Pick a Day

Music History Events: Legal Issues

May 3, 1967 Beach Boy Carl Wilson goes to court on draft evasion charges.

May 1, 1967 Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys is arrested by the FBI for draft-dodging and refusing to take an oath of allegiance to the United States. Wilson, a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War, is eventually exonerated by his draft board and rejoins the band, touring in Ireland.

February 15, 1967 The first anti-bootlegging recording laws are enacted.

February 5, 1967 Pop Stars And Drugs – Facts That Will Shock You screams the headline of the British newspaper News of the World. The article describes LSD parties thrown by The Moody Blues and attended by Pete Townshend, Ginger Baker and other prominent rock stars, and claims that Mick Jagger took Benzedrine tablets and lured girls back to his apartment to smoke hash. Jagger sues for libel, as it was actually Brian Jones with the Benzedrine. The paper responds by staking out Jagger and tipping police to drug activity at Keith Richards' Redlands estate. On February 12, police raid the place, arresting Jagger, Richards and Marianne Faithfull on drug charges.

December 3, 1966 Having been convicted of heroin and marijuana possession, Ray Charles is given a five-year suspended sentence and fined $10,000.

October 3, 1965 Johnny Cash is stopped by US Customs officials at the Mexican border on suspicion of heroin smuggling and found to be holding over 1,000 prescription narcotics and amphetamines. He receives a suspended sentence.

January 21, 1965 The Animals are forced to cancel a show at New York City's famous Apollo Theater after US Immigration officials force the group to leave the country.

November 27, 1964 Mick Jagger is fined 16 pounds for driving offenses in Totenhall, England.

October 31, 1964 Landing in Boston, Ray Charles is arrested when heroin and marijuana are found when he is searched at customs. He enters rehab to avoid jail.

August 10, 1964 On his way to visit two injured fans in Liverpool, England, Mick Jagger is pulled over and fined 32 pounds for speeding and driving without insurance.

May 27, 1964 Eleven schoolboys are suspended from a grammar school in Coventry, England, for showing up with Mick Jagger-style haircuts.

April 4, 1964 A court orders The Trashmen of "Surfin' Bird" fame to pay royalties to Beechwood Music, holder of the copyright for The Rivingtons' 1962 hit "Papa Oom Mow Mow," which The Trashmen hit borrows heavily from.

October 18, 1963 Chuck Berry is released from prison after serving 20 months for a Mann Act violation (transporting a minor across state lines for immoral purposes).

August 13, 1963 The Four Seasons sue their struggling first label, Vee Jay, for non payment of royalties and move to Mercury/Philips Records. This would be the first of a long line of incidents that would doom the label.

March 14, 1963 Gerry Marsden of The Pacemakers sneaks a custom-made guitar purchased in Germany through British customs and is fined sixty pounds.

January 7, 1963 Gary U.S. Bonds sues Chubby Checker, claiming that Checker's "Dancing Party" is essentially a rewrite of Bonds' hit "Quarter To Three." The case is settled out of court.

December 8, 1962 Legendary DJ and promoter Alan Freed appears at his payola trial in New York City and testifies to receiving money from labels to play their records on the air. He is found guilty, fined $300, and given six months probation, but the irreparable damage to his career has been done.

November 14, 1961 Before a show in Indianapolis, Ray Charles is arrested when marijuana and heroin are found in his hotel room. Charges are dropped on a technicality, but his drug problems were far from over.

February 14, 1961 The Platters sue Mercury Records for breach of contract in Chicago, citing the record label's refusal to pay royalties for songs on which leader Tony Williams does not, in fact, sing lead.

September 18, 1960 Teen idol Frankie Avalon turns 21, making him an adult and therefore eligible to claim the over $600,000 he earned while underage.

August 28, 1960 A 17-year-old Barry White completes his four-month prison term for stealing 300 tires from a Cadillac dealership. Having heard Elvis sing "It's Now Or Never" in prison, he leaves determined to make music his life.

February 8, 1960 The "payola" hearings begin, as the US government cracks down on the practice of paying for airplay on radio stations.

December 10, 1959 The Platters' four male members are acquitted of charges made on August 10th in Cincinnati, Ohio, of "aiding and abetting prostitution, lewdness and assignation."

November 24, 1959 Teen heartthrob Johnnie Ray is arrested in London for soliciting an undercover officer in a gay bar. (He is later found not guilty.)

August 10, 1959 The four male singers in The Platters are arrested in Cincinnati for aiding and abetting prostitution. They are acquitted of the charges, but the incident strains relations with their female singer Zola Taylor and gets them removed from some playlists.

November 13, 1956 The duo Buchanan and Goodman go to court over their song "Flying Saucer," which incorporates bits of other hit songs. The first use of sampling in the Rock era, the song made #3 on the Hot 100.

February 26, 1955 LaVern Baker sends a formal letter to the US Congress to appeal a 1954 decision denying black artists a revision of the 1909 Copyright Act, a move which would make it harder for white pop artists to record exact copies of R&B hits and thus steal their thunder. Her appeal is turned down.

February 26, 1954 Responding to the rising popularity of black music, the United States congress proposes a bill forbidding distribution of "obscene, lewd, lascivious, or filthy publication, picture, disc, transcription, or other article capable of producing sound." The bill fails.

July 29, 1946 Jazz great Charlie Parker falls asleep while smoking and sets his hotel bed on fire. He is arrested after wandering through the hotel lobby wearing nothing but socks. The incident leads to a stay at the Camarillo State Hospital (a mental institution), which inspires his song "Relaxin' at Camarillo."

December 31, 1940 After forming the rival company BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.), radio stations in the United States stop playing music licensed by ASCAP (the American Society of Publishers and Composers) in a dispute over fees. The boycott lasts 10 months, with stations filling airtime with non-ASCAP songs, mostly older tunes in the public domain.