AboutMike Caldwell Expertise Fortunately, or unfortunately, there are no Led Zeppelin questions I can't answer. My immediate specialty (or proclivity as it may be) has to do with concert performances and lyrical interpretations.
Experience Countless hours of biographical research and personal interaction with relevant individuals. Avid contributor to Led Zeppelin newsgroups since 1997 (check Google groups!)
Publications Bullseye News Magazine. The Vapid Voice.
Question QUESTION: Hi Mike,
I young band i manage played The Battle of Evermore (unrehearsed) recently!
They are taking out there new album (all original material) at the end of the
year and would love to do this song as a bonus song..
Is this Possible? if so how do we go about it?
Here's the clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdRzpwfPUW4
Any help would be much appreciated....
Best wishes
Paul
ANSWER: Hi Paul.
Nice clip, by the way - good call and response going between the singers. I wish you all the best with that.
Covering a previously published song is not generally a big problem - I'm not sure how the rules in the UK work, but in most cases, as long as the song is not "substantially altered" in the new performance, you simply can pay a royalty directly to the publisher.
Go to ASCAP.COM, and do an ACE title search on "Battle of Evermore", and you'll see the publisher's information at the bottom. In this case, it would be:
SUPERHYPE PUBL INC
% WB MUSIC CORP
% WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC INC
10585 SANTA MONICA BLVD
LOS ANGELES , CA, 90025
Tel. (310) 441-8600
ASCAP.COM has resources and information as to how to contact the publisher for something like releasing a song from the administrating publisher (in this case, Superhype).
You shouldn't need to obtain mechanical licensing or anything too elaborate, it's a rather common practice to simply record a relatively unaltered version of a previously published song. Harry Fox (harryfox.com) does licensing services and the like for an extra fee.
Answer Ben Reel, at least in America, might succeed in college radio markets with sufficient promotion. Things like reggae are tough to catch mainstream airplay, which I think you'd ultimately want. In terms of talent, I think they've got what they need to succeed - but they might need to write that original super-catchy hit song, and promote the heck out of it, to gain attention. Sadly, talent alone doesn't always gain the notoriety...on the other hand...
Kelle Redmond is an insanely talented singer, I love her voice, and with the right promotion, she could go a lot of places. Covering old songs, however, won't get her the recognition she deserves - again, I'd think she'd need original "hit" material to break through beyond the myriad talented singers out there. Out of the two, she's my favorite. What is her definition, though? Just a singer? Does she write? If so, what style? With the right material, I'm sure she could be a star.
If you want to talk further, since this is a bit off topic, feel free to write me at mikeydhh@gmail.com
Good luck with them both.
