Dear A/W, I wonder if maybe another Artist Weekly page, featuring the ability to cover favorite artists, might be interesting. I have no idea how hard that would be for you, or how many artists would be interested, not to mention the legal aspects, but i think that as this is a not for profit - artistically-site, it should be OK. What do you think. What does anyone else think. I think it might be fun.
Point taken. Thank-you. Is there such a thing as public domain after a song reaches a certain age, where royalties (and or rights) are no longer required?
Excerpt: "Anything copyrighted prior to 1923 is in the public domain. (Practically speaking, this includes anything published prior to 1923, since publication without copyright put the work straight into the public domain. "
Continuing: "Works never published prior to 2003 (and never registered for copyright prior to 1978) are now in the public domain in the US if they are by authors who died more than 70 years before the most recent New Year's day."
As you can see Jeff, this limits your selections to things like "Nick knack paddy-whack" and possibly "Old McDonald".
Maybe something more current will present itself to you:)
Always a pleasure to hear from you Jack. There were some great songs written in the 1880's that might deserve review. Believe it or not. That's what timeless is all about.
Okay, since you guys opened the door on this, I will just stumble on in.
Have posted a cover of the classic and timeless Crawdad Song, which if you have never sung some part or version of or never had some part or version of sung to you as a kid, you were pro'lly not born in an English-speaking region of North America. As taught to me by my grandma; accompanied by our Florida state champion finger-picker. And legal, per Jack's research - thanks for keeping us straight...............!
(It's a practice session, so pardon the guffawing and cackling at the end, we was having us some fun, a's all)
Title: ABC song & 764 other titles; musical compositions. "Crawdad song" copyrighted by Twin Sisters Productions http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/doctitles.cgi?V3495D086
Song title:"This old man": 090 This old man / (Nursery rhymes 115)
Song title:"Old McDonald": 070 Old MacDonald had a farm / Songs for learning (173) So that takes even that song away from our pool!!!
Over here, http://www.akh.se/harbel/lyrics/crawdad_song.htm , Harry Belafonte is given credit for words and music to a version of this song recorded by Milton Okun (a name you can appreciatte :) on the album "Hootenanny with the Skifflers". Harry Belafonte having any bit in this work has not been verified by my crack team of crack heads;)
However, two BIG names from long ago returned with a hit.
Copyright Claimant: Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. Date of Creation: 1941 Date of Publication: 1988-06-06 Basis of Claim: New Matter: "words."
Other Title: The Crawdad song. Names: Seeger, Pete (given credit for music)
Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie....my my my what a pair of original Americana old folksters.
oh gaaaaaaaawwwwwwwww you guys.....hundreds of people have probably recorded hundreds of versions of that song, and probably thousands more have performed thousands of other versions of it, regardless of whatever copyrights there are. It's a standard at folk festival jam circles all over the country, because any group that congregates can play it for an hour, and everybody playing will have yet another verse. The version I posted is circa 1910, midwest/southern Illinois, as performed by my grands- and great-grands.....Woody's mom may have learned it from them and sang it to him . But if BC decides to banish it, no biggee; it was just for fun, which I was hoping we could still have a little of.
Don't be sorry, Jeff - at least it got some discussion going......!
They also gained a copyright on "This little pig went to market", "Jimmy crack corn" and "She'll be comin' around the mountain".
That is shrewd business.
Every time a child starts singing a little ditty while playing at school, some **** is gonna jump out of the bushes and slap a mechanical royalty fee licensing agreement on his or her ass.
.
AND got to mention my greatest musical hero, WG. 
