A Question of "Money"

It's no secret that '50s and '60s rhythm and blues artists were often ripped off by white record company owners, as well as by club owners, deejays, managers, and various other non-musicians making a profit from the music business. Unfortunately, black ownership of the means of production was not always a remedy for these abuses. Berry Gordy, Jr., was the owner of Motown, the most successful of the black-owned labels. From all that we know about how Gordy treated his artists, he is deserving of the title of “honorary white man.”

One way to cheat musicians was through manipulation of song copyrights. While musicians often wrote their songs, record executives sometimes required musicians to sign over part or all of the copyright to the songs to them or their cronies as a condition of allowing them to record. Barrett Strong, who recorded the 1959 R&B classic “Money (That's What I Want),”—ironically, a musical endorsement of materialism—is suing to have his name reinstated as one of the authors of the song. Mr. Gordy disputes his claims of authorship.

Barrett Strong claims that while working as a session musician for Motown, he developed the tune—a spinoff of one of the riffs in Ray Charles' “What'd I Say?”—and the lyric hook. A studio musician and a recording engineer confirm Strong's claim of authorship. Gordy liked the song and assigned staff writer Janie Bradford to help him with the lyrics. The copyright registration, filed in 1959, lists Strong, Bradford and Gordy as co-authors. The song was released went to #2 on the R&B charts in 1960 and also crossed over to the pop charts. It was one of Motown's first hits.

In 1962, Motown instructed the copyright office to remove Strong's name from the song, claiming that he was “erroneously listed” as a co-author. Under the law, he had three years to contest the change, but there was an important Catch-22. The copyright office has no obligation to inform authors of such changes, and he did not know about it.

There are some additional twists and turns to the story. For example, when the copyright was renewed in 1987, Strong's name was restored, but then removed the following year. (He didn't know about those changes either.)

The song has made a pile of what Mr. Strong wanted. It was covered by other artists, including the Beatles; it appeared on film soundtracks, in a Broadway play, and in television commercials. Strong was a one-hit wonder, retired from the music business, and spent most of his life working in an auto plant. In 2009, he suffered a stroke. Now 72, he lives in a retirement home and is unable to pay his rent or medical bills. He says he also wants to set the record straight and receive proper credit for his composition.

Legal experts say he has little chance of success due to the statute of limitations. If this story were to receive more publicity, I suppose there's always a chance that the multimillionaire Berry Gordy, Jr., could be publicly embarrassed into doing the right thing.

This article is cross-posted from my music blog, The Blues and the Abstract Truth.

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