writing credits

[Ted O. Jackson]

> > I just looked at the number of times a Bouchard was
> >credited to a song vs. no Bouchard being credited -- if I counted right,
> >44 out of 72 songs had a Bouchard song-writing credit from the first
> >album to FOUO (61%).
>
> Someone please answer:
>
> I thought that a writing credit was given for the lyrical content
> of the song, not necessarily for the music.  Is there a distinction?
>
> I had thought that the writer brings in the lyrical stuff, maybe
> some loose ideas on the music, and the rest of the band chimes
> in to flesh out a complete tune.  Is that way off?
>
> RR
Ross,
This varies from band to band.  Take the Doors.  All their early
material was credited as being written by the whole band, while
obviously Morrison was the key talent there.  Also Black Sabbath.
But in their case, I think a lot of folks think Ozzy wrote a lot of
stuff, but according to Tony, he wrote most of the music and Geezer
most of the lyrics in the old days.  Some bands credited the whole
group out of a desire for solidarity.  But in most cases, lyrics are
only a part of it.  If someone writes the melody line, then they have
as much stake in the credit as he who wrote the lyrics.
theo