Got You On My Mind": questions answered

Hey William,      Here's some advice from someone who loves music and
art AND knows it's ultimately worth more than money or power AND is
about to put two kids through college. If there's money owed you, go for
the jugular. You can be sure Rounder Records would. Brian and Geoff, I
wonder how above it all you'd be if you were getting screwed.

What are you, the Dali Lama? Peace, Geoff.

 First encountered Madi's music thru an eighty year old patron of a coffee house where I sing and play.He loaned me the first two cds,and I bought the last one.They are a pleasure to listen to.I was impressed with the guitar work and harp on GYOMM.Will has no need to ride anyone's coattails.Choice of music on all three cd's gives careful consideration to striking a broad audience.I am hoping that her tours follow a more southerly route in the near future so I can see a live performance.According to my eighty year old friend,GYOMM is available at Barnes and Nobles in Florida.Recently another upcoming siger/songwriter(I want to say Bonham was the last name but I am so bad with names and not really current on what's current) produced her own album,and gave a lenghy interview on the high points of controlling her own sound.The reasons have much to do about having a say in what you play.BTW,there are many buskers all over the streets that can give you the ins and outs of playing a handful of mass produced hits over and over to ring up someones regester versus playing what they want to play on a street corner.A decade of playing both in and out of clubs in New Orleans leads me to believe that many of the people playing out there do it by choice,not because they can't find a stage  ( anyone here familer with Roslyn and David? )Best of luck on your lawsuit Will.At least your cd is available in this area.

Dear Geoff,

I wanted to answer your post before going away for the
weekend.

You see what a great conversation you would be missing if I
had been censored?

I'll try to answer your thought-provoking questions:

-As David, I would ask Madi to get down off Goliath’s shoulder.
(What the heck is she doing up there anyway?)

Then I would aim very carefully (I’d be David after all) and smite
Goliath right between the eyes while yelling "Jump, Madi!!!”. If
Madi jumped I would catch her (I’m assuming Goliath is about
15 ft tall in sandals). If Goliath landed on top of Madi, I would try
to get her out. Then I would have a long talk with her about
riding around on evil giants, and we would be friends.

I certainly wouldn’t let Goliath smite me and let him have his
wicked way with Madi.

-Would Madi slay me wantonly? I hope not. You’d have to ask
her that one, but I’m not picking up a powerful love-vibe from
her direction these days.

Sorry to repeat myself, but I tried every way I could think of to
resolve this matter amicably, short of laying over a barrell and
thinking of England. There can be no concilliation without
communication, and I have been threatened with restraining
orders if I try to contact Madi, her colleagues or Rounder in any
way. (Of course, if they had any grounds to get restraining
orders against me, they would have gotten them, but they don’t-
so they threaten.) On the other hand, Madi, her colleagues and
Rounder are welcome to contact me any time at all.

I completely share your desire for peace and tranquility, but
there are times when a person has to stand up for what’s right.
If the original David had asked Goliath for a hug instead of
clocking him, he would have been been squashed flatter than a
latke and we would all be worshipping Baal. If George
Washington had merely looked into his heart, we would be all
be going to work on Monday, among other things. Ditto FDR
and Churchill. Even Ghandi and MLK didn’t advocate taking it
up the caboose.

Keep in mind that I am not smiting anybody with a slingshot or
any other weapon. I am using the courts, which is the civilized
way of resolving conflict in this society. Civil court is actually
quite unlike war - for example nobody gets blown to bits and no
cities get leveled in court. In fact, courts exist precisely so that
wars won’t have to. Powerful corporations, lawyers,
governments and people who abuse their power need to be
reigned in, and punished if necessary (for the protection of us
AND our kids), and court is where that happpens. But court
does suck, and if the court of public opinion serves to embarass
(or enlighten) Rounder and Greenberg into settling before they
face a jury, that would fine with me. What better path to
resolution do you suggest? Before you answer that, make an
effort to learn the facts of this situation. Its easy to claim that
every conflict has two sides, but only a fool would say that
those sides are always symmetrical.

If you are a friend of Madi, as you seem to be, see if you can
talk her down from Goliath’s shoulders. The big dude is going
down hard and I sincerely don’t want Madi getting squashed.

But even if she does, she will survive and she will learn a great
lesson about integrity and power and she will be a better
person for it. If she and Goliath prevail, all of us will be the
worse for it- even Madi and Goliath.

That’s the way i see it.

best,


William

By the way, what ever happened to those Indians who<

Two women came before King Solomon.

One woman (the true mother) said, "My lord, this woman and I
dwell in the same house and I gave birth to a child while she
was in the house. On the third day after I gave birth she also
gave birth… This woman's child died during the night because
she lay on him. She arose during the night and took my son
from my side while I slept, laid him on her bosom and laid her
dead child on my bosom. When I rose in the morning to nurse
my son, behold, he was dead! But when I observed him in the
morning, I realized that he was not my son to whom I had given
birth."
The other woman replied, "It is not so! My son is the live one
and your son is the dead one."
King Solomon briefly reiterated their arguments and ordered,
"Bring me a sword." The King then said, "Cut the living child in
two, and give half to one and half to the other."
The woman who claimed that her son was stolen from her said,
"Please, my lord, give her the living child and do not kill it."
But the other woman said, "Neither mine nor yours shall he be.
Cut!"
The king spoke up and said, "Give the first woman the living
child and do not kill it; for she is his mother."

I assume you evoke this Biblical parable because you feel it is
analogous to the situation with GYOMM.

Its not a perfect analogy but let's take a crack at it.

Madi and i are the two women (so to speak). GYOMM is the
baby. Madi (through her lawyer) claimed that GYOMM
belonged to her alone and i (and US copyright law) objected,
saying it belonged to both of us.

Madi (or at least Rounder, Greenberg and Herbst who
represent her) apparently wants GYOMM dead, (Madi is suing
me for a million bucks for selling it) and I want it to live. I would
bet Solomon would give the CD to me and tell the others to
take a hike. I am proposing that Madi and i share the praise
and the profits this CD is generating.

What would the Quakers say? Rather than just banning the
subject from discussion, please give us some advice to Madi
and I as to what we should do to resolve this. If this topic had
been banned, we wouldn't benefit from your insight.

Question: would YOU like to see GYOMM incinerated? If not,
please contact Ken Irwin at Rounder Records. If Irwin would
scribble his intials on a note reading "pay this asshole for the
trouble we caused him and let him sell the damn CD", then
Madi, Herbst, and Greenberg would stop harrassing me, and
"CornishJazz" and you would never be annoyed by another
one of my endless postings.

I'll tell you one thing, if Pete Seeger (who I played with on
several occasions long ago) weren't so old, he would be
holding a rally in front of Rounder headquarters. He cares
deeply about justice, corporate corruption and hypocricy. If
Rounder and Greenberg get away with destroying GYOMM,
Waking Up Music and my reputation, their tactics will become
a blueprint for every greedy, thuggish, record company that
wants to eliminate smaller companies and artists from the
competition.

STEP 1- Falsely claim you own the competing CD

STEP 2- Threaten to sue any company that licenses or
distributes the CD based on above false claim.

STEP 3- Tell journalists and retailers such as Borders and
Barnes and Nobles.com that CD is illegal and an inferior
"demo".

STEP 4- Falsely accuse the artist of abuse so as to put his
reputation at risk if he takes you to court for above meritless
threats and allegations.

STEP 5- If artist calls your bluff, provide affidavit to Federal
J