The rights to Bitter Sweet Symphony have been around for a long time, but now belong to the group that became successful in 1997: The Verve.

We found the basis for the Bitter Sweet Symphony in 1965 when Andrew Loog Oldham recorded the piece with David Whitaker and orchestra. The song appears in The Rolling Stones Songbook, which features the group’s previous songs in orchestral versions, performed by The Andrew Oldham Orchestra. Oldham was not only the band’s manager but also a producer and thought he could be successful in his own way with the ‘orchestra’. Nothing could be further from the truth as the project involves many studio musicians and members of the Rolling Stones.

In 1997, The Verve’s sound also reached the ranks of The Rolling Stones. Bitter Sweet Symphony is taken from Urban Hymns’ third album and in the UK the song reached number two. He also managed to overtake the United States with 12th place. The Netherlands surpassed him with eleventh position.

The Rolling Stones’ management immediately realized what was happening and took writer Richard Ashcroft to court. Ashcroft then also had to acknowledge Mick Jagger and Keith Richards as writers. Additionally, all royalties from the song were turned over to Ashcroft. In hindsight it was very sad and in 2019 discussions between Ashcroft and The Stones confirmed that The Verve still regained the rights to the song.

Want to know more about the origins of Top 40 hits? Then take a look Aslihits.nl

(10/05/2020)