'Concert For George' To Hit Theaters, DVD
A film chronicling last fall's star-studded George Harrison tribute at London's Royal Albert Hall will open Oct. 3 in select U.S. cities. Filmed in high definition and recorded in 5.1 surround sound, "A Concert for George" will be released worldwide on DVD in November, distributed internationally via ArenaPlex LLC.
Legendary guitarist Eric Clapton served as the music director for the event, which featured appearances by Harrison's surviving Beatles bandmates Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as friends Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Joe Brown, Anoushka Shankar and Billy Preston. Among the Harrison songs they performed were "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "I Want To Tell You," "Inner Light," "Give Me Love," "Taxman," "I Need You" and "For You Blue."
"The Concert for George was all I hoped it would be. The glue that held it together was our love for George," his widow Olivia Harrison says in a statement. "I don't think I've ever heard a band play with so much emotion and respect." Adds Clapton, "All I wanted to do was really share our love for George and his music."
The event also saw members of Monty Python re-enacting some of Harrison's favorite skits. Harrison financed and served as an executive producer of the comedy troupe's second feature film, 1979's "Life of Brian."
David Leland ("Wish You Were Here," "Band of Brothers") directed "Concert for George," and utilized footage from more than a dozen camera locations inside Royal Albert Hall. Along with performance clips, several interviews and backstage moments are also included on the DVD.
The movie trailer for the film, as well as assorted photos from the event can be seen at the "Concert for George" Web site.
The theatrical engagement will open in New York, Los Angeles and other select U.S. cities to be determined. All proceeds from the concert, the film and the DVD will benefit the Material World Charitable Foundation, founded by Harrison in 1973.
Girl, 12, Settles Piracy Suit for $2,000
WASHINGTON - A 12-year-old girl in New York who was among the first to be sued by the record industry for sharing music over the Internet is off the hook after her mother agreed Tuesday to pay $2,000 to settle the lawsuit, apologizing and admitting that her daughter's actions violated U.S. copyright laws.
The hurried settlement involving Brianna LaHara, an honors student, was the first announced one day after the Recording Industry Association of America filed 261 such lawsuits across the country. Lawyers for the RIAA said Brianna's mother, Sylvia Torres, contacted them early Tuesday to negotiate.
"We understand now that file-sharing the music was illegal," Torres said in a statement distributed by the recording industry. "You can be sure Brianna won't be doing it anymore."
Brianna added: "I am sorry for what I have done. I love music and don't want to hurt the artists I love."
The case against Brianna was a potential minefield for the music industry from a public relations standpoint. The family lives in a city housing project on New York's Upper West Side, and they said they mistakenly believed they were entitled to download music over the Internet because they had paid $29.99 for software that gives them access to online file-sharing services.
The RIAA said this week it already had negotiated $3,000 settlements with fewer than 10 Internet users who learned they might be sued after the RIAA sent copyright subpoenas to their Internet providers. But lawyers negotiated those settlements before the latest round of lawsuits, and the RIAA had said any further settlements would cost defendants more than $3,000.
Even in the hours before the settlement was announced, Brianna was emerging as an example of what critics said was overzealous enforcement by the powerful music industry.
The top lawyer for Verizon Communications Inc., William Barr, charged earlier Tuesday during a Senate hearing that music lawyers had resorted to a "campaign against 12-year-old girls" rather than trying to help consumers turn to legal sources for songs online. Verizon's Internet subsidiary is engaged in a protracted legal fight against the RIAA over copyright subpoenas sent Verizon customers.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., also alluded to Brianna's case.
"Are you headed to junior high schools to round up the usual suspects?" Durbin asked RIAA President Cary Sherman during a Senate Judiciary hearing.
Durbin said he appreciated the piracy threat to the recording industry, but added, "I think you have a tough public relations campaign to go after the offenders without appearing heavy-handed in the process."
Sherman responded that most people don't shoplift because they fear they'll be arrested.
"We're trying to let people know they may get caught, therefore they should not engage in this behavior," Sherman said. "Yes, there are going to be some kids caught in this, but you'd be surprised at how many adults are engaged in this activity."
It was unclear how Brianna's name — rather than her mother's — came to be listed as a defendant in this case. The recording industry said it named as the defendant in each lawsuit the person who paid for the household Internet account, but children typically aren't listed as account holders.
The RIAA said it did not investigate each individual's background before filing its lawsuits.
Simon & Garfunkel Unveil 1st U.S. Tour in 20 Years
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Folk-rock troubadours Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel put aside their personal squabbles on Tuesday and announced they would reunite for the first Simon & Garfunkel U.S. concert tour in 20 years.
Simon and Garfunkel, boyhood friends who sold more than 40 million albums in the United States alone during their collaboration, will launch the "Old Friends" 32-city tour at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Michigan, on Oct. 18.
Simon's desire to strike out on what became a spectacular solo career, and subsequent tussles over royalties and credit for their collaborative work, are generally seen as what drove apart the old partners, now both 61.
"It was a friendship that was estranged," Simon told a news conference at the Greenwich Village rock club The Bottom Line.
"Whatever it was, the squabbles, it was time to say forgive and forget and move on."
Simon said the genesis of the reunion came at last February's Grammy Awards when they were honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
They performed together for the first time in nearly 10 years when they opened the telecast with a performance of "The Sound of Silence," and decided to bury the hatchet.
The pair played a series of shows in New York back in 1993 and a few shows in Japan that same year. But they have not undertaken a full-fledged tour since they played venues across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia in 1982 and 1983.
The duo, who recorded their first single in 1957 when they were known as 'Tom and Jerry,' went on to release hit albums ""Wednesday Morning, 3 AM" (1964), "Sounds of Silence" (1966), "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme" (1966), "Bookends" (1968) and "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (1970), and the movie soundtrack "The Graduate" (1968).
'LIKE FAMILY'
"This is a very deep, old friendship," said Garfunkel, who went to high school with Simon in the New York borough of Queens. "It's like family for the two of us. Our moms know each other."
Simon said he knew they would still have their sweet vocal blend, featuring Garfunkel's soaring harmonies, that made them so distinctive. The pair went ahead and proved it with live renditions of "Old Friends," "Homeward Bound," and "The Boxer," to cheers from a media throng of about 200 people.
Simon said the duo would concentrate on performing their Simon & Garfunkel hits, which won them five Grammy awards in their heyday, in the big-arena concerts.
"We would like to stay as close to the spirit of the Simon & Garfunkel period and our work in the '60s and early '70s," Simon said. "We don't intend to reimagine that work."
Simon said they would work with a seven-piece band.
"I'll be the eighth," said Simon, who strummed his acoustic guitar during Tuesday's performance.
"And I'll be the ninth," chimed in Garfunkel, gesturing to his throat. "You know my voice is an instrument."
Simon rolled his eyes at that, but a grin quickly emerged in understanding of his old friend.