The
Network
January 10, 2003
Excerpt from a Doug Morris Interview
On
top of all that, [Doug] Morris [Chairman/CEO of the Universal
Music Group] is quite proud of a personal accomplishment
as well. He produced a compilation album featuring the music
of the unjustly overlooked hit songwriter/producer Bert
Berns, who was responsible for such classics as "Twist
And Shout" (popularized by The Beatles and others),
"Piece Of My Heart" (immortalized by Janis Joplin),
"Brown-Eyed Girl" (which broke Van Morrison in
the U.S.) and the immortal "Hang On Sloopy."
What
made you such a fan of Bert Berns?
He
was a big writer at Mellin Music, a small publisher in New
York, where I was starting out as a writer myself. Basically,
I just loved his songs; I found them very inspiring.
How
much of his talent was God-given, and how much of it was
honed through working and refining the craft of songwriting?
You
can't be successful without putting in the work. Someone
once said it was 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. That
isn't the case here. He actually had this feel for Latin-flavored
music that was also kind of sad. It was all about love affairs
gone awry, set in very interesting country-soul music. I
loved it then and I still love it.
He
made a tremendous impression upon me; I wanted to be just
like him. As the years have gone by and I kept hearing his
music at least once a week somewhere, it really struck me
at how sad it is that no one has recognized his contribution
to the arts.
Do
you attribute that to him being behind the scenes most of
the time?
No,
I think it's because he died young [in 1967 at the age of
38] and there was no advocate who pushed his name along.
He became disassociated with his mentors at Atlantic Records.
When you don't have any advocates, things can get lost.
This
was really brought to my attention when I went to a friend's
wedding in London, and I was sitting next to Lulu [who had
the hit single in the'60s, "To Sir With Love"].
The pickup band started by saying, "Here's a Beatles
song," and played "Twist And Shout." Lulu
said to me, "I hate when they say it's a Beatles song,
because a guy named Bert Berns wrote that." I said,
"I haven't heard his name said in 20 years," and
she said, "Well, he worked with me on 'Here Comes The
Night'"--a song Van Morrison had a hit with.
My
love of his music and understanding of the contributions
he made motivated me to do this. I want to illuminate his
career [with this record].
Did
Bert ever hear Janis Joplin's version of "Piece Of
My Heart"?
Of
course. I put in the original version [by Erma Franklin,
Aretha's older sister], but the Joplin version is one of
the most outstanding interpretations of a song I've ever
heard.
When
these artists turn his songs into classics that are forever
identified with the artists, it's easy to see how Bert would
be relegated to the shadows.
Well,
he was. Even The Rolling Stones did "Everybody Needs
Somebody To Love." His career was really interesting.
I had a lot of fun putting this album together. It's nice
to do an album like this for the right reasons.
Would
Bert Berns be successful in the music industry of 2003?
Sure.
He would've adapted to the changes in style.
Could
you see yourself doing other projects like this, for other
overlooked songwriters?
No,
this is the only one I'll do. This is someone I knew personally,
who I worked with and when I was 20-22 years old. He gave
me my first job. He inspired me and gave me a lot of encouragement.
The fact that he has fallen off the pages of history gave
me the motivation to do it, but I wouldn't have done it
if I didn't know him personally. And I met his kids, who
were searching for clues in his life.
I
don't care if it sells. I'm just glad I did it, and I just
hope he gets into the Rock & Roll and Songwriters Hall
Of Fame sometime soon. I brought it to people's attention,
so let's see what happens. Sometimes these things take on
a life of their own.
-
The
Network January 10, 2003
