'Let It Roll' and 'Let Her Go'

Credits confusion between Keith Reid and Cheap Trick

Sam Cameron and Joan May send us this string of Deja News ...

Subject: Let Her Go
From: khawkey@sirinet.net (Kevin Hawkey)
Date: 1996/05/24
Newsgroups: alt.music.cheap-trick

Does anyone know why it says 'Writers and Publishers pending' under this song in the Woke Up [... with a Monster, 1994]' CD liner notes? Could it be because it sounds a lot like another band?

Subject: Re: Let Her Go
From: mmarkp@aol.com (MmarkP)
Date: 1996/05/26
Newsgroups: alt.music.cheap-trick

There is only one cause for a lack of writer's credits, and that is that there is a dispute over the author at the time of publishing. On a Rockline interview in April 1994, Tom states, in answering your same question, that 'there is a contest' to see who can author the song.

I think one can read between the lines and see what may have been going on, i.e., lawyers were involved. I would imagine someone else either claimed it was their song or Let Her Go was influenced by their song. In a later interview, however, the matter must have been cleared up, as one of them (I can't remember who) said it had all been dropped and they had the writer's credits. Good for them. I can't imagine them stealing material anyway, not with their talent!

Mark

Subject: Re: Let Her Go
From: gotohan@aol.com (GoToHan)
Date: 1996/05/26
Newsgroups: alt.music.cheap-trick

Yes, Mark, you are correct.

there is / was a lawsuit against the band for writer's rights to the song because some idiot decided it would be a neat thing to do. Therefore, to avoid any more legal tangles, they did not post the writers.

Later

Subject: Re: Let Her Go
From: kisodet@aol.com (Kisodet)
Date: 1996/06/08
Newsgroups: alt.music.cheap-trick

I think the story with Let Her Go is that some bonehead sued the band prior to the release of the album, claiming that it was his song. You know, one of those deals. So they put 'Writers Pending' until the suit is settled or some crap like that.

Subject: Re: Let Her Go
From: Mike Hayes <hayes@argonet.co.uk>
Date: 1996/06/08
Message-ID: <internews46DB2327EF@argonet.co.uk>
Newsgroups: alt.music.cheap-trick

Rick was quoted in 20th Century Guitar (May / June 1994) as providing the following explanation for the curious absence of credits on the excellent Let Her Go:

'Robin writes a song with Nick Graham, who co-wrote The Flame, when he was writing songs for his solo record. They make a demo of it and he brings it to us; it doesn't get on his record and we make a little demo of it in Rockford Illinois.

I come up with the idea to de-modulate the song at the end where the riff keeps going down; instead of going up it goes down ... Then we changed it around a little bit and Ted Templeman likes it. Then we record it.

While we are doing it we get some lyrics from a guy that used to write lyrics for Procol Harum, Keith Reid. He called it Let It Roll, about a truck or something like that. We just laughed it off and didn't use it, we already had our stuff.

Right before the record comes out we get a call from Keith and he says 'Hey, I wrote that. I want credit on the song' ... All the artwork was done and we had to re-do it and take the credits off.'

I too had been curious as it's one of my favourite Cheap Trick recordings!

Mike Hayes:- hayes@argonet.co.uk

Joan May adds: this happened recently – 1994 – around Cheap Trick's unsuccessful album Woke up with a Monster now only available as an expensive Japanese import.. I'm tempted to buy it just to see the songwriting credits – or lack of same – on the liner notes. Cheap Trick has said they didn't like the Computerized production on this album (sound familiar?) and on their latest they recorded in Analog, live in the studio! Just what I hope Procol will do someday!