Sunday, June 21, 2020

Musical Interlude: I Won't Back Down (1989)

For his 1989 solo album, "Full Moon Fever", Tom Petty, fresh from the Traveling Wilburys' debut, retained the services of Wilbury "brothers" Jeff Lynne & George Harrison, the latter bringing along former Beatles mate Ringo Starr, to join Petty and his regular sidekick, Mike Campbell, for "I Won't Back Down":



"Back" is in the news 31 years later after Petty's family issued a cease & desist letter to President Donald Trump's campaign after the song was used for Trump's rally in Tulsa Saturday night. However, if the Trump campaign followed actual protocols and obtained a license from the music publishers, then the Petty estate, sadly, has no case. Same goes for the Rolling Stones, who've raised a stink over one of their early hits, "You Can't Always Get What You Want", being used as Trump's exit music.

Other artists have similarly raised complaints about their music being used without permission, but the Trump campaign just doesn't seem to care, as long as they're paying licensing fees (if they actually are). Stay tuned.

2 comments:

Silverstar said...

Donnie Two-Scoops' repeated usage of the Stones' music stems from a personal grudge. Years ago, when Trump was just a private citizen lowlife, the Rolling Stones were booked for a concert in the New York area. Annoying Orange, always looking for a chance to steal the spotlight, kept trying to insert himself into the event, despite the band and their publicists telling him repeatedly and tellingly that they didn't want him anywhere near it. Fast-forward to the night of the venue: Trump is there and refuses to vacate, and now he's brought 2 goons (one of whom is wearing brass knuckles) along with him as enforcers. The band's roadie goes to tell the band, and minutes later he returns with 10 bigger guys, forcing Trump to finally get the point and whimper away.

Trump uses the Rolling Stones' music against their will as a pathetic attempt to troll the band as his petty revenge for their intimidating and humiliating him that night. 'cause petty revenge is really all he's good at.

hobbyfan said...

Which is why there are so many memes, including some I've used, depicting him as a baby. He can't deal with reality.