Jazz Summers (Verve Manager) On Bittersweet Symphony

A new interview with Jazz Summers (ex Verve manager) appeared online recently giving insight to the whole Bittersweet Symphony debate between The Verve and The Rolling Stones regarding songwriting credits:


"I remember hearing The Verve put the finishing touches to Urban Hymns in 1997 and thinking, this album’s a masterpiece. That was the day I discovered there was a Rolling Stones sample on Bittersweet Symphony. It felt like winning the lottery but losing the ticket.


The sample, the producer told me, was from an orchestral version of the Stones’ 1965 hit The Last Time. A shadow crept across my soul. I knew who owned the copyright for that era of the Rolling Stones. It was a man called Allen Klein: former manager of the Rolling Stones, former manager of The Beatles.

Klein ran a company called ABKCO and he was notorious as a breaker of both deals and b***s.
For Bittersweet Symphony to exist, we’d have to come to an agreement with Klein about our respective shares of the songwriting royalties. I called his assistant Iris Keitel in America and attempted to charm her.

‘Oh,’ she said. ‘Yes, I know about this. Some idiot from EMI phoned me about this yesterday. I told him to f*** off, Jazz. You needn’t have called. We’re not going to let you use it.’

I phoned Nancy Berry, who ran Virgin Records in America, and asked if there was any chance she could play Bittersweet Symphony to Mick and Keith. Those two were bound to put music before business.

The following week, Nancy called back with news that Klein would allow the song to come out and had agreed a 50-50 split. I was delighted. I called up the band and they were ecstatic, too. It was what they deserved, at the very least – a 50 per cent royalty on the song they’d written.

The next week, the contracts arrived. The deal wasn’t 50-50. It was 100 per cent Jagger/Richards. I phoned Nancy, and she confirmed what they’d done.

‘The contract is right, Jazz, and it is 50-50, like they said: 50 per cent Mick, 50 per cent Keith.’

When Bittersweet Symphony was nominated for a Grammy, the song was attributed to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

It baffles me, how Mick and Keith could bear that. 

Maybe they’re so used to having money and greatness bestowed on them, they just nodded, banked the cash and went with it.

We were asked to put the song on a Vauxhall advert. We declined, so ABKCO re-made it without the vocal and gave Vauxhall permission. 

It’s the same when the football comes on TV in England: Richard Ashcroft’s sons tell him his music’s on, but it isn’t, not really, and that hurts him.

I loved The Verve, but there were tensions, and I couldn’t stop them from splitting. Likewise, if my artists don’t support me I can’t do my job. I need their backing."

To read the rest of the interview click here

The Verve Live @ Lollapalooza 1994

This video surfaced on YouTube recently. Shot from the front row/beyond the barrier. Audio isn't the best, but some great close ups of Nick and the telecaster he used in those early days.

Just thought I'd share, for those that haven't already seen it:

Pre-Verve Era Track, "Documentary" Surfaces Online

A former teacher at Winstanley College, Tom Sherrington, recently digitized a 1988-1990 school project (originally on cassette) featuring a track by Rain Garden, a pre-Verve band which included Richard Ashcroft and Nick McCabe (listen below).

Sherrington attended Richard Ashcroft's performance at the Latitude Festival last Saturday (July 20) and recently wrote an article on his website titled Talent. Conviction. Verve., where he made the reveal. 

To see the original and/or comment on it, please click here.

Richard Ashcroft: 'Nostalgia Is Suffocating Festivals'

Richard Ashcroft has said that he is not interested in reforming The Verve and headlining festivals with the band while new groups are being denied the same slots. 

Ashcroft spoke to BBC 6Music's Lauren Laverne earlier this month and was quizzed on the possibility of fans seeing The Verve play again and if they were playing together at all. 

Flatly denying the rumours, Ashcroft said: "It's not happening. You have to be real in life and I'm proud that we went in and recorded new material. The whole nostalgia thing is getting suffocating and it's difficult for younger acts, especially at festivals."

Explaining what he had said, Ashcroft continued: "If you look at some of the line-ups, I'm not ageist by any means, but it's dominated by nostalgia. We need the youth to create their own version of what may potentially become nostalgic but if they haven't got a place to do that because they're dominated by these big monster dinosaur acts, mopping up all the money."

Revealing that he is working on a new United Nations of Sound album, Ashcroft confirmed that fans will hear new music from him in 2013. "I've just been working for the past six, seven months in my cellar. I'm really excited, we should get the first potential tune in September. I'm just putting everything into it at the moment." The first, self-titled, United Nations of Sound album was released in 2010.

Taking a potshot at Blur frontman Damon Albarn, the singer added: "The great thing about the United Nations of Sound album is that because it wasn't something written by Damon Albarn it wasn't front page news or anything. None of my followers are sheep, nobody has been told to follow Richard Ashcroft since 'Urban Hymns' came out. Richard Ashcroft has never been in fashion. A lot of other artists feed off being the right people at the right time but to be able to play a gig 15 or 20 years later and have people sing your songs goes beyond fashion."

Richard Ashcroft was one of the performers at this weekend's Latitude Festival. The Suffolk event was headlined by Bloc Party, Kraftwerk and Foals.

The Verve - 20 Mad Facts You Didn't Know

In the other week's NME, The Verve guitarist Nick McCabe told Mark Beaumont how wild the band's speed-fuelled early days were. To accompany the feature, NME has a feature on nme.com featuring 20 things you didn't know about the band, 20 years after their debut.

Click here to see!

'My Life With Mad Richard' Interview With Nick McCabe

A new interview with Nick McCabe entitled 'My Life With Mad Richard' appears in this weeks NME to mark the 20th anniversary release of A Storm In Heaven.

In the interview Nick recalls the recording of the album, the tours that followed and the drugs that were being taken, download below to read:

http://rapidshare.com/files/3801458717/VerveNME.pdf

Coldplay Thrilled Ex-Verve Stars Are Focused On Black Submarine

Coldplay are thrilled that ex-Verve stars Nick McCabe and Simon Jones are focusing on their Black Submarine band.

The 41-year-olds presented Chris Martin and guitarist Jonny Buckland, 35, with their Best British Act gong.

Chris, 36, gushed: “We’re so thrilled to receive this from you. Why aren’t you still in The Verve?

“We’re so psyched to be on stage with two legends.”