Have you ever listened to a song and thought the melody felt all too familiar… like you’ve heard it somewhere else before? Well, that might happen more often than not since artists tend to be inspired by one another. However, that ‘inspiration’ might sometimes cause lengthy legal disputes and not-so-friendly accusations.
So, when the Verve was looking for inspiration for their then-upcoming album, ‘Urban Hymns,’ they came across the musical archives of the Rolling Stones. The act then discovered some orchestral studio sessions recorded in the mid-’60s, organized by Andrew Loog Oldham, the Stones’ former manager, featuring the band’s early hits.
The Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft then found the song, ‘The Last Time,’ released on the Rolling Stones’ hit album, ‘Out of Our Heads.’ That particular track inspired him enough that he thought the band could turn the melody into something ‘outrageous.’ So, that was how the ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ was born.
Three decades later, ‘The Last Time’ was created; it was reborn with the Verve’s new track. However, there was no plagiarism, as the act had gotten the Rolling Stones’ record label’s blessings to use the track. However, not everyone was pleased, and things got bitter when Allen Klein, the Stones’ former manager who owned the rights to the band’s pre-’70s songs, accused the Verve of plagiarism.
Allen claimed that even though he’d agreed to let the band use ‘The Last Time,’ the Verve had used a larger portion of the track than the manager had allowed. These accusations turned the arrows to the Rolling Stones’ front as people wondered what they had to say about all these.
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards then listened to the ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony,’ both reportedly stating that they liked the song but didn’t want to be a part of the accusations or a possible lawsuit. The iconic pair tried their best to avoid any dispute about this particular problem; however, Klein persisted in launching a legal dispute.
After a few lengthy court hearings, the songs’ royalties were given to Klein’s label, and songwriting credits were changed to feature the names of Jagger and Richards. The frontman, Ashcroft, was reportedly given $1,000 for his part in the song and later joked that the ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ was the best hit the Rolling Stones wrote in decades.
However, it seemed like Mick and Keith weren’t fond of being given the songwriting credits. So, even though they’d had been silent about the matter and avoided any conflict, the duo finally took a step to reconcile things by returning the rights of the ‘Bitter Sweet Melody’ to Ashcroft and the Verve. Nearly two decades later, the lawsuit granted them songwriting credits.
So, in the end, things were solved as the Verve got back their rights. Even though Allen Klein had accused the band of plagiarism as he claimed they’d used a larger portion of ‘The Last Time’ than both sides agreed, Jagger and Richard seemed not to be bothered by the Verve’s usage as they both decided the track sounded good and returned the act’s rights years later.
