DS, five pages, 8.5 x 11, April 13, 1981. Elton John's lengthy legal declaration outlining disputes over creative control with MCA Records. In part: "I have been a performer for more than 15 years. For the past 10 years, my recordings have been sold in the United States and Canada with great success. I personally retain complete artistic and creative control over my performances and over the records which bear my name…My usual practice is to go to a recording studio and record music whenever I feel creatively motivated to do so. I do not record music 'for' any record companies or with any specific LP in mind. I accumulate the material which I record, and I draw upon that store of material when I assemble an LP…I do not even tell record companies in advance what performances will appear on the records I will deliver…For a number of years, I have been a fan and admirer of Thom Bell, whom I believe to be one of the finest and most influential rhythm and blues music producers in the recording industry…In October, 1977, I traveled to Seattle, Washington to record the six Thom Bell songs…In 1979, I did some minor re-mixing of three of the Thom Bell selections: 'Mama Can't Buy You Love,' 'Three Way Love Affair' and 'Are You Ready For Love.' The first two were released as a 45 rpm single by MCA in May, 1979. The single was a great success for me and MCA. 'Mama Can't Buy You Love' became a 'top ten' recording and a gold record signifying records shipped in excess of 1,000,000 units, and I received a Grammy Award nomination for it, in the rhythm and blues category…
In assembling the sixth LP for delivery to MCA, we included all six recordings produced at the Thom Bell sessions. I believe that it was commercially and artistically important to do this…Because three of the performances were already given to MCA, and MCA had exclusive distribution rights in them, the sixth LP represented my last opportunity to include all of the Thom Bell sessions in one LP…I reached my decision to deliver the Thom Bell Sessions to MCA as the sixth LP sometime in 1980, long before I decided what I would deliver to Geffen Records when my new contract with it began. I believe that the sixth LP which was given to MCA, which contains the complete Thom Bell sessions, is a superb album and has a great likelihood of commercial as well as artistic success."
He goes on to discuss the inclusion of 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' on a greatest hits album, his continued cooperation with MCA despite failed contract negotiations, and his efforts to rectify any disputes. He concludes: "I believe that I am entitled to pursue my recording career free of interference and harassment by MCA. My relationship with MCA is over, and I believe that my career as a recording artist will be seriously jeopardized if my relationship with my new record company is hindered by MCA." In fine condition.
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