SBC - Noel Redding suing the Hendrix estate
William Luckman
Row over Hendrix royalties
The bass player with the Jimi Hendri Experience is planning to sue the
Hendrix estate over royalties.
Noel Redding's manager, Ian Grant, says Mr Redding deserves up to $5m
(#3.26m) for his part in Jimi Hendrix Experience recordings, and also for
ongoing royalties.
Mr Redding, 57, played on the band's studio albums including Are You
Experienced and Electric Ladyland.
Jimi Hendrix died in 1970 after accidentally overdosing on painkillers.
Mr Grant is to send out a "demand letter" asking for royalties for Redding
next week, the first step in a possible law suit.
"They can either tell us they're not interested, and that will mean we will
sue them.
"Or they can make a settlement," he said.
He is suing Experience Hendrix, the company that oversees the estate of the
dead guitarist. It is run by Janey Hendrix, the step-sister of Jimi.
The estate is thought to be worth $380m (#248m)
Signed away
Mr Grant said Redding "doesn't receive a single pence for the use of his
image or performance".
"I see a lot of people making money out of Noel, but I don't see Noel
getting any of it," he said.
The non-payment of royalties stemmed from a contract Redding signed in the
1970s to help pay a legal bill, Mr Grant said.
Redding received a one-off payment of $100,000 after he was told there would
be no more releases of Jimi Hendrix Experience material.
But this was before CDs and DVDs had been invented. The band's catalogue has
since been re-mastered and re-released on the new formats, selling millions
of copies.
Mr Grant said there were many precedents for artists winning back royalties
despite signing their rights away.
"Led Zeppelin signed a similar deal with Atlantic in the 1970s, but they won
their catalogue back in the 1980s," Mr Grant added.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience's music has also been recently featured is
several television advertisements in the UK. Mr Grant says the licensing
would cost "six figure sums".
The possible lawsuit comes a week after the announcement of a movie based on
Hendrix's last days made by the director of the controversial Granada film
Bloody Sunday.
Paul Greengrass will make Cross Town Traffic with the help of #94,000 in
lottery funding from the UK Film Council's Development Fund.
The film will concentrate on Hendrix's last days in London before his death
in September 1970.
I've been told that Noel currently makes a living in a Hendrix tribute band
and is perhaps the world's most bitter living musician.
Regards
William Luckman
(note spamtrapped e-mail address)
Usual caveat, when I posted this no-one else had mentioned it, so if this is
repeating a post it is because there is a long lag between posting and it
appearing.
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