An Ex-Convict, a Hit Album, an Ending Fit for Hollywood
Tribe
By BERNARD WEINRAUB
[L] OS ANGELES, March 2 -- Forty- two years ago, James Carter was
chopping wood on a work gang with other prisoners at the Mississippi
State Penitentiary, where he would often sing the bluesy and melancholy
work song "Po Lazarus."
Last week, he boarded an airplane for the first time, flying from his
home in Chicago to Los Angeles, where he was celebrated for contributing
to the Grammy Awards victory of the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
soundtrack, which won album of the year honors.
The album's producers used the version of "Po Lazarus" Mr. Carter
recorded in prison decades ago for the musical archivist and music
writer Alan Lomax, who was then traveling the American South with his
tape recorder.
Mr. Carter, 76, the son of a Mississippi sharecropper who led a troubled
life, was unaware of the album. For more than a year, as "O Brother"
climbed the charts and sold millions of copies, its producers sought to
locate Mr. Carter, not only to acknowledge his contribution but to pay
him thousands of dollars in royalties.
How they found him is an unusual story in an industry rampant with tales
of swindled royalties, corruption and stolen song credits.
Searching through the archives of the Mississippi penal system, Social
Security files, property records and other public records and various
databases, the record's producer, T- Bone Burnett; the Lomax archives;
and an investigative journalist for a Florida newspaper found Mr. Carter
living in a Chicago apartment with his wife, Rosie Lee Carter, a
longtime minister of the Holy Temple Church of God.
Less than two weeks ago, Mr. Lomax's daughter, Anna Lomax Chairetakis,
who runs the archives, and Don Fleming, director of licensing, visited
the Carters and presented a platinum album of the soundtrack and a
royalty check for $20,000 -- the first installment of what may become
several hundred thousand dollars in payments. Mr. Carter, a former
shipping clerk, told them he had never heard of the album or the film.
Mr. Fleming mentioned that the album was outselling the latest CD's of
Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey. "I told him, `You beat both of them
out,' " Mr. Fleming said. "He got a real kick out of that. He left the
room to roll a cigarette and when he came back, he said, `You tell
Michael that I'll slow down so that he can catch up with me.' "
Mr. Burnett said he first heard the work-gang song about five years ago
when he was listening to music in the Lomax archives in New York City.
"It just made a deep impression," he said. "It was such a beautiful
version, a soulful version of a great song."
Later, when Mr. Burnett began working on the album, the song was placed
first on the soundtrack of the film, which was made by Joel and Ethan
Coen. The film is a sort of Depression-era fable loosely based on "The
Odyssey." The soundtrack, on the Lost Highway label of the Universal
Music Group, features a powerful cross section of Southern roots music
by performers like Ralph Stanley, Alison Krauss and Union Station, and
Emmylou Harris. The soundtrack won four other Grammy Awards in addition
to album of the year.
Mr. Carter will earn royalties for being the lead performer on the Lomax
recording used on the album. Because "Po Lazarus" is in the public
domain, he will also earn songwriter royalties, which go to the
performer once the copyright expires. Mr. Burnett said Mr. Carter's
royalties could run "well into the six- figure range."
The album has sold five million copies and was the No. 2 country music
album on the Billboard chart this week, after Alan Jackson's "Drive."
The Grammy triumph is expected to push sales far higher.
Mr. Carter said over the phone that he was not sure what he would do
with the money. His daughter Elizabeth Scott, a real estate broker, said
she and her two sisters were relatively well-off. Their children include
a Chicago police officer.
Ms. Scott said that although her parents were comfortable in a large
apartment of a building they own in the Austin area of Chicago, they
might use their windfall to find an apartment more appropriate to their
needs. Mr. Carter often uses a wheelchair.
Mr. Carter's early life was not easy. He left home at 13, and ended up
in the Mississippi prison system four times, the Lomax organization
found. Two convictions were for stealing, another was for a parole
violation for possessing a gun and a fourth was on a weapons offense.
Mr. Carter said he remembered being in prison only once.
The Lomax organization said Mr. Lomax recorded the song in mid-
September 1959 at Camp B at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in
Lambert. Mr. Lomax, who is 87 and lives in central Florida, has explored
and promoted folk music around the world for more than six decades. In
the 1950's he focused on the American South, and issued 16 albums on the
Atlantic and Prestige International labels. In his Southern trips, Mr.
Lomax, using a tape recorder, often sought out the music of the
African-American South.
Mr. Fleming, the Lomax licensing director, said the assumption early on
was that Mr. Carter might be dead. He began searching for Mr. Carter by
checking Social Security death records. Then, using the Freedom of
Information Act, Mr. Fleming began looking through the files of the
parole board in Mississippi and found evidence that Mr. Carter had moved
to Chicago around 1967.
At the same time, Chris Grier, a reporter for The Sarasota Herald-
Tribune who was working on a project about Mr. Lomax's life, came in
contact with Mr. Fleming. Using the newspaper's databases, Mr. Grier
came up with a list of James Carters in the Chicago area. Because the
name was common, Mr. Grier said, he began concentrating on spouses. He
tracked down Mrs. Carter's name on property records.
"She owned a storefront church," Mr. Grier said. When he met Mrs.
Carter, Mr. Grier said, she told him her husband's birth date and said
he had spent years in Mississippi. Further investigation convinced Mr.
Grier that this was the James Carter he was looking for. The Lomax
group, after meeting Mr. Carter, confirmed that he was the man they were
seeking.
In the years since he left prison, Mr. Carter worked at a number of
jobs, including as a shipping clerk, but seemed unable to focus on any
one occupation.
Mr. Carter was initially reluctant to fly to Los Angeles for the Grammy
ceremonies, but Ms. Scott told him it was "the chance of a lifetime." He
flew with his wife, Ms. Scott and his other daughters, Hattie Tucker and
Corie Macklin.
He said over the phone on Friday that he was flattered by all the
attention, but that he just wanted to get on with his life. He said he
barely recalled "Po Lazarus."
"I sang that a long time back."
Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company |
Vernon Ursenbach
A very nice read. You always appear to have nice stuff to say.
BTW and and OT, how's your clawhammer playing coming? Is it a big jump from
three finger to clawhammer?
"Tribe" <johnc...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:3C814C05...@earthlink.net...
Adam Price
> "Tribe" <johnc...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:3C814C05...@earthlink.net...
> > An Ex-Convict, a Hit Album, an Ending Fit for Hollywood
> >
> > By BERNARD WEINRAUB
> >
> > Mr. Carter will earn royalties for being the lead performer on the Lomax
> > recording used on the album. Because "Po Lazarus" is in the public
> > domain, he will also earn songwriter royalties, which go to the
> > performer once the copyright expires. Mr. Burnett said Mr. Carter's
> > royalties could run "well into the six- figure range."
> >
> >
> >
Neat story.....Reminds me of the business with Enigma doing extensive
sampling of the Taiwanese singer, and not even giving him liner credits,
let alone royalties.
I don't understand the public domain sentence, though. Why is he
receiving songwriter royalties if the song is public domain? Or is that
supposed to say "is not in the p.d.?"
Kerry Blech
Tribe wrote:
> An Ex-Convict, a Hit Album, an Ending Fit for Hollywood
[snip]
I saw this in our local paper yesterday. One thing disturbs
me though...
> Because "Po Lazarus" is in the public
> domain, he will also earn songwriter royalties, which go to the
> performer once the copyright expires. Mr. Burnett said Mr. Carter's
> royalties could run "well into the six- figure range."
Does this mean that anyone who performs the Public Domain song
"Po' Lazarus" in the future will be liable to pay royalties
to Mr. Carter's estate? I am glad he made some money on
this and that they exerted the effort to find him, but
assigning him songwriter credit for a Public Domain song
seems wrong to me. Didn't Pete Seeger (and to an extent
Allen Sherman) copyright P.D. songs as "Public Domain"
during the '50s-'60s "folk scare" so that others could not
claim authorship of P.D. song and reap money from people
who were singing what had always been traditional songs?
I'm not talking "arranged by" claims (which I feel often
are spurious, as well).
Comment?
Kerry
Tribe
Kerry Blech wrote:
>>Because "Po Lazarus" is in the public
>>domain, he will also earn songwriter royalties, which go to the
>>performer once the copyright expires. Mr. Burnett said Mr. Carter's
>>royalties could run "well into the six- figure range."
>>
>
>Does this mean that anyone who performs the Public Domain song
>"Po' Lazarus" in the future will be liable to pay royalties
>to Mr. Carter's estate? I am glad he made some money on
>this and that they exerted the effort to find him, but
>assigning him songwriter credit for a Public Domain song
>seems wrong to me. Didn't Pete Seeger (and to an extent
>Allen Sherman) copyright P.D. songs as "Public Domain"
>during the '50s-'60s "folk scare" so that others could not
>claim authorship of P.D. song and reap money from people
>who were singing what had always been traditional songs?
>
It can't mean that. It must be some licensing requirement. Once
something is in the public domain, anybody can use it for any reason.
Besides, something like a work song or field holler, which is what "Po'
Lazarus" is, would probably have been in the public domain when it was
initially recorded.
Tribe
>
Vernon Ursenbach
copyrighted, especially since the originator hardly remember the song. The
production company was paying him off and copyrighted the song for
themselves. The song would not have really been public domain but unknown.
It would now be copyrighted by the production company. That's what the
money was for. To pay off the originator for a song that was never
copyrighted.
This is just an assumption and not true knowledge. However, it would not
surprise me and it makes a lot of sense, to me at least. I've worked with
several production companies and let me say, they are not generous people.
They would not pay this money unless they had to or if they didn't get
something out of it, i.e., publicity, etc.
"Tribe" <johnc...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:3C83E787...@earthlink.net...
Tribe
Vernon Ursenbach wrote:
>The only thing that I can think of is that it was never officially
>copyrighted, especially since the originator hardly remember the song. The
>production company was paying him off and copyrighted the song for
>themselves. The song would not have really been public domain but unknown.
>It would now be copyrighted by the production company. That's what the
>money was for. To pay off the originator for a song that was never
>copyrighted.
>
I don't know, Vern. See, Alan Lomax was the one who originally recorded
this...I'm wondering if that NY Times reporter called this a copyright
payment, when it may have been just a licensing fee.
See....the original copyright period has probably long since expired.
Those periods are shortened and lengthened periodically at the whim of
Congress.
I guess until someone who has a much better understanding about
copyright law than us explains it, we'll be in the dark. In any event,
I'd bet my first born male child that anyone can use this tune without
any legal consequences. Doesn't mean that anyone can use the actual
recording....but anyone else can record his or her own version.
Tribe
>
Mike Murray
wrote:
>I'd bet my first born male child that anyone can use this tune without
>any legal consequences. Doesn't mean that anyone can use the actual
>recording....but anyone else can record his or her own version.
Unless the person using the tune started making a lot of money from
it. Then, I suspect, the legal beagles would start baying. And your
first born might have to change his name. :-)