Did The Verve Steal BITTER SWEET SYMPHONY?

A music + talk show where I interview artists about their music and tracks handpicked by them.

SUPPORT:

BE MY FRIEND:

-------------------------------

Even if you don’t know The Verve, you’ve probably heard their 1997 single Bitter Sweet Symphony.

It’s been used in ads, TV shows and films.

It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song and remains the Verve’s most definitive single. It launched the band into stardom. And it’s arguably one of the greatest songs of the last 25 years. It feels grand and that’s thanks to its orchestral elements. The Verve’s frontman, Richard Ashcroft was almost ready to scrap the song until producer Martin Glover put the strings over top of it. That’s when Ashcroft really got excited. But that’s also where The Verve’s biggest problem lied.

The Verve’s Bitter Sweet Symphony uses a string sample from Andrew Oldham Orchestra’s symphonic version of “The Last Time.” The song was inspired by The Rolling Stone’s first major single, “The Last Time”

The Verve cleared the sample with Decca Records but The Verve didn’t think to get the permission for the underlying Stones track that inspired the composition until after their track was completed - and why would they? The orchestral version was only inspired by the Rolling Stone’s track.

For those rights, they needed to talk to Allen Klein, the “music business boogeyman.” He first said no, but then granted them a license. The Verve says the deal was initially for a 50/50 split but when the single started to perform well, Klein claimed that The Verve broke the license agreement and used a larger portion of the sample than agreed upon.

Klein ended up suing the The Verve for plagiarism. The band decided to settle out of court thinking it would be cheaper than fighting a legal battle that might not go their way. Klein, demanded 100% royalties and songwriting credits attributed to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. So remember that Grammy Nomination? It had Jagger and Richards name on the ballot too.

What song did bittersweet symphony steal from?
It didn’t “steal” exactly. They used a sample and got the license for it but failed to get the license for the track that inspired the song they sampled.

What song did bittersweet symphony sample?
Andrew Oldham Orchestra’s “The Last Time,” a symphonic rendition of The Rolling Stone’s “The Last Time”

Who did bittersweet symphony?
English rock band The Verve

-------------------------------

Written, Voiced and Edited by Frank Furtado
#theverve #therollingstones #middle8

[Middle]

Listen to the PlayM8 Podcast:
PlayM8Podcast.com

[kjamison]

Now Klein is dead and Jagger and Richards have signed over all the song rights back to The Verve. It only took 22 years.

[billybandit]

"you're a slave to the money then you die" perfect line to end it on

[Rebelofhiphop]

"You're a slave to the money then you die"... ironically, that line Sure applies to this situation.

[raychrismusic]

I love how bittersweet symphony is literally about what ended up happening

[fidyldounmccree]

The Verve just got the rights back—time for an update!!

[WayOfThePharaoh]

Sooo who else is here after hearing that Ashcroft has finally got the royalties for the song

[markrosstomlin]

“When I’m listening to Bittersweet Symphony, I know I’m listening to The Verve.” Hell yeah! Spot on mate!

[puppydata]

"...you're a slave to money then you die..." Sums it up perfectly.

[miked]

I hate greedy people who have more then enough money, but continue to make life miserable for others while hiding behind high priced lawyers. SMH

[Rich.H]

I hope the Verve rerelease it and it's massive again just as a poke in the eye to greed.

[jackconnolly]

Loved this song as a kid, used to make me feel invincible. Fuck that Klein guy heart goes out to the Verve.

[hesselvanurk]

Mister Oldham "borrowed" his inspiration from: "In The Hall Of The Mountain King" from The Peer Gynt suite by Edvard Grieg and then dares to sue The Verve - strange world

Bitter sweet symphony!? Oh, the irony.

[jh]

I love hearing all these music stories that I didn't know about, and the way you do it is really nice. Well structured, well researched, and well edited. Great work

[TaylorMade]

Mick Jagger said that once a song is out there it belongs to everybody.

[alisoninwonderland]

I hope this gets rereleased so the younger generation get to love it as much as we have ❤

[legasiguy]

So let's get this straight, The Verve, took an orchestral version of a Stones tune, slowed it to half time, used no melody or lyrics, used only the chord progression accompaniment, put a NEW string countermelody, ask for and GET permission to use the sample that can't really even be heard and then get sued for 100% of the royalties and LOSE?? WTF??? They got screwed, plain and simple! IT sounds NOTHING like the Stones track! Keith, Mic and the record execs took their money, plain and simple! If the tunes sound anything else, the string line sounds like a baroque line from some JS Bach work, but that's public domain.

[DPeter]

1997, that's 22 years ago. Damn, time does fly alright.

[MarkNealon]

My thoughts... it's a fair sample. And the sampled track isn't a Rolling Stones track. Certainly the sampled element has nothing to do with the original Stones song. The whole case is ludicrous.