Joseph C. Self wrote:
"In an interview published in the November 27, 1992 issue of Goldmine magazine, George Harrison stated that the events that occurred during the litigation of a claim that he had plagiarized the melody for his worldwide smash hit, "My Sweet Lord" from a hit single from 1963 called "He's So Fine" would fill a book. Maybe so, but this article is designed to boil down what happened in the court proceedings to a concise and understandable account of several years of litigation.
As with my prior article on the Lennon-Levy suit, I have gone to what I consider the primary source for my information: the written opinions published by the courts that passed judgment on the facts presented to it. (footnote 1) The court had to decide if Harrison had infringed the copyright of "He's So Fine" (or HSF) in composing "My Sweet Lord" (or MSL) and if so, then a determination as to the damages due to the holder of the copyright would have to be made.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE CASE
The story starts in 1962, when "He's So Fine" was recorded. It was composed by Ronald Mack, recorded by the Chiffons, and was owned by Bright Tunes Music Corp. in 1971 (the opinion does not say if the song was originally published by Bright; however, as Paul McCartney can tell you, ownership of song copyrights can be transferred from one publishing company to another). It was a big hit in the United States, hitting the top of the Billboard charts for five weeks. (footnote 2) It was moderately successful in England, reaching Number 12 on one chart on June 1, 1963, a week that saw "From Me To You" topping the charts. Harrison acknowledged that he was familiar with "He's So Fine".
During the next seven years, "He's So Fine" was little more than a song that was played on the "golden oldies" request lines. Harrison had gone on with the Beatles to become wildly successful, and in 1970 was embarking on a solo career.
In December, 1969, George was playing in Copenhagen, Denmark, with Delaney and Bonnie and Friends. Billy Preston was part of that group. Harrison told the court that the song that became "My Sweet Lord" was conceived when he slipped away from a press conference and began "vamping" some guitar chords, fitting the chords to the words "Hallelujah" and "Hare Krishna." Later, members of the band joined in and lyrics were developed.
Harrison took the idea further during the following week. Upon returning to London, Preston went into the studio to make an album, and while George was not playing on the record, he was supervising the work. The unfinished "My Sweet Lord" was brought up, and was worked into a finished version. Part of this completed song included a second section that differed significantly from the first section (more on this below). Although the song apparently had many mid-wives, Harrison is solely credited with the birth of "My Sweet Lord". (footnote 3) The Preston recording was issued by Apple Records, and a "lead sheet" containing the melody, words and harmony was submitted for the United States copyright application.
However, it was not the version recorded and released by Billy Preston that led to two decades of litigation. George Harrison recorded a version of "My Sweet Lord" for his album,
All Things Must Pass, and released "My Sweet Lord" as the first single from that album. It was released on November 28, 1970 in the United States and was a number one hit shortly thereafter.
On February 10, 1971, before it even completed its fourteen-week run on the chart, Bright Tunes filed suit against George Harrison, his English and American companies, (Harrisongs Music, Ltd. and Harrisongs Music, Inc., respectively), Apple Records, BMI, and Hansen Publications. For sake of ease of reading, a reference to Harrison is meant to refer to all defendants in the suit unless otherwise stated.
Very soon after the suit against Harrison was filed, Allen Klein, who was then acting as manager for Harrison, met with Seymour Barash, the president and major stockholder of Bright Tunes to try to resolve the dispute. (footnote 4)
Klein suggested that Harrison would be willing to purchase the entire Bright catalog; Barash had countered with a proposal that the copyright to MSL be surrendered to Bright, and Harrison would receive half of the proceeds derived from MSL.
No further progress was made toward a settlement, and preparations were made to defend the case. Klein assisted Harrison in finding musicologist Harold Barlow to give an opinion as to the lack of merit of the lawsuit and it was Klein that engaged the attorneys that defended Harrison...."
The rest of this interesting story is located at
http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/mysweet.htm
