BMI's Harry Warner (center) congratulates legendary BMI producing and songwriting team Isaac Hayes and David Porter at the Recording Academy Honors. Photo: Rick Diamond/WireImage

Also honored at the ceremony were screenwriter/director Craig Brewer, multi-platinum artist Justin Timberlake and heritage r&b radio station WDIA. All proceeds went to the MusiCares Hurricane Relief Fund.

Isaac Hayes and David Porter formed one of the most successful songwriting partnerships of the 1960s, defining the sound of Memphis soul. After playing on several sessions for Otis Redding, Hayes was tapped to play keyboards in the Stax house band, and eventually teamed up with David Porter, Stax's first staff songwriter. Under the name the Soul Children, the Hayes-Porter duo composed some 200 songs, reeling off a string of hits for Stax luminaries like Sam & Dave ("Soul Man," "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby," "I Thank You" and "Hold On, I'm Comin'"), Carla Thomas ("B-A-B-Y,") and Johnnie Taylor ("I Got to Love Somebody's Baby," "I Had a Dream").

Named a BMI Icon in 2003, Hayes was the first African-American composer to win an Oscar for Best Score for the timeless "Theme From Shaft," a #1 hit off the Shaft soundtrack. Porter went on to engineer the relaunch of the Stax label and is a current member of the Board of Trustees of the Recording Academy. The pair was recently inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.]]> 2005-11-08T17:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/234347 Artists, Cropper, Steve, Guy, Buddy, Hayes, Isaac, John, Elton, Porter, David, Prine, John, Redding, Otis, Sherman, Robert, Simon, Paul, Starr, Ringo, Thomas, Carla, Awards, Industry Awards, Songwriters Hall of Fame Isaac Hayes, David Porter, and Richard and Robert Sherman are among those who will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame this year. The organization, which is dedicated to recognizing the work and lives of those composers and lyricists who create popular music around the world, will host its 36th annual induction and awards dinner Thursday, June 9, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. Special award honorees will be announced at a later date.

Isaac Hayes	David Porter	Steve Cropper

As a founding member of the legendary Booker T and the MG's, as well as an A&R man, producer and songwriter, Steve Cropper was involved in virtually every record issued by the seminal Stax recording label from the fall of 1961 through year end 1970. Some of his songwriting credits include the classics "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay," "Knock on Wood" and "In the Midnight Hour." Cropper produced and played on sessions by Poco, Jeff Beck, Jose Feliciano, Yvonne Elliman, John Prine, Dreams and Tower Of Power. As a member of the original incarnation of the Blues Brothers, he recorded three albums with them, including the number one Briefcase Full of Blues. Over the past 20 years. Cropper has continued to be an in-demand musician and producer. His string-bending talents are showcased on CDs by Elton John, Paul Simon, Ringo Starr, Buddy Guy, Steppenwolf and Johnny Lang.

The Sherman Brothers

Isaac Hayes and David Porter were one of the most successful songwriting partnerships of the 1960s. After playing on several sessions for Otis Redding, Hayes was tapped to play keyboards in the Stax house band, and eventually established a partnership with songwriter David Porter. Under the name the Soul Children, the Hayes-Porter duo composed some 200 songs, reeling off a string of hits for Stax luminaries like Sam & Dave (the brilliant "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby," "Soul Man," "I Thank You" and "Hold On, I'm Comin'"), Carla Thomas ("B-A-B-Y,") and Johnnie Taylor ("I Got to Love Somebody's Baby," "I Had a Dream"). Named a BMI Icon in 2003, Isaac Hayes was the first African-American composer to win an Oscar for Best Score for his soundtrack to the film Shaft, the theme song of which became a #1 hit. David Porter went on to engineer the relaunch of the Stax label and is a current member of the Board of Trustees of the Recording Academy.

One of Walt Disney's most successful songwriting teams was that of brothers Richard and Robert Sherman. These incredible children's film composers created the music heard in Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, Parent Trap, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Aristocats, and many more Oscar-nominated scores. The Shermans have won several Oscars for their scores and songs, many of which are warmly and firmly ingrained in our memories like "Chim Chim Cheree", "I Wan'na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)", "It's A Small World" and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," which is about to open on Broadway with the Shermans' Academy Award-winning score. They also scored The Aristocats (1970) and 1971's Bedknobs and Broomsticks, which garnered them more Oscar nominations for Best Score and Best Song. The Sherman Brothers have also done freelance work on screenplays and scores including Snoopy, Come Home, Tom Sawyer, Charlotte's Web, Disney's The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella, and The Magic of Lassie.

The National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The NAPM/SHOF is also devoted to the development of new songwriting talent through workshops, showcases and scholarships. BMI is a long-time supporter of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

A mix of non-traditional holiday songs might be the key to lighten the mood and create a more memorable event. How about the Beach Boys' "Little Saint Nick," written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, or "Ho Ho Ho Who'd Be a Turkey At Christmas," written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, or "Happy Christmas (War Is Over)," written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono?

If jazz is your groove, check out "Blue X-Mas" written and performed by Miles Davis. R&B fans might like "Gee Whiz It's Christmas," performed by Carla Thomas and written by Steve Cropper, Carla Thomas and Vincent Trauth; or "This Time Of The Year," written by Brook Benton and Otis Blackwell. Country fans should enjoy Dolly Parton's "I'll Be Home With Bells On," and Ray Stevens' "Santa Claus Is Watching You." For truly alternative music, how about "Head Crushing Yuletide Sing Along" by Mojo Nixon?

These are a few of the 4.5 million songs licensed for public performance by BMI, a music performing rights organization representing 250,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers from around the world. More than half the music performed publicly in the United States is licensed by BMI, a non-profit making organization that has reciprocal agreements with similar groups in 60 countries.

"We can give a company permission to perform all of our 4.5 million songs all year long with a single agreement," said Tom Annastas, BMI Vice President, General Licensing. Annastas encourages businesses that have questions about music licensing to call BMI toll-free at 1-800-925-8451. Getting permission from composers to perform their songs can be easier and cheaper than buying door prizes for your party.

BMI's repertoire also has plenty of songs for other holiday occasions, such as Hanukah and Kwanzaa. There are nearly 3,000 songs licensed by BMI that begin with the word "Hanukah" (under various spellings), so if you want to listen to a little jazz by candlelight, "Chanukah Song" co-written and performed by Kenny G might work. BMI has about a dozen songs that begin with the word "Kwanzaa," and many more with the name of the African-American celebration elsewhere in the title.

No Christmas party would be worth its eggnog without festive music, but oversight by persons planning music for business festivities could diminish the season for some hard-pressed songwriters. Failing to obtain copyright clearance for the music used at a company party may not evoke comparisons to Ebenezer Scrooge, but, if left uncorrected, the mistake could cause embarrassment and unnecessary expense for your organization.

"Bah! Humbug!" you say? Read on.

The Better Business Bureau, in its brochure, "Music for the Marketplace," says that before you perform music in public, whether by live recordings, recordings, or broadcasts, you must get permission from copyright owners. "Public" performances are very broadly construed under the law and are defined as performing "at a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered." The BBB says, "This has been interpreted to mean that most performances at so-called private clubs and fraternal organizations are 'public' under copyright law."

Annastas said some people think all BMI songwriters are rich and famous, and don't really need music performance royalties -- but "those are the exception," he explained. "Most songwriters work hard behind the scenes to provide great music for others to record and sing. The average BMI songwriter earns less than $5,000 per year from public performances of their music, and even less from the sale of records and sheet music," Annastas said.

The Covington, Tennessee-born Hayes made his public singing debut in church at the age of five, and subsequently taught himself to play piano, organ and saxophone. By 1964, he was playing sax with Memphis combo the Mar-Keys, which led to his association with the now-legendary Stax-Volt label, where he was hired to play on several Otis Redding sessions and was eventually tapped to play keyboards in the label's house band. He soon established a productive songwriting partnership with David Porter, with whom he penned classic hits for such Stax stars as Sam and Dave ("Soul Man," "Hold On, I'm Comin'," "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby"), Carla Thomas ("B-A-B-Y") and Johnnie Taylor ("I Had a Dream").

He began recording albums of his own with 1967's Presenting Isaac Hayes, whose laid-back, jazzy feel gave only a hint of what was to come. 1969's Hot Buttered Soul marked both a musical and commercial breakthrough, with four extended tracks that set Hayes' husky baritone against sensual grooves and lush orchestral arrangements, and extended spoken-word passages that presaged rap by over a decade.

Hayes continued to stake out new musical territory on such early-'70s albums as The Isaac Hayes Movement and To Be Continued. But it was his score for Gordon Parks's 1971 hit film Shaft that made him an international superstar. Hayes's musical score and the chart-topping anthem "Theme From Shaft" earned both Grammys and Academy Awards, making him the first African-American composer to win an Oscar for Best Score. Hayes continued his '70s hot streak with such albums as Black Moses, Joy, Chocolate Chip and Groove-a-thon (the latter is slated for imminent reissue by Fantasy Records).

By the 1980s, Hayes was concentrating largely on the successful acting career he'd begun building in the mid-'70s. But he scored a Top 10 r&b hit with 1986's anti-drug "Ike's Rap," and made an acclaimed return to recording in 1995 with a pair of simultaneously released companion albums, the vocal Branded and instrumental Raw and Refined, which underlined his spiritual connections to hip-hop. By that time, Hayes, under the official name Nene Katey Ocansey I, had been appointed an honorary king by the royal family of the African nation of Ghana.

More recently, Hayes has won new fans via his role as wisdom-dispensing ladies' man Chef in the cult cartoon hit South Park, and put his mellifluous pipes to further use in a successful stint as morning DJ on New York's KISS-FM. He recorded an updated version of his Shaft theme for director John Singleton's 2000 update of the action hero, and even published a book, Cooking with Heart and Soul, which combines recipes with personal anecdotes and philosophical reflections.

"You must remember your roots," Hayes recently commented. "And always cherish and embrace the teachings of those that are older than you. And remember to be as flexible as you possibly can. A willow bends in the wind, the one that resists breaks. You have to store enough so when the hard times come, you can survive it. You got to constantly recreate yourself. You got to be loose and flexible to do so. You have to continue to expand."

By Rob Patterson

From the dawning days of rhythm & blues through today's multifaceted urban music scene, BMI has been at the forefront of music from the African American tradition, styles and community. A continuity of teamwork between BMI and Black music-makers extends from Aretha Franklin to Janet Jackson, from Motown hitmakers Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier & Brian Holland to R. Kelly, and from Miles Davis to Terence Blanchard.

B.B. King

Busta Rhymes

Janet Jackson

Eminem

When r&b, in its formative years, was the province of budding independent labels, small publishers, and adventurous radio stations, BMI opened its ranks to the musical movement when the existing performing rights organization failed to recognize the legitimacy and potential brewing in Black American music. The considerable fact that 90 percent of the R&B Foundation's Pioneer Awards have been bestowed on BMI artists attests to BMI's historical commitment to Black music.

Eric Benet

Macy Gray

Mariah Carey

Michael Jackson

The BMI Black music rosters reads like a musical honor role: Jazz giants such as Billie Holiday, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Dinah Washington and John Coltrane; blues icons like Leadbelly, Muddy Waters, B.B. King and T-Bone Walker; r&b pacesetters such as Ray Charles, Fats Domino and James Brown; soul sisters Etta James, Irma Thomas and Diana Ross; rock pioneers like Chuck Berry and Little Richard.

Mya

R. Kelly

Snoop Dogg

Toni Braxton

The BMI bloodlines can be traced from then to now, from Carla Thomas to Donna Summer to Vanessa Williams, from Kenneth Gamble & Leon Huff to LA Reid and Babyface, from Otis Redding to Michael Jackson. And if you check this space 20 or 30 years from now, the odds say its likely that BMI's contemporary urban music artists will be just as legendary and influential as those BMI has represented throughout the history of Black popular music in America.

In a sense, the pages have already been written by today's BMI star talents. Mariah Carey has proven herself a formidable and enduring presence in popular music, while Macy Gray is arising to help bring soul back to its rightful place of presence in urban music. Kevin Eubanks delivers sublime new variations of the jazz guitar heritage to millions on The Tonight Show, and Joshua Redman redefines the notion of young jazz giant for a new millennium. Snoop Dogg, Eminem and Lil' Kim continue to push the hip-hop envelope, while Kirk Franklin and Winans Phase 2 keep the gospel spirit alive.

But it's not just the marquee names that make these exciting times for BMI's urban music roster. And even some of BMI's team whose work happens primarily behind the scenes are earning public note on the level of the artists they work with. Producer, songwriter, keyboardist and remixer Dallas Austin launched Monica and TLC, and counts Michael Jackson, Madonna, Boyz II Men and Aretha Franklin among his credits. Such musical versatility and vision continues with such recording and writing powerhouses as Jerry 'Wonder' Duplessis, Master P, Tim & Bob, SoulShock & Karlin, Jean Claude 'Poke' Olivier of The Track Masters, Organized Noise, Teddy Bishop and Cory Rooney - all drawing from a differing wealth of musical wells and creating new and innovative musical moments.

Hip-hop remains a powerfully progressive and sometimes provocative movement in modern popular music. Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes and Goodie Mob keep it real, and the beats and themes will surely remain hard in the hands of such acts as Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz, Ja Rule, Mos Def, Trick Daddy, Silkk the Shocker, JT Money, Kurupt and J-Shin. At the same time, acts like The Roots, Black Eyed Peas, Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek and Spooks infuse a rich mixture of styles into the hip-hop genre. Once the sound of the street, just as r&b had been, hip-hop is now an integral part of contemporary culture. And its Caribbean cousin dancehall is also claiming the attention of the public ear thanks to Buju Banton.

R&B has always boasted its powerful cadre of female singers. And just as Carla Thomas, Martha Reeves and Jodi Whatley established their voices as trademarks, so have the women like Brandy, Toni Braxton and Faith Evans. Rising to join them are such soul sisters as Angie Stone, Mya, Sunshine Anderson and Aaliyah, while R&B brothers such as Eric Benet and Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes stir up new soul traditions for today's urban music fans as Clyde McPhatter, Sam Moore and Aaron Neville have before them. The girl group traditions forged by The Shirelles and The Supremes find modern expression in the "new jill flava" of Total.

As the recent Ken Burns documentary demonstrated, jazz is one of the richest skeins in the American cultural tapestry. BMI has been a consistent presence in jazz, from Lionel Hampton to Coleman Hawkins to Herbie Hancock to Roy Hargrove. Today, Terence Blanchard, Christian McBride, Kevin Eubanks and Bilal maintain the instrumental and compositional greatness of jazz music for the genre's future.

Spirituals have always been an essential element in Black music and BMI's mission, thanks to everyone from James Ingram to The Fairfield Four. And perhaps nobody has had a more profound impact on contemporary music and the popularity of spiritual sounds than minister, songwriter, producer and visionary Kirk Franklin. In the past, one could make similar claims for The Winans, and the family tradition forged there is carried on by Winans Phase 2. The ears reached by these artists are now opening as well to such rising talents as Yolanda Adams and Trin-i-tee 5:7.

Such diversity, commercial impact, innovation and encouragement of burgeoning styles and new artists has been a hallmark of BMI's commitment to Black music from the time that "race music" became rhythm & blues, and on through soul, funk and disco right up to rap and new jack swing. As BMI salutes tradition through its longtime support of the R&B Foundation, it also helps create the future that is urban music in all its breadth and creativity. Because at BMI, Black Music Month is celebrated 12 months a year.

A mix of non-traditional holiday songs might be the key to lighten the mood and create a more memorable event. How about the Beach Boys' "Little Saint Nick," written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, or "Ho Ho Ho Who'd Be a Turkey At Christmas," written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, or "Happy Christmas (War Is Over)," written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono?

If jazz is your groove, check out "Blue X-Mas" written and performed by Miles Davis. R&B fans might like "Gee Whiz It's Christmas," performed by Carla Thomas and written by Steve Cropper, Carla Thomas and Vincent Trauth; or "This Time Of The Year," written by Brook Benton and Otis Blackwell. Country fans should enjoy Dolly Parton's "I'll Be Home With Bells On," and Ray Stevens' "Santa Claus Is Watching You." For truly alternative music, how about "Head Crushing Yuletide Sing Along" by Mojo Nixon?

These are a few of the 4.5 million songs licensed for public performance by BMI, a music performing rights organization representing 250,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers from around the world. More than half the music performed publicly in the United States is licensed by BMI, a non-profit making organization that has reciprocal agreements with similar groups in 60 countries.

"We can give a company permission to perform all of our 4.5 million songs all year long with a single agreement," said Tom Annastas, BMI Vice President, General Licensing. Annastas encourages businesses that have questions about music licensing to call BMI toll-free at 1-800-925-8451. Getting permission from composers to perform their songs can be easier and cheaper than buying door prizes for your party.

BMI's repertoire also has plenty of songs for other holiday occasions, such as Hanukah and Kwanzaa. There are nearly 3,000 songs licensed by BMI that begin with the word "Hanukah" (under various spellings), so if you want to listen to a little jazz by candlelight, "Chanukah Song" co-written and performed by Kenny G might work. BMI has about a dozen songs that begin with the word "Kwanzaa," and many more with the name of the African-American celebration elsewhere in the title.

No Christmas party would be worth its eggnog without festive music, but oversight by persons planning music for business festivities could diminish the season for some hard-pressed songwriters. Failing to obtain copyright clearance for the music used at a company party may not evoke comparisons to Ebenezer Scrooge, but, if left uncorrected, the mistake could cause embarrassment and unnecessary expense for your organization.

"Bah! Humbug!" you say? Read on.

The Better Business Bureau, in its brochure, "Music for the Marketplace," says that before you perform music in public, whether by live recordings, recordings, or broadcasts, you must get permission from copyright owners. "Public" performances are very broadly construed under the law and are defined as performing "at a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered." The BBB says, "This has been interpreted to mean that most performances at so-called private clubs and fraternal organizations are 'public' under copyright law."

Annastas said some people think all BMI songwriters are rich and famous, and don't really need music performance royalties -- but "those are the exception," he explained. "Most songwriters work hard behind the scenes to provide great music for others to record and sing. The average BMI songwriter earns less than $5,000 per year from public performances of their music, and even less from the sale of records and sheet music," Annastas said.