I got an odd response to my entertainment, "Kodak’s 1960s’ 'Turn Around' Commercial," from Charles H. Smith, whose Web page on the song "Turn Around," I had quoted at length. Smith complained that I had misrepresented him and his co-author, Nancy Schimmel. However, as I showed in my response, not only had I not misrepresented the writers' words, but in Smith's zeal to defend Harry Belafonte's honor from my non-attack on him, he unwittingly condemned the singer as an extortionist who shook down the song's composer and lyricist for a songwriting co-credit, and thousands of dollars in ensuing royalties, none of which he had a legal right to. In other words, according to Smith, Belafonte stole money--one-third of the songwriters' royalties--that was rightfully Malvina Reynolds and Alan Greene's.
Thus, in Smith's response to me, he contradicted his and Schimmel's defense of Belafonte at their Web page:
1. Although Greene and Belafonte are listed as co-composers here, some recent public comments made by friends of Malvina's make it sound as though the song was actually wholly of her making, and that the copyright was set up in this fashion simply because Belafonte made this a condition for his recording it.
Considering that millions of people know who Harry Belafonte is, but hardly anyone knows who the late Malvina Reynolds was, I can't understand why someone would want to slight her out of recognition that she so richly deserves, while giving the rich and honored Belafonte additional recognition that, according to Smith, he only got through criminal extortion.
Charles H. Smith said...
This is not quite what we (Nancy Schimmel and myself) said. On Nancy's recollection, plus what was told to Alan Greene's son Brian (the famous physicist), it appears Malvina came to Greene with the main body of the song (including the lyrics) completed, but Greene (or possibly Belafonte) thought it needed a chorus, which he added. Belafonte's small addition to the song may or may not have warranted his inclusion as author, but after all, he was the one who was going to sing it... --Charles H. Smith
Monday, April 18, 2011 6:20:00 PM EDT
The response I posted at my initial blog entry follows:
Dear Mr. Smith,
I don't, at present, have access to to my files (i.e., my original download of your Web page), but I hit the link to go back to your present Web page for the song, and have copied and pasted the relevant footnotes below.
Please explain how I misrepresented you and Ms. Schimmel.
You quoted Malvina Reynolds as saying that Harry Belafonte had misunderstood her lyrics, and I quoted the passage in question verbatim. As for whether Belafonte deserved co-author status, in your criticism of me you left no doubt that his listing as co-author had no justification, and was purely an act of extortion on his part. However, you clearly have no problem with his extortion ("after all…").
Would you support white singers engaging in the same sort of extortion against black songwriters? Singers who believe in free markets against communist songwriters? I didn't think so.
Now, what was your criticism of me?
Sincerely,
Nicholas Stix
"1. Although Greene and Belafonte are listed as co-composers here, some recent public comments made by friends of Malvina's make it sound as though the song was actually wholly of her making, and that the copyright was set up in this fashion simply because Belafonte made this a condition for his recording it. More accurately, it would appear that Belafonte agreed to record the song only after Alan Greene had made some modifications (most notably the addition of the chorus) to Malvina's original words and music. A couple of the word changes may have been suggested by Belafonte, though in Malvina's own songbooks she credited the song as 'Words and Music' by Malvina Reynolds and Alan Greene. "
2. When Harry Belafonte recorded the song, he sang 'Little dirndls and petticoats' instead of 'Little sunsuits and petticoats,' saying that you don’t wear petticoats with sunsuits. 'I wasn’t thinking of wearing,' said Malvina. 'I was thinking of ironing.' Since dirndls aren’t popular any more, people may want to revert to the original line. The entire original song went like this:
"Where are you going, my little one, little one,
Where are you going, my sonny, my own?
Turn around and you’re two, turn around and you’re four,
Turn around and you’re a young man going out of my door.
"Where are you going, my little one, little one,
Little sunsuits and petticoats, where have you gone?
Turn around and you’re tiny, turn around and you’re grown,
Turn around and you’re a young wife with babes of your own.
"The chorus was added for the Belafonte recording, and Malvina also sang and recorded it that way."
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 12:45:00 AM EDT
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