Doxology, the Seattle band that claims David Cook ripped off their  arrangement of The Beatles “Eleanor Rigby” without credit has issued yet another press release.  Ãƒâ€š   Meanwhile, Chris Cornell gives an interview to Billboard about David covering his arrangement of   “Billie Jean”.

Both Cornell and Doxology believe David Cook performed note for note copies of their arrangements.  

I’m not a musicologist, but note for note?   Really?

Entertainment Weekly’s Hollywood Insider covers the Doxology  story:  

For more, click on the jump

Thanks Cheese, for the links…

In a statement issued to the press on Saturday, lead vocalist Luke McPherson contends, “When given the opportunity to speak up and reveal where the arrangement came from, David Cook did not. His silence on the issue implies that the arrangement is his own. It is not.” The band is careful to note that they are fans of the show and they are not seeking royalties   (which they would have earned off of iTunes sales had their name been mentioned on air). Their impetus: “We just want David Cook and American Idol to do the right thing and acknowledge these facts. It’s that simple.” Whether Cook was actually aware of their version is still unclear as representatives for Fox could not be reached for comment over the weekend.

Is Chris Cornell earning royalties from David’s recorded version of the song? I didn’t think he was.

And from  Doxology’s press release:

The compensation we are asking for is the easiest and least expensive around à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ we, at minimum, want David Cook and/or American Idol to admit that the arrangement he performed on March 11th, and then went into the studio and recorded for immediate sale, was not only inspired by, but almost completely carbon copied from our arrangement.

They want David Cook to admit that he ripped off their song note for note.   I don’t think that’s going to happen.   I also don’t think TPTB   are going to  allot Idol  airtime to the discussion of an obscure band.   Blake Lewis has said in interviews that David Cook told him that his acknowledgement to the band was cut out of his package.  

David himself has not spoken on the issue. We’ll see what happens.

In the meantime, Doxology’s continued pressing of the subject is keeping it out in the news cycle.   They’ve gotten Doxology’s name out there and are keeping it out there.   Good strategy.   Even if Idol never addresses the issue, it’s still a win for the band.

Chris Cornell, whose arrangement of “Billie Jean”  inspired David Cook’s performance (and who also gave David his blessing)  Ãƒâ€š  recently  spoke to   Billboard:

Interest has since spiked in the Cornell cover, a drastically stripped-down take on the song that appeared on his 2007 solo album “Carry On.” There was a 300% jump in blog chatter about the Cornell’s connection to the performance the following day, according to data from Nielsen BuzzMetrics. The track is also currently No. 12 on iTunes’ Top Alternative chart.

“This is something where they know I came up with this arrangement and reinvented the song,” he says. “I stuck my neck out being a guy that comes from the indie rock world doing a Michael Jackson song. You can clearly see that the judges are giving this guy credit for it on national television. My fans were like, ‘Wait a minute! That’s Chris Cornell’s moment.’”

“Don’t get me wrong. He sang it great,” he continues. “But it was literally a note-for-note take on what I came up with. At the end of the day, it’s all good. It’s a good thing for me. There was a moment when I was sitting there writing this new arrangement thinking, ‘Is this a good idea or a bad idea?’ Watching the response from the judges was really gratifying. They were signing off on it right there. It was something that worked. It was an idea that went over huge. When I play it live on tour, it brings the house down every time.”

Cornell is extremely pleased with the attention and publicity, but obviously has mixed feelings about David as an artist.   He clearly feels there was zero originality in David’s interpretation, and that the judges were giving David credit that really belonged to Cornell.   Hm.

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