[Dixielandjazz] Right to Play Tunes

[Stephen Barbone]

Yes, as Tom Wiggins said, often the collection guys go to the nightclub
and ask for a tune list.

Best one I saw was when we were playing at a local Blues Club. ASCAP
sent the club owner a letter about fees, then followed it up with a
visit where the ASCAP guy came in and tried to muscle the club owner for
a fee, to cover us, as well as for the tunes played by bands during the
past year.

Club owner told him that since it was a Blues Club, the only tunes
played there were BMI tunes and he told the ASCAP guy to leave, else he
would throw him out for being drunk and disorderly.

ASCAP guy asked us what we played, I said original compositions and
pointed to the band stand saying "You don't see any music there do you?
It is all our stuff".

In this case, the ASCAP collector left peaceably. HOWEVER, there have
been cases where they have sued club owners and won. Usually, they go
after much bigger game than the local clubs.

This particular club was small, and owned by a large Black Man who
intimidated the ASCAP guy. We always loved to play there, the only white
band that ever did to my knowledge. The owner was a stand up guy, and he
loved to wait until we were all set up on the stand, then turn the spot
lights on and scream in a shocked voice: "My God, they're white!"

Always got a huge laugh from the crowd which was 50/50 black & white. It
was a great place to work and the audiences were always wonderfully
enthusiastic. The owner of the real estate sold it to a Drugstore Chain
a couple of years ago and the club owner retired. Rats.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

PS. Occasionally I get asked to sign a waiver that the Band will be
responsible for any license fees that may be due from our performance. I
always pass on that saying we are doing public domain tunes. and/or
original compositions.