LEGAL POSITION: CHRIS LUCEY SONGS OF PROTEST by Bobby Jameson 2010

There is, and has been for sometime now, a major disagreement over the album SONGS OF PROTEST by Chris Lucey aka Bobby Jameson. The argument is that Ace Records obtained, either through purchase or licensing, the master rights to the album Songs of Protest. Ace Record's director, Roger Armstrong, claims his acquisition of Songs Of Protest was legal and above board and the album is now his company's property, which I understand clearly as the premise of his position.

The flaw in Armstrong's legal claim is that Ace's acquisition of Songs Of Protest was never legal. Why do I say this? It is a simple explanation and is the singular fact that Roger Armstrong, and Joe Foster of Rev-Ola, either don't understand, or do, but will not admit to as a reality.

My understanding is that Songs Of Protest was sold to or leased to Ace by Betty Chiapetta who was one of the original partners of Surrey Records. The problem was, and is, that Surrey/Chiapetta never had a contract with me for the songs or the record itself. It was released by Surrey in 1965 with that problem as part of it's real history.

Even though I did not sign an agreement with Surrey the album was released on schedule, because it was the key property to a larger distribution deal by Surrey into Europe in 1965. Surrey knew no one would question them and no one did. I had no way to prevent the release and had no legal representation to fight for my rights at that time.

Some 40 years later Chiapetta and Ace Record's got together in a business deal involving numerous old masters that Chiapetta claimed to own, mostly old blues masters from Stax and Vee Jay which Chiapetta and Randy Wood bought when Vee Jay collapsed.

In the mix of old masters, that Ace acquired from Chiapetta in that deal, was Songs Of Protest, the old 60's master by Chris Lucey/Bobby Jameson. There was still no contract, and there had never been a single royalty paid to the writer/performer by anyone. In essence it was a disputed property, if not a stolen property, because of the facts I have just stated here.

The problem of ownership had always existed, but was so old that it was either unknown or not considered at the time of Ace's acquisition of Songs Of Protest. Ace Records, Chiapetta, and Joe Foster of Rev-Ola were all of the belief that Bobby Jameson/Chris Lucey was dead at the time of their collective agreement. They, in other words, didn't have any reason to be concerned that the creator of the property would suddenly turn up and complain, which is now the case.

Armstrong's position seems to be that his company, Ace Records, obtained the rights to Songs Of Protest in a good faith agreement with Betty Chiapetta. My position is that his acquisition of Songs Of Protest from Chiapetta, or her representatives, was never legal whether Armstrong knew it or not. Stolen property, or property which is disputed, with regards to who really owns it, does not become un-stolen or undisputed property simply because a new agreement has been reached between parties, other than the party who created the original property, Bobby Jameson.

To further muddy the water Ace Records in turn leased the property to Joe Foster's Rev-Ola label, whose first Cherry Red distributed release, was in fact Songs Of Protest in 2002, indicating the importance of the album, at least to Rev-Ola and Foster.

The game here is that the property has been moved through three parties, and is still the same disputed/stolen property it has been since 1965. This information has subsequently been made clear to both Rev-Ola and Ace Records who have done nothing but make the claim over and over that they all have legal contracts which stem from Ace's illegal agreement with Chiapetta. If in fact there are contractual agreements regarding Songs Of Protest, I, Bobby Jameson, believe I have the right to see these documents.

Supporters of both Ace Record's acquisition of Songs Of Protest, and Rev-Ola's reissue of the album seem to thrive on belittling my claims, by leaving out the material fact that Ace's agreement with Chiapetta was illegal, and without my consent or knowledge. Their position strips me of any and all rights or claims of any kind to the property that I created.

Ace Records and Rev-Ola's claim to a legal deal are only justifiable if you omit the factual part wherein Chiapetta had no legal right to sell or lease Songs Of Protest to anybody, without first securing from me, some form of legal agreement. Chiapetta's obligations to Bobby Jameson did not disappear simply because she decided to reach an agreement with Ace Records and Roger Arstrong. By the same logic Ace Records is not obsolved of the obligations to Bobby Jameson simply because Roger Armstrong came to an agreement with Chiapetta.

If Ace's agreement with Chiapetta is a disputed legal premise, which it is, by me, than Ace's agreement with Rev-Ola is likewise disputable as legal, again, by me.

If those of you who incessantly badger me about this subject have further remarks you feel compelled to make, I would suggest that you consider all the facts rather than leaving out key parts for the sake of making your argument work, which it only does, if the whole history of the album is not known or made part of the record.

I made this record, not you. Not Betty Chiapetta, Roger Armstrong, or Joe Foster. This property, SONGS OF PROTEST AND ANTI PROTEST by Chris Lucey/ Bobby Jameson, was written and performed by me. I have more right to object to what others have done with this property than anyone else on this planet. I will hold to my position and fight anyone for my rights. I will do this until hell freezes over.

You cannot make arguments without all of the material facts being considered, which is what you continue to do. All of the arguments made to date, by everyone, have left out the original material facts. This process is the only way Ace Record's and Revola's positions seem plausible. Your arguments are without merit and deserve to be questioned as legitimate.

REV-OLA'S BEGINNING

click

It is obvious by the text of this story from Billboard Magazine, that Rev-Ola's absolute maiden voyage, as a reissue label out of the UK, was literally launched on the back of my album "SONGS OF PROTEST AND ANTI PROTEST." So much for the downplaying of my work as just another run-of-the-mill release for Joe Foster and Rev-Ola.

Chelsea Lee and Bobby Jameson going after Joe Foster and Rev-Ola

Chelsea Lee and The Cake and Bobby Jameson have now joined forces to go after Joe Foster and Rev-Ola Records for non-payment of royalties.. The albums in question are "Cake" on Rev-Ola and "Songs Of Protest" on Rev-Ola

The Cake Page on myspace




I AM NOW PERSONNALLY 'DOING' MY OLD BAND-THE CAKE-PAGE.PREVIOUSLY,BANDS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO BE MATES,WHICH I WAS UNAWARE OF UNTIL I LOGGED INTO THE PAGE AND SAW THE FUCKIN SETTINGS.I CHANGED THIS AND YES,BANDS ARE QUITE WELCOMED.WHAT SHIT!! PLEASE BEAR WITH ME AS I TRY TO UPDATE THE PAGE WHICH I HAVE NEGLECTED SINCE I 1ST PUT IT UP YEARS AGO. MY PAGE IS BUSY AND I COULD NOT DEVOTE TIME TO 'THE CAKE' BUT THIS WILL CHANGE. LET ME GIVE YOU AN UPDATE.ALTHOUGH THE CAKE CD SELLS ON AMAZON,WE HAVE RECEIVED ZERO MONIES FOR IT TO DATE.JOE FOSTER OF REVOLA RECORDS HAS NOT LIVED UP TO THE CONTRACT OF THE 50/50 DEAL I SIGNED WITH HIM AND REVOLA RECORDS.I DON'T BELEIVE THAT AT MY FUCKIN AGE,I HAVE TO FIGHT HIM FOR THIS NOW! I DID THIS DEAL IN HONOUR OF JEANETTE JACOBS-WOOD(RIP),IN HER HONOUR-AND WILL NOT ALLOW HIM TO SHIT ON HER GRAVE.BARBARA MORILLO IS IN NEW YORK CITY AND SINGS WITH HER ACAPELLA GROUP AND IS QUITE WELL AND HAPPY.I WILL BE POSTING HER VENUES ON THE CAKE PAGE .WE ARE GRATEFUL TO ALL THE CAKE FANS AND WELCOME OUR NEWEST FAMILY MEMBER-NICK CAPALDI.THE NAME SOUNDS FAMILIAR?YES,HE'S RELATED TO JIM CAPALDI(RIP).JEANETTE JACOBS MARRIED CHRIS WOOD FROM TRAFFIC-SO BECAME JEANETTE JACOBS-WOOD.FOR A YOUNG GIRL WHO WROTE ''RAINBOW WOOD' TO MARRY A WOOD-STRANGE!! WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A PART OF THE 'TRAFFIC' FAMILY AND WISH THE BEST TO OUR NICK CAPALDI.
PLEASE GIVE US A CHANCE TO GET 'THE CAKE' PAGE UPDATED-I AM ONLY ONE OLD LADY TRYING TO DO ME BEST!
CHEERS,
CHELSEA

THIS IS WHY I GOT ON THE INTERNET IN 2007

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Message from Bobby Jameson (via Eagle Wolf)


A Message from Bobby Jameson/Chris Lucey


To Whom It May Concern:


In 1985 I finally gave up trying to be in the record business. I couldn't get paid, and I couldn't get anyone to release anything of consequence regarding my work.


It was always "commercial" crap. After getting thrown out of ASCAP's office, having been told to get a lawyer, I made one last attempt and spoke to Martin Cohen, who had represented Frank Zappa. I told Martin that I had never received any payment from any record company, publisher, or any other company or collection agency, for any song I had ever written or any record I had ever made.


His response was, "That's impossible!" I told him again, but he refused to believe me. I argued and he still refused.


Completely demoralized, I realized that if I did not leave LA and the "music business," I would either finally commit suicide, or kill some dumb shit "record company" executive out of complete frustration.


The list of records and songs I have written is longer than you know, but what went into my pocket was always short.


You may be asking how could this happen? Well, I'll try to explain:


I didn't start out thinking about the "music business" in business terms. I was just a kid who wrote songs and wanted to make records. If someone said, "Let's go in a studio and cut a record," I said, "O.K."


The trouble is that these recordings kept ending up as "records," and got released. They're still being released, and I am still getting nothing. Not one penny.


It's not like I got paid before, and now I want to get paid again; it's I never got paid.


The only reason I am even talking about this now is because of the internet, and the attention I have been getting regarding my past and some of the records I have made.


My life for the past 40 years has been a series of ups and downs, mostly downs.


I've been sober and clean for 31 years, and that's an up, but my life, truthfully, has been hard as hell.


I've been sick for about 10 years, and that's due to hard physical labor for nickels and dimes. It's O.K. to work hard, but when I gotta go out and kill my body while some son-of-a-bitch in an office collects money off my music and I get nothing—I get a little pissed off, if you know what I mean.


After leaving L.A. , I ended up in San Luis Obispo , CA , where my mother and brother live, and I've been here ever since. Nobody here knows anything about my past and that's the way it stayed for almost 20 years, until Steve Stanley (he wrote the Mojo Music Magazine article) found me via my social security and a private detective.


He just called me up one day and asked if I was "Bobby Jameson." I told him I was, and asked him who he was.


"I'm Steve Stanley, and I represent a record company in England named Revola Records, and we have re-released the 'Chris Lucey' album."


Well, I gotta tell you I had no comeback whatsoever—I thought it was a joke.


We talked for an hour or more, and he assured me I could count on royalties from the release, and said they'd like to release other records of mine.


Like the foolish child of old, I believed everything he said.


To date, I have received one (1) copy of the Chris Lucey CD, and one (1) copy of the Mojo Magazine article—nothing else.


There are many songs I have written and recordings I have made over the years that I have kept away from record companies. If there is any interest in these songs and recordings, I would be curious to know.


If you didn't like what I have said here, all I can say is, it's pretty hard to switch from nobody to somebody after all these years.


The other day, I went to a local music store and paid $16 for the recently released "Jameson, Color Him In" CD that I learned about on the internet. I walked in a nobody and left a "celebrity" after the guy in the music store found out who I was. What a trip!


I probably don't need to say this again, but I'm going to. The "Jameson, Color Him In" CD was released by another English record label, Fallout Records, and I—you guessed it—have gotten zip!


Just in case people don't know this, I released a couple of records under the name, Robert Parker Jameson, in 1977 on RCA.


* * * * * *


Now about Eagle Wolf: Eagle and I have never met. We communicate by telephone and e-mail. His mother, Donna Wolf (now deceased), is someone I knew well in the sixties around the Sunset Strip. Eagle was raised to believe I was his father. As of yet, we don't know the answer, but sooner or later we will. In the meantime, I will do my best to honor what he believes to be true.


If anyone has any questions, post them on this site, and I will try and respond as best I can.


P.S. If anyone is interested in helping, please e-mail Revola Records in England, and Fallout Records, also in England, and ask them why they release the recordings of artists and pay them absolutely nothing, while selling these same recordings world wide.


My deepest thanks,


Bobby Jameson/Chris Lucey

"PEACE"
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Below are comments to the original post above

John

Rev-Ola properly licensed their CD release from the UK owners of the material, which is Ace Records. I'm told my Rev-Ola's founder/director Joe Foster that he will look into why Bobby is not receiving any payment, which he says must come from Ace since that is who to whom Rev-Ola paid up front licensing fees. Joe noted that Rev-Ola also pays all the monthly royalty fees due under UK law, but again it is Ace that is supposed to be paying Bobby. NOTE one thing more: did Bobby maintain ownership of his songs and performances, or did he sign away those rights years ago to some manager or label? That becomes the key issue in a lot of these cases when newer labels do small quantity reissues. Those like Rev-Ola who do try to operate fully above board have to deal with the legal owner of the material, and in some cases that is complicated by past dealings the musicians may have had with "manager types" who may indeed have been dishonest or at least sly. I don't know the specifics of what happened with Bobby; but I do know that it is hard to expect a label like Rev-Ola to be able to sort out past problems over ownership of material!

Now, concerning Fallout, they are a UK operation (not Italian) and from what I understand they have paid some bands but not most, and they have to be considered basically a bootleg label. Joe Foster told me that he feels embarrased by labels like Fallout that just make things that much harder for him and Rev-Ola to gain the trust of musicians like Bobby who've been ripped off so many times. Joe went to the trouble of checking with Universal Music (which owns the rights to the "Jameson: Color Him..." album) to see if Fallout had properly licensed the music, and they have not.

Hopefully, if Bobby does indeed still retain some measure of legal rights to his material, he will at least receive some payment from Ace from the CD that Rev-Ola licensed and released.

John Berg, Seattle area

Posted by John on Friday, August 17, 2007 - 2:16 PM
[Reply to this]
Eagle5471

eagle wolf


Hi Bobby,

I don't know exactly how it's done because I've never done it, but I think the way to get your material to people nowadays without record company influence is via the internet!! I'm sure there are ways you can get your music on a website and have people pay you directly for it. I'd be happy to look into it for you, maybe with Eagle's help since we're both in LA? I personally would love to hear what you've got!!

I'm honored to somehow be a conduit for this issue to be opened up for you.

Warm regards,
Tita

Posted by tita on Sunday, August 19, 2007 - 11:22 PM
[Reply to this]
Eagle5471

eagle wolf


Hey, John, it’s interesting that you are in a position to speak with Joe Foster at Revola; he has never spoken to me.

Ace Record’s license agreement with Revola, that you refer to, is not much good for two reasons: (1) Ace acquired the Chris Lucey and other masters from Randy Wood’s secretary after his death. It is questionable whether she had the legal authority to sell anything to Ace Records. (2) There is not, and never has been, an artist or writer’s agreement between Surrey Records and Randy Wood with Bobby Jameson for the Chris Lucey album. Surrey Records and Randy Wood had all of its agreements only with the original album artist, Chris Ducey. Randy Wood is dead, so he can’t speak, but Abe Summers, attorney, was present with me and Randy in 1965 when I refused to sign the agreement they offered me. Randy released the album anyway due to prior commitments he had made in Europe .

You state that Ace Records is supposed to pay me, but for five years they have not. Revola knows how to get in touch with me, so why didn’t they tell Ace Records? Steve Stanley, who is listed as co-producer on Revola’s Chris Lucey CD, has been to my house, (see article about me in Mojo Music, June, 2004, pp. 24-25). Steve wrote the article and is pictured standing beside me in my home. I think if either Revola or Ace Records wanted to be sure I got paid, it would have been easy.

As far as ownership of my music and performances is concerned, I couldn’t have given up ownership if I never signed an agreement regarding the Chris Lucy album. It is Revola’s responsibility to reasonably know that what it licenses from another party has not been obtained illegally.

Your reference to Fallout Records, via Joe Foster, as being a bootleg label, is laughable considering what I said above about Revola’s acquisition of the rights to the Chris Lucey album. As to “Color Him In,” the only reason Joe Foster wanted to know about it is that he wanted to release it himself. I know this because I have a paper I wrote giving Steve Stanley the right to speak for me with Verve Records about it. I also withdrew that right from Mr. Stanley soon after it was given. I also possess a Revola contract that was sent to me in the hope that I would sign away rights to other recordings I have made, which I did not do. If I should choose to post these documents on the internet, I do not think the position I am taking would be challenged. I don’t think either Revola or Ace Records had any intention of ever paying me. Record companies don’t pay artists and writers unless they are forced to, or see it in their own interest to do so.

Anyone who reads this can go out on the internet and find a lot of Bobby Jameson songs and recordings, and if it has my name on it as artist or writer, one thing will be true: I didn’t get paid—ever! I have never received a record royalty statement in my life, or any statement from anybody regarding any song I have written. I said in my last remarks posted on this site. I was kicked out of ASCAP’s office. It was because they told me they had money of mine, but they weren’t going to give it to me. I objected loudly. They told me I had to get a lawyer to get my money, and to leave their office or I would be thrown out. That’s the “music business”—keep everybody’s money until legally forced to pay.

I am not alone in this. There are thousand of singers, writers, and musicians who just wanted to make a record, write a song, or play the guitar. They know exactly what I’m talking about, and now, because of sites like this one, they can have a voice and tell it like it is. The “music business” is based on a collective unspoken conspiracy to withhold as much of other people’s money as they can for as long as they can. Damn the little guy!

Bobby Jameson/Chris Lucey

Peace

P.S. If anybody wants to help, please e-mail Revola, Fallout Records, and Ace Records, and ask them why they don’t pay their artists.

Posted by Eagle5471 on Sunday, August 19, 2007 - 2:53 PM
[Reply to this]
Terri


Thank you message to Fallout Records from Bobby Jameson:

Thank you, Steven Carr, director, Sound Links Music Ltd. and Fallout Records, for your personal telephone call. I received a box with 50 CDs of “Color Him In” and a bank draft for $1000 as you promised. I look forward to any further conversations we may have in the future.

Unlike my nonrelationship with Revola Records, who released the Chris Lucey CD five years ago, and its director, Joe Foster, speaking to you was a pleasant surprise for me. In the last five years, Revola and Ace Records have made 0 attempts to contact me, even though they found out I was actually alive.

Steve Stanley is the only person to ever contact me about Revola and Ace, and he maintains that he does not work for them, even though he has credit as Co-Producer on the Chris Lucey CD.

In fact, a couple of days ago, I got a call from Steve Stanley regarding some money Ace and Revola wanted to send me, but they needed my address. I asked him “How much is it—50 bucks?” He answered, “$168.” After five years of selling “Songs of Protest and Anti Protest” they had managed to sell 1600 copies world-wide, and were giving me a royalty of 10 cents a copy. Wow! Revola, you really know how to sell records! It sounds like Joe Foster needs the money more than I do. I’ll let those reading this decide whether this passes the smell test.

I told Steve Stanley that I could have sold more CDs in five years out of the trunk of my car than Revola did, but Revola never gave me any CDs, like Fallout has. Thanks again, Fallout and Steven Carr.

In ending, I would like to give a special word of appreciation to John Berg of Seattle, Washington, for helping me and Fallout connect.

By the way, if you are a singer or writer, had some connection to a recording released by Fallout, and you never got any money for your work, contact Steven Carr at Sound Links Music, Ltd., Cherry Orchard House, 43 Cherry Orchard Road, West Molesey, Surrey KT8, 1QZ, England. E-mail: Scarr@btconnect.com. Tel. No.:
011 44 8941 0594. Give it a try. You may be treated with a little respect.

Thanks,

Bobby Jameson/Chris Lucey

Peace



Posted by Terri on Sunday, September 16, 2007 - 9:38 AM

JOE FOSTER AND ROGER ARMSTRONG--LIARS AND THIEVES

Joe Foster

Joe Foster

Joe Foster Director of Rev-Ola Records UK


Roger Armstrong Director of ACE Records UK- Photo by Michael Daks



A much younger Roger Armstrong Ace Records

I have not previously been as blatant as I will be in this post, regarding my opinion of Joe Foster of Rev-Ola Records UK and Roger Armstrong of ACE Records UK. There are too many who come to me and voice their support for Foster, Armstrong, Alec Palao (consultant for Ace Records), and others, such as Cherry Red Records UK, who have all been involved in the theft and reissue of SONGS OF PROTEST AND ANTI PROTEST by Chris Lucey aka Bobby Jameson in 2002.

I am the last person anyone should come to and voice that opinion. At this point Joe Foster and Roger Armstrong are both shiny suited record company and publishing executives of the worst kind. They have long since faded from true creative endeavors, and have become the money hoarders and new power brokers, of the UK Reissue Empire.

Roger Armstrong and Joe Foster have grabbed, and continue to grab, as much money, publishing, and master rights as they possibly can to pad their own wallets. While Joe sits in Glasgow living a comfortable life, provided to him, in part, by money he has refused to pay to those to whom it is owed, but who are ill equipped to force him to do so, Armstrong provides himself with an even more lavish life style in London and other parts of the UK.

Joe is part of a group of people, which includes Roger Armstrong and others, whom he confers with on an ongoing basis. They advise each other on matters regarding the protection of themselves and their assets. Joe deals with Ace Records, Cherry Red Records, Rev-Ola, and a number of others, as a means of keeping viable his ongoing reissue slot machine and publishing interests. Joe Foster's company, Sterling Music, and other entities, such as Little Nemo Music and Poppy Disc Records, feed his pockets and ego. The same is true for Armstrong.

Through publishing, reissue exploitation of other artists' work, and motion pictures, Joe Foster and Roger Armstrong, and a host of other questionable characters, collect money through the placement of songs, and the reissuing of masters, for which the writers and artists are seldom paid. Their word means nothing. Their promises are lies dressed up in future hopes. They extend themselves as little as possible to gain whatever control they can over the music and recordings of artists and writers.

They use the names and likenesses of those artists and writers, and sell their work to the world. A little money in front and promises of royalties down the road, which rarely happens, is the name of their game. Once in control of the music and master recordings, Joe Foster and Roger Armstrong are as ruthless as any executive from companies around the world.

There is never an accounting by Foster, with regard to the number of units sold by Rev-Ola UK. The same is true for Armstrong and Ace Records UK, as well as Cherry Red Records UK, and Fallout UK. They all rely on the fact that most will find it impossible to audit their company from a foreign country, because of costs and legal jurisdictional differences. It is the fucking UK Reissue Empire.

In 2007 I offered both Alec Palao, who was representing Ace Record's interests with me, and Joe Foster of Rev-Ola, a deal that would have settled our problem for good. I suggested to both Palao and Foster, that ACE and REV-OLA get together and pay me a minimal amount, so we could all move on. Both Alec Palao/Ace, and Joe Foster/Rev-Ola, refused to accommodate this simple fix, saying, "They owe me nothing."