contracts, they thought everything that said Nanker/Phelge was referring to their holdings. They found out too late about Alan’s duplicitous plan. He was Nanker/Phelge Inc in the US.

That is pretty slimey and could even be fraudulent because it’s not exactly a common name. What other intent could he have had in opening a company with that name before negotiating with the Stones? Many years of litigation got them nowhere. They didn’t do their due diligence.

 

I do not disagree in principle and that is why I asked if Brubeck was represented by counsel. We also do not know if the agreement had any sort of "understanding of agreement" provision(s) that stated the parties had discussed all aspects of the agreement with their respective attorneys and that they voluntarily entered into the agreement. It is one thing to say things in negotiations, things that may not make it into a final agreement, and another to negotiate a particular term, and then have the language with respect to that term reflect something else entirely for the purpose of changing that term. If Brubeck truly thought he had been offered a 50% stake in Fantasy and relied on false statements (and had evidence of those false statements), he would have had a claim for fraud. Whether he could prove it would have been something else entirely. That said, I am not familiar with Brubeck's dispute with Zaentz.

 

They must have had a pretty crappy lawyer if he missed that.

 

Yes, Litigation is a sticky thing. It’s basically war without the guns. When money is at stake people are ruthless.

Brubeck didn’t dwell on it, but it came up occasionally in interviews. He wasn’t bitter about it like Fogerty, but It seemed to leave a bad taste in his mouth. When I first found out about Brubeck and Fantasy, the thing that struck me was the “50% of the Company” promise. I immediately connected that to the stories I heard about Fogarty’s dealings with the company. It didn’t seem like a coincidence to me, because it is so specific.

I think in John’s case the sheer amount of money his work generated contributed to his anger. As I said, I’m sure he is no picnic to deal with, but the popularity of his songs is indisputable.

 

I don’t think so. He just underestimated how low the other party would go. It’s a name invented specifically by the Stones as an inside joke. Think of the lengths that ABKCO had to go to in order to pull that scam.

It was 1965 and most people hadn’t seen the likes of Alan Klein. He lowered the bar in setting the new standard for sleaze. :-D

 

John Fogerty wrote and sang so many amazing songs that have brought joy to millions of people, and what does he get? A bunch of hate in this thread. Disappointing. What has he done to any of you?

 

I'm sure contract law has changed quite a bit since 1965 but two years ago when company ABCD Corp was referred to as AB CD Corp in some legal documents (the mistake was made by the other side) our lawyers made sure it was all changed so everything was spelt correctly.

If the Stones owned a company called Nanker/Phelge in the UK, it's likely the full legal name was more than just Nanker/Phelge e.g. Nanker/Phelge Ltd. Any legal document referring to their company would've shown the full legal name as it was in the UK and if their lawyer saw it referred to as Nanker/Phelge Inc they should've spotted that.

I can understand Jagger and Richards missing that finer aspect, but a lawyer? That's a major fail.

 

These comments about Dave Brubeck getting the shaft from Saul Zaentz on his contract doesn't add up. Dave Brubeck signed with Fantasy records a decade or more before Saul Zaentz owned Fantasy records and several years before Saul joined Fantasy as a Sales Manager and Head of DJ Relations. His last recording for Fantasy is seven years before Zaentz took Fantasy over. It seems his initial contract was with the Weiss Brothers.

 

Well then it may have been a legacy legal dept. the facts are the same. It’s the same company and the same 50% promise.

We can all see Zaentz was not a stand up guy just by his dealings with John and CCR. Is your position that Saul was a well-intentioned benefactor? He did end up with all the dough somehow.

 

Actually, it seems they didn't even consult him. Here's a quote from Chapter 5 of the CCR bio Bad Moon Rising, which I cited in another thread where we were discussing the legal quagmire that is John Fogerty and CCR:

"By 1967 standards, the contract Zaentz offered was pretty...standard. Artists had not yet begun to employ lawyers to review agreements. By this time, the band had managed their own affairs for so long it was second nature to take care of it on their own. Although Stu's father practiced law as the senior partner in a Bay Area firm, they didn't even ask him to read it, though they warranted that they had gotten such advice."

Also: while they were young, they were hardly spring chickens. They'd been in the biz for a while and already been jerked around by Fantasy when they were still the Golliwogs. Given all this, and even given the naivety of the times, I'm surprised that Fogerty as putative band manager didn't insist on a sit-down with a lawyer.

 

Your situation is entirely different. That’s an unintentional typo. I agree that one company being LTD and one being INC. should have set off alarms.

I just believe the name was so distinctive, and since it was invented by the Stones I can see that issue being sidestepped during intense negotiations.

Obviously the Courts agreed with you and I can see why. My point was that some people will go to extremes and be very duplicitous when negotiating contracts. Remember what George Harrison said, “Beware of ABKCO.” And I’m saying John should have been wary of Saul. Saul did take advantage of the situation.

The animosity to John and the musicians negotiating contracts that I see on this thread is surprising to me. I might expect it if this was a forum for MBA’s and Attorneys. I thought it was more of a music lover’s site.

 

I would love for John to have the correct rhythm section again. Would also like for him to lighten up on the hair dye.

 

Is that a bio of CCR or John Fogerty? “Pretty Standard” is a vague phrase. I see John has been vilified quite a bit by the members of CCR and Saul’s camp. Seems like it’s been very effective. I still see John as a flawed but sympathetic character.

 

The problem is the facts are not the same.

Brubeck's problems were not with Saul Zaentz. Zaentz wasn't with Fantasy Records when he signed.

It's not the same 50% promise. Zaentz offered CCR, through Fogerty as business manager, somewhere in the neighborhood of 10% of the company. Fogerty declined.

QUOTE="Sneaky Pete, post: 20586856, member: 12614"]Is you position that Saul was a well-intentioned benefactor?[/QUOTE]

Imagine CCR's circumstance if John accepted 10% ownership of Fantasy records in the late 1960-s - early 1970's. CCR members would have benefited from the sales of their records and had a share in the profits of the movies Fantasy bankrolled. When Saul bought Fantasy in 1967 he paid approximately $250,000. When he sold it the price was around $75 million.

But that didn't happen. Hindsight is 20/20.

Saul Zaentz was a shrewd business man. John Fogerty, not so much.

 

Unfortunately WB thought it was a good idea to follow the 40th Anniversary DVD, with a 45th Anniversary DVD that contained an additional 10 performances. The 45th set sold poorly, I found a copy of the Blu Ray at Walmart for under $10. I don't think they have plans for a 50th Anniversary Woodstock set, unfortunately there isn't enough of us that buy Physical Media. Amazon will only buy 10,000 units, which wouldn't cover the mastering and licensing costs. There really isn't much left in the vaults, a couple songs each by Richie Havens, Arlo, John Sebastian, Melanie, CCR, Sly, CSNY, Janis, Johnny Winter, and The Band. Most of the best stuff is out. There are some acts that haven't been released: Sweetwater, Tim Hardin, Bert Sommers, Incredible String Band, Quill, because of technical problems or performance issues. There is a "Woodstock Diaries" that contains some songs that Warners hasn't released yet. All of the Who, Joan Baez, Jimi Hendrix footage has been released.
My favorite unreleased stuff would be Sly & The Band.

 

I recall liking the audio on this one a little better. Not really into the enhanced video.
I really like I Put a Spell On You.

 

Imagine CCR's circumstance if John accepted 10% ownership of Fantasy records in the late 1960-s - early 1970's. CCR members would have benefited from the sales of their records and had a share in the profits of the movies Fantasy bankrolled. When Saul bought Fantasy in 1967 he paid approximately $250,000. When he sold it the price was around $75 million.

But that didn't happen. Hindsight is 20/20.

Saul Zaentz was a shrewd business man. John Fogerty, not so much.[/QUOTE]

I agree with you 100% only on the last point. The proof is in the pudding, any alleged business deals that never happened are pure speculation. Fantasy as an entity seemed to “confuse” both artists in a very similar manner.

You can be shrewd without being a predator or petty and vindictive. Consider a man worth $75 million dollars that would bother to sue a person for Copyright infringement of his own song. That guy’s an extra-special piece of work.

 

It's a CCR bio, cover pictured below, and on this point I thought the author understated how bad the contract was, as my impression is that it was pretty crappy even by the standards of the day. He does outline the contentious terms elsewhere, though.

Still, the fact remains that they didn't do their due diligence and Fogerty's, shall we say, rugged independence has caused him problems that can't be blamed on Zanetz (who I don't care about one way or the other, FWIW, and who the book doesn't depict as squeaky-clean).

 

I didn’t want to thread jack but everyone has to take gratuitous pot shots at John Fogerty. The man’s music has given me great joy over the years and I feel bad he was screwed over.

I got into law as a former artist who dealt with negotiating contracts. The power imbalances when dealing with corporations are real. It’s a big problem that’s getting worse all the time.

Anyway I would like to hear a good release of CCR at Woodstock.

 

I think it would be good now to issue it all on 45rpm vinyl. That's about 180 albums. It's hefty, but if you really love music, you'll pay.

 

I don't think John was confused when he declined the 10% offer.

As for Zaentz suing John over Old Man Down the Road there is a bigger picture - Zantz Can't Danz and Mr Greed on the same album. Asylum Records warned John before album release there could be repercussions because of OMDTR and those songs and there were. John won the suit for Old Man Down The Road but ended up paying for the others.