And talking of rock legends signed to EMI, a Miami based independent label is set to release some previously unreleased early recordings from EMI's biggest legends, The Beatles.
Miami based Fuego Entertainment has said it has done a deal with promoter/producer Jeffrey Collins to release various recordings that he owns, and that that includes fifteen live recordings of the Beatles playing at Hamburg's Star Club in 1962. According to Billboard, Fuego claim the recordings feature Ringo Starr on drums (he, of course, wasn't with the band for their earlier Hamburg residencies), and include performances of Hank Williams' 'Lovesick Blues', Maurice Williams' 'Do You Believe' plus other classics like 'Twist and Shout' and 'Hippy Hippy Shake'.
Collins, a UK promoter now based in Florida, says he got the original recordings off a DJ he represented at the time and who had DJed at the Star Club on the night of the Beatles gig. The recordings, Collins says, were not of an especially good quality, but he was able to digitally remaster them in the early nineties to make them good enough to release.
Presumably Collins is keen to see the recordings released soonish, because the European copyright on them will run out in 2012. Plus, of course, sales of the early live recordings could receive a boost from the hype that is sure to surround a long awaited digital release of the Beatles official EMI owned catalogue via legit download platforms, something that is now widely expected to happen this year.
Of course ownership of the copyright on the Star Club recordings is something of a grey area. Collins says management at the venue were aware that his DJ was recording the live set, but it is unclear if the band themselves were, and certainly no discussion ever took place regarding the rights to the recording (which, of course, no one would have considered at the time). Collins admits he originally approached Beatles firm Apple Corps back in 1996 about an official release, but that they rebuffed his proposals. Fuego and Collins now seem confident an independent release won't open them up to litigation from Apple Corps, though a spokesman for the Beatles company told Billboard: "We don't have a comment as such but not surprisingly are looking into the claim".
Whether legal action relating to the early Beatles recordings does in deed follow time will tell, though litigation is almost certain to come from the Experience Hendrix company over another recording in Collins' catalogue, of Jimi Hendrix's Rainbow Bridge concert. Experience Hendrix have a history of suing over recordings of Hendrix concerts, and have already said in a statement: "Experience Hendrix serves notice that it will take all legal action necessary to remove this bootleg material from the market and recover damages against Fuego Entertainment and associated parties for infringement as authorized under applicable law".