The Beastie Boys offer up `Paul's Boutique' while battling their former label in court
The Beastie Boys -- who sold more than 4 million copies of their debut album, Licensed to Ill, by urging their listeners to fight for their right to party -- have been fighting with Def Jam Records for their right to get paid.
In the midst of a protracted legal battle with their former manager and the label that released their first album, the Beastie Boys are set to issue a new album, Paul's Boutique, on Capitol Records.
The convoluted legal wrangle began in the fall of 1987, when attorneys for the rappers informed Def Jam and the group's management company, Rush Productions, that the Beasties considered their contracts to have been breached due to nonpayment of royalties. However, Def Jam and CBS Records -- which distributes the Def Jam label -- were the first to file suit, claiming the group had broken its contract by refusing to record a new album.
Russell Simmons, coowner of both Def Jam and Rush, admits that he has not paid the Beasties the money they are owed for Licensed to Ill but says he took his position as leverage to induce them to return to the studio after they said they weren't going to record again. ''All I said I needed was a commitment,'' says Simmons, ''`Just reaffirm your deal.'''
Attorneys for the Beastie Boys portray the Def Jam suit as a smoke screen, saying the label never intended to pay the group the more than million in royalties and other moneys owed for Licensed to Ill, because Def Jam didn't have the money.
''I think there are serious questions as to whether Def Jam could pay,'' says Robert Weiner, the attorney who is handling litigation for the Beastie Boys. ''Due to that inability, they created excuses why they shouldn't pay. We don't believe Def Jam could have paid the Beastie Boys under any circumstances.''
Replies Simmons: ''I offered them their money many times.''
While the Beastie Boys say they never broke up, a record-company executive who worked with the group says it was unclear whether the Beasties would ever work together again after they came off their Licensed to Ill tour. ''They were fairly exhausted, and they went their own ways after the tour,'' the executive says. ''Mike D had his own band, Adam Yauch had a Brooklyn band, and Adam Horovitz was in L.A. with Molly Ringwald. I wasn't sure they'd get back together.''
The problems, the executive says, stemmed largely from the rappers' relationship with Def Jam coowner Rick Rubin, who produced License to Ill. ''They kept on reading about `Rick Rubin the svengali','' he says. ''That slighted them. I think they didn't want to see Rick making money.''
Rubin was unavailable for comment.
For Paul's Boutique, the Beasties elected to work with a trio of producers -- Mike Simpson, John King and Tone-Loc producer Matt Dike, know collectively as the Dust Brothers.
''It's a nice feeling,'' Mike D says of working without Def Jam. ''I don't think they would have let us work with three unknown guys who had only done a few indie records. It was very different and more fun. It was kind of cool working with normal people.''
Writing and recording for Paul's Boutique -- which takes its name from an ad sampled off a Jamaican music show on a New York radio station -- began about a year ago. The group shares all writing and producing credits with the Dust Brothers.
Although the album doesn't boast an anthem on the order of ''Fight for Your Right,'' Paul's Boutique certainly marks a musical advance for the trio. The album's fifteen tracks feature a layered production behind the Beasties' rapid-fire raps, with samples from a wide range of recordings, including performances by Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, Mountain, Loggins and Messina, Jean Knight and many others.
''I think it just ended up being dense,'' says Mike D. ''It's almost album- oriented rock, but of a kind that doesn't exist. Everything throughout the album meant something; it's not like there's twenty minutes of filler. It will be interesting to see what happens.''
Capitol is certainly hoping the group can replicate the success of Licensed to Ill. Label president David Berman says Capitol began pursuing the group over a year ago, after the label was contacted by an attorney for the group. ''I certainly didn't need to have a lawyer telling me the Beastie Boys were the only white rap group with a reputation and credibility,'' Berman says.
Asked about the Beasties' legal entanglements, Berman says Capitol ''felt we had the legal right to sign the Beastie Boys, or we wouldn't have done it.'' Although he won't divulge the cost of signing the band, another executive who was offereed a chance to bid on the group estimates that Capitol wound up offering the band a contract worth between million and million.
One problem facing the Capitol album is Def Jam's plans to release its own new Beastie Boys album. Russell Simmons says he is assembling an album titled White House from unreleased raps to which musical tracks are being added. ''You can say it's dirty,'' says Simmons, ''but I think they owe me. That's eight gold records I've got to replace.'' Simmons says he plans to release White House six weeks after Paul's Boutique.
By that time the band should be on tour. ''We're going out in August,'' says Horovitz, adding that the tour will be ''short but sweet.'' The Beasties would like to have either Blue Cheer or Sergio Mendes open for them.
It's unclear as to whether the legal tangle can be unraveled outside of court. While attorneys for the Beastie Boys are hopeful of a settlement, Simmons is unsure. ''This case isn't going to end,'' he says, although he adds, ''I'd like to be able to settle for something fair. I think we've got a strong case.''
The group admits the battle has taken a toll. ''I'd like to say I have no animosity,'' says Mike D. ''But that would be a lie. How can you not dislike someone who stole from you?''
However, even that belief hasn't dampened the group's spirit. Asked if he wants to add anything, Yauch replies: ''I'd like to say hi to all the Puerto Rican ladies listening out there.''