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Summarized by Kent Larsen
LDS Singer Objects To Lyrics In Stephen King Book
('50s Singer Battles King Book)
Excite News (AP) 14Mar00 A2
SPARTANBURG, SOUTH CAROLINA -- More than 40 years after he recorded
his 1957 song "Black Slacks" with his group the Sparkletones, Joe
Bennett is upset at $10,000 in royalties the song got from author
Stephen King. Bennett, who is described as a devout member of the
Mormon Church, objects to King's explicit and offensive language in
the book.
"I don't want to seem pious, but this is absolutely not endorsed by
me," he said. "That's the bottom line. This is just shock stuff."
King included the lyrics in his recent book "Hearts in Atlantis."
Joe Bennett and the Sparkletones got two slots on the Ed Sullivan
Show with the song, which was later recorded by Simon &Garfunkel.
MCA owns the rights to the song, and allowed King to use it in his
book for a $10,000 permission fee. Bennett only discovered that the
song was in the book when he received a royalty statement from MCA
last month. Bennett has asked King in a letter not to use the song again,
but admits he doesn't have any legal ground to stop him from doing so.
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More about "Hearts in Atlantis" by Stephen King at Amazon.com