Cummings sacrifices royalties to force Guess Who offstage – Winnipeg Free Press

Burton Cummings' latest ploy to thwart Guess Who seems to be working.

The former lead singer of the band that started in Winnipeg in the 1960s has licensing deals that own the publishing rights to Guess Who's songs, including American woman, These are the Eyes and Land sharing – tracks he wrote or co-wrote.

The tactic led to the cancellation of four Guess Who concerts in Florida earlier this week, one of which included founding member drummer Harry Peterson, but sometimes without any musicians from the band's 1967-76 heyday — minutes before. Taking the stage on April 6 in Fort Myers, Florida.

Cummings and Randy Bachman, who is also an original member, are suing the Guess Who, Peterson and founding bassist Jim Cale, filed in a Los Angeles court last October.

Cummings, 75, and Bachmann, 80, claim that today's Guess Who is deceiving the public that they will perform with the band in 2024.

They are also seeking an injunction against Cale and Peterson to “take remedial action to inform the public and all venues where the cover band plays with genuine advertising.”

Band members have been embroiled in legal disputes over the Guess Who brand for decades.

“I am willing to do anything to stop the fake group; they take (Bachman's and my) life story and claim it as their own,” Cummings said in a music magazine story. Rolling Stone. “It doesn't stop this cover band from playing their shows; it stops them from playing songs I write.

“If the songs were performed by the fake Guess Who, they would be sued for every incident.”

Cale, who owns the Guess Who trademark, has retired from performing. Drummer Peterson recently played with the Guess Who, although Cummings and Bachman's suit claims the band does not perform with any members from the band's glory days.

Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) and Broadcast Music, Inc. Cummings' move, which has come under the scrutiny of performing rights organizations such as (BMI), removes the copyright protections that allow songs to be played live. concert. Concert venues are liable for damages if they perform one of Cummings' compositions in their premises.

That's forced Guess Who off the road for now, says Randy Erwin, manager of Guess Who's in Missouri.

“It's a real freak show out there right now,” Ervin said in a phone interview.

“(The band) found out about it on the day of the show, and it was a Saturday, so there was no way to contact BMI to see if those songs were covered by their licensing agreement with BMI,” says Ervin.

“We decided it was not worth the risk because of the lawyer's letter threatening to sue.

“Venues can't let us perform until this is sorted out.”

The Guess Who is scheduled to play about 90 concerts in 2024, but several future dates have been pushed back, Ervin said.

Cummings' decision comes at a cost. He no longer receives royalties from his publicly performed songs, whether original versions or covers, such as American rocker Kenny Kravitz's take on American womanor Stick to your vision Canadian rapper Maestro Fresh Wes testing parts These are the Eyes.

“I lose some money, but … without these songs, the name is worthless,” Cummings said. Rolling Stone event.

“How much is my life's work worth?” You can't calculate it in dollars and cents. What they did was wrong and nobody did anything about it for years. But we're doing something now, and it might set some precedents, because there are other actions out there that aren't true.”

[email protected]

X: @AlanDSmall