Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain't That Funkin' Kinda Hard on You?: A Memoir
Page 35
18. Regrettably, based upon my dealings with Mr. Boladian from 1984 through 2008, this was his continued and collective modus operandi for most of the songwriters affiliated with the Bridgeport Music, which were also under contract with Mr. Boladian’s affiliated record labels known as Westbound Records, Eastbound Records and Sound of Gospel.
19. Sadly, these unethical acts also extend to Bridgeport Music’s lawyers as well. For example, during the course of the Bridgeport Music case involving Mr. Clinton and the Malbiz catalog of musical works before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida and also in cases in federal courts in New York and California, the Bridgeport Music counsel, Howard Hertz, testified on behalf of Bridgeport Music before these Courts. Nevertheless, months later and to the best of my knowledge, Attorney Hertz always submitted an invoice for his testimony on behalf of Bridgeport music and was later paid for the time and testimony even though he never informed the court personnel that he was, in fact, being paid for his testimony.
20. Likewise, I also have express knowledge that Mr. Boladian, as the owner of Westbound Records, Inc., never accounted for any mechanical royalties resulting from sold and paid sales of records, artist royalties, and/or other uses from at least my involvement with Bridgeport Music in 1984 through January 2008 which were all issued or paid to Mr. Boladian and/or where Mr. Boladian made direct license agreements with third parties, such as for internet downloads, ringtones, and digital downloads. These additional amounts, which include mechanical rights due to the songwriters and any artist royalties generated by sales from either Westbound Records and licensees, such as Ace Records and others, for artist royalties, as well as any internet or digital downloads. I requested Mr. Boladian to provide me with statements for the internet downloads so that they could be included in the Royalty Reports which were generated by JPMC, but he never complied with these requests.
21. In addition, based upon my personal interaction with Mr. Boladian, it was my strong impression that Mr. Boladian was racially motivated against African-Americans and looked upon this process as some type of “game” where he believed that African-Americans, such as Mr. Clinton, lacked the education and intelligence to understand issues such as copyright infringement and legal proceedings. I found such remarks to be highly racially offensive, not only because my late husband at the time was African-American, but as a European national was also surprised that such racist views continued to exist in the United States.
22. In addition, from 1999 through the end of my involvement with Bridgeport Music in 2008, I also discovered that Mr. Boladian falsely demanded songwriter rights and credit for musical works before the U.S. Copyright Office that he did not actually author or created by adopting false names or pseudonyms for himself and listing those false names as songwriters on musical works actually written by others, all for the purpose of gaining a financial advantage for himself.
23. Mr. Boladian would essentially create different pseudonyms for himself so that he could derive the revenue for the musical works as an author and/or songwriter even though he was neither an actual author or songwriter. Specific examples of such false names are B. Baine, Beida Baine, L. Crane and Louis Crane and is best exemplified in a musical work named SET IT OUT, which was actually written by a Bridgeport Music songwriter named Abrim Tilmon, Jr. However, when SET IT OUT was originally registered by Southfield Music, Inc. on September 30, 1974 it claimed and recited a total of three (3) authors as follows: A Tilmon, B. Baine, and L. Crane. Under this filing and ownership, each of the three (3) named authors receive a % right and interest in, and to, the musical work.
24. Under the belief that this was the correct authorship for the work, I prepared and filed a copyright renewal application for SET IT OUT, which was issued by the U.S. Copyright Office in Washington D.C. on February 18, 2004 where I properly recited the Tilmon Estate as the claimant since Mr. Tilmon was deceased as of July 6, 1982.
25. However, after I filed the renewal document for SET IT OUT on February 18, 2004, I personally asked Mr. Boladian who each of “B. Baine” and “L. Crane” were and where they could be located under the naïve belief that they were each actual human beings and songwriters for the work that should be receiving their applicable ⅓ right and interest in this musical work.
26. To my shock and surprise, Mr. Boladian informed me that he was both B. Baine and L. Crane and that those names, among others, were pseudonyms used by Mr. Boladian to falsely assert joint authorship/ownership over certain musical works and thereby receive ongoing royalties directly to him under the pseudonyms. After some additional investigation, I discovered further musical works in the name of B. Baine, Beida Baine, L. Crane, and Louis Crane—all pseudonyms of Mr. Boladian.
27. I found this conduct to be beyond despicable since it dilutes the proper and true authorship/ownership of the underlying musical works, attempts to rewrite history by stating that a non-existent person wrote a song before the U.S. Copyright Office, and is a clear form of identity theft using the U.S. Copyright Office as the tool and instrument of fraud. I do not know if any income tax has ever been paid under these pseudonyms for any of the income derived from these false “songwriter” credits.
28. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of Switzerland and the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed on July 6, 2012. United States Consulate in Zurich, Switzerland
SWISS CONFEDERATION CANTON AND CITY OF ZURICH
CONSULAR AGENCY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
PHOTO CREDITS
Frontispiece: Photo courtesy of Isaac Turner
1: Photo courtesy of George Clinton
2: Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Bishop
3: Photo courtesy of Isaac Turner
4: Photo courtesy of George Clinton
5: Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Bishop
6: Photo courtesy of Isaac Turner
7: Photo courtesy of Isaac Turner
8: Photo courtesy of George Clinton
9: Photo courtesy of George Clinton
10: Photo courtesy of George Clinton
11: Photo courtesy of George Clinton
12: Photo courtesy of George Clinton
13: Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Bishop
14: Photo courtesy of Isaac Turner
15: Photo courtesy of George Clinton
16: Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Bishop
17: Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Bishop
18: Photo courtesy of George Clinton
19: Photo courtesy of Isaac Turner
20: Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Bishop
21: Photo courtesy of George Clinton
22: Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Bishop
23: Photo courtesy of George Clinton
24: Photo courtesy of George Clinton
25: Photo courtesy of George Clinton
26: Photo courtesy of Isaac Turner
27: Photo courtesy of Isaac Turner
28: Photo courtesy of Tim Kinley
29: Photo courtesy of Isaac Turner
30: Photo courtesy of Isaac Turner
31: Photo courtesy of George Clinton
32: Photo courtesy of Isaac Turner
33: Photo courtesy of George Clinton
34: Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Bishop
35: Photo courtesy of George Clinton
36: Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Bishop
37: Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Bishop
38: Photo courtesy of Isaac Turner
39: Photo courtesy of Isaac Turner
40: Photo courtesy of Isaac Turner
41: Photo by Will Thoren
42: Photo by Will Thoren
43: Photo by Will Thoren
44: Photo by Will Thoren
45: Photo by Will Thoren
46: Photo by Will Thoren
47: Photo by Will Thoren
48: Photo courtesy of George Clinton
49: Photo by Carlon Thompson
GEORGE CLIN
TON revolutionized R&B, twisting soul music into funk by fusing together influences as diverse as Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, Phil Spector, and Sly Stone. The Parliament-Funkadelic machine ruled black music during the seventies, capturing more than forty R&B hit singles (including three at #1) and recording three platinum albums, and Clinton continued to dominate as a solo artist in the eighties, nineties, and beyond.
BEN GREENMAN is a bestselling author who has written both fiction (most recently, The Slippage) and nonfiction (most recently, the hip-hop memoir Mo’ Meta Blues, cowritten with Questlove). He lives in Brooklyn and rarely leaves.
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MORE BOOKS BY BEN GREENMAN
FICTION
* * *
Superbad
Superworse
A Circle Is a Balloon and Compass Both: Stories about Human Love
Please Step Back
Correspondences
What He’s Poised to Do
Celebrity Chekhov
The Slippage
NONFICTION
* * *
Mo’ Meta Blues (with Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson)
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INDEX
A
Aerosmith, 60, 141, 156, 193
Ahh . . . the Name Is Bootsy, Baby! (Bootsy’s Rubber Band), 174–75, 281, 363
“Ain’t That Peculiar” (Clinton), 334, 335, 369
“Airbound” (Clinton), 283, 367
Algren, Nelson, 65
Allen, Pistol, 73
“All Sons of Bitches” (Parliament-Funkadelic/P-Funk All Stars), 310, 368
All the Woo in the World (Worrell), 210–11, 364
“All Your Goodies Are Gone” (Parliament), 125, 361
“All Your Goodies Are Gone” (Parliaments), 58–59, 71, 125, 359
Amboy Dukes, 56
America Eats Its Young (Funkadelic), 111–13, 116–17, 122, 213, 242, 360
“America Eats Its Young” (Funkadelic), 111, 360
Anti-Tour, 201–2, 208, 237
Apollo Theater, Harlem, 9, 55, 56, 60, 110, 120, 218, 299
“Aqua Boogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop)” (Parliament), 204, 330, 363, 373, 375, 376
Asher, Dick, 237–38
“As In” (Funkadelic), 349, 369
Association of Parliament-Funkadelic, 291
“Atomic Dog” (Clinton), 257–60, 262, 263, 276, 277, 283, 310, 335, 342, 350, 365, 373, 375, 376, 377, 378
B
“Baby Like Fonkin’ It Up” (Funkadelic), 349, 369
“Back in Our Minds” (Funkadelic), 106, 360
Bahamian junkanoo, 250, 284
Baker, Ginger, 81, 299
“Banana Boat Song, The” (Clinton), 283–84, 367
“Bangladesh” (Clinton), 270, 366
Banks, Darrell, 54
Banks, Ron, 53, 350
Bar-Kays, 169, 210
Barnes, Sidney, 36, 37, 39, 40, 41, 54, 270, 349
Barrett, Richard, 17
Bass, Mark, 336
Bassoline, Cholly, 127, 136, 143, 146, 172, 357
Beach Boys, 47
Beastie Boys, 274, 373
Beatles, 17, 47, 63, 70, 79, 81, 88, 98, 114, 123, 135, 149, 164–65, 181, 200, 205, 206, 265, 279, 351, 353, 355
Beigel, Mike, 132–33
Belafonte, Harry, 283
Bell, Derrick, 304
Bell, Pedro, 116–18, 129–30, 184, 213, 219, 251, 316
“Be My Beach” (Funkadelic), 136, 152, 361
Benson, Obie, 42
Berry, Chuck, 47, 73
B-52s, 136
“Big Bang Theory, The” (Parliament), 217, 364, 375, 377
“Big Pump, The” (Clinton), 300, 368
Billboard (magazine), 16–17, 83, 175
“Biological Speculation” (Funkadelic), 111–12, 360
Bishop, Barbarella, 91, 308, 343
Bishop, Elizabeth “Liz,” 91, 225, 226
Black Oak Arkansas, 115–16
Blacktronic Science (Worrell), 295, 296, 368
Blackwell, Otis, 18
blues, 8, 47–48, 70, 73, 165, 200, 271, 305
Boardwalk Records, 220
“Body Language” (Parliament), 290, 364
“Body Slam” (Collins), 262
Bogart, Joyce, 140
Bogart, Neil, 87, 122–24, 126–27, 136, 140–41, 142, 145, 149, 154, 160, 170, 185, 189, 206–7, 219–20, 221, 258, 276
Boladian, Armen, 72, 75–76, 89, 102, 135–36, 167, 195, 198, 240–41, 268–69, 274–75, 278, 282, 290–94, 297–98, 305, 306–7, 313–15, 319, 323–24, 330, 331, 335, 336, 337, 339, 340–42, 343, 344, 346–47, 350–51, 379
Bootsy? Player of the Year (Bootsy’s Rubber Band), 192, 224, 363
Bootsy’s Rubber Band, 133, 151–56, 157, 163, 174, 197, 202, 236, 319, 337, 362–64
“Bootzilla” (Bootsy’s Rubber Band), 192, 262, 363, 374, 375
Bop Gun (prop), 180, 181, 184, 214
“Bop Gun” (Ice Cube), 293, 321, 368
“Bop Gun” (Parliament), 180, 182, 189–90, 194, 293, 362, 377
“Bounce 2 This” (Clinton and P-Funk All Stars), 329, 369
Bowen, Jeffrey, 79, 87, 88, 89–90, 122
Bowie, David, 81, 142, 176, 265
Boyce brothers, 24, 44
Boykins, Gene, 13
Brailey, Jerome, 142, 212
Bratton, Joanne, 41
Brecker, Michael, 141
Brecker, Randy, 141
“Brettino’s Bounce” (Funkadelic), 250, 365
Brides of Funkenstein, 1, 159, 189, 201, 202, 208, 210, 211, 235, 237, 297, 319, 337, 341, 363, 364, 380
Bridgeport Music, 314, 315, 341, 351, 379–84
“Bring the Noise” (Public Enemy), 278–79, 377
Brooks, Darryll, 167–68, 209, 317
“Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain’t That Funkin’ Kinda Hard on You?” (Funkadelic), 350, 369
Brown, Bobby, 303, 326
Brown, James, 16, 39, 48, 73–74, 79, 106, 108–9, 113, 120, 137, 141, 142, 152, 156, 181, 211, 217, 263, 271, 281, 355
Brown, Maxine, 43, 60
Bruce, Jack, 299
Buckley, Lord, 112, 141
Buffalo Springfield, 70, 97
Bunn, Jeff “Cherokee,” 202
Burdon, Eric, 76
Busby, Jheryl, 127, 287
Bykowski, Ron, 119, 128, 129
C
Cadillacs, 14, 88
Calloway, Cab, 112
Cameo, 139, 169, 206
“Can’t Shake It Loose”(Funkadelic), 40, 360
“Can You Get to That” (Funkadelic), 105–6, 332, 360
Capitol Records, 87, 253, 254, 258, 264, 265, 269, 270, 275, 276, 282, 315, 319, 321, 330, 331
Carlos, Gene, 13
Casablanca Records, 122–23, 124, 125, 126, 136, 139, 144, 165, 170–71, 181, 188, 189, 219–20, 221, 222, 251, 269, 301, 315, 320
Cashbox (magazine), 16–17, 83
Casper the Funky Ghost (character), 151, 174
“Catchin’ Boogie Fever” (Funkadelic), 349, 369
Cavett, Dick, 112
CBS Records, 23, 236–38, 240, 264, 267–68
Cenedella, Phil, 340
Central Park concert (1996), New York City, 317–18
Chambers, Dennis, 258, 260
Chambers Brothers, 69, 76, 93, 142
Chantels, 9, 17, 333
Chariots of the Gods (Von Daniken), 98–99, 142, 148
&n
bsp; Charles, Ray, 37, 53, 49, 120
Checker, Chubby, 32
“Children of Production” (Parliament), 148, 362
Chocolate City (Parliament), 131–34, 135, 139, 140, 141, 142, 148, 150, 152, 154, 179, 181, 301, 361
“Chocolate City” (Parliament), 134, 302, 331, 361, 376, 377
Choza Negra label, 220–21, 301
Chubby and the Turnpikes, 59, 156
Chuck D, 279, 283, 290
Cinderella Theory, The (Clinton), 282–84, 285, 286, 299, 300, 367
“Cinderella Theory, The” (Clinton), 285
CKLW radio station, Windsor, Ontario, 55, 63, 89, 90
Clapton, Eric, 48, 74, 120, 299
Clay, Andrew Dice, 137
Cleaves, Jessica, 225, 235, 246, 264, 297, 349, 350
Clinton, Bill, 301, 322
Clinton, Chelsea, 322–23
Clinton, Donna, 15, 82, 180
Clinton, George (father), 6, 7–8, 10
Clinton, George S., 221, 343
Clinton, Julious (mother), 6, 7, 8, 9
Clinton, Sativa, 329
Clinton, Shawn, 82, 308
Clones of Dr. Funkenstein (Parliament), 112, 148–50, 155, 162, 166, 169, 179, 189, 214, 362
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (movie), 186–87, 189
Coasters, 14, 16, 19
Collins, Phelps “Catfish,” 108–9, 110, 113, 246, 259, 350
Collins, William “Bootsy,” 1, 2, 68, 108–9, 110, 113, 124, 126, 132, 133, 139, 141, 148, 150, 151–54, 155–56, 157, 159, 163–64, 165, 166, 174–75, 180–81, 183, 192–93, 198, 202, 209, 210, 218, 222, 223, 224, 229–30, 235–36, 237, 238, 242, 248, 249, 253, 254, 259, 262–63, 264, 284–85, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 325, 327, 340, 365
Colpix label, 16
Columbia Records Group, 42, 216
Computer Games (Clinton), 255, 258, 260, 365
“Computer Games” (Clinton), 255, 257, 365, 376
Connections and Disconnections (Funkadelic), 243
Contours, 35, 43
Cook, Grace, 128
Cooke, Sam, 12, 45–46, 86, 326, 333
Cooper, Alice, 2, 64, 306, 352