Tonight we compare Bobby Womack's deep album cut, "(If You Want My Love) Put Something Down On It" from 1974 to Rod Stewart's #1 Disco smash, "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" 3:38 from 1978. The song featured on Stewart's album Blondes Have More Fun, and was released as a single in November 1978. It spent one week at the top of the British charts in December 1978 and four weeks at the top of the US Billboard Hot 100 in February 1979. Billboard ranked it number four on its Top Singles of 1979 year-end chart. It also topped the charts in Australia for two weeks. Rolling Stone ranked the song at #308 in its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
Often when a record becomes a hit, there is tons of litigation accusing plagiarism. In the case of Rod Stewart's recording, he settled out-of-court with Womack, as well as Jorge Ben, for allegedly lifting the melody and string arrangements. Jorge Ben's 1972 recording of "Taj Mahal" 9:08 is included as the third track for comparison.
Stewart admitted in his 2012 autobiography to "unconscious plagiarism" of the Ben Jor song, which he had heard while attending the Rio Carnival in 1978.[2] He also admitted that he had consciously lifted the song's signature synthesizer riff from the string arrangement on Bobby Womack's "(If You Want My Love) Put Something Down On It". Stewart contends that it is legal to lift a line from any song's arrangement as long as the core melody line isn't copied.
Again, this case has long since been settled. No long diatribes on cultural appropriation or Disco music. Simply, Who did it Better? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.
#####
Reelblack's mission is to educate, elevate, entertain, enlighten, and empower through Black film. If there is content shared on this platform that you feel infringes on your intellectual property, please email me at Reelblack@mail.com and info@reelblack.com with details and it will be promptly removed.
28 авг 2024
