|
Title: Stanley Shapiro's Comment on WIBNTLA(?) Post by: Wata on October 04, 2018, 08:00:03 PM Inspired by Desper's new video(which I've only scanned through so far), I was looking for some new information on (Wouldn't It Be Nice To) Live Again, and I accidentally found this comment to a blog article about the song, by the song's co-writer, Stanley Shapiro (dontforgetthesongs365.wordpress.com/2013/09/03/dennis-wilson-the-beach-boys-wouldnt-it-be-nice-to-live-again/ (http://dontforgetthesongs365.wordpress.com/2013/09/03/dennis-wilson-the-beach-boys-wouldnt-it-be-nice-to-live-again/)):
Quote It’s a great piece…I don’t dispute that… but, in all fairness, the Beach Boys (and the recording entities involved) all know who wrote this song…I wrote it 100% before DW ever recorded it. (Anyone can look it up or check it out with Alan Boyd…the Beach Boys archivist). I still own one half of all the publishing rights and they have NEVER been up for sale to anyone! After previewing this song with Tim Wright (ROLLING STONE) I pleaded with Dennis not to pull the song from the SURF’S UP album (to no avail) and I’ve been fighting with THE BEACH BOYS ever since! It broke my heart when Dennis drowned in Marina Del Rey …I spent time alone with him just one day earlier. To this day I’ve been falsely accused of being a bad inflence on DW…supplying him with drugs, etc…those who really know me, including Gregg Jacobson (FOREVER), Stephen Kalinich (LITTLE BIRD) or his 2nd wife Barbara, will tell you I never used nor sold drugs with, or to, anyone in my entire life! WOULDN’T IT BE NICE TO LIVE AGAIN was eventually covered by Evie Sands with Adam Marsland’s group CHAOS and placed on the grammies ballot for SONG OF THE YEAR but was largely ignored and NEVER supported by the Beach Boys. To this day Brian Wilson accuses me and Gregg Jacobson of stealing one of his pianos… a total fabrication and yet another falsehood! Following DW’s tragic death, I wrote a tribute song to Dennis entitled THE GYPSY QUEEN… a life out on the ocean. NO ONE in the music industry, not even Brian, will ask to look at this song… even though I know this is another work of art (worthy of another Grammy award) just waiting for the right artist to come along! According to this, the song was 100% written by Stanley, and Stanley has had some problem with The Beach Boys. Is there any chance this is the real Stanley, or is this just someone pretending to be him? What do you think about this? Title: Re: Stanley Shapiro's Comment on WIBNTLA(?) Post by: c-man on October 04, 2018, 08:20:39 PM That's interesting. In his description of the song's origins in Ken Sharp's great tome "Dreamer: The Making of Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue", Stanley relates that he only had the lyrics 100% written prior to presenting them to Dennis: "The year was 1971 and the words for the song 'Wouldn't It Be Nice to Live Again' were written with no particular music in mind." Later, he states, "From the moment Dennis declared his intention to use the written words for a song its completed destination was an uncertainty." From this, it sounds as though Dennis added music to Stanley's completed set of lyrics.
Later, he describes learning from Daryl Dragon that the song was being recorded by the Beach Boys, then asking both Dennis and Nick Grillo about this, and being told they knew nothing about it (yet Grillo wanted Stan to come down and sign some "release papers"). Title: Re: Stanley Shapiro's Comment on WIBNTLA(?) Post by: Custom Machine on October 04, 2018, 11:36:10 PM Very interesting post from Stanley Shapiro, assuming the post is in fact from him, and given the details it appears highly likely that it is.
I've never heard the story that Brian thinks Shapiro and Jakobson stole his piano, and I would have assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that someone who was a good friend of Dennis' would not have had a drug free past. Checking the BMI and ASCAP Repertoires, I am rather baffled, as I have no expertise in this area, as to how to interpret the numbers as far as percentage of writer's credits and publishing are concerned, as they seem to be in conflict. WOULDN T IT BE NICE TO LIVE AGAIN BMI Work # 7526238 Total Controlled by BMI: 50% SONGWRITER/COMPOSER CURRENT AFFILIATION CAE/IPI # SHAPIRO STANLEY BMI 495482215 WILSON DENNIS C ASCAP 46471283 PUBLISHERS CURRENT AFFILIATION CAE/IPI # STANLEY SHAPIRO MUSIC BMI 475616137 Additional Non-BMI Publishers http://repertoire.bmi.com/ListView.aspx?torow=25&fromrow=1&page=1 WOULDN'T IT BE NICE TO LIVE AGAIN Total Current ASCAP Share: 62.5% ISWC: T9047018315 Work ID: 889904695 Writers ASCAP controls 25% PRO IPI SHAPIRO STANLEY BMI 495482215 WILSON DENNIS C ASCAP 46471283 Performers THE BEACH BOYS Publishers ASCAP controls 37.5% PRO IPI DENNIS WILSON MUSIC Contact Info ASCAP 133558674 OMNIPHONIC SOUNDS Contact Info ASCAP 666387204 Additional Non-ASCAP Publishers https://www.ascap.com/repertory#ace/search/title/wouldn%27t%20it%20be%20nice%20to%20live%20again Title: Re: Stanley Shapiro's Comment on WIBNTLA(?) Post by: c-man on October 05, 2018, 03:09:53 AM Rob - interesting to see some of the other titles listed for Dennis C. Wilson on that ASCAP site - would make a good topic for another thread! :)
Title: Re: Stanley Shapiro's Comment on WIBNTLA(?) Post by: Custom Machine on October 05, 2018, 12:34:04 PM Rob - interesting to see some of the other titles listed for Dennis C. Wilson on that ASCAP site - would make a good topic for another thread! :) Craig - That's for sure! https://www.ascap.com/repertory#ace/writer/46471283/WILSON%20DENNIS%20C |